3-22-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the March 22, 2013 episode of Smackdown

The show starts with The Miz, Randy Orton & Sheamus in the ring for the most must see talk show in WWE history (Miz’s words not mine) Miz TV. After he introduces his 2 guests he says that their world has been turned upside down. By orders of Teddy Long & Vickie Guerrero Ryback is no longer their partner at WrestleMania (That was a weak way to get Ryback out of the match by the way). So the question is who will be their new partner when they face The Shield at WrestleMania? Orton’s choice is the same guy who came to the ring Monday night on Raw and helped him & Sheamus when The Shield was about to pounce on them yet again. That man is the Big Show. Miz then asks Sheamus if that’s his choice too. Sheamus says that if Big Show hadn’t come out Monday then he & Orton probably would’ve gotten their “arses” handed to them by The Shield. As far as Big Show being their partner, he has discussed this with Orton. Sheamus doesn’t trust Big Show. Orton doesn’t trust him either but Orton doesn’t trust anybody. Sometimes you gotta do whatever it takes just to survive. The Shield has beaten everyone they have faced & Big Show needs Orton & Sheamus just as much as they need him. What Orton knows is that at WrestleMania he wants Big Show on his side. Miz says rather than talk about Big Show how about they bring him out. Out comes Big Show. Miz says he thinks that Big Show can agree with Sheamus’ issues of mistrust. Miz was Big Show’s tag team partner& the way Show ended that team was by knocking Miz out. Miz can’t speak for Orton & Sheamus but Miz trusts Show about as far as he can throw him. Big Show tells Miz that might mean something if Miz’s opinion actually mattered to him. Show tells Miz not to be confused by being out here with Orton & Sheamus. He’s dated women bigger than Miz & tells Miz to zip his lip. Big Show then says that as far as Orton & Sheamus are concerned he’s been able to do what they haven’t and that’s knocking out one of the members of The Shield. They don’t have to like each other. Big Show can’t stand either one of them personally but if they work together no one not even The Shield can stop them. Sheamus says it’s no secret that he & Big Show have been to war against each other. Big Show says that’s true. Sheamus says they’ve literally beaten the life out of each other in this ring. Sheamus says there’s no doubt that Big Show is 1 of the toughest opponents that he has ever faced. Big Show says, “Likewise with you.” Sheamus then says that Big Show is also 1 of the most devious. How does Sheamus know that when the going gets tough in there that Big Show isn’t gonna leave the 2 of them hanging? Sheamus doesn’t trust Big Show. Big Show says that if all he did was run then he wouldn’t have beaten Sheamus for the World Title. Orton then says they need to work together here & they need to get along. Then Miz says really a few times and says that Orton is the voice of reason of this group. What has this world come to? Sheamus says this is not gonna work. Show says this will work if Sheamus pulls his head out of his…Cue Booker T’s music & out he comes. Booker T needs to know if they can co exist. He needs to know of they can find a way to get along. We’ll find out because Big Show, Orton & Sheamus will team up in a 6 man tag main event tonight. This was the typical “Start Smackdown with a long promo and have Booker T set up a main event match” segment that starts the show. They hadn’t done that in a couple of weeks. Too bad they went back to it this week.

Zack Ryder vs. Mark Henry. Henry gets the pin. This was a squash. Then Henry gives Ryder to World’s strongest slams and then shouts at Ryder, “How many can you take?” Then Feed me more hits & Ryback comes to the ring. They have a stare down. Henry shouts that he calls the shot & Ryback is nothing. Then they get set to go at it & Ryback clotheslines Henry t the mat. Then Henry rolls out of the ring as Ryback & the fans say feed me more. Then Henry points to the WrestleMania sign as he heads up the ramp. This was decent.

Booker T is in the GM office. Teddy Long comes in & asks Booker if he is proud of him. Long says that he took it upon himself after consulting with Vickie & he made the Ryback-Mar Henry match for WrestleMania. Long asks Booker what he thinks about that. Booker likes the match but what he doesn’t like is the way Long handled his business. Booker tells Long that he works for him, not Vickie. Long says he thought he worked with Booker, not for him. This was lame.

Time for the Booker T Hall of Fame video package. This was well put together.

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler. Dolph gets the pin. This was a solid match but why have Dolph beat Kofi twice in the same week. AJ was also on commentary. Kofi dove onto Big E on the outside, and then Dolph gave Kofi the famasser. Then he rolled him back in the ring & hit the Zig Zag for the pin. Then Big E gives Kofi the Big End.

They reshow the Chris Jericho-Fandango bit from Monday.

Time for a look back at the awful Taker-Punk segment from Raw.

Orton, Sheamus & Big Show are arguing in the locker room. Sheamus says Big Show has to earn his trust and to follow his lead. Big Show flips and says he’s not standing on the apron. Big Show tells Sheamus to follow his lead. Sheamus asks if Big Show will be the brains of the operation. Big Show says he’s been doing this longer than Sheamus has. Then Orton says that if they don’t pull it together & get along this won’t work. They will be sitting ducks for The Shield. He tells them to think about it and then walks off.

They reshow Jack Swagger “breaking” Ricardo’s ankle from Monday.

