WWE Smackdown TV report
May 7, 2013
Raleigh, N.C.
Smackdown SPOILERS 5/10
They did the WWE entertainment intro, but then I believe what they did to fake out the live crowd (I don't think this will air) was they brought the lights down and started doing a run down of what to expect on Smackdown tonight. During this time (unbeknownst to the crowd) they had Josh Mathews sneak away from commentary and Chris Jericho sneak into the ring for the Highlight Reel. When the lights came back up after the video package ended, WWE showed the location and it became obvious to the crowd that Jericho was already in the ring. So, if it appears that there is shock coming from the crowd, that's why.
- Highlight Reel with Ryback: Jericho was trying to relate to Ryback, but Ryback retorted with quick one-liners that really didn't work. This guy seriously needs a manager and mouthpiece at this point (Paul Heyman, you've got another client). It actually seemed that Jericho was a bit irritated by the lack of conviction coming from Ryback as it appeared that there was legit contempt coming over as he tried to bring more heat on the situation after every Ryback quip. Teddy Long (does Booker T even have any GM powers anymore?) interrupted the two as tensions built a bit and set the main event for the night of Chris Jericho vs. Ryback. Ryback hit Jericho with a cheap shot shortly after Long finished announcing the match and left the ring.
(1) U.S. champion Kofi Kingston beat Cody Rhodes with Trouble in Paradise. Decent match; the crowd was pretty dead, though. Watch the Randy Orton-Cesaro match on Main Event and then watch everything on Smackdown to see that the crowd never really got into Smackdown.
- Recap of the WWE HQ invasion was shown (this time they showed the shortened recap video of the Raw events).
- A vignette showed Mark Henry stating that he will attempt to set a world record tonight (two large semi-trucks were shown behind him).
- Backstage interview with Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger. The key take away from this is that now they're throwing the racist hat into the ring with the Real American angle, which may be a mistake, I think. The quote that stuck out the most tonight was that Jack Swagger would be going one-on-one with Big E. Langston, so it was the "Real American versus Affirmative Action." Yep, they just did that...
- Big E. Langston (w/Dolph Ziggler and A.J. Lee) vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) never really happened. Big E. was introduced first. After that, though, during what appeared to be commercial time, Alberto Del Rio (without Ricardo Rodriguez) came out to be on commentary. When they came back from commercial, WWE showed footage of Ricardo attacked on Raw, so it appears that they're sticking to the "poor Ricardo gets injured and Del Rio has to stick up for him" angle to keep Del Rio face. Jack Swagger, with Zeb Colter, then came out to the ring.
But, the bell never rang to start the match because the two guys never were in the ring alone. A ladder was shoved into the ring, then Big E. and Dolph stared at the ladder along with Jack Swagger. Eventually this basically turned into an all-out brawl with the ladder. Swagger and Ziggler faced off a bit with it and Del Rio got into the ring at that point and cleared them out. The segment ended with Del Rio setting up the ladder and climbing up it with the World Title in his arms to promote him as a legit threat coming into Extreme Rules.
(2) Dean Ambrose (w/Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) vs. WWE tag champion Daniel Bryan (w/tag champion Kane) went to a No Contest. This was probably the second hottest match of the night (after the Orton-Cesaro match for Main Event). The crowd was hot for Bryan and there were several "Yes!" chants. The special thing to note about this match is that Bryan did a suicide dive onto Ambrose, and after this point, Ambrose sported a really badly swollen eye that had a cut underneath it. He could be seen several times wiping blood with his shirt during the match. Not long after that, it looked really bad on the Tron when we could see it. By the end, I'm not sure who was called the winner, but it ended up with a brawl between Kane and Seth Rollins/Reigns. Reigns eventually got into the ring and took out Bryan as well. They brawled until Kofi made the run-in (I guess Kofi is the random third man this week) and the save. Shield then fled the ring into the crowd.
- A video marked "earlier today" showed Mark Henry pulling one semi-truck 20 feet outside of the arena (much like they do in strong-man competitions). Wrestlers that were visible cheering Henry included both Prime Time Players and Damien Sandow. They showed that later on, he would attempt another world record. However, clarification for that wss never given to the crowd at this point.
- Backstage interview with Randy Orton showed him talking about Big Show.
(3) Big Show beat Tensai (w/Brodus Clay and Funkadactyls). This match might as well have not happened, as it was over within a minute or so following a KO Punch.
Randy Orton ran in after the match as Big Show went to attack Brodus Clay and made the save with an RKO on Show. At this point, Orton got another outrageously huge pop.
- Video showed Mark Henry using a belt on Sheamus on Raw. This included pictures of the welts on Sheamus's body. At this point, WWE announced that Mark Henry and Sheamus will face off at Extreme Rules in a strap match.
- Video went back to the outside showing Mark Henry again, but this time it appeared live because it was dark outside. There are two semi-trucks behind him and Mark Striker announced that Henry will try to set a world record by pulling not one, but two semi-trucks at the same time. They stated this has never been attempted before and is the equivalent of pulling 110,000 lbs. (55 tons). Henry initially had trouble, and it became apparent that he was frustrated about it. Of note, the Prime Time Players and Sandow were still outside cheering him on as he attempted the record.
Striker asked Henry if he would give up and Henry snapped back that Striker doesn't believe he can do it, nor the people in the arena, either. He attempted again and the trucks began to move. They made it to the 20-foot mark and he collapsed. Wrestlers and paramedics (who appeared to be plants) checked to make sure he's okay. He got up and seemed okay at that point. Lilian Garcia then announced to the live crowd to congratulate Mark Henry for setting a world record.
Time for the main event of Ryback vs. Chris Jericho. This match never really got off to what you would expect. The crowd was dead during most of it with the exception of a few "Y2J" chants that broke out at times and some general heat towards Ryback. Ryback actually seems to have lost a step with the crowd after going heel. He's not getting enough heel heat to counter the face heat he was getting before the turn, so he actually took not just a step down the ladder on the crowd heat scale but really tumbled down the mountain. At this point, 3MB is getting more heel heat than he is, but he's not getting the face pops anymore, either, so basically he's stuck in limbo where it almost appears most fans don't care. That's a bad place to be at this point, especially going into a match against John Cena for the WWE Title in "nine days" (of the airing on Friday).
(4) Chris Jericho beat Ryback via DQ when Ryback rammed Jericho crotch-first into the steelpost.
Something that will likely be cut and not make TV was an obvious botch in the action. At one point, Jericho climbed to the top rope and jumped off with a cross body. Ryback sold the cross body and went down, but it appeared that it wasn't the right thing for him to do in that spot.In what I can only explain as the most awkward thing I've ever seen live, Jericho rolled off Ryback and laid on the mat, then Ryback began to get up. And, as he was getting up, Jericho pulled him down on top of him (it appeared in real-time that he was trying to get Ryback to pin him, that's how awkward it is)
After Ryback got himself DQ'ed for crotching Jericho into the post, Ryback attacked Jericho. Ryback then sent Jericho over the announcer table to close the show.
Ryback aint shyt
.
i knew THEN that the legend 
the occassion but Sheamus had to be an a$$hole and try to make Wade 