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Tonight (Aug. 30) is a special night for WWE, as it will run its first live Smackdown show in some time with what they've dubbed a "SuperShow" and this being the first in the new era for the company. Or so they're saying.
While it was originally planned as a pay-per-view caliber event, the latest scheduled matches do not indicate as much. It's being billed as a triple main event with the following matches lined up:
Randy Orton vs. Christian steel cage match for the world heavyweight title
John Cena vs. Wade Barrett
CM Punk vs. Great Khali
That last pairing is especially cute, considering the fact that Kevin Nash was pulled from his match against Punk at Night of Champions by Triple H, who will step in for him. Maybe this is a trial run match to see how Punk works with a big man who is extremely limited and can barely move.
Speaking of the Nash-Punk-HHH triangle program, answers to that song and dance and ridiculously anticlimactic announcement at the end of Raw are expected.
Finally, Alberto Del Rio vs. Sin Cara has been scrapped thanks to visa issues for the WWE champion, who is apparently still in Mexico trying to make his way back into the country. Some reports have indicated it's possible he'll be there but it's doubtful. I guess we'll see.
Smackdown is on the air and the live blog is after the jump.
SMACKDOWN SUPERSHOW LIVE BLOG
The show is live and dear god, they're advertising Triple H and CM Punk signing the contract tonight for their match at Night of Champions. I guess they're really going to go through with this angle killing match.
Wow, John Cena opens the show. For the first time since he took over as COO, Triple H is not out first. Cena mugs for the camera before hitting the ring to cut a goofy promo. Cheap heat by mentioning the town they're in, Wichita. Cena makes reference to the "Shockmaster" and gets absolutely no response from the crowd. Cena calls out Alberto Del Rio, which is great since we know he's not there. Out comes Ricardo Rodriguez instead. He hits the ring and says he has a message for Cena from ADR -- Johny boy is going to have to wait until Night of Champions. Rodriguez still manages to get in announcing Del Rio.
I'm just waiting for the inevitable Attitude Adjustment.
It doesn't come and instead Cena hits him with a lame punch and says to give him the message. That was seriously weak sauce. Out comes Wade Barrett and apparently we're getting this match early.
Barrett says Cena didn't learn any of the lessons he taught him last year. Great, a retread. At least there's continuity and an ode to history. Barrett says Smackdown is his playground and it's not Cena's territory. Reminds Cena he used to be Barrett's bitch. Cena jumps into the pandering to the crowd schtick.
Good god, Cena has the worst promos of any of the hottest acts since the early 40s.
Commercial break before the match.
John Cena vs. Wade Barrett - Ringside commentators make mention that this is the first of two main events tonight. First off, there's three and second of all, it's not the main event if it opens the show. Anyway, here we go with a match that is sure to disappoint. Sure enough, Cena is working him like Barrett's offense does no damage. I guess this is one way to go with the brand merger. Have your top guy in the company bury one of the up-and-comers who is only an up-and-comer because he's on the "B" show. Barrett finally starts to get some offense in but it isn't long before Cena goes into the five moves of doom. Gets the Attitude Adjustment, holds it for about 20 seconds and executes for the clean pinfall. That was a burial and it disgusts me.
Cut to a backstage interview with Mark Henry. He doesn't care who wins tonight's match between Randy Orton and Christian because either way, there will be a candidate for the "Hall of Pain." Actually scores some points for telling Matt Striker, the interviewer, that asking him how bad a cage match is is the dumbest question of all time. Finishes weak by saying flip a coin and either way, you lose.
Sin Cara comes out for a match and gets a decent pop. Commercial break.
Instead of working with Alberto Del Rio like he was originally supposed to, Sin Cara gets to work with Daniel Bryan. That's not so bad.
Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan - They get to running early and Cara hits a flying arm drag. Not bad. Bryan sends him out to the barricade and flies through the ropes to greet him. That suicide dive was ugly, though, because he clipped the ropes and lost all his momentum. Cara sold it big anyway. Michael Cole goes back to burying Bryan on commentary, which makes sense because ... well ... it actually makes no sense. They set up Cara's flip off the ropes spot and it actually goes well this time. Flips back into the ring for a two-count. Booker's putting over Cara big as he works Bryan in the corner. Rest spot before they trade strong style shots, Cara with kicks, Bryan with punches. Cara with a couple big moves off the ropes and he gets the pinfall. Ending felt a bit rushed, but it was a solid match. Cara shakes hands with Bryan and acts cool before kicking him in the head. Heel Cara?
