TONIGHT! Alberto Del Rio has won the Royal Rumble and has decided to face Edge at Wrestlemania! But first, there's the matter of Edge putting the Dolph Ziggler feud to bed, so tonight he defends the title in a 3-on-2 handicap match. It's Edge and Kelly Kelly facing Dolph Ziggler and LayCool. Yes, Kelly Kelly and LayCool are facing each other for the millionth time, only this time in the MAIN EVENT! Somebody shoot me! SmackDown is NOW!
WWE - The Champ Is Here!
Opening credits - Do You Know Your Enemy? Opening pyro! We are taped from Long Island, NY! Tonight, we hear from Alberto Del Rio! Hey, dig that Wrestlemania pinata!
CAN YOU DIG IT, SUCKA? And THERE'S Booker T! Booker comes out in a full suit, as Tony Chimel introduces him in as the newest member of the SmackDown announce team. Wait, WHAT? Oh God, I'm having Stevie Ray flashbacks! If he calls Vickie Guerrero a yak, I'm outta here. Booker steps into the ring and decides to regail the crowd with the Most Electrifying Move in Sports Entertainment, the Spin-a-roonie! So your hosts are officially Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, and Booker T. I will say this, no matter how bad Booker T is (and believe me, I'm expecting nothing good here), he's STILL a step up from Striker.
Now because the show can't go five minutes without splitting my eardrums, here's Vickie Guerrero. She comes out with Dolph Ziggler, as Josh Matthews informs us that Teddy Long's recovery is not going well and gives us the prospect of Vickie as the permanent GM. Great. I'm sure she's talking about tonight's main event, but I've LONG since reached for the MUTE button.
Interruption comes from Kelly Kelly, so I guess they've finally come up with an idea as to why she was randomly thrown into this angle. Vickie promises humiliation for Kelly and assures her that she's taking the fall in tonight's main event. Kelly talks next. "You're the one that's trying to destroy my character." Oh, I'm not touching that one. That's just too easy. Kelly accuses Vickie of constantly butting into her life and going through her things. Kelly yells into the mic, because apparently SOMEONE'S telling everyone that VOLUME = ACTING! Dolph is next to yell into the mic and we get stills from his match with Edge. He also tells Kelly she'll be taking the fall before he sends her on her way. Kelly opts for a slap instead, which Dolph insanely oversells. She shoves Vickie down. LayCool run down to the ring and...yeah, THEY start yelling! Edge runs down next and didn't get the memo, because he's not yelling. Instead, he knocks Dolph down with a right hand. Edge and Kelly escape up the ramp, as Edge's music plays to end this awful opening segment.
Ad break - Speaking of awful, here's a Big Momma's House 3 commercial.
Your hosts are Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, and Booker T. Tonight's main event is Edge/Kelly Kelly vs. Dolph Ziggler/LayCool.
SANTINO MARELLA & VLADIMIR KOZLOV (w/TAMINA) v. HEATH SLATER & JUSTIN GABRIEL: NON-TITLE MATCH We take a look at last Monday, as Santino and Kozlov had just beaten Nexus. We see Randy Orton run in and punt Harris. I assume they showed us this segment because Santino and Kozlov were in it for about five seconds. Do The Corre guys have new music AGAIN?! They have more theme songs than shirt designs!
We start with Gabriel and Kozlov. Kozlov gets the better of a wrestling exchange. WOT? Gabriel rolls over and tags Slater. Kozlov hits Slater with a big shoulderblock. Santino is tagged in and he starts outwrestling Slater. Slater takes control with rights and stomps away. Slater works over Santino in the corner, but a Stinger Splash misses. Kozlov gets the tag and is a Russian house of fire. Powerslam gets 2 before Gabriel breaks it up. Santino tries to run in and gets dumped, before Kozlov dumps him. Slater gets the Death Drop DDT and tags out. Gabriel hits the Sternum-Crushing 450 Splash and that'll end this two-minute special.
WINNERS: Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel - Hoping this would go longer, but I suppose that's what the title match is for.
