WWE Smackdown Results, Questions and Comments (2/4/2011)

It's Friday Night, time for Smackdown!  As the Blue Show progresses, I'll do my best to keep up with the action to give you my perspective on things.  I'm already 10 minutes behind, so let's get to it!

After Green Day plays and the pyro bursts, we're welcomed to Smackdown by letting us know that in less than three weeks, another pay per view is on the horizon with two six-man cage matches... Elimination Chamber is 16 days away!

We are also shown that there is a special Wrestlemania pinata that Alberto Del Rio had shipped from Mexico.  What are the odds that the pinata is actually from Mexico?  If that pinata isn't licensed by WWE, could they possibly get upset about it having the official Wrestlemania logo blazen all over he side of it?

Smackdown starts off in a very awesome fashion for former WCW fans, as the ORIGINAL TNA Legends Champion, Harlem Heat founder BOOKER T is announced... and he's the newest member of the Smackdown announce team!

Like only he can do, Booker T gets into the ring and gives the fans the Spin-a-rooni, and for some reason Michael Cole isn't bothered by the fact that a member of the announce team is making himself the focus...  Hippocritacal much?

Time for excuses, as Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler come out to the ring, and apparently she gets to make matches to determine who's going to be in the Elimination Chamber match for Smackdown.

She also mentions that Dolph Ziggler will team up with LayCool against Edge and Kelly Kelly in a handicap match for the World Championship.

Vickie asks people to EXCUSE her, and then they just ramble on about all the EXCUSES for why Dolph isn't the World Champion.  How sad is it that Kelly Kelly came between Dolph Ziggler and the World Title?  

There's an adult oriented joke in there somewhere, but because I don't want "decency standards" on any websites "coming between" me and the ability to reach readers who would enjoy my articles, I'll refrain.  Unless you can read "between" the lines.

Kelly smacks Dolph after he gets in her face, and then Vickie tries to attack Kelly, but she gets shoved.  LayCool shows up, Edge shows up to protect Kelly, and then we go to commercial.

Thus far, Booker T hasn't said much of anything on commentary, but there's still plenty of time for him to get involved.

We get a recap of what happened back on RAW with Randy Orton booting Husky Harris in the head... and it's funny that they linked that to what's currently happening just because Santi-Koz were in the match which ended just prior to Randy Orton showing up.

Non-Title Match - Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs The Corre (Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel)

Glad to hear that they mentioned that Slater and Gabriel are former tag team champions, and honestly I'm just glad they acknowledged it at all.  It's tag team wrestling, so you can't put anything past WWE when it comes to potentially under-hyping it.  What are the odds that with Booker T on the announce team, the tag division could easily get a lot more hype?

I hate to knock him down a peg on his first night, but when the announce team were discussing the fact that The Corre doesn't have a leader, they were making sports-related comparisons to football and basketball, and as much as I dislike Michael Cole, did anyone else shake their head when Booker T said Michael Cole was like the guy who sits on the bench?  Sure, it was funny, but Michael Cole is more like the guy who plays the entire game, offense and defense (RAW and Smackdown) without taking a break.

Outcome - Justin Gabriel hits the 450 Splash and picks up the win for their team.

Is anyone else happy to see a clean outcome in a match which is helping to setup a longer-range storyline?  

After the commercial break, it looks like we're getting another non-title match, and this one is for a spot in the Elimination Chamber!

Qualifier Match - Kofi Kingston vs Drew McIntyre

Wow, did anyone else hear Michael Cole rip on Booker T for not having any comments during the entrances?  And then he ripped on him again when Booker T was mentioning that the Elimination Chamber was a match you didn't want to get into.  No need for Cole to put him out there for being "green" on commentary, let the guy get used to it.

Michael Cole admonishes Booker T for maybe implying that Vickie Guerrero had a big ass... and maybe it's a stereotype, but I don't know the last time I heard an African American guy COMPLAIN about a woman's ass being big?

With Christian on the shelf, does that mean it's alright for people to steal his moves?  At Royal Rumble, Edge used the Unprettier, and tonight, Kofi Kingston used Christian's corner-escape from a charging in McIntyre, diving his legs between the middle and top rope, only to lean back and kick Drew in the face.

What's up with the schilling from Michael Cole of RAW's Elimination Chamber, and then Josh Mathews turns the conversation over onto Jerry Lawler's title shot against The Miz on the pay per view.  Isn't this Smackdown?  Aren't those RAW guys?  Isn't there a great match going on in the ring where Kofi Kingston just did the swing-over DDT the likes of which we haven't seen since The Rock?!  Thanks for the distraction, commentators.  If you didn't give me plenty of fodder about which to talk, I might watch this show mostly on mute.

