Friday Night Smackdown!
Chicago, Illinois
April 1, 2011
results thanks to wrestleview.com
The Smackdown video plays and we're
brought into the arena with a big fireworks display. Josh Mathews, Booker T, and
Michael Cole, in the Cole Mine, welcome us to the show. We're going to open up
with an Intercontinental Championship match.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Wade Barrett (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
Kingston ducks a clothesline and hits Barrett with some kicks. Kingston sends
him to the ropes but Barrett holds on, avoiding a Trouble in Paradise attempt.
Kingston charges and Barrett back body drops him to the apron. Kingston punches
him away and goes for a springboard but Barrett big boots him in the face,
sending him to the outside. Barrett follows him outside and drives him into the
ring apron. Barrett bounces him off the steel steps and the barricade before
sending him back into the ring.
Barrett gloats in the ring and hits a pump-handle slam for a two count. Barrett
applies a neck vice and is looking for the submission. Kingston punches out of
it but Barrett cuts him off with some knees. Kingston comes back with some slaps
and a nice dropkick. Barrett ducks a superman punch and blocks an SOS, pushing
Kingston to the corner. Barrett runs into a pendulum kick and Kingston hits a
nice cross-body block off the top rope for a near fall. Kingston kicks him in
the ribs and hits the Boom Drop. Kingston sets up and goes for Trouble in
Paradise but Barrett counters with a nice big boot for a near fall. Barrett
waits for him to get up and goes for The Wasteland but Kingston grabs the ropes.
Kingston punches him away, jumps over him, and hits Trouble in Paradise!
Kingston covers but The Corre runs down to the ring and causes the DQ.
Winner by Disqualification: Kofi Kingston
Wade Barrett is still the Intercontinental Champion
Match Rating: * 3/4
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov run down to help Kingston out but The Corre
outnumbers them. All of a sudden Kane's pyro hits and he makes his way to the
ring with Big Show. They clear the ring of The Corre and stand tall in the ring.
They show a replay of Cody Rhodes attacking Rey Mysterio last Friday on
Smackdown. Rhodes used his facemask and knee brace to beat down Mysterio.
Matt Striker is backstage with Cody Rhodes. Rhodes is in the shadows with a
towel over his head. Striker asks why he viciously assaulted Mysterio last week.
Rhodes says it's an "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Several months
ago, Rey Mysterio intentionally mashed his knee brace into his face. Rhodes says
he shattered the bones and changed him from rugged and handsome. He's
embarrassed and he doesn't want to look at himself in the mirror. He doesn't
want to be looked at by others. He's a bitter man but last week was only the
beginning. At WrestleMania, Rey Mysterio is going to have to contend with him.
Rhodes takes the towel off and shows the facemask. Rhodes then holds up a knee
brace and says he'll have to contend with that as well.
-Commercial Break-
Todd Grisham and The Bella Twins welcome us back to the show. They're in
Atlanta, Georgia at WrestleMania Fan Axxess. They show Hornswoggle's house under
the ring and the limousine Mr. McMahon was blown up in... or so we thought. The
Bella Twins talk about how much fun Axxess is and how the WWE Superstars will
sign over 25,000 autographs over the weekend.
That tremendous video package plays for Undertaker vs. Triple H at WrestleMania.
I love the song they play for this. Later tonight we'll see the
Undertaker/Triple H face off on Raw.
-Commercial Break-
Todd Grisham and The Bella Twins talk about CM Punk vs. Randy Orton at
WrestleMania. They talk about how Orton took out all the members of the New
Nexus. They then show a video hyping up their match at WrestleMania. This was
another tremendous video by the WWE Production team.
Jerry "The King" Lawler will appear on Smackdown to respond to Michael Cole
later tonight. We'll take a look at the Road Warriors, the final inductees into
this year's Hall of Fame class, next. Ohhhhh what a rush!
-Commercial Break-
They show some more of the awesome exhibits at Fan Axxess. They have an exact
replica of Vince McMahon's office at the WWE Headquarters in Stamford,
Connecticut. The guy has the skull of a Tyrannosaurus Rex hanging on his wall.
He's the man. They also show people doing the WWE Superstar's entrances and show
off Shawn Michaels's famous ring gear.
That gets them talking about the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. They then show
the video for the Road Warriors and "Precious" Paul Ellering. WELLLL!! I miss
Hawk's promos. Seriously, how awesome was the Doomsday Device??
We'll check out the confrontation between John Cena and The Rock later tonight.
