Aaron's UnReal Time Smackdown Review: Daniel Bryan Wins The World Title And Contendership To The World Title In The Same Night
By Aaron Wood Nov 25, 2011 - 4:45 PM
TweetWell,
we're heading into the 2011 home straight, as we are now, including
this week, just six Smackdowns away from 2012. And six episodes left
means that it's time for my second annual "Aaron's Top 30 Songs
Of The Year As Collated By iTunes Plays" countdown, going 5
songs a week, this week from 30 to 26.
Hope
you all had an awesome Thanksgiving. I know I made myself a rocking
"Thanksgiving dinner", as you may have seen from the
picture on my Facebook. The maple-roasted sweet potato strips were
rather over done, but only at the ends. Just snapped off those
particular bits of charcoal and we were good. It's weeks like these
where I truly wish I was American. In the sense you have this
holiday and today, of course, is Black Friday. Sure it's a notion
that kinda works over here too these days, particularly online, but
still...
LAST
WEEK ON SMACKDOWN: Daniel Bryan became Big Show's fallen
war buddy, Batemax escaped from Tuesdays only to find they'd probably
have been better off staying, the chicks got busted, Ziggler joined a
sort of mile high club and Christian's crutch proved to be really
brittle...
THIS
WEEK... We
opened with a recap package featuring shots of the Survivor Series
match between Mark Henry & Big Show, noting that Big Show took
out Henry's leg after Mark got himself DQ'ed. The voiceover dude
asked what was next for the two of them and the World Title. What
indeed???
The
promo before "the storm"... We
cold opened from there to Mark Henry coming out, using a crutch and
with his left leg in a walking boot. Cole was aghast at Big Show's
actions, unable to comprehend someone trying to break a leg. Indeed,
Henry was agog that the people seemed happy to see him in pain! What
sort of people are y'all? Who does this shit? The champion didn't
deserve this sort of treatment! He told Show that he was there hurt,
but he wasn't broken. Everyone was revelling in the injury because
we all wished we could have done it to him ourselves. Henry said he
kicked Show in the knee, but Show acted like he was kicked in his
"private spot" to make Henry look bad. So really, Mark,
what you're saying is...
Henry
said he was out there to set an example for all the kids who watch
him, to show them that a champion fights through pain and injuries.
However, he noted that Teddy Long and the doctors wouldn't actually
clear him to wrestle this week. MAKE A NOTE OF THIS FOR...OOH...TWO
PARAGRAPHS TIME... He said he wasn't just the World's Strongest Man,
but the World's Toughest as well.
Big
Show came out. Henry was all "Oh bugger...". Show was
wearing a leather jacket with a hood that I desperately want. I'd
think we're about the same size... He told Henry to stop lying about
getting himself DQ'ed so he could keep the title. You know where and
why you kicked him in the nuts. You could feel the title slipping
away. As far as Henry's ankle went, he did to Henry what Henry did
to Show. Show began to suggest what would happen next time, but
Henry cut in saying there wouldn't be a next time, because Show was
the World's Largest Loser. Show pondered this a moment...and then
laid out Henry with a WMD. Henry's bump for this was awesome. Big
Show left as we saw replays of it.
However,
once we saw replays, Daniel Bryan's music hit and he came running
down to the ring with Charles Robinson in tow...
Daniel
Bryan def. Mark Henry in a "The Storm" match to win the WWE
World Title As
Cole screamed this wasn't Wrestlemania, and also without Chucky R
making sure Henry was conscious to compete, Bryan make the herculean
effort to roll Henry onto his back and made a cover for the three
count.
Jericho'd As
the place went batshit insane for the title change and as Bryan
celebrated (and as Cole will now, forever and correctly, refer to
Bryan as a hypocrite), Teddy Long came out at speed. However, he
wasn't there to Thug & Bug with the new champion. He was there
to to do the opposite, actually. Hang on a second! The now-gassed
Long had to inform Daniel that Mark was right, he wasn't cleared to
compete, so there couldn't be an official match. You aren't the
World Champion (Cole loses his mind in joy).
