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411’s WWE Smackdown Report 7.19.13

July 19, 2013 | Posted by Michael Benjamin

Hello and welcome! I’m still Michael Benjamin and this is still the Smackdown report. Tonight, we have some matches, some angles, and some video packages. It should be a wrestling show! Lets get to it. As always, scroll down to get them results. They’ll be there. That’s the Benjamin Guarantee.

SHOW… ON!

Championship Roll Call:
WWE Champion: John Cena
World Champion: Alberto Del Rio
US Champion: Dean Ambrose
IC Champion: Curtis Axel
Diva’s Champion: AJ Lee
WWE World Tag Team Champions: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns


WWE Smackdown Report 7.19.13

– Teddy Long starts off the show in the ring. He mentions that Maddox is the new GM of Raw and that he has to be better than Vickie Guerrero. Teddy announces that Mr. McMahon will be here tonight to give Teddy Long a job evaluation. He asks the crowd if he’s been doing a good job and they cheer for him. Booker T interrupts! He’s back and he’s all smiles as he makes his way to the ring. “WHAT’S UP, UNIVERSEEE!?” Booker thanks Teddy for filling in for him in his absence. He says that he’s back though and gets the crowd to cheer for him to be the next GM. Here comes the chairman!

– Vince says that he came out to address the confusion over who is in charge. It’s important for him to make this decision tonight. Vince asks Teddy what he would do to impress him. He books Curtis Axel vs. Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship. Vince asks Booker the same question. Booker T books Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton. The crowd goes nuts for Orton. Maddox runs down to the ring to Raw’s entrance theme. Vince isn’t happy about seeing Maddox on Smackdown. Brad thinks that he should be the GM of Smackdown as well. He says that he was already going to suggest both of the matches that Booker and Teddy booked. Brad announces that RVD will make his Smackdown return tonight. The permanent GM of Smackdown is… Vickie Guerrero.

– Out comes Vickie Guerrero. If I can be biased for a moment, I really dislike this decision. Vickie grabs a mic and thanks Mr. McMahon. She says that the audience is the reason she lost her job on Raw and for that, she hates each and every one of them. She says that she’s back and that she’s back with power. Well, she was never gone actually but alright. She says that there’s nothing we can do about it. She is Vickie Guerrero and she’s the permanent GM of Smackdown. They sure did go through a lot of hoops to get to the result in this segment. At least it wasn’t as painful as the original job evaluation. I could have gone a few weeks without Vickie Guerrero on air but it could be worse.

-Commercial Break-

Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Colter and Antonio Cesaro) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler delivers a quick shoulder block for a near fall right to start. Swagger rolls t the outside to recover for a moment. They exchange some Irish whips until Swagger eats a boot to the face following a back body drop attempt. AJ and Big E are shown watching the match on a monitor backstage. Ziggler corners Swagger and goes for the ten punches but Swagger tosses him off followed by a shoulder block of his own. Ziggler fights back with a dropkick. Swagger rolls to the outside and Ziggler isn’t going to wait. He follows him outside and rolls him into the ring. As Ziggler tries to get back into the ring, Cesaro pulls him off of the apron anZd hits an uppercut while the ref’s back is turned. The ref sends Cesaro and Colter to the back! Ziggler rolls up Swagger while he’s distracted for two! Swagger escapes that and locks in the Patriot Lock. Ziggler escapes the Patriot Lock and hits the Zig Zag for the quick victory. This was way too short to be anything worth recommendation. The match began to break down as soon as Colter and Cesaro were thrown out of the ringside area, eventually leading to Swagger’s demise. Given the circumstances, I don’t think Swagger looked weak being defeated in such quick fashion.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Dolph Ziggler @ 3:15 via pinfall
RATING: *1/4

– Ziggler grabs a mic and says that he dumped his girlfriend on Monday. He says he’s sorry. He’s sorry for not doing it a hell of a lot sooner. He tosses the mic and poses. This came across as a bit cheesy to me but the crowd seemed to like it quite a bit.

– They cut to AJ backstage who is having a temper tantrum and throwing steel chairs everywhere. She’s on her knees punching a chair. Big E tries to help her up but she slaps him on the chest a bunch of times before he hugs her and she stops crying after a moment. He brushes the hair out of her face and they tease a kiss. Instead, he kisses her on the forehead before walking away. AJ is left on the scene looking confused. I can appreciate the slow burn there.

– The Shield are in action next!

-Commercial Break-

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. The Usos
The Usos charge the ring and the two teams are brawling in the ring. Ambrose runs down to the ring to help out Rollins and Reigns. Here comes Mark Henry! He fights off The Shield in retribution for Monday. The Shield get the numbers advantage on Henry for a moment until The Usos hit the ring. The Shield retreat through the crowd. No impromptu six man there?

