The Doctor's Weekly SmackDown Recap: The Things We Learned, Loved and Hated

With WrestleMania just nine days away, or eight depending on where you live, it is no surprise that WWE has had a string of good shows for both Raw and SmackDown recently.

Tonight's show featured a lot of in-ring action and more advancement in several feuds heading into WWE's biggest event of the year.

With some of WWE's biggest stars getting the most screen time I was happily surprised to see Brodus Clay have what might be his longest match to date since becoming The Funkasaurus.

The main event with Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Miz did not fail to impress as all four men had a great showing in a match which sent the crowd home happy when the babyfaces won.

I truly appreciate my loyal readers but for those of you who are new, each week I recap SmackDown with a long list.

The entries are made up of equal parts humor, recap, play-by-play, revelations, speculations, questions, answers and anything else I notice during the show. I sometimes comment on commercials too just because I get bored during them.

I have two games each week as well. The first game is trying to correctly predict the length of the next Divas match to the second. The other game is coming up with new and humorous nicknames for David Otunga revolving around a specific part of his character or attire from that week.

This game has produced such wonderful nicknames as the Macchiato Mauler, The Sweater-vest Savior, The Bow-tie Brawler, The Caffeinated Crippler and my personal favorite, the Folger's Soldier.

I try to interject some fun into these lists, so I hope you have fun reading this week's list of the 121 things we learned, loved and hated from the show.

1. SmackDown's updated opening video features a lot of low-card stars, nice to see.
2. The show opens with Josh Matthews welcoming us to the show.
3. Daniel Bryan comes to the ring with AJ, who I like more and more each week.
4. She is good in the ring and seems like a decent actress when it comes to the parts they give her to play.
5. I still think she looks like a cross between V.I.C.I. from Small Wonder and Ashley Massaro, though.
6. Bryan says he wants to know what it is like to be in love with him to AJ.
7. She mentions her match first and Daniel cuts her off, telling her to answer the question.
8. She says it's like heaven to be dating Bryan.
9. She calls him Danny and he takes the mic away and warns her not to call him Danny in public.
10. This is really turning into one of the better "Controlling boyfriend" storylines WWE has ever had.
11. Daniel tells her to say he is a great lover, which she either does not think for real or was very uncomfortable saying.
12. Bryan gets major heat at the end of the segment.
13. I am glad they are opening the show with this feud because it seems like the least pushed feud heading into WrestleMania, especially considering Sheamus won the Rumble.
14. Sheamus' music hits and he comes to the ring with a mic.
15. Ha, Sheamus said he threw up in his mouth at what AJ was saying.
16. Sheamus says Bryan is a coward.
17. Danny corrects Sheamus on what his name is and the crowd starts to chant "Danny."
18. Bryan looks so pissed after Sheamus calls him Danny Boy.
19. Oh Danny Boy, The pipes, the pipes are calling.
20. Sheamus says he will win at Mania and leaves as Bryan broods in the ring.
21. Mark Henry is shown backstage as we go to commercial in what seems like a pointless non sequitur.
22. We get a commercial hyping the Rock/Cena documentary before Raw, which I am actually looking forward to very much.
23. WWE does documentaries extremely well and with it being about two of the most engaging personalities in WWE history, it is sure to be entertaining.
24. We get a replay of last week when Teddy slapped John Laurinaitis after the match with Santino.
25. Truth is out first after the break.

26. Hilarious. He actually looks back, waiting for Little Jimmy and then he does a sort of secret hand shake thing with (the invisible) Little Jimmy before walking to the ring.
27. Mark Henry is out next and he is walking like he is finally totally over his recent injuries.
28. Henry is in control for almost the whole match, which is good since it seemed like he was getting a de-push for a while there.
29. Henry smushes Truth's head between his huge hands and the steel steps.
30. I love when Henry yells at his opponents during the match.
31. "I CALL THE SHOTS!"
32. Henry catches Truth mid-air and hits the World's Strongest Slam for the pin in a very impressive show of strength.
33. He caught a 200+ pound man out of the air like it was nothing. No wonder he is in the International Sports Hall of Fame's inaugural class; this guy is a freakin' beast.
34. I don't know why it took 15 years, but Henry is finally one of the most dominant big men in WWE, and he should have been a long time ago.
35. He isn't the best in the ring or on the mic, but he is good enough where the skill he does have and his amazing lifting background should have propelled him to being a monster heel much sooner.
36. We get a video hyping Yokozuna for the WWE Hall of Fame.
37. This is great, he deserves it. Although I wish they would mention that he was not actually Japanese, but Samoan.
38. Fun Fact, Yokozuna is actually the highest title given to a Sumo wrestler.
39. Fun Fact 2, Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i is actually The Rock's cousin. Rest in Peace, Rodney.
40. Ryder is shown campaigning for a spot on Team Teddy in his office.
41. He brings in a Teddy flag and Long says it still is not a big enough gesture.
42. Ryder brings in Khali, who is decked out in Ryder gear, doing a Woo woo woo.
43. Long says Ryder and Khali are officially on his team now.
44. Ryder is obvious, but I am still confused as to why Khali was even brought back to WWE when they had Show, Henry and Clay repping the big men pretty well on their own.
45. The Bombastic Bellas are out after the commercial for Brie's match with AJ.
46. A video is shown with Brie and Nikki arguing a bit about the match. Are they planting the seeds for a sister vs sister feud?
47. AJ kisses Bryan before the match, which seems to gross out the crowd and The Bellas.
48. Brie pulls AJ down by the hair early on and Bryan gets on the apron in protest.
49. Brie is overpowering AJ in the early going but AJ comes back with a running, spinning elbow which somehow ended with AJ giving Brie a leg drop as well.
50. I don't know if it was planned or if AJ simply spun more than planned, but it looked really cool.