Ad break - Best of Raw 2010 DVD
WWE Golden Corral Smack of the Night - Kane and Alberto Del Rio have a miscue, ending with Kane wiping him out and taking a walk. Rey and Kofi follow up with their finishers.
KOFI KINGSTON v. DREW McINTYRE: ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH We start with the extended lock-up, ending with Kofi outwrestling McIntyre. Prolonged stall session leads to McIntyre rolling up Kofi for 2. McIntyre stomps away and hits a slam for 2. Leapfrog sequence leads to Kofi hitting a spinning elbow for 2. Kofi hits the armbar. McIntyre chucks Kofi down by the hair. McIntyre wants the corner charge, as they botch Kofi's high kick counter sequence. Ick. Kofi misses the frog crossbody, but lands on his feet and clotheslines McIntyre over. Kofi chases McIntyre to the announce table. Cole and Matthews scatter, but Booker keeps right on talking without missing a beat. Kofi charges, but McIntyre pancakes him onto the steel steps! That'll take us to our next ad break.
We come back with McIntyre hitting the armbar. Kofi fights out of it, but runs right into a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster, in ANOTHER new addition to the McIntyre moveset! That gets 2. Kofi gets whipped into the corner and wants a leapfrog, so McIntyre simply kicks him in the gut. That gets 2. McIntyre pounds away in the corner with clotheslines and puts Kofi down with a third one. Time to FRAME THE DROPKICK! That gets 2. McIntyre continues the offense, as Cole has COMPLETELY derailed the commentary again by getting everyone arguing about Jerry Lawler. I hate him so much sometimes. McIntyre pulls Kofi in for a clothesline, which is countered into a Tornado DDT. Both men are down, before Kofi covers for 2. Kofi hammers in the corner and hits the jumping clothesline. McIntyre's out of position, but Kofi hits the Buzzsaw Legdrop anyway. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM! McIntyre swats away Trouble In Paradise and ducks away. Suddenly, we get Ricardo Rodriguez on the Titantron. He welcomes in Alberto Del Rio, who winks and laughs at Kofi. Kofi gets distracted, like an idiot, which allows McIntyre to hit the Future Shock for the pin at 13 minutes shown.
WINNER: Drew McIntyre - A couple of botched spots were pretty glaring, but these two still had a decent match.
Later tonight, Edge and Kelly Kelly face Dolph Ziggler and LayCool. Ugh.
Here's a vignette for 2/21/11. What does it mean? Well...take a guess.
Ad break
REY MYSTERIO v. "THE ALL-AMERICAN AMERICAN" JACK SWAGGER: ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH Rey uses his speed and starts kicking Swagger around. Swagger gets rolled up for 2. Swagger wants a backdrop and gets kicked. Rey baits him in and lowbridges Swagger over the top rope. Here's another ad break!
We come back with Rey getting powered into the corner. Rey turns the tables quickly and hits shoulder thrusts. Announcers inform us that in addition to the four qualifying matches tonight, Edge and Dolph Ziggler have both been included, by virtue of being champion and #1 contender. Rey climbs the ropes and gets caught. Swagger tries to take Rey over, but Rey hits the bulldog for 2. Springboard crossbody gets 2. Rey leaps over Swagger and kicks him in the face. Seated dropkick sets up the 619, before Swagger rolls out. Rey wants a springboard moonsault, but Swagger trips him up. Swagger works over the knee and stretches Rey out. Back in, Swagger slams the knee down. Swagger slams Rey's knee into the steel ringpost. Here's a crawl for "The Chaperone" that no one asked for! Swagger works over Rey's knee in the corner and Rey slides out. Swagger follows and slams Rey's haed onto the announce table (Booker: "There goes the Red Bull.") and points to the Wrestlemania sign. Back in the ring, Swagger hits the running Vaderbomb for 2. Swagger grapevines the leg and elbows the knee. Big hiptoss from the corner. Running Vaderbomb misses. Rey climbs to the second rope and launches himself. Swagger catches him, as Mysterio turns it into a Tornado DDT for 2. Swagger charges in, but gets taken down into the 619 position. 619 gets turned into the anklelock! Rey rolls over, sending Swagger into the corner. Swagger reaches down for the leg again, but Rey kicks him in the face for the pin.