Daniel
took a longing look at the belt and handed the title back to Long,
who passed it back to Henry. However, Bryan was getting his MITB
case back again. There wasn't a match, then he never cashed it in.
And he was also to give Bryan another shot at a title match, by
putting him in the main event for a shot at Henry in a Fatal Four Way
with Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett & Randy Orton. The winner would
face Bryan next TUESDAY on a live "holiday" edition of
Smackdown. You'd think that this show here coming one day after the
holiday should be the holiday edition. They have Thanksgiving themed
graphics here and stuff. Unless, they're celebrating St. Andrews
Day, the national holiday of Scotland, the day after the live
Smackdown.
30:
Coldplay - "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"
Hunico
def. Justin Gabriel in a "I bet for Hunico, not being Sin Cara
ain't so bad now..." match As
Gabriel came out, Josh noted that the winner of the winner of next
week's title match would face Big Show at TLC. However, out of
nowhere, since Teddy didn't announce it as such, Josh said next
week's "steel cage match". Once again, Hunico came out on
his own, so I guess he's too good for Epico and Primo already...
The
pair exchanged wrist locks, but Huncio took control with a
clothesline. He sent Gabriel out before suplexing him back in for a
2 count. Cole was still talking smack about Daniel Bryan's reversed
title win. After escaping a chinlock, Gabriel took a swing, but
Hunico ducked it and hit the Angle Slam and a leg drop for a 2 count.
He locked on another chinlock, but as Gabriel got out of it, Justin
was whipped hard into the corner. Hunico hit the slingshot boots in
the corner. Gabriel hit a headscissors sending Hunico out and then
hit a corkscrew dive.
Back
in the ring, he picked up a 2 count. Gabriel scored with a kick to
the back of the head and a top-rope quebrada for a 2 count. Gabriel
put Huncio up top and looked for a back suplex, but Hunico elbowed
Gabriel down and hit the Swanton Bomb for the victory. They showed
down the replay and pointed out that Hunico had bit Gabriel's eyebrow
which allowed him to elbow Justin down.
Back
from break, we went to a video regarding the recent European tour and
their various activities while in the various countries. Most of the
cities talked about were in England funnily enough...
Beth
Phoenix & Natalya def. AJ & Kaitlyn in a "Sorry AJ, but
I'll always be Team Kaitlyn..." match We
returned to see Alicia Fox at ringside for commentary before the
teams came out. Alicia said Beth had more muscles than Mason Ryan,
but she wasn't unstoppable. As AJ & Kaitlyn came out, everyone
started talking about what great friends AJ & Kaitlyn are. This,
in the trade, is what we call "an anvil". Natalya and
Kaitlyn started things off, as she avoided a corner charge of
Natties, before taking her to their corner and tagging AJ in.
AJ
hit a headscissors that sent Natalya into the ropes and then turned a
wheelbarrow into a roll up for 2. However, Natalya slammed AJ down
by her hair and immediately locked on the sharpshooter, to which AJ
IMMEDIATELY tapped out. Kaitlyn stood over AJ, said something and
left. This left Beth & Nattie to get time themselves some "Cry
Time", a phrase that sounded so much like "Cryme Tyme"
I expected to hear "BROOKLYN!" there and then.
But
no, AJ was put in the sharpshooter that Natalya did the bridge back
on as Beth put the mic in AJ's face. Alicia decided she'd seen
enough and got int he ring, which backed Beth & Nattie off.
29:
Mona - "Shooting The Moon"
We
returned to seeing the initial promo for Kane's return that aired on
RAW. Some are wondering if Kane comes back in the mask. I don't
think so. Why would we see it being burned otherwise? I think the
mask is featured in the video purely so we know with complete
certainty that the video is for Kane, and not, say, Hornswoggle.
