411’s WWE SmackDown Report 01.20.12

WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
January 20th, 2012
Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: Unknown at this time

Hello everyone, my name is Michael Uphoff. Colin was unavailable to do the report tonight, and sadly I have nothing better to do with my Friday night, so here I am, back for one night only! Cue the RVD jokes. You can almost always find me on the Instant Access for the WWE PPV’s every month. On tap for tonight is Daniel Bryan defending his World Heavyweight Championship against the World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry and Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett.

Shown first is a video that highlights the match last week between Daniel Bryan and Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. AJ gets stretchered out because Big Show knocked her down. Bryan is great in this near-heel role.

SmackDown is airing tonight from Sin City itself, Las Vegas! Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, and Booker T are on commentary.

Lillian Garcia welcomes Daniel Bryan out to the ring. Loud boos for Bryan. Cole hypes Bryan vs. Henry tonight. Bryan says that tonight is aptly named Sin City SmackDown because of what Show did last week. Bryan accuses Show of intentionally running over AJ last week and crying crocodile tears. According to Bryan, Show is bitter about losing the World Heavyweight Championship after holding it for forty-five seconds. Because of that, his girlfriend AJ has suffered numerous injuries. AJ put herself in harm’s way because she loves him. No one has ever told him that. Not even your mom, D-Bry? That’s harsh. He dedicates his match tonight to her. As for Mark Henry, Bryan is not intimidated. Nice “you suck” chant from the crowd. Bryan says it’s a good thing that Show isn’t here because he can’t be held accountable for his actions. He asks Show to do the decent thing and just quit. Good stuff here from Daniel Bryan for the opening promo.

The announcers wish AJ the best.

Some people are in the back playing casino games, including Hornswoggle, Ezekiel Jackson, and Santino. Aksana is with Teddy Long standing by the roulette wheel. Cody Rhodes interrupts and says he is the last hope for the Rhodes family and spins the wheel. He gets the Player’s Choice. Rhodes can pick anyone for his match next. Rhodes picks someone, making us think it’s Ezekiel Jackson, then Santino, but it’s ultimately Hornswoggle.

Did You Know…that WWE partnered with some foundation for literacy? Good for them, even though I didn’t quite catch the name of the foundation.

Cody Rhodes © vs. Hornswoggle

Rhodes is out first. Hornswoggle comes out next.

Rhodes stomps and attacks Hornswoggle outside the ring. Justin Gabriel runs out to save him. Gabriel with blows and tosses him in the ring. Gabriel tells him to pick on him.

Cody Rhodes © vs. Justin Gabriel

Cody immediately goes on the attack, but Gabriel reverses with some blows. Gabriel reverses an Irish whip and hits a nice dropkick. They lock up and Gabriel hiptosses him. Rhodes with a Goldust uppercut and then a dropkick of his own, followed by a front suplex. Submission hold applied by Rhodes, followed by a head-butt and a stomp. Rights to Gabriel gets 2. Ground abdominal stretch applied by Rhodes. Gabriel fights out and counters a scoop slam attempt into the Eye of the Hurricane. He ducks a shot by Rhodes and hits an enzuigiri. He goes up for the 450 but Rhodes moves. Rhodes goes for the Alabama Slam out of the corner, but Gabriel rolls him up for 2. Another rollup gets 2. Gabriel gets his boot up on a charge, then hits a nice springboard crossbody for 2! Cody hotshots Gabriel on the top rope and hits the Cross Rhodes! 1…2…3!

Winner: Cody Rhodes via pinfall with the Cross Rhodes
Good stuff from the two, especially from the time that it got. Wish they could’ve had some more time, as the match had great potential. **

In the back, Mark Henry gets an opportunity to spin the wheel. With his comments, Henry might be turning face. He blames Long for what happened to AJ, and blames Long for putting Bryan in harm’s way tonight. Long spins the wheel for him and we get a Lumberjack match for the World Heavyweight Championship tonight.

WWE Rewind shows the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles change hands at a house show in Oakland. Primo and Epico defeated Air Boom.

Tag Team Tornado Match- Primo & Epico vs. The Usos

Primo and Epico make their way to the ring, accompanied by Rosa Mendes. I can think of some sins I’d like to commit with Rosa. The Usos make their way to the ring as well. Booker plays with the new WWE toy.

The tag teams go after each other. The Usos double team Epico wish some nice offense, and then a nice double team elbow drop-backbreaker on Primo. That gets 2. One of the Usos gets tossed, and Primo and Epico return the double-team favor and get a cover for 2. The other Uso comes back into the ring and they start to clean house on the tag champs in the corners. They do stereo ass-rams to the tag champs. SHADES OF RIKISHI! Rosa distracts one Uso when he is going after Primo on the outside, but back in the ring the other Uso hits the Superfly Splash and gets just 2 on Epico as Primo breaks the count. Primo hits the LUNG BLOWER! That gets the 3 count!

