The show kicked off with Alberto Del Rio's very own fiesta celebrating his World Title win last week. Shortly into it however, Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Big E Langston and AJ Lee) interrupted the champ and warned him that the strap over his shoulder was nothing more than a target as he owned the Money in the Bank contract. An upset Big Show then also joined everyone, not saying a single word.
As things looked bad for Del Rio, Sheamus also arrived and put his differences aside and congratulated the champ on his title victory last week over Show and shook hands. In a SmackDown tradition GM Booker T then came out and and calmed things down by booking a tag team match for the main event between Ziggler, Show, Sheamus and Del Rio. After AJ, Ziggler, Langston and Show left the party started up again, with Booker and even Sheamus getting in some dancing. It felt a bit goofy but harmless enough.
Antonio Cesaro defeated Kofi Kingston in a decent encounter. While it was never exactly edge of your seat stuff, it contained solid action and a good effort from both men. The highlight was the impressive ending when Cesaro caught Kofi as he came off the top rope and turned it into a Neutralizer for the one-two-three.
The Great Khali bested Tensai in a brief, drab and worthless match up. The only solace was that it was kept short.
Backstage Kane hinted at the poor state of Bryan's beard, which of course led to an argument before Orton turned up. Bryan advised 'The Viper' to control his anger like he and Kane had, telling him to take it one step at a time and even include a group hug. Randy naturally refused. It was an okay segment, not one of Hell No's best.
Randy Orton and Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) beat Wade Barrett and Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes) in an enjoyable six-man tag bout. It was simply a fun watch, with each man doing well enough with their limited time in the ring. Orton grabbed the win after applying an RKO to Sandow. Afterwards Bryan and Kane amusingly had a group hug with Orton, I couldn't help but smile at Bryan's priceless face.
The Miz beat Primo in a passable contest. Their displays were okay, but I just failed to find the interest. It never engaged me at any point. Miz won via submission after paying tribute to Ric Flair by applying a Figure Four.
Kailyn bested Aksana in a pretty mediocre and forgettable clash. It just felt like filler really, an excuse to use the new Divas Champion. They desperately need to bring up some of their developmental female talent to freshen things up and bring some much needed life to the division.
We were then shown another VT from The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) where they explained why they've attacked and targeted Sheamus, Orton, Ryback and Mick Foley (on this week's Raw) ending the footage by simply warning them "Believe in The Shield."
It was especially funny hearing Ambrose bringing up his reasons for the attempted Foley take down, considering the reality and controversy behind it and the stir it made last year when he called out the 'Hardcore Legend' in his FCW days. For those that are unaware of what happened (really? I'll let it go this time, okay?) Ambrose called out Mick, accusing his hardcore style of wrestling and stunts he performed a bad influence on younger talent, forcing them to up their game and go one step further, causing severe injuries and ending careers. There's an argument to made for both sides so I won't be getting into it just now, maybe another time.
Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show and Dolph Ziggler in a stellar tag bout. The top period was between Ziggler and Del Rio, but to be fair I had fun watching the whole match so it doesn't really matter. Granted, it isn't going to be the greatest tag match you've ever seen, but you should be able to sit back and simply enjoy it, with solid action from all four men and a bit of a different finish. As Show was about to reenter the ring, Del Rio pulled out a bucket of water (unknown at the time) that Ricardo Rodriguez had brought down to and threw it over the giant. A stunned Big Show just stood there, then decided the embarrassment was the last straw and left, being counted out.
Overall it was a pretty fair SmackDown compared to its usual standard (that normally meaning a few decent enough matches but nothing that eventful happening). Both tag outings were the highlights, providing good quality match ups, and the Kofi versus Cesaro bout is worth a watch too. Outside of them there wasn't anything that entertaining really, except for The Shield VT perhaps.
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