Outcome - Drew McIntyre gets the win over Kofi Kingston with the Future Shock DDT after Kofi was distracted.

Why would Alberto Del Rio show up on the Titan Tron to distract Kofi Kingston?  Did they really just reference some lame spot in a tag match from a week ago where Kofi happened to be the one to pin Alberto Del Rio as the reason why the current #1 Contender on Smackdown would interrupt a match?  Wouldn't ADR want to AVOID making an enemy out of Kofi Kingston?  If this leads to something long-term, I'll be excited about it.  If it doesn't, that's frustrating, because it could easily be one of the first steps en route to a Kofi v Alberto feud which could simmer over the next few months.

Qualifier Match - Rey Mysterio vs Jack Swagger

I'm happy to see that Cody Rhodes isn't Rey Mysterio's opponent for this match, because that feud needs some more time to simmer.  They will need to bring Cody Rhodes back fairly soon to keep him on the forefront of peoples' minds, and frankly I'd like to see him show up to cost Rey Mysterio this match, potentially in a somewhat brutal way that puts Rey out of action for a couple weeks.

Is it just me, or do they need to turn up the volume on Booker T's microphone a bit?  I'm sure it's at a similar volume to the microphones used by Michael Cole and Josh Mathews, but Booker's voice is different, so he's harder to hear.  

How great is it that a member of the WWE roster has a long-term knee injury they sell?  I'm trying to think of someone since Bret Hart to have an "injury" that is brought up at various matches throughout the year.  

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?  Jack Swagger just spilled Booker's energy drink... is there a feud on the horizon?

we all saw how well the Cena / Punk feud fizzled out after all the diet soda talk.

If Jack Swagger alternatively uses a powerbomb as his finisher, why is it that when he picks up Mysterio from the mat with the leg hook even though he has a prime position to use a powerbomb he doesn't expend the energy to just lift Rey up a little bit so he could slam him down?  Failed opportunities lead to losses.

Mysterio and Swagger are putting on a fairly good match here and Cole's comments towards Booker T are stepping all over it.  Tremendous Tornado DDT from Mysterio from a counter-to-a-counter progression, and there's hardly a mention.

Outcome - Rey Mysterio wins the match after a kick to the head leads to a crazy roll-up pinfall.

After the match Rey hangs out with some of his fans in the front row who are sooo dedicated to being fans of Mysterio that they bought official Mysterio masks... and then in a move which most luchadors wouldn't think of doing, the kids disgracefully took off the masks so they could have their faces shown on TV.

It's party time, and inexplicably Hornswoggle and Rosa Mendes are in the ring when it's clearly already set up to be Alberto Del Rio's party.

As they talk about Alberto Del Rio needing to prepare to main event Wrestlemania, had anyone else forgotten that Booker T had main evented the event years ago?  I remember how disappointed I was in the build up to Booker T vs Triple H because it was one of the WORST treatments of a contender in a World Championship match at Wrestlemania that Booker T actually looked WORSE after the fact than he did prior to having his sights set on Triple H.

Alberto Del Rio claims that he decided to have his in-ring celebration NOW because he saw Hornswoggle in the ring... so at what point did he tell people to put down the red carpet in the ring, setup the balloons and drape the gold fabric?

Is this possibly the first time a Singapore Cane has been used to try to bust open a Pinata?

Hornswoggle missed the pinata and hit Del Rio in the family jewels.  No report on whether any prizes were spilled out as a result!

Del Rio attacks Hornswoggle because of the accident, but then Kofi Kingston shows up to have some continuity from what happened earlier and it appears that they're definitely setting up some serious groundwork for a future feud.  Too bad Kofi would have to wait until after Wrestlemania to do anything about it, since he won't be in the Elimination Chamber.

What are the odds that WWE sets up a match between Del Rio and Kofi Kingston at Elimination Chamber in a one-on-one match where the winner gets the #1 contendership?  I don't recall hearing that ADR is going to be in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match in 16 days.  Obviously ADR would win the one-on-one with Kofi, but it would be nice to have a grudge match that builds up to something months from now.

Is anyone else really excited that Booker T is also going to be a member of the Tough Enough trainers?  Is Stone Cold going to be excited about that?  

Qualifier Match - Kane vs Chavo Guerrero

While I'm clearly not going to predict that Chavo is going to beat Kane, I do have a ton of respect for what he's capable of doing in the ring.  Wouldn't he make a great coach for Tough Enough?  Al Snow was awesome, and he's not an option right now.  Personally I'm hoping for Dean Malenko and Arn Anderson to be involved, but I think Chavo would have plenty to offer.

Chavo actually looking fairly good in this match, but despite hitting the Frog Splash, things don't work out well for Chavo.

Outcome - Kane gets the win with a chokeslam

Chaperone trailer time?  Fun.