Winner: Primo and Epico via pinfall
Good for what it was. It is a disturbing trend, however, that tag team wrestling only gets about two minutes a TV show. *1/2

We get the package for the Royal Rumble. We also get footage from last year’s Rumble, the largest ever, in which Alberto Del Rio prevailed. I predict Randy Orton will win, as the Royal Rumble is in his hometown of St. Louis. If Orton somehow is not in the Rumble, then it will be Chris Jericho or Sheamus.

Aksana is in the back with Teddy, complete with the cheesy porn music. Sheamus saves up from this and Aksana spins the wheel to determine what type of match Sheamus has tonight with Wade Barrett. It’s a Tables Match! What happens in Vegas, indeed….

Dance-off between Brodus Clay and Vickie Guerrero

Brodus actually gets a nice pop from the crowd. You know, I might need to get my head examined, but I actually enjoy Brodus Clay in this role. He has a ton of fun with it and gets the crowd involved.

A Raw package from Monday shows the happenings with Johnny Ace. Are the days of CM Punk as WWE Champion numbered? God, I hope not.

EXCUSE ME! I SAID, EXCUSE ME! Vickie Guerrero is out to the ring and is Brodus Clay’s opponent. Vickie is just absolutely terrible as no one can be that bad. The crowd lets her have it. It’s Brodus’s turn, and he gets his girls in the action. Brodus jiggles and pulls out some nice moves. The crowd automatically picks Brodus Clay. Vickie goes off with the decision and tries to dance. William Regal comes out in a suit holding a mic. Regal comes out to escort Vickie out of the ring. Regal is GREAT. Brodus calls Regal a funky chicken. I want the POWER OF THE PUNCH! Regal goes to dance and actually shows really nice moves for a refined Englishman. Brodus “accidentally” hits his crossbody finisher on Regal and tells the crowd that “maybe someone should call his mama.”
It was bad with Vickie, but Regal coming out and dancing saved the segment and made it corny, but still somewhat enjoyable.

The Tables Match between Sheamus and Wade Barrett is next. We also get another video package for the Royal Rumble, which is one week from this Sunday.

Tables Match- Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus

Barrett is out first, getting loud boos from the crowd. Sheamus is out to a big pop. I’ve really enjoyed his face run. It’s been highly entertaining.

Barrett goes on the offensive with kicks and rights, and Sheamus reverses and hits several clubbing blows in the corner. He bounces Barrett off the turnbuckle. Sheamus reverses an Irish whip, countered by Barrett, and then Sheamus tosses Barrett over the top rope. Barrett runs Sheamus into the ring apron and goes for the first table. Sheamus runs him down and throws his head into the announce table. Sheamus sets up the table, goes for a powerslam, but Barrett slips over and runs him into the ring post! Barrett grabs him and rolls him into the ring. Stomps by Barrett, and then knees on the apron, trying to knock him through the table with a big boot, but Sheamus manages to hang on to the rope. Barrett goes for a suplex through the table, but Sheamus reverses to many clubbing blows to the chest. He hits a running forearm, but Barrett clears the table. He knocks over the table, and Sheamus rolls him back into the ring. Sheamus brings a table to the ring, but Barrett superkicks him! Barrett slides the table into the ring, and then rolls Sheamus into the ring. He stomps Sheamus, and then sets up the table in the corner, presumably going for a slam through it. Sheamus counters and lands some Irish hammers. Powerslam by Sheamus! He lays out Barrett on the table, goes up top, Barrett off the table, climbs up the ropes, goes for a superplex, Sheamus clears the table and hits the Irish Curse Backbreaker! Sheamus sets up the table in the corner. Sheamus goes for the Irish Carbomb into the table, but Jinder Mahal is out and distracts him! Barrett tosses him into the table in the corner and it breaks! Barrett wins!

Winner: Wade Barrett
Good stuff from these two. Would have liked to see it go a little longer, but they put on a decent tables match. **1/4

After the match, Jinder sets up a table in the opposite corner and goes after Sheamus. Sheamus counters and Jinder eats the Brogue Kick! Sheamus spinebusters Jinder through the table! He stands tall as we go to commercial.

Cole, Booker, and Matthews hype the main event, which if you haven’t been following is a Lumberjack Match between Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Ted DiBiase is out to a BIG pop. Hunico is out next with Camacho and is presumably his opponent in some sort of gimmick match.

Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico- Flag Match

You win by retrieving the flag from your corner. A crew comes out to set up the flags.