-Commercial Break-
Josh Mathews talks about Jerry "The King" Lawler taking on Michael Cole at
WrestleMania with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the referee. We then see a quick
replay of Jerry Lawler vs. Jack Swagger on Raw. King cracked Swagger on the back
with a chair a few times and almost got Cole but he managed to get away in the
Cole Mine. Cole splashed him with some soda, further angering the King. I can't
wait for this match.
Jerry "The King" Lawler's new music hits and he comes out the ring. Lawler looks
at the empty Cole Mine before looking directly into the camera, talking right at
Michael Cole. King says Cole has been running his mouth for weeks. Cole talked
about King's mother, who recently passed away, and brought his son out to try to
humiliate him. Then he took his private family photo album and disrespected the
memory of his father. Cole will have to learn that when you say hurtful things,
there are consequences to pay.
Cole leaving before he came out was the best thing he could have done. If Cole
was out here now then King wouldn't have made it WrestleMania but neither would
Cole. King says he knows Cole is scared because he realizes that everything he's
done to him up until now has been with the help of Jack Swagger. At
WrestleMania, Stone Cold Steve Austin will take care of Jack Swagger and that
will just leave him and Michael Cole. No one will help him and he can't hide in
a fortress. Then he won't just beat him, he'll do what the entire world wants
him to do – King promises he'll shut Cole's mouth!
They show a video highlighting the press conference at the Hard Rock Café in New
York City this past Wednesday. That had to be awesome to be at.
-Commercial Break-
They show some more exhibits at Fan Axxess. They show some classic costumes from
the 80s. They also show the 4-Wheeler Stone Cold drove out to the ring at
WrestleMania 25. They then show Undertaker's graveyard.
They show the Undertaker/Triple H face off on Raw that was crashed by Shawn
Michaels. What an amazing segment that was. The buildup wasn't the best in the
weeks prior but this segment sold me on the match. Just brilliant.
-Commercial Break-
Keri Hilson will perform America The Beautiful at WrestleMania. They show the
Georgia Dome and then talk about the WWE Hall of a Fame ceremony, brought to us
by WWE All Stars. They then show some footage from the game.
Todd Grisham and The Bella Twins talk about the video game. They then show
footage of The Miz on Conan.
They'll show the electrifying confrontation between John Cena and The Rock later
tonight.
-Commercial Break-
A video for Sin Cara plays. I can't wait for him to debut.
They show a display at Fan Axxess of all the past and present WWE Championships.
They show Fabulous Moolah's Women's Title. They also show the Honky Tonk Man's
costume and guitar. They then show the ring jackets of Trish Stratus. That of
course leads us into the Snooki hype.
We'll take a look at the match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio next.
-Commercial Break-
They show a video hyping up Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania.
Cody Rhodes will be in action next.
-Commercial Break-
Cody Rhodes vs. Chris Masters
The bell rings and Rhodes immediately snaps into action, viciously punching away
at Masters. Masters comes back with a chop and goes for a suplex but Rhodes
lands on his feet and runs to the corner. Rhodes kicks him in the knee and hits
the Beautiful Disaster. Michael Cole makes his way to the ring with security.
Cole gets back in the Cole Mine. Rhodes rubs Masters's face into the mat and
punches away. Rhodes works on the arm and applies a chin lock. Masters gets him
on his back and backs him to the corner. Rhodes quickly takes him back down and
stomps his face. Rhodes goes for a DDT but Masters counters into a Samoan Drop.
Masters hits an inverted atomic drop. Rhodes ducks a clothesline but gets caught
in a Masterlock attempt but Rhodes gets to the ropes. Rhodes head-butts him with
the facemask. Rhodes hits the Cross Rhodes from there and picks up the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Cody Rhodes
Match Rating: 1/2 *
Rey Mysterio runs down to the ring and kicks at Rhodes. Mysterio dropkicks him
into position and goes for the 619 but Rhodes cuts him off with a kick. Rhodes
goes for a powerbomb but Mysterio counters into a hurricanrana. Mysterio again
goes for a 619 but Rhodes escapes the ring. Rhodes slowly goes to the back and
Mysterio points at the WrestleMania sign.
They show Chris Jericho on Dancing With The Stars.
We'll see the confrontation between The Rock and John Cena next.
-Commercial Break-
They show an exhibit of all of John Cena's muscle cars at Fan Axxess.
Todd Grisham and The Bella Twins talk about the rivalry brewing with John Cena
and The Rock. They then show the confrontation between John Cena and The Rock.
They've failed to mention all night long that WWE Champion The Miz was also
involved in this segment. I can't wait to see what happens at WrestleMania.