Backstage interview with Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston putting themselves over as the next big tag team. We'll see. They promote Triple H and CM Punk contract signing before a commercial for Sheamus for the STAR anti-bullying campaign.
Promo airs featuring Randy Orton and his feud with Christian over the past few weeks. Christian in the back for an interview to set up his match. He says he's not a whiner. Gets cheap heat by calling the crowd losers. Says he doesn't need to be the world heavyweight champion to validate his career. He just wants to do it. Weak.
Commercial break.
Diva's tag match up next. If you know me and know my work here on Cageside, you know I take bathroom breaks for this shit. Same thing here. Blah.
After the squash women's match, they show Triple H and Teddy Long in the back walking to the ring while going over the contract. Which means Punk and Triple H are up next.
Triple H still getting solid reactions from the live crowds. Just as big as anyone else, actually. Takes the mic and reminds everyone that he's stepping in for Kevin Nash against CM Punk at Night of Champions. Says the Board was nice enough to let him take his suit off for one night to deal with Punk. Out comes the "Second City Savior." Nice pop.
Punk starts off talking. Says he's confused and wants to know why he's here. Why did "Trips" change the match. "The Game" bombs him and says, "I thought you would have made up in intelligence what you lack in hygiene." Tells Punk to shut his mouth so he can talk and explain why he put himself in the match over Nash. HHH says he tried to work with Punk and it just wasn't good enough. "Trips" asks Punk who he thinks paid the bill for his new theme song "Cult of Personality" and also who approved the shirt. Triple H putting himself over as trying to do the right thing and because Punk disrespected him as a man, anyway, now he gets to deal with him as a man.
Punk comes back and says the new Triple H sucks and he wants the "Cerebral Assassin" at Night of Champions. Goes on to say Vince McMahon couldn't separate business and personal and now Triple H can't either. Punk says he loves the WWE and he wants change. He recognizes when things suck. Wants things to be different and by different, he means better. Punk wants to be the catalyst for change and Triple H buries him. Says some of the fans actually like the current product and they love what they see just the way it is. Dear god, I hope he doesn't actually believe that. Triple H says Punk only wants change if it means Punk is on top and says he's no different than anybody else. Compares Punk to himself but says Punk wants to be a martyr instead of just running through people to get to the top like "Trips" did.
Punk takes back over and says he's doing this for everybody but he's also doing it for himself. Why? Because he's always been a fan and he still is today. He'll do what he needs to make change. Punk says he pushed Triple H's buttons to test him and he failed. Says "The Game" is egotistical and vindictive and the only reason he hired Nash was to do his dirty work because he couldn't get his hands dirty. Tells Triple H not to fine him or suspend him after he kicks his ass at Night of Champions before signing the contract.
Triple H says he respects Vince McMahon for what he's done. Time to put over Vince, even though he's not even an on-screen character anymore. HHH says thanks for the comparison between he and Vinny Mac. Ugh. His nose is literally turning brown on live television.
Punk jumps back in and says Vince lost touch a long time ago and Triple H has as well. Punk hasn't, though, and he wants change. Triple H tells him he'll get it. And this is where he's not like Vince. Old McMahon would have gotten in the ring at Night of Champions and taken a beating because it's good for business. Triple H says it's personal now and he's going to kick Punk's skinny fat ass.
Que nWo theme and Kevin Nash comes rushing out to the ring. Triple H holds off Punk but can't do it the whole way and they're finally going at it. Punk went after Nash's knees. Holy shit, Nash sends Triple H flying with one of the strongest shoves I've ever seen. Punk and Triple H down in the ring as Nash takes off. Jesus, that was a hell of a segment.
Commercial break.
They come back from break to show a pissed off Nash walking out of the building and refusing an interview. Out comes Great Khali with Jinder Mahal. Apparently they changed their mind at the last minute and now Khali will take on Sheamus.