Jack Swagger & Zeb Coulter are in the ring. Swagger welcomes his fellow Americans to Jack Swagger’s America. Then Zeb says that it’s a beautiful day in Jack Swagger’s America & what happened Monday on Raw to Ricardo was unfortunate but necessary. That’s nothing compared to what’s gonna happen to Alberto at WrestleMania. In Jack Swagger’s America if bones need to be broken bones will be broken. What Jack did to Ricardo should be a wake up call not only to Del Rio but to everyone who disagrees with what Jack & Zeb say. That includes Jack’s opponent for tonight, Chris Jericho. Then Swagger says, “We the People” a few times and then Jericho’s pyro goes off & he comes out.       

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger. Swagger gets the pin when Fandango distracts Jericho. They did the “Fandango’s music playing and Jericho gets distracted” bit that WWE always likes to do. Zeb Coulter got on the apron and distracted the referee. Jericho was going for the Lion Sault but Fandango gave him a round house kick. Then Swagger hit the Vader bomb for the pin. The match was solid but Fandango being out there was weak. I’m not sure why WWE likes to do the “play some guy’s music and that distracts whoever’s in the match” bit. It looks they’ll be having Jericho-Fandango at WrestleMania. Man that’s quite a few levels down for Jericho from last year. Then Fandango gets in the ring & beats on Jericho for a bit. Then he gives him a top rope leg drop. Then Fandango gets the mic, leans over Jericho and says, “It’s Faaandaaango.” This character is so stupid. I can’t believe Jericho will be stuck facing this guy at WrestleMania.

Backstage Matt Striker interviews Big Show. Striker says that based upon what we’ve seen so far tonight it looks like it will be a challenge for him & his partners to get along. Big Show says that Orton is right. They have to get on the same page. Big Show’s had the crap kicked out of him by The Shield. So have Orton & Sheamus. Big Show is going to put his whole heart into this. Orton & Sheamus will be able to trust him about as much as they can trust each other. Then Big Show says, “Trust me” and walks off. Striker thanks Big Show for his time. This was a decent promo.

Time for The Rock-John Cena video package.

Rhodes Scholars & the Bellas are in the ring. Cody says that although the fans do not deserve it tonight the intellectual savior of the masses & the essence of mustachio magnificence bring a special gift. Sandow wants silence and he says that he & his best friend Cody are more than proud to present to everyone the class of the Divas division, the only 2 women with enough beauty & intelligence to accompany Team Rhodes Scholars, the Bellas. “You’re Welcome.”

Brodus Clay & Sweet T Tensai vs. Rhodes Scholars. The match ends in a no finish when Naomi & Cameron go at it with the Bellas. The gals started going at it and then the guys went outside the ring and the referee called for the bell. Each team held their gals back. This wasn’t much.

Backstage Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton & Sheamus. He says they’re minutes away from their match. Are they & Big Show on the same page? Sheamus says absolutely. United they stand. Sheamus trusts Orton, Orton trusts him & they both trust Big Show as much as he trust them. Then Sheamus says, “Trust me” and he & Orton walk off. Then Sheamus comes back and says, “Seriously, trust me.” This was good & short.

Wade Barrett is on commentary for the next match.

The Miz vs. U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro. Miz wins by submission. This was solid but they had Cesaro lose to Miz in a non title match. Then Miz looks at Wade Barrett and then gives Cesaro a second Figure 4. Then Barrett takes his head set off & Miz wants him to get in the ring. Barrett hold the IC title above his head saying he is the champion. Miz says for now. It looks like they’re gonna have The Miz vs. Wade Barrett at WrestleMania.

Time for a look back at the Triple H-Paul Heyman bit at the end of Raw.

Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show vs. 3MB. Orton, Sheamus & Big Show win when Sheamus pins Jinder. This was solid & easily the longest 3MB match I can remember. Afterwards Big Show & Sheamus have words & Orton plays piece maker. Then The Shield comes out through the crowd. As they head to the ring Sheamus & Big Show shove each other. Then Big Show grabs Sheamus by the throat and shoves him into the corner. Then Orton goes to break it up but Big Show elbows him. Then Orton & Sheamus have word with Big Show as The Shield hops the guard rail. They surround the ring and then the faces hold them off. Orton invites The Shield to come in to the ring but the go back over the guard rail and walk off through the crowd. Orton, Sheamus & Big Show have a stare down with The Shield to end the show.

I thought this was a solid show overall. The Miz TV segment was ok but it was the usual “Start Smackdown with a promo and have Booker T set up the night’s main event” bit. The 6 man tag at the end was solid and easily the longest match I can recall 3MB having. The bit with the faces arguing as The Shield was coming to the ring and then having them unite as soon as The Shield were at ringside was kind of odd. Orton & Sheamus can’t get along with Big Show but as soon as The Shield shows up their bickering stops. Miz-Cesaro was solid but they had the U.S. Champion lose another non title match and Miz is looking to win the IC Title AKA the other secondary belt. Brodus & Tensai vs. Rhodes Scholars wasn’t much. I wasn’t really into having Cameron & Naomi go at it with the Bellas. The Orton-Sheamus-Big Show segment backstage was decent and so were Big Show’s interview & the interview with Orton & Sheamus. Ryder-Henry was a squash but I was ok with the stare down Ryback & Henry had and Ryback clotheslining Henry out of the ring was decent too. The Booker T-Teddy Long segment backstage was lame too. Kofi-Dolph was solid too but I’m not sure why they had Dolph beat Kofi twice this week. Jericho-Swagger was good too but I wasn’t a fan of Fandango coming out. I’m not sure why they’re sticking Jericho in a feud with Johnny Curtis. On the whole though I thought this was a solid show this week.