OFFICIAL RESULT: No Match
RATING: N/A

-Commercial Break-

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett
They brawl to start. Daniel Bryan sure has come a long way as opposed to the man who beat him the first season of NXT, right? Barrett hits an assisted back breaker by bouncing Bryan off of the top rope before delivering the manuever. D-Bry fights back by cornering Barrett and delivering a flurry of Yes Kicks. Barrett fights him off. He whips him into the ropes and attempts a tilt-a-whirl slam. Bryan escapes and reverses it into the Yes Lock for a quick tap out. This was another match that was too quick to mean anything. I’d argue that Daniel Bryan doesn’t need two minute victories at this point in his career. We all know that he’s the shit and a two minute victory over Barrett isn’t going to make us think any higher of him. Instead, it just cements Barrett as a jobber to the stars. Not that good of a booking decision in my opinion.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Daniel Bryan @ 2:11
RATING: N/A

– Brad Maddox approaches Vickie Guerrero backstage and says now that they’re both General Managers, things have come full circle and they’re even. She says “lets just shake hands” before slapping him in the face.

-Commercial Break-

Miz TV featuring Paul Heyman
Miz that tonight’s guest cost CM Punk a shot at the WWE Championship. He introduces Paul Heyman, who makes his way down the ramp to a chorus of boos. They recap the awesome Punk/Lesnar brawl from Monday. I thought it was well executed. I see people complaining about the size difference but I think that’s the best variable heading into their match. It reminds me of Hardy/Taker a bit. Anyways, Heyman takes a seat and Miz says that he has a bunch of questions for him. He proceeds to say that he’s not going to ask any of them because Heyman will bend the truth however he likes. He tells Heyman to say what he pleases. Heyman says that he’s merely an advocate but Brock Lesnar has no conscience. Heyman must make a confession though… Nobody realizes how hard this is for Heyman because he still has love in his heart for his former best friend. He wants to make a plea to Punk. He tells him to stay down, leave the WWE, go home, and never think about coming back. If Punk ever shows his face again, Brock Lesnar will deal with him.

“Really? Really? Really? …Really?” Miz says that Heyman is enjoying this. He takes pleasure from this. Now he knows why Heyman lies. When Heyman speaks the truth, he’s more revolting than when he lies. It makes Miz sick that Heyman swore on his families life and continued lying. Miz walks out of the ring and leaves. Paul Heyman grabs the mic and brings out Axel. Miz and Axel cross paths on the ramp. Heyman did a pretty good job heeling it up here. He’s very good at making the crowd eat out of the palm of his hand and hate him.

-Commercial Break-

– We get a replay of Vickie Guerrero becoming the General Manager of Smackdown.

Intercontinental Championship: Curtis Axel (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Chris Jericho
Hopefully we get a long match out of this. Smackdown has been way lighter on in-ring action than usual this week. Jericho dominates Axel to start. Chris Jerichoo dropkicks him to the outiside followed by a sliding dropkick through the ropes. He tosses Axel back in and hits an elbow off the top rope for TWO. Axel fights back with some rights and gives Jericho a strong Irish Whip into the corner. He locks in a modified arm bar and goes to work. Jericho makes it to his feet and chops his way out of the hold. He clothesllines Axel down to the mat and hits a nice suplex. He holds on for a bridge and gets two on Axel. Axel reverses an Irish whip and delivers a nice short lariat to the back of Jericho’s head. Axel misses a splash in the corner and Jericho heads to the top. He hits a cross body and holds on for the lateral press for two. Axel fights back and hits a stiff clothesline to regain momentum as we head to break. This has been a pretty energetic match so far. Lets see if they can follow through during segment two

-Commercial Break-

Axel has Jericho in a side headlock upon our return. Jericho fights off and sends Axel into the corner. He charges at him but goes shoulder first into the ring post. Axel drops the elbow but nobody is home. Jericho hits the ropes and delivers two clotheslines followed by an enziguri for two. “COME ON BABY!” Jericho delivers a few chops and Jericho sends him into the ropes. Axel reverses the Irish whip and hits a spinning neck breaker for 2.99999. Jericho blocks a punch and hits one of his own. LIONSAULT! TWO! Jericho picks Axel up and delivers a few knees to the face. He goes for a scoop slam but Axel slides off and tosses Jericho to the apron. Jericho recovers and scales the turnbuckles. He hits an axe handle and goes for the Walls! Heyman gets on the apron to distract Jericho. Roll up by Axel! TWOOOOOOOO! That was a good near fall. Jericho goes for the Walls again! Axel tries to block it to no avail. Heyman’s losing his shit outside of the ring. Axel manages to make it to the bottom rope. He slides outside and Jericho hits a crossbody over the top rope onto him. Jericho chops him and tosses him back in. Heyman distracts Jericho again and Axel hits a boot to the face followed by his modified face buster for the pinfall victory! These guys packed in a bunch of reversals and near falls for a really entertaining match. I wish Axel didn’t rely on Heyman so heavily but he can evolve in due time.