Great Khali vs. Sheamus - Khali kicks things off with some actual ring psychology by kicking the shit out of Sheamus' ribs. He rips off the wrap Sheamus is wearing to really attack. Not bad, big guy, not bad at all. Sheamus makes his comeback after eating some nasty chops. Sheamus traps the big guy in the ropes and assaults his chest with forearms. Gets another knockdown and sets up for the brogue kick. Jinder steps in and causes a disqualification by attacking Sheamus. Now Khali and Mahal go to work on him. Sheamus manages to take out Khali but Jinder is still going at him. Now he eats a lariat and Sheamus picks him up for the Celtic Cross, which is a complete ripoff of the Razor's Edge/Outsider's Edge that Scott Hall used to use.
Promoting the steel cage match and asking for fans to vote for who they think is going to win before a commercial break. Not sure about you, Cagesiders, but my money is on another Christian burial.
They come back to promote Triple H's "latest action thriller." Which is code for, "latest piece of trash you should avoid at all costs."
Time for the main event. The fans voted 85-percent in favor of Orton to defeat Christian, who received just 15-percent of the vote. So we're all on board with the golden child against the guy who apparently pissed off the bookers. They do the slow crawl gimmick for the cage coming down under the lights. Time to plug a new Randy Orton DVD that I won't purchase. Netflix, don't fail me now.
Commercial break.
Randy Orton vs Christian steel cage match for the world heavyweight championship - They're giving Orton and Christian a full 20 minutes, including entrances, to make this thing work. I can't imagine they'll do any better than they did at SummerSlam but we'll see. Christian has no heat but Orton gets one hell of a pop. Intros finally done and again, Orton is over like crazy.
Cage door locks and Christian hauls ass to get out after a cheap shot but it doesn't work. I like that. Orton sends him into the turnbuckle but Christian just jumps it and tries climbing out. This is a fun start. Then Orton lands a dropkick and it's not so fun anymore. Goes for the cover and gets two, of course, and out of nowhere we get a commercial break. Didn't even set it up. That was weird.
Back from break and guess who is getting all the offense in? Yeah, it's Orton. Can't get a pin and asks for the door to be opened. Can't make it out and he goes back to work on Christian. Sets up the DDT off the ropes but Christian reverses him into the cage. Starts to escape after keeping Orton down but he gets back up in a hurry and grabs an ankle. Counter from the corner gets a near fall and Christian reveres with a lateral press to get a two-count. More back and forth action leads to another two-count for Christian before he asks for the cage to be opened. Once it is, he walks towards the open door like he's got knees like Nash. Hate that shit. Working in the corner now, on the top rope trying to climb out. Orton hits a superplex. Rest spot.
Commercial break.
They come back from break with Christian crawling and nearly making it out of the cage before Orton drags him back in. What I love about Smackdown, probably more than anything else, is Booker T on commentary. When he gets into something, he really sells it. Christian gets a two-count and Booker tells us he needs to win to get his psyche right. He goes climbing up the cage at the slowest pace imaginable so Orton, of course, catches him quick. Christian sends him flying, though, once he gets there and follows up with a frog splash that gets a near fall. Once again, though, takes way too long to walk out of the cage. Seriously detracting from the match with that gimmick. Christian hits a spear and it gets two after a couple reversals. Crowd is hot for the match. Orton getting up slow and Christian is threatening with a punt. Orton gets out of the way and they have a decent sequence in the corner with Christian acting like he's going to jump off the rope and Orton waiting for an RKO but it turned out to be a feint from Christian. Looked good. Orton lands the DDT off the ropes but can't get the RKO. Christian climbs up to the top of the cage and Orton quickly follows. They go back and forth on the top rope with Orton setting up the RKO. He takes a minute, but he lands it off the top and that's the winner. 1-2-3 from the referee ends the match and the crowd goes nuts. Despite the slow crawls and climbs, it was a solid match.
Henry makes his way out to the ring and climbs inside the cage. Goes after Orton, whom he will take on at Night of Champions. Picks him up and sends him into the cage like a lawn dart. Went to do it again but Orton reversed before Henry lands a big clothesline. He closes the show, which ran over by a few minutes, by dominating Orton.
Pretty good show and much better than what we would have gotten from Smackdown otherwise.