We
went backstage to see Teddy on the phone to someone. Long said not
only would we have the title match (no mention of a cage) but that
the show was going to be "hosted" by Mick Foley, to the
apparent surprise of the person on the other end, as Teddy confirmed
Mick would definitely be there.
Anyway,
Aksana made her full entrance into the room. However, before she got
too far into Teddy, Henry barged in the office, pissed at what
happened earlier and the live Smackdown show. Henry claimed he was
injured, despite Long's assertion the doctor's said he'd be fine.
Henry's attitude of someone all "come on man, gimme a break!"
was truly awesome here. Then Long dropped the bombshell. The title
match would be inside a steel cage. Henry got annoyed,told Long he'd
get his.
In
the locker room, we saw Ryder beating Ziggler on WWE 12. Sheamus
came in and they talked about Ryder's petition. Ryder said that
after he'd win the title, they could go out clubbing. He started
singing what in his head was a techno version of Sheamus's theme
(giving it some incredibly homo-erotic lyrics). Sheamus stared him
down, but then laughed it off and pointed out the lyrics to his song.
Sheamus then said they'd go out once they'd kicked Dolph &
Jack's arses.
Sheamus
& Zack Ryder def. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger in a "I
wonder how much more Ryder needs to get a damn match now..."
match The
heels came out before the break, but after the ads, Vickie got on the
mic to tell the people to respect and admire Dolph for winning twice
at Survivor Series. Dolph took the mic and said that the people had
to worry about double chins and double mortgages, not being double
victorious. That was him making history. #HEEL. Yeah, he said
"Hashtag Heel". And indeed, I note "#HEEL" is
now on Dolph's ass. It honestly amazes me that Dolph gets away with
using such an insider term in public and he's not buried for it.
Sheamus
& Dolph started off, with the Irishman taking Ziggler into the
ropes. Ziggler got out of a side headlock and hit a dropkick before
showing off with some amateur wrestling lunges. However, Sheamus hit
a side headlock takeover. Ziggler got out, but Sheamus avoided a
dropkick and hit a fall away Slam. However, it was over by Swagger
and he tagged in. Josh continued to have an odd night as he
mentioned Swagger was a 2-time world champion. Only if you count the
ECW Title... Sheamus quickly took control, with headbutts and then
the clubbing blows in the ropes. Swagger was sent out, quickly
followed by Ziggler, which allowed Zack to hit a slingshot front flip
onto the pair of them as we took another break.
28:
Moby - "Be The One"
We
came back to see Ryder ducking clotheslines to hit a jumping one of
his own on Swagger. Sheamus tagged in and Swagger was whipping into
a slingshot Battering Ram for a 2 count. However, it was then
Swagger turn to duck a clothesline, as he did so and then took out
Sheamus's leg. He knocked Sheamus down again before tagging in
Ziggler, who worked over Sheamus some more before tagging Swagger
back in.
Swagger
hit a scoop slam before going for the Swagger Bomb, but Sheamus got
the knees up and then a clothesline. He made the tag to Ryder, who
went to work on Swagger. He got the knees up on a charge in the
corner before hitting the Broski Boot. Vickie got on the apron for
distraction, which allowed Swagger to slip out. Then on the outside,
Ziggler was knocked down by Zack, only to take a big clothesline by
Swagger.
This
allowed Team #HEEL to take control of Ryder. Ryder hit the leaping
elbow for a 2 count after preventing Ryder from making a tag. Ryder
got up and out of a chinlock, but Ziggler hit a neckbreaker and
kipped up out of it to piss off the crowd good and proper. Swagger
tagged back in, but Ryder tried to fight back in the opposition
corner. The heels however hit the double-team Fameasser for a 2
count that Sheamus broke. Swagger hit the Swagger Bomb on Ryder, but
only picked up a 2 count. Mr. Ziggles tagged in. While Ryder caught
Dolph with an inside cradle for 2, Ziggler immediately hit a dropkick
for a 2 count.