WINNER: Rey Mysterio - That ending was a bit sudden. Swagger seems to not like getting kicked in the face.
Your hosts are Josh Matthews, Booker T, and Michael Cole. Booker offers post-match analysis. Then they shoot it off to last Monday night's opening segment, ending with the KABONG to the arm.
Backstage, Edge talks about losing his title tonight. Kelly takes umbrage and compares Edge to Drew McIntyre. Even Edge doesn't grasp that logic, as Kelly storms off.
Ad break - Raw promo
Your hosts are Josh Matthews, Booker T, and Michael Cole. They talk about Miz/Lawler coming up at the PPV.
Hornswoggle and Rosa Mendes join us. They toss shirts to the crowd, before Ricardo Rodriguez joins us to introduce Alberto Del Rio. This week, Alberto Del Rio joins us in an alpine white 2010 BMW M6 convertible. Christian's pyro is cued up LATE! For shame! It's promo time!
"My name...my name is Alberto...Del Riooooooooooooo! But you already know that. And you also know that it was my destiny to win the biggest Royal Rumble match in history. Hey, hey, it's my destiny to go to Wrestlemania. And it's my destiny to be the new World Heavyweight Champion. Hey, hey, come on, come on, hey! I was planning to have my celebration later on, but when I saw my little amigito, I decide to come out right away. Because you see, it's not only that you're here in the ring with the future World Heavyweight Champion. I'm here because I got a present for you. Hey...you see that thing hanging above your head? In my country, we call that pinata. PI-NATA! And it's filled with candies...and toys...and every present all the goodness, all the goodness that I want to share with all my friends here in...uh...HERE..." Del Rio stops, because he realizes he doesn't know where he is. HA! Rodriguez whispers it in his ear. "HERE...HERE in New Jerseyyyyyy! Anyway, hey, are you ready? Are you ready for those candies? Those toys? They all for you! They all for youuuu! Ricardo, cover his eyes, please! It's ok. Candies. CAN-DY!" Rodriguez grabs a blindfold and wraps it over Hornswoggle. "Stick!" Rodriguez hands Hornswoggle the stick and spins him around. Hornswoggle starts swinging, but they haven't lowered the pinata down. "Parece un mendigo trol, este mugroso! Whoawhoawhoa, stop, stop, heyheyhey, ok, ok. Come on. Bring that pinata to this...thing...level."
The pinata gets lowered, but it's still not quite where Hornswoggle can reach it. He blindly swings and nails Del Rio in the gut! Oops! Hornswoggle thinks he got the pinata and reaches down for the candy, but of course, he missed. Del Rio does NOT miss, however, with a kick to the face! Del Rio takes the jacket off and goes for the mounted punches, before Kofi Kingston's music hits. Kofi rushes down and clotheslines Del Rio over. Kofi and Rosa check on Hornswoggle, before Rodriguez distracts Kofi. The distraction is all Del Rio needs to whack Kofi from behind. Del Rio breaks the stick over Kofi's back and hits him again. There's another whack. Del Rio applies the jujigatime, before the referee brigade breaks it up. Play Del Rio's music!
Later tonight, Edge and Kelly face Dolph and LayCool. Sigh...
Ad break
Your hosts are Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, and Booker T. Booker T confirms that HE will be a coach on Tough Enough this season! Now THAT'S a good reason to bring him back! Sweet! Wonder if they've got the same idea for Nash?
CHAVO GUERRERO v. KANE: ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH Chavo gets no entrance, because he's cannon fodder.
WINNER: Kane - Chokeslam, goodbye. To his credit, Chavo lasted 30 seconds longer than I thought he would and actually got some offense in!
Here's a trailer of The Chaperone. Once again, I don't get paid enough to watch crappy WWE Films trailers. (Or get paid at all, incidentally.)
