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WWE Friday Night Smackdown- February 25, 2011

by SamoaRowe

-Theodore Long opens the show backstage. He’s still a bit peeved about Vickie Guerrero’s orchestrated attack on him, so he books Vickie and Drew McIntyre vs. Kelly Kelly and Edge. If Vickie’s team loses, she joins Dolph Ziggler on unemployment.

-Our hosts are Josh Matthews, Booker T, and Michael Cole.

Rey Mysterio vs. Kane

Kane clubs away in the early going. Kane counters Rey’s head scissor attempt and plants him. Kane applies a body scissors and stretches the arm as well. Kane counters again with a backbreaker. Rey tries to build a comeback but Kane continues to counter. Cue the commercial! Post-break, Kane is working over the back. A long bear hug spot doesn’t endear this match to me. Rey briefly speeds things up before getting caught by Kane’s power yet again. Kane misses the flying clothesline and eats 619! Kane counters the flying senton, but Rey counters back with a roll-up for the win at 7:34 (shown). This was your typical Rey vs. big man formula match. It was also long for the sake of being long.
Winner: Rey Mysterio

-Rey is celebrating in the ring when he’s joined by Dusty Rhodes, father of Dashing Cody Rhodes. They embrace in the ring and we’re interrupted by another commercial. Afterwards, Dusty puts over what a good, personal friend Rey is. Dusty is disappointed by Cody and offers an apology. Cody Rhodes comes out, sans music, and wearing a protective mask. Cody is furious because “everyone is staring at him” and refuses to apologize. Dusty says that Cody has lost focus of what’s important in the business. Cody offers a forced apology and handshake to Mysterio. Dusty shakes Rey’s hand again but this time won’t let go. Uh oh. Cody jumps Rey and slides him though the ropes! Yes! This segment just became awesome! I really thought this was leading to Cody attacking his father and then Rey, but I was pleasantly surprised. Good job, Smackdown writers. This is a feud worth watching. Cody finishes by tossing Rey into the mirror on the Tron and stealing his mask.

-Backstage, Dusty and Cody are having a touching family moment to celebrate what they just did to Mysterio.

Rosa Mendes vs. Layla (with Michelle McCool)

Michelle is sitting on commentary and is unhappy to see Rosa taking control on her friend, Layla. Rosa and Layla tumble to ringside. Their fight leads them to Michelle, who angrily attacks Rosa to draw the DQ around 1:35. Layla is unhappy with the result and the teased LayCool dissension continues.
Winner by DQ: Rosa Mendes

-Later tonight, John Cena responds to The Rock… on Raw.

-We are treated to footage from Raw where Kofi Kingston attacked Alberto Del Rio from behind. The attack backfired and Del Rio got the upper hand, injuring Kofi’s arm with the ring post.

Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston

Kofi’s arm is heavily bandaged, but at least his Intercontinental title isn’t up for grabs. It doesn’t take Swagger long to start taking advantage of Kofi’s injury. Kofi is fired up and has to be pulled off Swagger by the official. Kofi builds some momentum, including the boom drop, but Swagger responds by driving his legs into the ring post. Swagger applies the ankle lock and Kofi has to tap at 2:44. I’m glad they didn’t feel the need to prolong this through a commercial break. Swagger looks good with this victory and Kofi has the injury excuse. Good stuff, here.
Winner: Jack Swagger

-Backstage, Vickie Guerrero knocks on Theodore Long’s door. She wants to whine about her match but gets no response.

-We are treated to footage from the last Raw, where John Cena had some words for The Rock. Cena is a bit put off, because the fans aren’t buzzing about his Elimination Chamber win or upcoming WWE title match with The Miz. Instead, they are talking about what The Rock said about him! Honestly, I hope no one is surprised by this reality. They roll the footage of Rock tearing Cena a new one verbally, which is just fantastic. Cena busts out a rap for the first time in a long time, awesomely making fun of some of Rock’s more embarrassing movie roles. This is why I was such a big Cena supporter in 2003. Again, it’s annoying that so much of Smackdown is spent putting over what happens on Raw, but this is good stuff.

-Vickie begs Chavo Guerrero for some help. Chavo refuses on account of all the times Vickie treated him like a gopher.

Wade Barrett vs. Big Show

Theodore Long has ordered that the Corre be banned from ringside. Show wastes no time going to work on Barrett. Barrett applies a big time chinlock. Show stumbles into the ropes, but Barrett is in firm control heading into a commercial. Post-break, Barrett is in charge, hitting a DDT off his knees. Show clotheslines Barrett to the floor and lights him up with open hand shots. Barrett counters Show’s skull into the ropes, but Show pulls Barrett to the floor in time to win by count-out at 4:01 (shown). They could have achieved this in one segment. The match itself wasn’t bad, Show and Barrett seem to have some weirdly good chemistry.
Winner by count-out: Big Show

-The rest of the Corre run in to try and score some revenge, but Big Show fends them off with a chair.

-Video package of the highlights of Undertaker and Triple H’s return on Raw. “Hey, son, want to go to Smackdown?” “Yeah, Dad! They’re going to replay what I just watched on Raw, it’s going to be awesome!” All kidding aside, this was a pretty cool package, complete with a cheesy narrator.

-Drew McIntyre and Vickie Guerrero are angrily marching around backstage.

Drew McIntyre and Vickie Guerrero vs. Edge and Kelly Kelly

Remember, if Vickie’s team loses, she is fired! Kelly forces Vickie to start the match. Kelly trips Vickie and pummels the head. Drew makes a tag, forcing Edge into the match. Edge and McIntyre battle back and forth, while Drew yells threats at Kelly (I’d forgotten that Drew had previously been hitting on Kelly). Drew goes to work on the arm. Drew is distracted by Kelly again, allowing Edge to build some momentum with his bag of tricks. Vickie catches Edge wit ha slap and Drew follows up with a big boot. Edge counters a DDT with one of his own. Vickie shields McIntyre from Edge but Kelly spears her! Edge delivers the spear on McIntyre for the win at 5:34! Vickie is gone! This was fun, and I appreciate how the history among these characters mattered in the outcome.
Winners: Edge and Kelly Kelly

-Vickie looks absolutely devastated. Theodore Long joins the party. Vickie pleads Long for her job. It doesn’t matter as Long fires her anyway. Vickie has a pathetic meltdown and begs the referee to reverse the decision. She pleads with Booker T to do something, but he seems genuinely amused by the development. Even sympathetic Michael Cole doesn’t know what to do. Finally, Vickie resorts to begging Edge to take her back. For the second straight week, Edge leads the crowd in a stirring rendition of the “goodbye” song. Vickie finally leaves, but Edge is jumped by Alberto Del Rio! Edge is stuck in the cross arm breaker until the referee manages to pull Del Rio off of him. This segment worked out nicely. It resolved Edge’s storyline with Edge and transitioned his focus to Del Rio heading into Wrestlemania.

Final Thoughts: Another brisk episode. I really dug the development of Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio. I hope they are heading into a singles match at ‘Mania and won’t just be shoved into a Money in the Bank ladder match. I also hope that this recent “Vickie is fired” angle sticks for a bit, as I feel the show could use a break from her. It will be important from here that Del Rio vs. Edge becomes a big deal. This was another easy thumbs up.

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