7-19-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

    Coverage and thoughts on the July 19, 2013 episode of Smackdown

The show starts with Teddy Long in the ring. He welcomes the fans to Smackdown. As most of the fans already know Vince has hired a new GM for Raw, Brad Maddox. Long doesn’t know too much about Brad’s qualifications but he does know that they have got to be better than Vickie’s. Vince knows what he’s doing (That’s up for debate) & he will be here tonight. Rumor has it that he is going to give Long a job evaluation (Why? Do they have to do the same stuff on Smackdown that they do on Raw?) just like the 1 that he gave Vickie (Which means it won’t end well for Long Playa). Then Long asks the fans if he’s been doing a good job. The fans cheer. Would the fans like to see him as permanent GM (Which he was for a good number of years)? The fans cheer that too. Long wants the fans to get ready because Smackdown is going to be the best Smackdown…Then Booker T’s music plays & he makes his return. He thanks for filling in for him. Long has done a good job. But Booker is back. If you’re ready to watch Booker do his GM duties, “Let me hear you say, ‘Now can you dig that sucka?’” Cue No Chance & Vince comes out. He shakes Long hand and then says, ‘Let’s hear if for Hall of Famer Booker T!” The fans cheer for Booker. Then he tells the fans to give a welcome for Teddy Long. Then Vince says that the reason he came out here was to make sure there no confusion or dissention between Booker & Long. Only 1 person can be in charge of Smackdown. It’s important for Vince to make that decision tonight. Then he asks Long becomes GM, how he would he impress everybody tonight? What kind of matches would he make? Long says how about right here tonight Curtis Axel faces Chris Jericho for the IC Title. (We saw that match twice last week). Then Vince asks Booker what he would do. Booker says that for him it would have to be Orton vs. Del Rio. Then the Raw theme plays & out comes Raw GM Brad Maddox. He wants a word with Vince before Vince makes his decision. Vince asks him what he’s doing on Smackdown. Brad says that Vince has made him the Raw GM. Brad thinks that Vince should make him the Smackdown GM too. Then Brad says that he was going to suggest both the matches that Long & Booker came up with. Also tonight marks the Smackdown return of Rob Van Dam. The fans chant RVD. Vince asks Brad if he’s sure that RVD is here tonight. Brad tells him you hear the people. Then Vince says that permanent Smackdown GM should be….Then they have a drum roll & Vince says that the Smackdown GM is…Vickie Guerrero. Out comes Vickie. Booker, Long & Brad all have dumbfounded & shocked looks on their faces. Vickie gets in the ring & hugs Vince. Then he gives Vickie the mic. She thanks Vince & says that the fans are the reason that she was voted out of a job on Raw (What difference does it make? Raw? Smackdown? It’s the same company!)Then she tells the fans that she hates each & every 1 of them (even though she had a petition for the fans to sign Monday, but like everything in WWE we’re supposed to forget that). Now she’s back (she never left) & she is back with power (that she “lost” for just a little more than a week). There is nothing that anyone can do in this ring (then she looks at Brad, Long & Booker) & there in nothing that the fans can do about it. She is Vickie Guerrero & she is the permanent Smackdown GM (Which she’s been before). This was totally meaningless! They really need to do away with the GM spot! The brand extension is dead & having 2 GMs now makes no sense. Plus Vickie has been the GM of BOTH shows many times before!

Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger. Dolph gets the pin. During this Cesaro gives Dolph an uppercut outside the ring. Then the referee sends both Cesaro & Coulter to the back. This was a decent but short match. They also show Big E & AJ watching backstage on a monitor. Then Dolph gets the mic & says that last Monday he dumped his girlfriend, AJ. He is sorry. He is sorry that he didn’t do it much sooner. Then they show AJ backstage going bonkers, throwing a few chairs around & having a breakdown. Big E helps her up & the slaps away on his chest. Then Big E hugs her as she cries. Then Big E makes like he about to plant 1 on her but then he kisses her on the forehead. Then he walks off & AJ looks puzzled.

Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins come out through the crowed. Then they reshow The Shield lying out Mark Henry from Raw. After that The Usos come out. They hit the ring & the 2 teams go at it before the bell. Then Dean Ambrose comes in & The Shield gets the upper hand. Then cue Mark Henry’s theme music & he storms to the ring. The Shield triple teams him but Henry throws them off of him. Then he punches & clotheslines them. He gets Reigns into the corner but then Rollins jumps on Henry’s back & locks in a sleeper. The triple team continues but then The Usos come back in the ring to help out Henry. The Shield bails as The Usos & Henry stand in the ring. This was a good brawl. Mark Henry & The Usos vs. The Shield could be interesting.

They reshow Cena picking Daniel Bryan to face him for the WWE Title at SummerSlam.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett. Daniel wins by submission. This was a solid match but it was too short.

Backstage Vickie tells some guy that she is the Smackdown GM. Then Brad show up. He congratulates her & says that it’s funny how things come full circle. Brad is the Raw GM & Vickie is the Smackdown GM. He guesses they’re even now. Vickie gives Brad the evil eye & then says they should just shake on it. Naturally Vickie pulls her hand away & then slaps Brad. This was a decent & thankfully short backstage segment.