Hunico goes after Ted immediately but gets slammed nicely off the ropes as a counter. He goes for the American flag, but Hunico utilizes his skill and gets him off with a NICE move. He goes for the Mexican flag, but DiBiase electric chair drops him! Hunico tosses DiBiase out of the ring, Hunico climbs, and DiBiase tosses him off into Camacho! Ted climbs, Hunico in, Ted kicks him away and hits Dream Street while selling the leg. He goes up and grabs Old Glory!

Winner: Ted DiBiase via retrieval of the U.S. Flag
Nice short gimmick match that kept the crowd involved in the show. Good for what it was. *1/2

Daniel Bryan is talking in the back to a Diva that I do not recognize.

Switchfoot provides the theme for the Royal Rumble. The RAW Rebound is the Handicap Match that Mick Foley came out and won, but it was overturned by Johnny Laryngitis. Also shown is Punk going off on Johnny Ace in a GREAT promo. Johnny Ace may not have been a good wrestler, but he pulled a good heel promo there.

Drew McIntyre is in the back and gets fired by Teddy Long. Santino interrupts and asks for one more match with Drew with some Vegas casino quips. Drew spins the wheel and gets a blindfold match.

Mark Henry prepares in the back for his match in the main event. He’s been great as a monster heel, but now he seems like a tweener to me. A lot like when Orton was still heel in early 2010, but was taking out heels until the crowd turned him face.

The announcers shill the WWE ’12 game and show a Royal Rumble on the game. It actually looks pretty nice.

Blindfold Match- Santino Marella vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is already in the ring when Santino makes his entrance. Wonder who wins?

Both men get blindfolded, and the bell rings. They do some comedy stuff in the ring trying to find each other. Santino uses the crowd and goes for the Cobra, but hits the ropes. They both go over the top rope, and Drew punches the ring post. Ouch. Drew cheats, but gets lowbridged over the top rope. Santino uses the crowd again and sets the Cobra. He hits it! 1…2…3!

Winner: Santino Marella via pinfall with the Cobra
It was a great comedy match, but a waste of time overall. I really hope Drew doesn’t get fired, as he has a lot of talent and upside in the ring. *

Drew goes off after the match, kicking the steel steps outside the ring.

The lumberjacks make their way to the ring.

A package showing Barrett taking out Orton reveals that Orton makes his return on SmackDown next Friday. Why not wait until the Rumble? Doesn’t make sense to me at all.

World Heavyweight Championship Lumberjack Match- Daniel Bryan © vs. Mark Henry

Mark Henry makes his way out to the ring, and the crowd mostly gives him boos. He intimidates the lumberjacks as he enters the ring. Daniel Bryan comes out to a mixed reaction. Super special ring announcing done here by Lillian, which is no complaint from me as she is SMOKING hot.

The bell rings, and Henry tosses his shirt at Bryan. Bryan tries a kick, but Henry just grabs his leg and throws him off. He tries some kicks and a chop, but Henry headbutts him down. Bryan talks trash outside the ring, and Henry hits some rights in the corner when he comes back in the ring. He chokes Bryan with his boot, and goes to work on Bryan in the corner. Henry headbutts him again and is just dissecting him in the ring. Bryan ducks under a clothesline and tries to knock Henry down, but he just runs into a brick wall and gets knocked out of the ring. He gets tossed back in by the lumberjacks and is irritated as we go to commercial. I smell a plan formulating in Young Master Bryan’s head.

Back from commercial, Henry grabs Bryan and THROWS him across the ring and chokes him on the ropes. Chop block by Bryan slows Henry, followed by some corner offense. Henry throws him away, but Bryan comes back with a nice dropkick. Buzzsaw Kick by Bryan! 1…2…NO! POWER OUT BY HENRY! Bryan gets back into the ring, and gets greeted by a clothesline and gets tossed across the ring again twice. Henry hits a HUGE LARIAT on Bryan! 1…2…NO! Gorilla press by Henry, and he tosses Bryan into the lumberjacks! Bryan starts a fight with the lumberjacks, but Henry tosses him back into the ring. The lumberjacks go after Henry, and then they go after Bryan! Henry tosses them all off, and goes back into the ring and tosses out the lumberjacks. The lumberjacks come back in and swarm the two wrestlers. Daniel Bryan crawls out of the ring with the title as the lumberjacks are fighting each other.
Winner: No Contest
Daniel Bryan got almost no offense in in this match. It got better as the match progressed for him, but I was disappointed overall as I felt the two were capable of better. **

Teddy Long is in the back and makes a Triple Threat Cage match between Big Show, Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. The show then ends.

Final Thoughts: Overall, this was a show that was better than the sum of its parts. It was a nice gimmick show that advanced storylines and built further for the Royal Rumble, both the match and the main event. Some of the matches, however, were throwaway and not worth watching. I give it a thumbs in the middle. There really isn’t anything to see here, but logical progression of storylines to the PPV is always a good thing.