-The show opens to Randy Orton seated in the ring. Orton is steaming over his DQ loss to Christian at Money in the Bank, which resulted in Christian winning his World title. Christian comes to the stage to mock Orton some more, pointing out that Orton lost the title because he knowingly broke the rules. The best part is that Christian is 100% correct. Orton angrily demands a rematch but Christian imitates Orton from the past couple of months, stating that nobody likes a whiner. Orton charges the stage, but Teddy Long and an army of referees appear to break it up. Long reminds Orton that he’s scheduled to face Kane in a street fight and challenges him to be the bigger man by walking away. Orton decides that being the bigger man is overrated and tackles Christian anyway. The referees break it up, and Long decides Christian should face Ezekiel Jackson. This was a great opening segment, as Christian continues to shine while playing mind games with an easily set off Randy Orton.
-Michael Cole reluctantly interviews Daniel Bryan in the ring. Bryan is all smiles after winning the Smackdown Money in the Bank ladder match. Cole dismisses Bryan’s big win as a fluke. Bryan says Cole’s opinion doesn’t matter to him. Cole mocks Bryan for when he inevitably cashes in when the champion is vulnerable in the ring. Cole says Bryan will never deserve to be champion. Bryan fires back by saying Cole didn’t deserve to be in a marquee match at Wrestlemania. Right on! Bryan puts over his long, hard quest to make it to the top of WWE. Bryan says if he’s going to be World champion, he doesn’t want it to be a fluke, therefore he announces that he’ll cash in at Wrestlemania! This is AWESOME news. Heath Slater interrupts and predicts Bryan will be the first man to cash in and lose. Slater says Bryan was a loser in NXT and in Nexus, so he got kicked out. Niiiice.
-Michael Cole promises that if Daniel Bryan wins the World title at Wrestlemania, he will vomit all over the commentary table. I think we should hold Cole to that.
-Mark Henry is interviewed backstage. He is on a roll after decimating Big Show at Money in the Bank.
-Everything on Smackdown comes to a screeching halt as they replay the entire segment from Raw when Triple H informs Vince McMahon that he is “relieved of his duties.” Remember, kids, Raw is important, and Smackdown is filler. Don’t you ever forget that.
-WWE Rewind: Sin Cara upsets Sheamus last week. Immediately afterwards, Wade Barrett attacks Sheamus with Waste Land!
-Sheamus and Barrett aren’t finished brawling. Barrett checks his mouth as he might have lost a tooth. They battle back into the ring, where Sheamus has the final word with a Brogue Kick. I think Sheamus is going to make a terrific baby face.
-Kane is lurking backstage in the shadows with some spooky music. Kane puts over his 14 year career of inspiring nightmares. Sadly, now Kane is the one who is haunted, as he’s facing his own humanity. Kane will fix this problem when he punishes Randy Orton in their street fight. Kane laughs maniacally to end a fun segment.
-Kane offers a handshake afterwards and surprisingly, Orton accepts. The Code of Honor is alive and well. Orton takes his leave as Kane remains to bask in the crowd adoration. Unfortunately, a fresh Mark Henry shows up. Kane is eager to fight but Mark Henry quickly puts him down with a clothesline. Kane is selling his injured ankle as Henry finishes what Orton started. The commentary team flees as Henry comes near them for a chair. Henry wraps the chair around Kane’s bad ankle and splashes it off the turnbuckle! That was DISGUSTING! And by that, I mean awesome. Looks like we might not see Kane again for a while.
Final Thoughts: The crowd was dead throughout the show, which hurt the vibes of what they were going for. I hate, hate, HATE when they replay Raw segments in their entirety, as it’s such a subtle, yet effective way to bury Smackdown in front of it’s own audience. I know Vince McMahon being fired from his television role is significant, but a Raw Replay video package would have served just fine. Otherwise, this show will stick out in my mind for the big Daniel Bryan announcement and for Christian rolling back into town with the World title. Also, they need to address the problem of commercials during matches. I can remember a time when this never happened, circa 2000. If they could do it before, they could do it again, if they wanted to. Mild Thumbs Up, despite some of my biggest pet peeves being on full display.
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