Swagger
tagged back in after Ziggler prevented a tag to Sheamus. Ryder tried
to jump over to Sheamus and got fingertips away, but Swagger managed
to stop him. He put Ryder up top, but Zack caught him with a tornado
DDT. This finally allowed Ryder to make the tag to Sheamus as
Ziggler came in too. Sheamus was the proverbial "casa de
fuego". Swagger broke up the Celtic Cross, but Sheamus hit the
Brogue Kick, knocking Swagger down and out of the ring. Ryder had
tagged himself in and as Sheamus blocked the ZigZag, this setup Ryder
to hit the Rough Ryder to pin the US Champion once again. A really
good, really long match.
In
the back, we saw Daniel Bryan and AJ as Daniel waxed lyrical on his
non-title win. She said he could do it. Wade walked in and said
Bryan would get another chance, but not tonight. Have you seen what
the Barrett Barrage has accomplished. AJ was all "Who cares?"
Wade wondered if Bryan was getting 14 year old girls to fight his
battles for him. Daniel got annoyed and pointed out that for all his
talk, Wade had won the same number of titles as he had. Zero. He
wasn't intimidated by Henry and he wasn't intimidated by Wade. Wade
left. AJ wsihed him luck and kissed him on the cheek before leaving.
The Bella Twins...Gail Kim...AJ... Bryan's a friggin' player...
27:
Shirley Manson & Serj Tankian - "The Hunger"
Ted
DiBiase def. Heath Slater in a "Well, I guess Heath Slater isn't
the "It Begins" guy..." match After
both men came out, but before the match began, Jinder Mahal appeared
on the TitanTron and riled against Ted DiBiase for neglecting his
wealth and position to hang out with the proletariat. OK, my words,
not Jinder's. Like he'd know "proletariat". This
distraction allowed Slater to get the drop on DiBiase, but Ted made a
quick comeback with a dropkick and head rams in the corner. A suplex
picked up a 2 count. Slater blocked a shot and sent Ted through the
corner into the ring post, looking to work over the shoulder and arm,
hitting armbar takedowns. Ted eventually worked his way out of a
hold and started a comeback, picked up a 2 count off a flying
forearm. Slater kicked at a leg, but DiBiase hit the misdirection
clothesline and then DreamStreet for the win.
Ted
then did the Tebow in celebration. He'll be planking after wins
next...
We
came back from break to see a replay from RAW as Cody Rhodes tossed
water in Booker's face, as Cole cackled. They sent it backstage to
Matt Striker with Cody Rhodes, who was asked to explain himself. He
said people think he threw water in the face of a six-time world
champion and king of the ring. But no, he's just a lowly
commentator. He looked over and saw the disparaging and mocking
look on Booker's face on Monday. Without the mask, he was free.
Free to get revenge on Orton. Free to defend the IC Title. Free to
win the main event and win the World Title. The world was his
oyster. He could do anything he wanted. As a certain
mentally-limited commentator might say, he could dig that, sucka.
26:
The Lonely Island (Feat. Michael Bolton) - "Jack
Sparrow"
Daniel
Bryan def. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton in a "Before
you whine, MITB holders have had other title shots before..."
Fatal Four Way match to win a title shot next week Th
four paired off with Wade & Orton worked each other in one corner
and Cody & Bryan in the other before it spilled outside. In the
ring, Orton scored with a clothesline coming out of a whip into the
corner. Orton stomped the arm before hitting a knee drop for a 2
count. Wade escaped the ring while Cody tried to sneak in. He took
a dropkick from Orton before Bryan hit one in the corner, sending
Cody out. This left Orton & Bryan, which the crowd seemed to
like the idea of. However, before they could lock up, we took an ad
break.
And
when we came back, the heels were in control of things. Wade and
Orton headed outside, where Randy was sent into the steel steps. The
Survivor Series survivors then went to work on Daniel Bryan 2 on 1.