OFFICIAL RESULT Curtis Axel @ 11:50 aired via pinfall
RATING: ***

– Ryback hits the ring and demolishes a battered Jericho after the match which will write Jericho off for the immediate future to tour with Fozzy. I understand the direction they’re going with Ryback, but I would have given him a pinfall victory over Jericho on Sunday if Smackdown was going to be Jericho’s last match for awhile. That’s a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things though.

-Commercial Break-

– Damien Sandow is in the ring with a mic and his Money in the Bank briefcase. He’s wearing a blue tie that matches his briefcase. I love it. The weak can not forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. Sandow says that it was every man for himself on Sunday. Damien says that he DID NOT screw Cody. He has a pretty solid point in my opinion. This begs the question, why did his best friend Cody attack him on Raw? They replay Cody’s attack on Raw. Sandow says that he’s not going to react like the mouth breathers in the audience would. He’s not going to spit hate filled rhetoric at him. Him and Cody are both gentleman, civilized, and most importantly, they’re still best friends. He calls out Cody to explain himself.

– Here comes Cody! Once the face turn is full fledged, I think it’s time to lose the mustache. Cody tries to grab the mic. Sandow says that on second thought, there’s no need for explanation because he forgives him for everything. Damien bestows Cody the honor of being protector of his briefcase. What a swell guy. Cody will be responsible for it’s protection and safety. “Cody, you’ve earned this.” This is gold. Cody acts emotional for a second saying “No I haven’t. I haven’t earned this.” before decking Damien with the briefcase and sending him packing with a flurry of kicks. Great segment. The writing for Cody’s face turn has definitely been good. It’s up to Cody to stand out now. This is a huge opportunity for him.

-Commercial Break-

Rob Van Dam vs. Darren Young (w/ Titus O’Neil)
Darren Young? Alright. Young hits a shoulder block right out the gate. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! RVD doesn’t take kindly to that dance. He gives himself the thumbs followed by a spin kick and a standing moonsault followed by a plancha to the outside. ROB. VAN. DAM. He follows through with a heel kick. Titus blows his whistle for the distraction and Titus takes control. P…T…P TAUNT! He clotheslines RVD down to the mat and covers for two. The audience continues to put over RVD’s unorthodox offense. It’s pretty fucking standard in 2013 in my opinion but alright. RVD hits an assisted crossbody off of the ropes followed by a Rolling Thunder. Young rolls to the apron. He misses a sunset flip and RVD hits an assisted heel kick. Five Star Frogsplash. It’s over. This was nothing more than a showcase match for RVD. All of the new fans should probably have a decent feel for him after this. I get the point of it, but it wasn’t very exciting for those familiar with Van Dam already.

OFFICIAL RESULT Rob Van Dam @ 3:10 via pinfall
RATING: SQUASH

-Commercial Break-

RAW REBOUND: We get a recap of Wyatt’s promo and The Family’s attack on R-Truth during Raw. These video packages still remain to be groundbreaking, despite the fact that they’re just recap videos that are edited creepy now.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton
They start off with some back and forth brawling before Orton takes control of the match. He sends ADR into the corner and delivers a few stomps and punches. He whips ADR into the adjacent corner and sits him on the top turnbuckle. Del Rio grabs his arm and hyper-extends it over the top rope with a grapevine that he releases at four. Alberto focuses on the arm now with stomps and arm bars. Orton rolls to the outside and Del Rio follows him. Orton was playing possum though and toe kicks Del Rio before back suplexing him onto the barricade. He tries to follow up with an Irish whip into the ring steps but Del Rio reverses it. He rolls Orton into the ring and covers him for two. He goes upstairs for an axe handle but Orton catches him with a dropkick! Del Rio rolls to the apron and Orton signals for his patented assisted DDT. Del Rio slips out and back body drops Orton to the outside! He rolls him in for two! Orton fights back and hits his modified back breaker for two. He can’t maintain momentum however, as Alberto Del Rio goes back to the bad arm. Orton slips out and hits his assisted DDT upon second attempt. He signals for the RKO. BACKSTABBER BY ADR! Orton kicks out at the eight minute mark. Both men are down. ADR makes it to his feet first. He goes for the Cross Arm Breaker but Orton hits the RKO out of nowhere for the victory! This was a fine main event but I feel like I’ve seen this match a hundred times. It’s in the same league as Orton/Sheamus from last week. They hit their near falls, they kept the crowd into it, but it still seemed a bit uninspired to me. Despite my qualms with the match, it was a solid outing from both performers.

OFFICIAL RESULT Randy Orton @ 8:44 via pinfall
RATING: **3/4

OVERALL: This week’s episode of Smackdown was definitely a few notches below the last episode. A lot of the matches were too short to mean anything and the two main events didn’t really accomplish much. I’m interested in a few of the stories that are being told but as a stand alone episode, this was middle of the road. 6.0/10>

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Michael Benjamin