When we come back from commercial, we see that the five individuals who have qualified for the Elimination Chamber are Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre and Edge.  That clears it up for Alberto Del Rio to have a match with someone else... leading me to think that maybe they will do the match with Kofi at the pay per view after all!

Not that I'm condoning betting (which I totally am), but even before the sixth competitor is named, I'll definitely say that Rey Mysterio is the odds-on favorite to win the Elimination Chamber.  That would set him up nicely as a top contender to the World Title for after Wrestlemania, and since I think Alberto Del Rio is going to win the belt at the biggest event of the year, that feud can continue at whatever the next ppv after Wrestlemania might be.

After you stop groaning about how terrible it would be for ADR to win the big belt at wrestlemania, we can continue.

That's fine, I'll wait.

Okay, let's go.

The final qualifier match is between Big Show and Wade Barrett, which I think is a bit odd, since I think both of those guys would probably deserve a spot in the pay per view match.

30 minutes left in the show, two matches left to occur, and with commercial breaks that's roughly 10 minutes for each match (including entrances), so let's keep this rolling.

Qualifier Match - Wade Barrett vs Big Show

My money, were I a betting man, would be on Wade Barrett in this match.  The ideal situation, if they were both going into the pay per view match, would have been for Barrett to get the win over Kofi Kingston earlier, and then to have Zeke Jackson get himself disqualified by brutal means in facing Big Show.

Booker T harping on something that I've mentioned before about how matches of this magnitude deserve to have more than just one referee, with the ref taking a bump in this one, which allowed for Zeke Jackson to get involved and knock over Big Show.

When Big Show kicked out of Wade's first pinfall attempt, did anyone else think that spelled disaster for The Corre's British member?

Outcome - Wade Barrett picks up the win with a DDT on Big Show, who had already been knocked down by Zeke Jackson while the ref was down.

After the match, when Zeke Jackson picked up Big Show to bodyslam him, did anyone else fear that he'd accidentally drop Show on his head?  Not that it hasn't happened before.... Kevin Nash.

It looks like WWE is heading in the direction of Big Show vs Zeke Jackson as a feud which just makes me worried that in the next few months, Show's going to need a neckbrace.

World Heavyweight Championship Match - Edge & Kelly Kelly vs Dolph Ziggler & LayCool

Vickie Guerrero yet again bans the Spear during this match, claiming that Edge will lose the belt if he uses it.

The match is fairly even for a little bit, then Edge gets the advantage, and as Dolph Ziggler makes the tag in to Michelle McCool, Josh Mathews makes the statement which is both poignant and scary all at the same time:  Kelly Kelly is, essentially, defending the World Title.  It would take two of her to qualify as a "heavyweight", but that's besides the fact.  It didn't stop Rey Mysterio from holding the belt.

It also occurs to me that Michelle McCool (or LAYLA) could win the World Championship (not that they'd become the World Champion, but they'd still WIN the belt... albeit for Dolph).  How insufferable would they be if LayCool had some sort of claim to being World Champion?

Does anyone else find it funny that Dolph Ziggler, Vickie Guerrero and LayCool are all mocking Kelly Kelly by calling her "Barbie"... when, in the modeling world... possibly her real name, she uses the name "Barbie Blank"?  It would be like them mocking Edge by calling him "Adam" for some reason... even though the most famous people I can think of named Adam are Adam Smith, an Economist, and Adam of Adam & Eve.

A bit of confusion in the ring leads to Michelle McCool being part of the cause behind Layla getting knocked down, and it leads towards the finish of the match...

Outcome - Kelly Kelly picks up a HUGE win for her team as she hits Layla... WITH THE SPEAR!!!  

The move was deemed illegal for EDGE to use, but I didn't hear anything about it being illegal for Kelly to use!

After threatening to quit earlier in the evening, Kelly Kelly gets fired by Vickie Guerrero and leaves the ring crying, and she must have taken some acting classes, because it actually looks like Kelly Kelly is legitimately upset.  Nice work!  

Vickie sets up a rematch between Edge and Dolph Ziggler for next week with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line YET AGAIN, and in seven days, there will be a special guest referee:  Vickie Guerrero herself.

As the show ends, Dolph Ziggler gets the upperhand on Edge by hitting the Zig-Zag.

That's the whole article text, but if you enjoy voicing your opinion by voting in polls, you should check out the version over at GuysNation.com!  There are also articles over there which aren't here on Bleacher Report, including:

- Post Royal Rumble Predictions for the Wrestlemania Card

- a Round Table discussion between five guys and their opinions on who will win the upcoming Super Bowl

- an announcement of a beloved show returning to television after a decade hiatus

- a DC Comics inspired beauty wearing nothing but body paint!

- a video preview of an upcoming crazy brutal creative video game