Time for Miz TV. Miz welcomes everyone to the “most must see talk show in WWE history.” Tonight his guest costs Punk the MITB ladder match & a chance at the WWE Title. He tells the fans to give a warm Miz TV welcome to Paul Heyman. Out comes Heyman. Then Brock laying out Punk from Monday. Miz has tons of questions to ask Heyman & Miz knows that Heyman will lie or bend the truth so Miz has nothing to say to him. He has nothing to ask Heyman. Heyman is beneath content. Miz tells Heyman that the floor is his & he can say whatever he wants. Heyman thanks Miz but he assures everybody that he is just an advocate. However, Brock Lesnar is a merciless emissary of suffering with his sights set squarely on Punk. Brock has no conscious however Heyman must confess…Then the fans chant for Punk. Heyman says that the fans don’t realize how painful this is for him because he still has love in his heart for his former best friend, so he offers this public plea to Punk. He tells Punk to stay down, go home, leave WWE fans behind, lick his wounds & don’t even think of getting back up again. If Punk ever shows his face here again Brock will take Punk’s actions as a spiteful act of provocation & Punk will be dealt with by the beast. The fans chant CM Punk. Then Miz says really a few times & says that Heyman is enjoying this. Now Miz gets why Heyman lies. That’s because when Heyman tells the truth & he shows his real self it’s even uglier than the liar that everyone has come to know & hate. Miz is revolted by Heyman’s face, his tone of voice & his frame of mind. Miz is also revolted by the fact that Heyman swore on his children & he still lied. Then Miz drops the mic & leaves the ring. Then as Miz is walking up the ramp Heyman gets the mic & tells Miz that before Miz leaves he would like to take the liberty of introducing Miz & the fans to the man that defeated Miz at the MITB PPV. Your reigning defending IC Champion Curtis Axel. Axel comes out. He & Miz have a quick stare down. Then Miz heads to the back & Axel heads to the ring. This was good. Heyman was good on the mic as always & even Miz was good here.

Chris Jericho vs. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel for the Title. Axel gets the pin. This was a good match. Then as Axel & Heyman walk up the ramp Ryback’s music hits & he comes out. He gets in the ring. Jericho is still on the mat. Ryback kicks him around a bit. Then he picks him up & taunts him. Then Jericho fights back but Ryback gets the upper hand. Then he gives Jericho the marching muscle buster. Then as Jericho gets to his knees Ryback kicks him in the mid section. This was decent & it looks like the Jericho-Ryback feud will continue. I know that Jericho will be leaving soon so I’m sure he will do his best to put Ryback over.

They show a Damien Sandow video package.

Then Damien Sandow is in the ring with the briefcase. He mentions that Gandhi said, “The weak cannot forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.” With that said Damien would like to clarify something. This past Sunday in the MITB ladder match for the world title contract it was every man for himself. Everybody knew this & despite what everyone has been saying & chanting Sandow did not screw Cody. That begs the question why did his best friend do what he did to him Monday. They reshow the end of the Christian-Sandow match from Monday, followed by Cody coming & pounding on Sandow. The fans chant Cody. Then Sandow says that he is not going to react to this the same way that the slack jawed mouth breathers would. He is not going to condemn Cody & spit hateful rhetoric in his direction. Because that is what separates the intellectual savior from the unwashed masses. That is what separates knuckle dragging halfwits from a beacon of enlightenment like himself. Sandow demands “SIELENCE!” Then he says that he & Cody are both gentlemen. He & Cody are both civilized & most of all he & Cody are still best friends. Sandow would now like to give Cody the chance to come out here & explain himself so that they can get past this. Cody comes to the ring. Sandow then tells Cody that no explanation is necessary. Sandow just wants to look Cody in the eye & tell him man to man that he forgives Cody. He forgives Cody for acting out in anger & for Cody attacking him. He forgives Cody for everything. Sandow might have prevented Cody from becoming Mr. MITB but he would like to rectify that. He would like to offer Cody a metaphorical olive branch & bestow an honor upon Cody. That being the honor of being the protector of the case. What this means is that till Sandow decides to cash in the case Cody will be responsible directly for its protection & safety. Cody has earned this. He gives the case to Cody. Cody thanks him & then hits him in the head with it. Then he pounds on Sandow for a bit & then Sandow rolls out of the ring. Then Cody throws the case from the ring up the ramp. This was a good segment. Sandow is good as the intellectual heel & Cody hitting him with the case made sense too.

Rob Van Dam vs. Darren Young. RVD gets the pin. This was a decent match but the outcome was never in doubt.

Time for a look back at the Wyatt family flattening R-Truth from Raw.   

Vickie Guerrero is in the GM office on her cell phone. Next week she wants the office redecorated. Then in comes Teddy Long. Vickie says that she & Long have known each other for years. She’s mistreated him, he’s mistreated her. Vickie wants to let bygones be bygones. They’re both adults. Everyone has room to work together. Long asks if Vickie really means that. Then they look at each other for a bit & Vickie says no. Then she calls in security. She tells them that she wants Long out of her office, out of her building & out of her life. Security grabs Long & they take him out of there. Then Vickie screams that if Long ever wants to come back she will make him get a ticket. This was lame.

Randy Orton vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio. Orton gets the pin. This was a good match. Orton stands on the turnbuckle & holds up the case to end the show.

I thought this was a solid show for the most part. The opening segment was pointless & they need to do away with the GM bit. I like the Orton-Del Rio match even if Del Rio did lose cleanly. The Cody-Sandow segment was also good. Sandow was good on the mic & I think Cody as a baby face could be good. I also like the Usos & Mark Henry-Shield brawl. A 6 man with those guys could be interesting. Miz TV was actually good too. Heyman was great on the mic like always & I thought Miz was good here too. I also thought the Jericho-Axel match was good & Axel got the win this time. RVD-Darren Young was decent. Daniel Bryan-Wade Barrett was decent also but it felt too short. The Dolph-Swagger match was also decent but short & the AJ being “unstable” saga continues. Overall I thought this was a solid show this week.