Ad break
THE BIG SHOW v. WADE BARRETT (w/THE CORRE): ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH Show chases Barrett into the corner and hits a big corner chop. Here's a punch in the gut and another corner chop. SHHH! Barrett knows "SHHH!" means "Bollocks, I'm getting chopped again!", so he elbows his way out of the corner. Barrett hammers away and whips him in, but the whip is reversed. Show's right is ducked and Barrett hits a seated dropkick to the knee. Barrett pounds away in the corner, but Show keeps shoving him away. Barrett charges in and eats an elbow. Here's another corner chop. Whip into the corner leads to an old-fashioned ref bump. Show grabs for the chokeslam, but opts to toss Barrett at Slater to knock him off the apron. Show chases Gabriel off, but AGAIN turns around and walks into a Jackson lariat. That's three times he's done that now. Barrett covers, but you can't put Show away with a clothesline, so it gets 2. Barrett pulls Show up to his knees and hits a DDT and THAT will get the pin this time.
WINNER: Wade Barrett - Another short, two-minute special.
Post-match, Show tries to attack. He shoves Barrett over the top and knocks Slater and Gabriel down. He grabs Jackson for the chokeslam, but Slater and Gabriel come in with a double clip. Jackson bodyslams Show and makes it look easy! Jackson's so happy with himself that he asks for the mic. "The end has come. It has awakened AGAINST YOU!" The Corre pose to their newer, crappier music.
Coming up next...goddammit, let's just get this over with.
Ad break
Here's the 2/21/11 vignette again.
DOLPH ZIGGLER & LAYCOOL (w/VICKIE GUERRERO) v. "THE RATED R SUPERSTAR" EDGE & KELLY KELLY: WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Thank God that DEAN~! covered this, so I don't have to.
WINNERS: Edge and Kelly Kelly - There, it's over. That's all I have to say about that.
Post-match, Vickie grabs the mic again. She congratulates Kelly and fires her, while screaming a lot. And I mean A LOT! She turns around and books an Edge/Dolph Ziggler rematch with herself as the special ref. Dolph hits the Zig Zag as the exclamation point to end the show.
FINAL THOUGHT
Vickie Guerrero is not Vince McMahon. Edge is not "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This feud is REALLY not working for me and it's almost making me pine for the simpler, stupider days of Edge parading Paul Bearer around in a wheelchair. The really sad thing is, the gimmicks really aren't necessary, as all they do is take away from what SHOULD be a quality series of matches between Edge and Ziggler.
I'd imagine McIntyre turns Vickie Guerrero into his new Teddy Long until she hires Kelly back, but really, I'd be ok with Kelly on Raw. For one thing, it would mean not having to see her wrestle LayCool anymore.
Until next week.
(edited by It's False on 4.2.11 2117)
"Going up the stairs and going down the stairs and going up the stairs and going down the stairs! And going up the sideways stairs!"
I caught most of the show and 2 things stand out to me:
1. Booker was awful on commentary. I hope this is just setting up an angle, like when Punk was behind the desk (even though he was good). I love the guy, but this is not his strength. Maybe if he brought back his royal accent?
2. Why is the guy who just won the biggest RR ever now thrown into a feud with perennial mid carder Kofi? I would rather see him fight Rey for the 500th time. I thought ADR would probably lose to Edge at Mania anyway to give Edge a big Mania moment that did not involve flying off ladders or crashing through burning tables. But I thought they would at least make him look like a legit threat.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Originally posted by kentish1. Booker was awful on commentary. I hope this is just setting up an angle, like when Punk was behind the desk (even though he was good). I love the guy, but this is not his strength. Maybe if he brought back his royal accent?
MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Dave Lagana, and others on Twitter disagree. Apparently, Booker T used to hang out at the monitors backstage and provide hilarious commentary during shows. They're all excited they get to hear Booker as the new voice announcing Smackdown. I've suspected since NXT season 3 that Vince is no longer at Gorilla yelling expletives at the announcers, that Triple H took over that role. I've no way to confirm that suspicion, but otherwise, I hope Booker enjoys hearing the F word directed at him and screamed in his ear if Vince is still at Gorilla.
Originally posted by kentish2. Why is the guy who just won the biggest RR ever now thrown into a feud with perennial mid carder Kofi? I would rather see him fight Rey for the 500th time. I thought ADR would probably lose to Edge at Mania anyway to give Edge a big Mania moment that did not involve flying off ladders or crashing through burning tables. But I thought they would at least make him look like a legit threat.