Orton got up and hung Wade on the top rope before working over both
men as DanBry slipped out. However, after stomping on Cody, Wade
caught Orton with a kick. Cody then hit a Side Russian Legsweep
before the pair worked over Orton. However, Bryan then reappeared
and hit a missile dropkick off the top on Wade before working over
Cody. He put Cody on top, but Wade cut him off and they hit a
Doomsday Device on Daniel. Wade went for a pin, but Cody broke it up
and sent Barrett through the corner into the ring post.
After
out final break, Orton was in control of Cody, but not for long as
Wade jumped in. They went back and forth until Orton was tangled in
the ropes for the knees to the head and big boot. He then caught a
running Bryan with the black hole slam for a 2 count that Cody broke
up. Rhodes hit Bryan with the Beautiful Disaster after dumping Wade
out. However, he charged and was elevated out by Bryan. Bryan then
ducked a Wade clothesline and hit Cody with a suicide dive. Orton
came back in and hit the powerslam on Wade before clotheslining Cody
back out. Orton hit Barrett with his backbreaker, but Bryan broke up
the pin and hit a kick to the head. Cody broke up the pin and
dropped Bryan on the top rope, sending him outside.
Rhodes
worked over Orton. He hit a Gordbuster before heading up top.
However, Orton crotched him and hit a shot before hitting a superplex
off the top rope. Amazed that in a multi-man match they didn't do a
Tower of Doom. Orton however, had no sooner turned over than Wade
punted Orton in the ribs. Wade went for a pin on Cody, but Bryan
broke it up with a diving headbutt. All three were down as Orton got
in the ring. He tossed Wade and Cody before tossing Bryan to the
apron for the Elevated DDT. Orton set for the RKO, but Barrett
pulled him out of the ring and hit a DDT on the floor. Cody tried to
pick up the scraps, but at 2, Bryan flipped round and locked on the
LeBell Lock to pick up the submission victory!
After
a replay, Cody attacked Bryan from behind, stomping away on him,
saying it was his. However, Orton slid in from behind and hit the
RKO to make the save. He nodded in Bryan's direction before leaving,
allowing Bryan to celebrate properly as the announcers plugged next
TUESDAY'S show. New job starts on Thursday, so I'll have that
covered...
OVERALL
- Despite really positive reviews elsewhere, I've not really felt
energised by recent episodes of this show in the same way. I REALLY
enjoyed this week's show. A really good opening segment for me. I
know there are going to be those who get oh-so incredibly pissy about
yanking the title win from under Bryan or that they wasted the
first-time win pop (that holds some water but still...) and that Cole
gets to crow about Bryan being a hypocrite and be right about it and
all the rest of it, but I thought it was fun, and entirely logical in
how it was pulled back. Henry himself said he wasn't allowed to
compete, so it wasn't like it wasn't forewarned that anything he did
wouldn't count.
Plus,
there were some after last week thought Bryan was "buried"
and all that usual horseshit about an IWC favourite. Even thought it
ended up being waved off, do you think they'd do that with a guy they
intended on burying? Not me. That said, with Bryan locked in a
steel cage against Henry next week, and given that we are to believe
it will be Big Show vs. Henry in a chairs match at the TLC PPV
(although for the full visual spectacular, it should be TLC itself) I
do suspect that next week will ultimately be a vehicle for Henry
throwing a smaller guy around a cage like a rag doll while Big Show
can't help.
Indeed,
speaking of the match Bryan won the other title shot in, that was a
fun main event, but multi-man matches often are. They didn't do too
much of heel vs. heel and face vs. face, but with the numbers, they
didn't need to and it kept moving along. The tag match at the top of
the hour went a shade too long for my tastes, but that said, it was
really well worked and a lot of fun.
So
yeah, all in all, not only did I like this week's show, but it was
really into it. You
can contact Aaron via his personal
Facebook or the WWI
Fan Page. All he asks is that if you do "friend"
him personally that you write a little note noting that you read the
reviews.
