2-8-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the February 8, 2013 episode of Smackdown

 They start the show with Big Show’s bus coming to the arena. Some guy gets out to see if the coast is clear. Big Show comes out and asks him if there’s a pothole he missed in Jacksonville. Then he walks into the arena.

The actual show starts with Big Show coming to the ring. He says things around here are completely unacceptable. He’s tired of the way he is being treated and is sick and tired of the double standards around here. He gets that the fans don’t like him. Then he asks if it’s a crime to not be popular. Because he’s not popular it’s ok for him to be unjustly forced into putting his World Title on the line a month ago in a last man standing match that he had no time to prepare for. He asks if that’s fair because he’s not popular. He supposes that since he is unpopular it is completely ok that a Latin maniac like Alberto Del Rio can ambush him in his hotel room. The fans cheer and he says they’re cheering for the World Champion for acting like a criminal. He figures this is why people like Del Rio want to be on the fans’ good side because when you’re popular you can do whatever you want. Big Show doesn’t get where the fans are coming from. He fights like a man and decimates Del Rio & Ricardo and the fans call him a bully. They say he’s a “bad person.” Then he sarcastically says that he appreciates when the fans chant “you suck.” He tries to conduct himself like a businessman. He avoids confrontation with Del Rio, he conducts his business from a hotel room and the fans call him a coward. Del Rio can attack Big Show & the fans cheer for Del Rio. Then he says that before Del Rio attacked him in his hotel room like a Mexican Clint Eastwood Big Show signed a championship contract, which means that at the Elimination Chamber PPV the World Title is coming back where it belongs. He mentions that Del Rio got suspended tonight because of what happened on Monday. Who cares? Del Rio gets a night off. He says this is a double standard and it comes down to 1 person who is responsible for these double standards. One person is responsible for the way that Big Show’s been treated. That of course is Booker T. Big Show then says that Booker T is jealous of Big Show’s in ring accomplishments, his in ring ability & his wealth, but most of all Booker is jealous because Big Show is still an in ring dominant competitive force. He says that Booker is a sad man behind a desk pushing a pencil. That is why Booker T is jealous of him. Then Booker T’s music plays and he comes out. He asks Big Show what his problem is. Big Show has everything that he asked for. Del Rio granted him a rematch for the World Title at the rumble and Show blew it. Booker says that Del Rio doesn’t like bullies & Booker doesn’t either & Big Show continues to bully Ricardo. Booker tells Show that’s not going to get him anywhere. Big Show then says that Booker T can insult him all he wants. Booker can call him a bully, a baby, a coward he doesn’t care. Then Show asks who gave Del Rio his hotel info. Booker asks if Show thinks it was him. Big Show says he knows that it was. It was 1 of Booker T’s assistants/kiss ups. Booker then asks Big Show why he would do that. Big Show says that Booker would do that because it’s all about Booker T. The only way that Booker stays relevant is by trying to take down 1 of the greatest super stars in Smackdown history. Then Booker T says that he treats every super star on Smackdown as equals. That is why Del Rio isn’t here tonight because Booker suspended him. Big Show sarcastically says that was a big GM decision. Del Rio is suspended, who cares? Booker still hasn’t answered Show’s question. He again asks Booker who gave Del Rio his hotel info. Booker tells Show to look at himself. He’s 7 feet tall & 550 pounds (I’m not sure if he weighs that much). Anybody at that hotel could have given Del Rio that info. Anybody could have found Big Show that night. Booker than tells Big Show that Show doesn’t need to be concerned with him tonight. Show needs to be concerned with his opponent for tonight. Big Show sarcastically says, “There’s a Booker T surprise.” Show says he’s not dressed for a match. He then asks Booker if he’s ever heard of a computer or a cell phone. Show tells Booker to text him, or send him an e-mail, or to surprise him & send him a Tweet. He then says this how incompetent Booker T is as GM. Booker just drops this on him (Like every GM does all the time) that he has a match. Booker will take that under advisement & just to make Big Show feel a little bit better, he tells Show that he knows his opponent, that he’s been down the road with him and has had many battles with him over this past year. But there’s some good news & bad news in this situation. The good news is that Big Show’s opponent lost his match on Raw. The bad news is that Show’s opponent is in a very bad mood & is looking to impress Booker T so that he gets in the Elimination Chamber. Booker tells Big Show that tonight he will face Kane. Big Show says that’s not remotely fair. He doesn’t have time to prepare for Kane. Booker tells Big Show that he won’t be crying & moaning like a big baby tonight because he knows that Big Show can dig that “Sucka!” This was the usual “Start Smackdown off with a promo” bit. I thought Big Show was good here but I really wish they’d start Smackdown with a match for once.

