wrestling / TV Reports
411’s WWE SmackDown Report 05.04.12
May 4, 2012 | Posted by
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
May 4th, 2012
Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Attendance: Unknown at this time
Sheamus goes for a shoulder-block at the bell but starts favoring his arm, selling the injury from the Extreme Rules match (big points to Sheamus there). Bryan hits a drop-toe hold and tries for a wristlock but Sheamus just socks him in the jaw. Bryan comes back with a big armbreaker though and then stomps away at the Irishman in the corner. Sheamus drives his shoulder into Bryan’s stomach in the corner and then clotheslines him out of the ring when all of a sudden Ricardo Rodriguez leaps into the ring and takes out Sheamus off the top rope with a cross-body to draw the DQ at 2:49. Del Rio hops in to give Sheamus the cross armbar afterwards and then Bryan gives him the YES! Lock as well to work over the injured arm even further. Well that wasn’t much of a rematch, but it started off very good before the run-in. Hopefully this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these two tonight though. *1/2
Oh, right, Kofi and Truth are the tag champs. I forgot about that in about twenty seconds. Non-title match here and Epico, Primo, Rosa Mendes, and A.W. all come out to watch. Truth and Hunico start off with Truth hitting a nice Japanese armdrag before tagging Kofi in, who hits a flying forearm from the top rope. Kofi gets sent out of the ring and Camacho lariats him behind the ref’s back. Back in the ring Camacho tags in and hits a big legdrop on Kingston. Hunico tags back in with a slingshot dropkick in the corner and they tease the tag between Kofi and Truth with Hunico holding him back briefly before being monkey flipped, allowing Truth to get the hot tag. Truth hits Camacho with the corkscrew elbow and then launches Kofi over his head into mid-air where he gives Hunico a big hurricanrana out of the ring, taking a page out of the Billy Kidman/Rey Mysterio handbook. Truth hits Camacho with the Little Jimmy (god that name is terrible) to pick up the win at 4:07. Damn, that was a hell of an energetic little four minute match, I would have loved to have seen more of that. Truth and Kofi don’t make much sense as a tag team but they do work well together and Hunico and Camacho make a great addition to the tag division. **1/4
Clay hits a belly-to-belly suplex right at the bell and then takes Jack’s head off with a clothesline. Dolph Ziggler distracts Clay long enough for Swagger to tackle him out of the ring, where Ziggler eats another headbutt from Clay when he tries to interfere. T-bone suplex from Clay and he tries for the What the Funk splash, but Swagger leaves the ring…and gets intentionally counted out at 1:43. Wait, so Clay can squash Ziggler clean but they need to protect Swagger? Huh? Some little kids hit the ring to dance with Clay after the match. 3/4*
Petty offense from Bateman while the crowd chants “Goldberg!” at Ryback. He hits a neat backpack chinbreaker and a lariat before finishing off Bateman moments later with the marching Samoan drop at 1:12. Squash city. 1/4*
Not a bad looking match for the middle of the show. Orton and Rhodes start us off with Orton takes the upper hand with a lariat. Show tags in and drives his backside into Cody in the corner before bodyslamming him and tagging Randy back in. Dropkick from Orton and Cody tags Kane in. Kane goes to work on Randy’s mid-section in the corner but Orton escapes and tags out to Show, who spears Kane and then tosses Cody into the ring for a big chop. Kane fires off a big DDT on Show as we take a commercial break. When we return Cody is working over Show before tagging out to Kane. Kane works over Show a bit before the big man is able to hit a huge back suplex and get the hot tag to Orton. Randy hits the powerslam on Cody but eats a right hand from Kane when he tries for the second-rope DDT so Orton just hits Kane with the DDT instead. Kane blocks the RKO and Cody low-bridges Orton out of the ring as the crowd goes from nearly exploding to dead in seconds (that’s good heel work). Kane boots Orton outside the ring and covers him back inside for a two count. Cody tags back in and hits a big dropkick for his own near fall before tagging Kane back in. Orton is able to hit the over-the-shoulder backbreaker on Kane but he wanders into the wrong corner looking for a tag and the heels exchange tags again, cutting Orton off from his corner. Cody applies a chinlock but Orton fights it off and then counters the Cross-Rhodes attempt with a back body drop. Randy gets the tag to Show, who cleans house on Cody. He looks for the chokeslam, but Kane breaks it up with the top rope clothesline. He turns around right into an RKO from Orton however! Cody sends Orton out of the ring but Show hits him with the WMD fist for the win at 10:44 (shown). Another really solid tag match here, I wasn’t sure how well this one would gel but by the time hey hit the finish with everyone trading big moves everything was gravy. **3/4
I must say, Layla returning to win the title is just superbly random (where’s Kharma?). Layla tries a headscissors on the mat to start but Nattie escapes and they trade wristlocks. Sweet spinning lariat from Natalya gets a two count. She tries for a slam but Layla counters with a roll through and hits a big neckbreaker for the win at 1:58. Your usual quick divas TV match here though Nattie showed a bit of fire. Hopefully Layla’s just a placeholder until Kharma returns for good. 3/4*
Alberto Del Rio comes out to join the commentary team before the match starts. Bryan goes right to work on the injured shoulder of Sheamus (now taped up) with kicks. Nasty shoulder-breaker from Bryan, but Sheamus counters with a big tilt-a-whirl slam. He tries for the Brogue Kick but Bryan avoids it and sends Sheamus out of the ring as we take our last commercial break. When we return Bryan is diving onto the shoulder of Sheamus outside the ring. Sheamus tries to return to the ring but Bryan sends him back out again and then sends him shoulder-first into the steel post. Back in the ring Bryan hits the diving headbutt off the top rope for a two count. Bryan manages to unwrap most of the bandages on the shoulder, but Sheamus sends him shoulder-first into the steel post in a taste of his own medicine. Sheamus rips off the bandages like a badass and then lays in the ten hammer-fist forearms on Bryan in-between the ropes not once, but twice, leaving Daniel’s chest beet red. Sheamus suplexes Bryan back into the ring, but Bryan kicks out of the pin. Bryan hits a knee but Sheamus hits the Irish Curse backbreaker in response and then begins kneeing the ever loving bejesus out of Bryan on the apron. Bryan drapes the injured shoulder over the top rope and hits the missile dropkick from the top, but now it’s Sheamus’ turn to kick out. Bryan continues the shoulder-work but Sheamus lariats him inside-out 360 degrees in one of the sickest damn clotheslines I think I’ve ever seen, that was downright Hansen-esque. Del Rio hits the apron but Sheamus sends Bryan into him to bump him off the apron. Bryan tries for another missile dropkick from the top, but Sheamus BOOTS HIS HEAD OFF with the Brogue Kick for the win at 9:27 (shown). I was already digging this quite a bit but by the last few minutes Sheamus was just murdering Bryan and he was taking all the bumps like a champ as they just kicked this one into overdrive for the finish. This feud continues to be awesome when they actually give them time to wrestle, what a shocker. Great TV match. ***1/4
Rating: 8.0/10
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