4-20-12 Smackdown Results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the April 20, 2012 episode of Smackdown

The show starts with Daniel Bryan coming to the ring and says “Yes”. He says that Sheamus waited till Daniel was distracted and mentions that he did the same to Del Rio. He also mentions that he did it to him again last week. Then he says that at Extreme Rules he will not be distracted. He says that at Extreme Rules they return to the city where he sent shockwaves around the world when he won Money In The Bank. He says that in Chicago at Extreme Rules he plans on shocking the world once again. Then he says that he will beat Sheamus twice and it won’t a fluke win. He says that it will be undeniable that he should be World Champion. Then he says that he that he will out wrestle Sheamus. He says that Sheamus took the cowards way out and that 2/3 falls are to his (Daniel’s) advantage and that he will become World Champion. Then AJ comes out and Daniel tells her to turn around and go away. AJ asks if they can talk about their problems. Daniel says he got rid of his problem and that was her. Then AJ says that they can work this out and she wishes him luck at Extreme Rules. Then Daniel says that he wishes he never met AJ and he also wishes that she was never even born. Daniel then asks if there is any hope that he would take AJ back and he says no. Then he walks out as AJ cries a bit. This was a really good promo. Daniel Bryan is really amazing at being the jerky heel.

AJ vs. Natalya. Natalya wins by DQ when AJ pounds her in the corner and the referee calls for the bell. Before the match Natalya was trying to comfort AJ and then AJ lost it. This was more about furthering the AJ storyline than it was a match. AJ runs up the ramp all upset. Poor Natalya. I think AJ is good but why have Natalya be in the sacrificial lamb position?

Damien Sandow cuts a promo and does his usual “people are dumber today than they used to be” bit. Then he says that he will bring a new Era to WWE. Good promo. I’m liking this character.

Brodus Clay comes out for his match and tells the funkettes to get his “little brother”. Then Hornswoggle comes out in Brodus gear. This is so idiotic!

Brodus Clay vs. Hunico. Brodus gets the pin. Hornswoggle comes in and does the Brodus juggle and Hunico shoves him down. Camacho got on the apron but Brodus knocked him off. Then he hit the big splash for the pin. Afterward Hornswoggle gives Hunico the Tadpole Splash. This was terrible!

Teddy Long is backstage looking for Aksana and he runs into Darren Young & Titus O’Neil. They taunt him about no longer being GM. Then Johnny Ace comes by. Darren says that the fans want to see them. They taunt Long more and walk off. Then Johnny puts a British Guard Hat on Long’s head and tells him not to speak. This was idiotic!

Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton. Striker brings up Kane attacking Randy and his dad. Then they reshow the clip. Striker asks how Bob is. Randy says that he will be fine in time but he can’t say the same for Kane. Then he says that at Extreme Rules they will be in a Falls Count Anywhere match, He then says that Kane will find out how sick and twisted Randy can be. This was a good promo.

The Usos vs. Titus O’Neil & Darren Young. Titus & Darren win when Titus gets the pin. This was a solid match.

Time for the Raw Rebound. They recap the CM Punk-Chris Jericho storyline.

They show Big Show walking backstage as he heads to the ring for his match next.

Intercontinental Champion Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio. Alberto gets the pin after Cody Rhodes comes in. This was a solid match too. Afterwards Cody attacks Show for a bit and Show gets out of the ring. Then Show hints at going after Cody and Cody bails through the crowd.

They show Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre backstage about to watch the Ryback squash.

Ryback vs. Danny Lerman. Ryback gets the pin. This was a squash. I don’t get why they have the jobbers watching these squashes backstage. This was dumb the first go round and it still is idiotic!

They show the Brock Lesnar video promo from Monday. Now that I’ve seen this a second time I thought this was a really good video.

They show Teddy Long in the British guard uniform. Then William Regal comes by and taunt Long a bit. Then Aksana’ music hits and she comes in with Antonio Cesaro. She flaunts herself all over Cesaro. They go into Johnny Ace’s office. Then Ace taunts Long again. This was dumb.

The main event match was supposed to be Sheamus, Randy Orton & Great Khali vs. Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Mark Henry but Cody Rhodes attacked Khali’s leg. Referees and medics check on Khali. They assist Khali to the back. Then Big Show came out to take Khali’s place.

Sheamus, Randy Orton & Intercontinental Champion Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry & Cody Rhodes. Sheamus, Randy & Big Show win when Randy pins Henry. This was a good match. The faces celebrate their win to end the show.

I thought this was a mixed bag show overall. Daniel Bryan’s promo at the start was really good. He knows how to be a heel. AJ was good too. Her match with Natalya wasn’t much but I liked that she flipped. I just wish it wasn’t Natalya that was on the receiving end of this. But I think this new gimmick for AJ could be good if they book it right. I liked the main event match too. I thought that they all worked hard. Having Big Show be the guy to take the beating was different since it’s usually the big guy that gets the hot tag and cleans house. I like that it took 3 finishers to beat Mark Henry too. The rest of the show had its ups and downs of course. I wasn’t into Teddy Long being in the British guard uniform and having him be taunted. Ryback had another squash. Not much to say about that. Big Show & Alberto Del Rio had a solid match too. It looks like they’ll be continuing the Big Show-Cody Rhodes angle. The Usos vs. Titus O’Neil & Darren Young was solid too. It’s too bad the Usos have been regulated to being job guys but they had a decent match. Brodus Clay-Hunico was the usual Brodus squash. The bit with Hornswoggle dressed in the Brodus get up was idiotic! Randy Orton’s promo backstage about his match with Kane at Extreme Rules was good too. I thought they the Antonio Cesaro debut wasn’t booked right. He didn’t really say much. Having him & Aksana walk by Teddy Long was stupid. Hopefully they’ll use better going forward. The promo from Damien Sandow was good too and I’m looking forward to seeing his debut. On the whole I thought that this was a mediocre show.