WWE Smackdown live event (East Lansing, Michigan)
Report By Steve Strickland and ProWrestling.net
My and girlfriend and I attended the show. It was a pretty packed house, the stadium was about 2/3 full. I’d say there were about 3,000 people, including lots of young kids in John Cena gear.
1. The Great Khali defeated Jinder Mahal via pinfall in nine minutes. Huge pop for Khali, who is huge in person. Jinder came out to decent heat. A slow moving match with Khali getting most of the offense in. Mahal came back briefly but eventually lost via the Punjabi Plunge. Huge ovation for Khali as he left the ring.
Out next was Drew McIntyre, who got and the mic and boasted about his win on Smackdown. He said the winning streak starts now, and unfortunately it was going to happen in East Lansing, which put some heat on him.
2. Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre. Rollins came out to a decent pop, as the older fans knew who he was. Rollins won in about 16 minutes. They were given plenty of time for this matchup. Rollins was getting lots of pops for his flashy offense. It was almost a squash match for Rollins, at least that’s what it looked like until Drew made a comeback towards the end. Rollins hit his impressive finisher on McIntyre for the clean victory and received a huge pop for the win. He was very impressive live and no botches whatsoever. I can see him being a big player real soon.
3. Hunico and Camacho defeated The Uso’s in about eight minutes. Very fast paced match. The Uso’s got lots of cheers, huge heat for the heels. Flashy offense throughout the match, especially by Camacho and Hunico, after the Uso’s dominated early the latter took control. Eventually Jey set up for a splash on Hunico, who hit an impressive kick to stop that. In came the other Uso to clear him from the ring, but Camacho made quick work of him. They set up Jey for Hunico’s splash for the clean win. They got some applause following the victory.
After Cody Rhodes came out and hit the CrossRhodes on one of the Uso’s. He said Smackdown is his show and he’s taking care of the trash on the show. Speaking of shows, he said he’s going to beat Big Show at WrestleMania since he is the biggest choke artist in WrestleMania history. He said he will take joy in beating Justin Gabriel’s ass tonight. Yes, he said ass, and got huge heat from the crowd.
4. Shemaus beat Mark Henry in a Street Fight (fans’ choice). Henry made Tony Chimel reintroduce him as the World’s Strongest Man and the newest inductee into the International Sports Hall of Fame, which got a pretty good pop from the crowd, followed by Sexual Chocolate, pretty funny. Sheamus came out to a huge pop.
Very good back and forth with Henry dominating early on. Sheamus made a good comeback, threw him into the chairs outside the ring, and then threw chairs and kendo sticks in the ring. They both picked up chairs at the same time. Henry struck first and then set up a chair in the corner between the ropes. Henry got in some stiff shots with the chair, but Sheamus rallied back and got a kendo stick. Cue a beatdown. Sheamus was setting up for the Brouge Kick, but Daniel Bryan came down to the ring and hit him with the belt. Huge heat for Bryan.
There was a great near fall by Henry with Sheamus kicking out last second. Henry setup Sheamus for a splash on the chair. Sheamus countered and absolutely drove Henry into the chair in a great spot. Sheamus covered with Henry kicking out at the last second. A great near fall that I bought into myself. Henry came back, swung a chair at Sheamus, who ducked, and then Henry walked into a Brogue Kick for the victory in about 15 minutes.
Intermission
5. Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated Alicia Fox and Tamina in about six minutes. Nothing special really. Phoenix is great in the ring. The match ended with Phoenix clearing Fox, knocking Tamina off the top rope, and then hitting a glam slam for the win.
6. Cody Rhodes defeated Justin Gabriel. to retain the Intercontinental Title in ten minutes. More mic work from Cody making fun of Big Show, which drew lots of heat for him. Gabriel entered to a decent pop. Rhodes kept trying to bail in some funny spots. He entered one side then left via the other side and even sat in the crowd. Eventually, the match got going and Gabriel had control. He setup for the 450, but Cody played possum twice. The crowd was really hot for almost seeing the 450. Rhodes missed that kick he does, reversed a Gabriel tilt-o-whirl side slam into a CrossRhodes for the win. Very impressive. Huge heat for the victory, which is good.
7. Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Big Show in a Triple Threat to retain the World Hvt. Championship in 12 minutes. Huge heat for Bryan, then the loudest pop of the night for Show, and right behind him was Orton. Great live crowd all night. The match started with both babyfaces going after Bryan, cueing the loud slaps from the Big Show. The slaps were vicious live. Orton tried to cover Bryan, but Show stopped them, making them fight.
Show performed a side slam then rolled out of the ring selling a rib injury, thus letting Orton and Bryan do most of the in ring work. Orton performed all of his spots with the power slams and DDT off the ropes. He set up for the RKO, but was interrupted by Show.
Show and Orton battled. Show knocked Orton out for a few. Bryan got the better of the exchange surprisingly and had the LeBell Lock locked in. Show eventually threw him off but the crowd as really into this. Show setup for the WMD, but Sheamus came out and threw bryan back in the ring while ref was attending Orton. Once Show had Bryan setup again, Rhodes came out to distract Show. Orton hit the RKO on Show, then Bryan covered Show for the victory. Bryan is hilarious live.
After the match, Orton hit the RKO on Bryan. Sheamus came out and hit a Brogue Kick on Bryan. Show hit the WMD to send the crowd home happy. Overall a great show with good effort by the wrestlers, and the crowd was hot all night.