Time to go to the Goldman box with Cody Rhodes. Cody says that he & Sandow have mutually decided to part ways. When one door closes another one opens. Behind that door is a vision of what everybody’s wanted to see, Cody Rhodes at the top of WWE. Kofi Kingston thinks that he can stand in his way. Think again.

Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes. Cody gets the pin. This was a solid back and forth match.

They reshow Daniel Bryan costing Kane his match with Sheamus on Raw, followed by Kane costing Daniel his match with Sandow on Main Event.

Backstage Kane asks what Daniel Bryan wants. Daniel’s sorry and did not intend to cost him his match with Sheamus. He also thinks that he cost Daniel his match with Sandow since Daniel is already in the elimination chamber. Daniel says that he should be at ringside during Kane’s match with Big Show because he beat him in 45 seconds. Kane tells him not another word. The next word out of Daniel’s mouth will be congratulations after he choke slams Big Show. This was your typical Kane-Daniel Bryan bickering segment.

Time for a video package on Brock Lesnar flattening Vince with an F5.

Then they reshow The Miz TV segment with Paul Heyman & Vickie Guerrero & Brock Lesnar giving Miz an F5.  

Then they show the Bruno Sammartino Hall of Fame video package.

Great Khali vs. Titus O’Neil. Khali gets the pin. This was a squash.

Then Mark Henry’s music plays & he comes out. He drags Titus out of the ring and then throws him into the ring barrier. Then he gets in the ring and taunts Khali. Khali chops him & they go back and forth for a bit. Henry splashes Khali in the corner then Khali gives him another chop. Then Khali was going for the Punjabi Plunge but Henry shoves him back into the corner & gives him another splash. Then Henry picks him up & gives him the World’s Strongest Slam. This wasn’t bad. I was kind of surprised that they had Khali get some offense in.

Then Henry gets the mic and says that the hall of pain is now open & he is bent on destruction. He asks if there’re any questions. He says that Khali doesn’t have any questions & neither does Titus. Then he mentions that if Sin Cara or Rey Mysterio had any questions Monday he answered every last one of them. Then they reshow Mark Henry making his return from Monday. Then he says that is what he does. Then he says that all of this could have been avoided & it was Booker T’s fault. Booker T assembled an elite group of World Champions to be in the Elimination Chamber, but he made 1 mistake. He never called Henry. Booker left him out. “How do you forget the strongest man that ever lived!?” Then Henry says that was a critical time to overlook him because he is not to be looked over. He needs an explanation because he can’t wrap his brain around this. Then he tells Booker T that he owes him an explanation. He wants Booker to walk out there right now & answer to him. If Booker doesn’t then Henry will go back there & destroy the entire Smackdown roster. Booker comes out (No theme music this time). He tells Henry that he can’t just come back & come rushing the scene attacking people from behind & thinking that will impress him or Teddy Long with that kind of crap. It ain’t going down like that. This is Smackdown. Henry says it looks like there is no room in the Elimination Chamber for the world’s strongest man. If Booker doesn’t make room then Henry will have to make room for himself, “And you know that means right? I said you know what that means!” It means that if Booker doesn’t put him in the chamber then he will injure enough people so that he will be the only person in the Elimination Chamber. Booker then says that Mark Henry is a former World Champion but he’s been out 9 long months “Dawg.” Booker’s got to know if Henry can still go. If Henry can beat 1 of the guys who is already in the chamber Booker will grant him a spot in there too. Tonight Mark Henry will face Randy Orton. This was decent. Mark Henry cut a good promo.

