7-3-12 Live Great American Bash Smackdown results and thoughts

 Coverage and thoughts on the July 3, 2012 Live Great American Bash episode of Smackdown

The show starts with a lot of talent in red white and blue get up. Then Teddy Long comes in with a cooking apron. He says he has found a volunteer to clean up any mess. That person is Eve. Then Santino says as U.S. Champion he will kick off the festivities with a BBQ. Then Kane comes in and the grill catches fire. This was really idiotic!

Alberto Del Rio comes to the ring. He says that tonight he isn’t here to celebrate America. He’s here to talk about something more important, himself. He mentions that he finally got his singles title match with Sheamus. He says that he will send Sheamus crying. Then he says the fans like Sheamus because he is a common peasant just like they are. He says he came to this country legally. He says he made a lot of money in Mexico and is making a lot of money here. He says the fans make him sick. Then he says that after MITB Sheamus is going back to where he belongs. Then he says he wants to do the same to the fans. Then he tells Ricardo he’s gonna start right now. Then he tells the fans to show him their papers. Del Rio tells security to get a fan out of there. The fan says that this is Texas. Then Sheamus comes out and they brawl. Ricardo jumps onto Sheamus but Sheamus throws him off. Sheamus continues to pound on Alberto. He goes after Ricardo again and then Del Rio gives Sheamus a round house kick. Then Ricardo lifts the hood of Del Rio’s car up. Then Del Rio repeatedly slams the hood lid on Sheamus. This was awful. The whole illegal immigration promo was completely useless! The Sheamus-Del Rio brawl was ok though.

Back to the show and Sheamus is on his feet. He’s bleeding a bit from the forehead and medics help him to the back.

Great Khali & Divas Champion Layla vs. Antonio Cesaro & Aksana. Khali & Layla win when Layla pins Aksana. This was a waste.

Teddy Long runs into Cody Rhodes backstage. Cody says that the board accepted his appeal and he will be in another MITB qualifier. Long says that he has picked Cody’s opponent for tonight. Long tells Cody that he will face Christian. This was a decent bit.

Intercontinental Champion Christian vs. Cody Rhodes. If Cody wins, he will qualify for the MITB ladder match. Cody gets the pin. This was a really good back and forth match.

Back to the 4^th of July bash. Zack Ryder asks Teddy Long if he can be DJ. Then Heath Slater comes in and says he will be the entertainer. Then he sings his theme song and they throw stuff at him. Then Brodus Clay and the funkettes come in. UGH! This was terrible!

Alex Riley vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. Dolph gets the pin. This was a decent but short match.

Michael Cole is in the ring and he brings out AJ. Cole says that he has interviewed her before and that he has been fair and balanced. Unlike her. He says he will give her a chance to explain what happened last night on Raw. Then the show a video package recapping last night. Then Cole asks what was she thinking. AJ says that a lot of people have asked her that. Then Cole says that she wasn’t thinking. He says that the board made a mistake naming her the guest referee. Cole calls her a troubled little girl. He says that she’s delusional and living out a tug of war fantasy and that he doesn’t know what she sees in Punk or Daniel. He asks if she ever thought about pursuing a real man with power and influence. Meaning himself. Cole says AJ can have all of him. Then Daniel Bryan comes to the ring and says that Cole is a sexist and an emotionally abusive bully. Daniel says that Cole put his own spin on this story. Then Daniel says this story isn’t about Cole. Then he says that he knows AJ really well. He says that he knows she’s taking the job as referee seriously and that she will do a great job. Then he says that he knows she only wanted Punk to go through the table. He forgives her and than CM punk’s music hits and he comes to the ring. Punk tells Cole to get out of the ring. Cole says this is his interview. Punk tells him to get out now. Then Punk tells AJ that he & Daniel were affected by her actions. He says that he isn’t going to act like it never happened. He says that he will be honest with AJ. He says he is worried about her. He says that she isn’t in a good place mentally. Then he says that should’ve mentioned it sooner. He says that she needs professional help. Then Punk says that he isn’t going to give her the run around. He says that she is a sweet girl. Then Daniel says that Punk doesn’t care about AJ, he does. Daniel says that Punk only cares about AJ being the referee because Punk needs her to beat him. Then AJ kisses Daniel. Punk leaves the ring. Then AJ goes outside the ring and kisses Punk too. Then she skips up the ramp and does the yes chant. Both Punk & Daniel have confused looks. This was a good segment. Cole was Cole but I liked the rest. AJ works really well with both Punk & Daniel. They’ve really been doing a good job with this angle.

Santino Marella comes to the ring and introduces his 2 partners for the 6 man tag. Sgt. Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

U.S. Champion Santino Marella, Sgt. Slaughter & Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Hunico, Camacho & Drew McIntyre. Santino, Slaughter & Hacksaw win when Santino pins Hunico. This wasn’t much but it was cool to see Sgt. Slaughter & Hacksaw.

Back to the crappy 4^th of July BBQ. R-Truth & Teddy Long talk about “Little Jimmy.” Then Damien Sandow comes in and says that this isn’t what the founding fathers had in mind. He says WWE is a reflection of society. Ryder tells him to split. Then Ryder & Sandow go at it. Ryder gets the punch bowel. Sandow ducks and the punch goes on Eve. More idiocy!!

Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins are in the ring. Reks says that Hawkins can beat Ryback. He says he can beat Ryback. Then he says that they flipped a coin Hawkins will face him.

Ryback vs. Curt Hawkins. Ryback gets the pin. This was a squash.

They re show Del Rio slamming the hood onto Sheamus and Josh Mathews mentions that because of the attack Sheamus won’t be in the Battle Royal.

Teddy Long comes out and thanks the Board of Directors and the fans. He doesn’t know if he will be regular GM. He does know that he’s had a blast tonight and he thanks the fans. Then he says it’s time for the Great American Bash Battle Royal.

20 Man Battle Royal to see who will be GM next week. Zack Ryder wins. This was good. I like Battle Royals usually so I enjoyed this. It came down Ryder & Kane at the end. Ryder celebrates in the ring to end the show.

Participants: 1. Alberto Del Rio 2. Kane 3. Jack Swagger 4. John Cena 5. Tensai 6. Christian 7. CM Punk 8. Ezekiel Jackson 9. Daniel Bryan 10. Brodus Clay 11. Big Show 12. Damien Sandow 13. Heath Slater 14. Cody Rhodes 15. Justin Gabriel 16. Santino Marella 17. Great Khali 18. Dolph Ziggler 19. Zack Ryder 20. Kofi Kingston

I thought this was a hit and miss show on the whole. The backstage 4^th of July segment were crap! The less said about those the better. The Battle Royal was entertaining. I had a feeling Ryder would win. Christian-Cody was really good too. I knew they were gonna have Cody be in MITB. The Punk-Daniel-AJ-Cole segment. Was good too. Punk & Bryan are really amazing in their roles and AJ is good too. Ryback-Hawkins was a squash but at least Ryback fought a regular roster guy. The 6 man tag wasn’t much but I liked seeing Sgt. Slaughter & Hacksaw. Alex Riley-Dolph Ziggler was short. Of course Dolph winning was no surprise. The mixed tag was a waste. The Del Rio segment wasn’t too great either. The whole illegal immigration promo was idiotic. The brawl with Sheamus was ok though. Over all I thought this was a mixed bag show.