Because it's 56 days and counting to WrestleMania and Alberto needs to kill the time somehow. He's done with Rey. He's got the guaranteed shot at the World Title. He doesn't have to go into the Elimination Chamber, but Edge does, and it's not a sure bet Edge is walking out of the Chamber with the title. So why feud with Edge now? Logically, he waits after the Chamber is over and then starts shit with the man he will eventually face in Atlanta. In the meantime, Kofi has the number two belt in the brand so why not mess with him? If he can walk into WrestleMania already Intercontinental Champion and then can win the World Title, well, that puts Alberto Del Rio in historic Ultimate Warrior-territory.
(edited by John Orquiola on 7.2.11 1042) @BackoftheHead
I believe Vince is still in the headsets for the major shows, but doesn't do it for the lesser ones. NXT quickly stopping being a major show. There was the story about HHH taking over that role (and I'd guess multiple people do have headsets and talk, so it's not 1 sole person), but that was only for a overseas trip Vince didn't travel for.
Originally posted by kentish1. Booker was awful on commentary. I hope this is just setting up an angle, like when Punk was behind the desk (even though he was good). I love the guy, but this is not his strength. Maybe if he brought back his royal accent?
MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Dave Lagana, and others on Twitter disagree. Apparently, Booker T used to hang out at the monitors backstage and provide hilarious commentary during shows. They're all excited they get to hear Booker as the new voice announcing Smackdown. I've suspected since NXT season 3 that Vince is no longer at Gorilla yelling expletives at the announcers, that Triple H took over that role. I've no way to confirm that suspicion, but otherwise, I hope Booker enjoys hearing the F word directed at him and screamed in his ear if Vince is still at Gorilla.
Originally posted by kentish2. Why is the guy who just won the biggest RR ever now thrown into a feud with perennial mid carder Kofi? I would rather see him fight Rey for the 500th time. I thought ADR would probably lose to Edge at Mania anyway to give Edge a big Mania moment that did not involve flying off ladders or crashing through burning tables. But I thought they would at least make him look like a legit threat.
Because it's 56 days and counting to WrestleMania and Alberto needs to kill the time somehow. He's done with Rey. He's got the guaranteed shot at the World Title. He doesn't have to go into the Elimination Chamber, but Edge does, and it's not a sure bet Edge is walking out of the Chamber with the title. So why feud with Edge now? Logically, he waits after the Chamber is over and then starts shit with the man he will eventually face in Atlanta. In the meantime, Kofi has the number two belt in the brand so why not mess with him? If he can walk into WrestleMania already Intercontinental Champion and then can win the World Title, well, that puts Alberto Del Rio in historic Ultimate Warrior-territory.
(edited by John Orquiola on 7.2.11 1042)
I don't mean that he should feud with Edge for 56 days, but feuding with a guy lower on the card than him (Kofi) doesn't seem like it will do him any favors. Hell, make him the ref for the EC match. If it is to simply put the IC belt on him, I guess I can live with it, even though that belt is almost worthless these days.
I am afraid it is part of a larger problem over the last few years. Any time it seems like they want to elevate a new guy, whether it be Sheamus, Miz, Swagger, or ADR, there seems to be a hesitance to job the top guys to the new guys, thus making it hard to accept the new guys as the real deal. Even the blow off with Rey had ADR winning a 2 out of 3 falls match by countout.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
The tag-team main event match could have been worse...
If this were WCW, there's a fairly good chance they would have added a stipulation that "whoever gets the pinfall, regardless of team, becomes the World Champion", in which case, The Diva With Two First Names would be the World Heavyweight Champion.
"I'm pleased that the imminent destruction of all organic life has improved your career opportunities." --Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Mass Effect
Fan of the Indianapolis Colts (Super Bowl XLI Champions), Indiana Pacers and Washington Nationals
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Well, North Carolina has three places that can hold a show, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh. I think South Carolina has 2, maybe three places for more shows, so they could do a 5 show southern swing whenever they want. -Jag
Thread rated: 7.70
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