They show the bus driver cleaning Big Show’s bus. Show starts yelling at him & tells the he wants the temperature to be 68 degrees. Then he says that his steak is like a piece of shoe leather & he won’t eat it, the guy will. Then the guy will make him another steak the way he wants it. He tells the guy that he has 2 jobs to do & he can find any moron to do what this guy has to do. He yells at the a bit more & the guy was headed back in the bus and then Big Show tells him the toilet is clogged too & to take care of that. Then Big Show walks off and says that he just can’t find good help. Then Del Rio shows up after Big Show is out of sight. This was weak. I don’t know what the point of Big Show’s own bus is.

They reshow the Del Rio-Big Show brawl from Raw in the hotel hallway.

WWE Tag Team Champion Kane vs. Big Show. Big Show gets the pin. This was a short match.

Then Del Rio shows up on the Tron. He says that when he got suspended for attacking Big Show in his hotel room he wondered what he was going to do with himself and then it came to him. He can make a new friend. Big Show’s servant shows up on the screen. Big Show has this shocked look on his face. Del Rio says that the guy told him everything. The way Show treated the guy & Show not being happy with his tour bus so Del Rio helped out the guy & decided to make some changes. Then he tells Big Show to come and see the changes that he made. Big Show walks back to where his bus is & the tires are gone. Show flips & asks who this is even possible. Then orange paint falls on Big Show and the camera shows that he dumped the paint on him (And the camera lens) as he was standing on top of Big Show’s bus. Then a horn honks and they show Del Rio sitting on a tow truck with Ricardo driving. Del Rio tells Big Show that if he needs some tires he knows a guy & to just give him a call. Ricardo & Del Rio drive away as Big Show continues to flip. This was idiotic. This feud has been good and I don’t know why they had this idiotic segment. This whole deal with the tour bus was pointless.

Time for the Goldman box. Jack Swagger says that a real American doesn’t take hand outs, sitting around waiting for something to happen. A real American takes what he wants & tonight he will show Booker T why the Elimination Chamber match needs Jack Swagger, a real American.

Justin Gabriel vs. Jack Swagger. Swagger wins by submission. This was mostly a squash. Gabriel got in some offense but Swagger dominated most of this.

Tensai vs. Drew McIntyre. Tensai wins by DQ when Heath & Jinder get involved. Then Brodus comes out to help Tensai. Then Brodus & Tensai dance in the ring. This was awful. So now Brodus & Tensai are a comedic jobber team.

Sin Cara vs. U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro. Cesaro gets the pin. This was a decent but short match.

Backstage Striker asks Orton about Mark Henry’s return & his match with Henry tonight. Orton says Henry’s been out for 9 months and then lays a few guys out and he thinks that can get him what he wants. He says that’s a good plan, but Mark Henry will have to be the world’s luckiest man to get through him. If Henry’s not careful then he Orton will re injure him.

Backstage Matt Striker is with Miz & he mentions the Miz TV segment from Raw. Miz is says when he saw Lesnar he saw something Lethal. Than Cesaro comes by & he says only in America can a guy stick his nose where it doesn’t belong and then whine about it. Miz says that he should start sticking his nose where it does belong. Then he punches Cesaro & they brawl.

Time for the Raw Rebound. Then they show a wwe.com video where Cena announced that he, Sheamus & Ryback will face The Shield at the chamber.

Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry. Henry gets the pin & is now in the chamber match. This was decent. Orton was going for the RKO but Henry blocked it by shoving him into the corner. Then he gave Orton a splash followed by the world’s strongest slam for the pin.  Henry says that the hall of pain is back in business to end the show.

I wasn’t into this show overall. The opening was the usual “Start Smackdown with a promo” bit. Big Show’s promo was good but I don’t get why they always start Smackdown with talking. Orton-Henry was a decent match. I think it would be interesting if they had Henry win the chamber & face Del Rio for the World Title at WrestleMania. The rest of the show wasn’t much. Khali-Titus, Kane-Big Show & Gabriel-Swagger were all mostly squashes. Sin Cara-Cesaro was decent but kind of short. The bits with Big Show’s tour bus were lame & I wasn’t into Del Rio dumping the orange paint on Big Show. Kofi-Cody was solid. Mark Henry cut a good promo after he flattened Titus & Khali. But on the whole I thought this week’s show kind of dragged.