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Brodus Clay defeated a local jobber. It is good to see Clay back. I think he works very well for a man his size. He showed a lot of agility in the match, in my opinion.
SMACKDOWN
The show started with a video of Mark Henry and his various attacks on Kane, and the Big Show, and Sheamus coming to the rescue. It is then announced Sheamus and Henry will face off at Summerslam. Sheamus then kicks off Smack Down with the first match of the evening:
Sheamus vs. Khali.
Sheamus does the best that he can with Khali. The match is what it is. Khali eventually tries to beat Sheamus with that death grip of his, but Sheamus gets out of it, and Sheamus finally defeats Khali with the Brogue Kick. Winner: Sheamus
I believe at this point there is a backstage interview between Josh Matthews and Randy Orton. Orton is asked about the No Holds Barred match with Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton says that he does have anger management issues, and Christian is going to help him work through them.
They also announce that Zach Ryder is going to have his own segment of the show, the name of which I forgot.
Natalya vs. AJ
Natalya and AJ come out for their match. It is a pretty decent match. There was a sloppy part where Nattie tries the sharpshooter, and I wasn't sure what AJ was trying to do to get out of it, but it looked sloppy to me. Anyway, eventually AJ succumbs to the Sharpshooter. Winner: Natalya. POST MATCH: Natalya goes bonkers, and attacks AJ after the match, including giving AJ a snap suplex on the outside. Natalya grabs a mic and says "Beth, you are so right sister, the days of these cuties are over." (paraphrased). Natalya evidently has turned heel.
Wade Barrett came out for commentary for the next match.
Daniel Bryan vs. Tyson Kidd
Daniel Bryan who came out to new music which I loved, and Tyson worked an AWESOME MATCH. I thought, even though the Main Event was also great, this was the best worked match on the show. Both men did a great job, especially Daniel Bryan. He is an awesome worker in the ring. After several exciting near falls, and Tyson Kidd's going after Daniel Bryan's right knee that Bryan was selling all match, Bryan eventually gets Kidd to submit. Winner: Daniel Bryan
I believe it was after this match, they show a commercial for "Haven" that airs this Friday after Smackdown on SYFY featuring Former 11 Time World Champion EDGE.
Zack Ryder Segment/Zack Ryder vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Zack Ryder comes out for his segment. He starts his promo, and talks about his "Woo.Woo.Woo." routine. Well, Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson interrupts and expresses his discontent over the 2 on 1 handicap he was put in last week by Ryder which he lost. Ryder tried to explain away his culpability when he is interrupted by Jackson's opponents from last week, Cody Rhodes (wearing a suit) and Ted DiBiase. Rhodes was cutting a promo, but I unfortunately wasn't able to catch what he said. Teddy Long comes out and tells Ryder that Ryder is NOT the GM, and Long was the one who could make matches. Long goes on to make Ryder vs Jackson with DiBiase and Rhodes BANNED from ringside.
The match itself between Ezekiel Jackson was alright. It was a glorified squash match. The end came with Ezekiel Jackson giving Ryder about 4 or 5 bodyslams and then the Rack and Ryder tapped out.
Winner: Ezekiel Jackson.
Mark Henry is shown onscreen coming out for his match.
Triple H/Zack Ryder Segment
Triple H's music hits. I am a huge Triple H fan. I have him in my top 5 best wrestlers ever list. I had not seen him live in any capacity in a very long time, so what happened here made the whole night. I do not know how much of the following will be shown on Smackdown, if any, but here is what happened:
Triple H comes out and Zack Ryder is still in the ring. Hunter then tells him that he is still kind of new to being the COO, and he has only been at this a couple of weeks and it is a lot of stress. He explains to Ryder that when he made him Teddy Long's assistant, all he meant was for Ryder to fetch coffee, sharpen pencils. (Zach Ryder's expressions of shock were priceless.). Hunter then tells Ryder that if Teddy Long's Viagra prescription ran out, Ryder was to go to the drug store to go get it, and things like that.
Hunter then gets all annoyed with Ryder talking about Vince and the board of directors and such. He then does something really cool. Hunter says that he needs to do something but it was just for the audience, and we were not to tell anyone. He put his finger to his lips shushing us. The lights were turned off. The huge screen was turned off. The only light that was on was the red light ( I presume that is the recording light.) and a spot light. Triple H then took off his jacket, and loosened his collar. He says something to Ryder that I didn't catch, and then gives Ryder the Pedigree, and the crowd just exploded. Of course, he tried to shush us again, and walked to the back and did his pose. Great segment.
Mark Henry vs. Vladimir Kozlov
This was not much of a match. This was yet another match to build up Mark Henry as this monster heel. Winner: Mark Henry POST MATCH: Henry puts Koslov' leg in chair and does his "stomp the leg" routine. Sheamus does his run in with a chair.
Backstage, Sheamus does a promo saying he has the luck of the Irish and talks about how Mark Henry has taken away others' dreams and careers, but that won't happen to him.
Christian does an interview and talks about how he has overcome Teddy Long, and the fans to be champion.
Main Event: Orton/Morrison vs. Christian (WHC)/R Truth
Great Main Event. All four men were fantastic. They all did a great job. Special kudos to Randy Orton. He is a bonafide superstar. When John Morrison was the baby face in peril, that crowd was just BEGGING for Orton to come in, at least from where I was sitting. I was on the floor, and that crowd was LOUD. When Orton finally made the hot tag near the end, and was going back and forth with Christian, and did his major maneuvers on Christian, that crowd exploded. They sounded really loud to me, anyway. Christian, R Truth, and Morrison were excellent as well. All four guys worked great. The ending came when Christian was finally able to defeat Randy with the Killswitch. Winner: Christian/R Truth. POST MATCH: Christian and R Truth run up the ramp in celebration.
Overall a VERY GOOD SHOW. Must watch: Main Event, Bryan/Kidd.
END OF SHOW.
DARK MATCH MAIN:
After the show, Teddy Long tells Christian that he will be defending his World Title in a Street Fight against Randy Orton. When Christian shows reluctance, Long tells Christian he better get to steppin'.
Christian (C) vs Randy Orton
After about a good 10 or so minute match, Christian retains his belt. Winner Christian . POST MATCH: Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and I believe R Truth all make run ins, and each man, including Christian get an RKO for their trouble so the crowd goes home happy. Randy Orton goes around the ring and shakes people's hands.
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