My WWE SmackDown, 28th June 2013 recap

Christian with the winning spear. Photo credit: WWE.com

Sheamus pinned Damien Sandow in a enjoyable enough Dublin Street Fight. It was a worthy effort from both men, although there was nothing particularly original or outstanding about it. Sheamus grabbed the one-two-three after Brogue Kicking Sandow while he was sitting on a couple of steel chairs. This feud has given Sandow some relevance but I'm still disappointed that he hasn't been granted a significant one on one win against Sheamus, and I think this match would've been ideal for it. 

The Miz quizzed his 'Miz TV' guest Paul Heyman on matters involving CM Punk, but Heyman refused to delve into his personal life and brought out his client Curtis Axel. Miz went on to accuse Heyman of being involved in Lesnar attacking Punk, so after a few more heated exchanges between the three Miz finally challenged Axel to an Intercontinental match right there and then, but Heyman refused on his client's behalf. It was a decent enough segment.

Before AJ Lee's match, Kaitlyn came out dressed as her rival (as AJ did to her on this week's Raw) and accused her of being intimate with various ringside officials, including the physician who had a hilariously stern reaction to that. It wasn't great by any means, and only a bit of an improvement on AJ's lame impersonation segment that we had to endure.   

Natalya beat AJ Lee in a very brief and forgettable affair. Natalya won with a quick roll up after Kaitlyn skipped around the ring in typical AJ fashion. Kaitlyn also hit the Divas Champion with a nice spear afterwards.

Backstage Teddy Long informed Vince McMahon that he was entering Wade Barrett, Antonio Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow into the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match next month. I imagine Swagger and Ambrose as the most likely to win here, and given the choice I wouldn't mind Ambrose or Cesaro coming away with the briefcase.

Randy Orton defeated Kane in a decent back and fourth contest. Maybe I enjoyed it more since I wasn't really expecting much here, but it had some stellar action for the most part and fine displays from both wrestlers. Orton managed to catch Kane in an RKO for the win after Bryan pushed his former Team Hell No partner into the ring, seemingly encouraging him but also smirking at Kane failing to do what he did on Raw this week against Orton as he went down the ramp.

Ryback beat Justin Gabriel in a short and unremarkable outing where he managed to Shell Shock him for the win after having his leg damaged. Ryback's MITB opponent Chris Jericho then came out and mocked him for almost being brought to tears over the slight injury and called him "Cryback." Y2J went on to then run down and began brawling with Ryback, almost catching him in the Walls of Jericho before he managed to escape the ring.

Christian and Jimmy & Jay Uso defeated The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) in an exciting six-man tag bout. As standard for most of Shield's match ups, this contained solid wrestling throughout and the fast pace made sure you never lost interest. While everyone provided worthy efforts, I'd have to mention Christian as the standout performer for me, who also managed to grab the win with a spear to Ambrose. 

World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio held a fiesta for himself, celebrating his fourth World Title win at Payback. After giving a speech in Spanish, he went on to bash in a pinata with Ziggler's face on it and then dared the man himself to come out. So Dolph Ziggler made his way to the ring where he managed to scare off Del Rio after applying a Zig Zag and threw Ricardo Rodriguez threw a table and smashed a guitar across his face. A much happier Ziggler then ended the show by singing along with the mariachi band.  

Overall it was a decent enough show, with only a couple of the match ups letting it down a bit. My highlights were Orton versus Kane, Sheamus versus Sandow and the entertaining six-man tag contest. The Miz TV and Del Rio Fiesta segments were also decent enough. 

My WWE SmackDown, April 20th 2012 Recap

Daniel Bryan berated Sheamus for his recent aggressive actions against referee Jack Patton, himself and others. He went on to reveal that he plans on once again "shocking the World" in the city of Chicago (where he won the Money in the Bank match) by defeating Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship. The crowd were mostly behind Bryan with chants of "Yes!"

Bryan's ex AJ then made her way down, to boos funnily enough, and once again asked him to take her back, which he refused. But he also went one step further this time and claimed that he wish he'd never gone out with her and harshly stated that "I wish you were never even born." Ouch. It was another strong promo between the two, and more effective then any Bryan's had with his future opponent Sheamus.

Natalya won via disqualification after a distraught AJ snapped and began veraciously mauling her opposition. Upset she then immediately left afterwards. It was some nice acting on AJ's part and a logical step in the storyline for her to act this way.

Brodus Clay defeated Hunico in one of his routine squash matches. I was personally hoping he'd moved beyond these after WrestleMania but I guess not. This time 'The Funkasaurus' was accompanied by Hornswaggle, who tadpole splashed Hunico after the bout.

Titus 'O Neil and Darren Young defeated The Usos in a fair to average tag team contest. Although I'll give 'O Neil credit for gaining a bit more charisma since turning heel on NXT, I still find both him and Young quite average talents overall, I definitely believe there are more deserving talents for their spot on SmackDown e.g Tyson Kidd.  

Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show in an average and forgettable match up after Cody Rhodes Disaster Kicked Show when the referee wasn't looking, helping Del Rio gain the one-two-three. I'm surprised Del Rio is still floating about like this since his return, he should have been put into a feud straight away.    

Ryback defeated nobody Danny Lerman in another of his squash matches. He keeps screaming after his bouts that he wants more, I'd like to see him finally get a real opponent.

Before the main event six-man tag team match Cody Rhodes took out The Great Khali by attacking his knee on the apron, so instead of replacing him with an up and coming talent who could use the exposure they chose Big Show to take his place.

Randy Orton, Big Show and Sheamus defeated Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan in an enjoyable and largely solid main event. Fortunately the less mobile Show and Henry were utilised well here and given limited time in the ring to make an impact or the role of making the hot tag after being beaten down. 

Overall it was another mostly lackluster SmackDown, with only the Bryan AJ segment and main event saving it. I really think Ryback could add more to the show if given a real opponent to play with in the ring.