51. Brie has AJ in a submission and Bryan is yelling "You better not tap."
52. AJ spins a head-scissors into an armbar but Nikki distracts the ref. Did she just steal one of Sin Cara's finishers?
53. AJ ends up ducking a hit by Brie so shes ends up hitting Nikki and rolls up Brie for the pin and the win. Bell to bell ring time of 2:47. Since it seems like it is getting harder and harder to predict the exact match time I will start giving a shout-out to whoever is closest. Congrats to Simon Mulatey for being closest with the prediction of 2:34.
54. Bryan celebrates like he won the match. This guy is so unlikable now that I can't help but admire him for making, what I felt was a crappy gimmick at first, really work well.
55. Nikki gets on the mic and says that the sisters actually disagree about a lot of things, like which team they will be cheering at WrestleMania.
56. Nikki starts a "TEDDY" chant before she and Brie leave. This is obviously going to turn into something in the coming weeks, I just don't know where it will lead.
57. Vickie is out after the break to introduce Jack Swagger.
58. This reminds me. I never thought I would find a more annoying voice that Vickie's, but I have. Some girl named Erin Martin on The Voice (Yeah, I watch it, so what?) sings like Bjork with a speech impediment and it makes me envy the deaf.
59. Ryder is out next to face the man who took his US title a couple months back.
60. Am I the only one who thinks Swagger seems a lot less sure of himself in the ring over the last few months? It's like he is not confident he will ever get back to the top.
61. I know Ryder fans are called Broskis, but I have a new name for us. ZR Troopers. Remember that show? Good times.
62. The two have been trading offense for most of the match and Swagger has Ryder in a hammerlock.
63. Ryder starts coming back with some offense and ends up hitting the face wash in the corner for a very close two-count.
64. Swagger catches Ryder trying for his finisher and power-bombs him into the turnbuckle.
65. Hornswoggle is chasing Vickie around the ring and Swagger gets distracted trying to defend her.
66. Ryder hits the Rough Ryder when Swagger turns around and gets the win.
67. Bradley Cooper, I mean Zack Ryder celebrates with Hornswoggle after the match.
68. Seriously, those two have some crazy resemblances.
69. They replay my favorite part of last week's show when Rhodes was pounding Big Show.
70. An interview from 1:09 PM (An oddly specific time to give us) is shown with Rhodes saying he enjoys Big Show being embarrassed.
71. The fact that Show has such a bad record at Mania is actually a testament to his willingness to put others over for the sake of the company. He could easily demand more wins with the kind of pull he has but he chooses to be the guy who is the stepping stone for others and you have to applaud him for it. In a world of egotistical wrestlers, Big Show stands alone as someone who is truly willing to let others have their time in the spotlight.
72. Speaking of Big Show, he is out after the break, followed by Kane.
73. The two giants go back and forth for awhile until they knock each other down with a double clothesline.
74. They begin trading blows from their knees as the both try and stand up. (I know what you are thinking, get your minds out of the gutter.)
75. Show gets the better of Kane in the exchange and almost hits the choke slam but gets a huge DDT from Kane instead.

76. Kane goes to the top but Show catches him and hits the choke slam, but can't make the cover before Rhodes attacks him.
77. The bell rings and Show takes off after Rhodes in the crowd, actually knocking over some fans and security in the process.
78. I wonder if those fans will sue or if they think it was awesome.
79. Randy Orton ends up sneaking in the ring and hits the RKO on Kane to end the segment.
80. This was a great way to further two different feuds with one match and not have anyone really lose anything.
81. YES! Brodus Clay is out next and my day is instantly better due to those dancers.
82. A little St. Paddy's Day theme it seems as everyone is decked out in green.
83. Between The Bellas, AJ and these dancers, the chauvinist in me is trying to get out.
84. One of the girls gives Slater some attitude as she exits the ring and Booker seems impressed.
85. Heath Slater gets demolished by Clay in the early moments in the match but Slater actually gets in some offense and takes Clay down.
86. Clay comes back and hits his finisher to win the match.
87. This was a terrible match. I loved every second of it.
88. After another commercial, Ryder is shown backstage with Eve.
89. I guess he is AJ and Eve is Daniel Bryan in this relationship.
90. Ryder says Eve is smart and she takes it as an insult and walks away.
91. I know I will get a lot of heat for what I am about to say, but I have dealt with women who were actually that damn confusing and this storyline seems very real all of a sudden.
92. The show a video of the encounter between HBK, Triple H and Undertaker from Monday.
93. When Undertaker said Shawn was better than Triple H and Shawn smiled, I started thinking he might go heel for the first time in years and turn on Triple H at WrestleMania. Just a thought.
94. Another Lord Tensai video plays and I have to say that I am excited Albert is coming back to WWE. He is a great worker and if you watch his recent stuff from Japan, you will see he has really grown into an incredible talent.
95. Christian is on commentary for the Khali vs Dolph Ziggler match
96. Thank God, I feel like it has been forever since we saw a one-on-one match with Ziggler.
97. Khali overpowers Ziggler right off the bat and Ziggler goes to the outside to talk to John Laurinaitis and David Otunga, whose pea-green sweater is the topic of this week's Otunga Nickname game.
98. I really need a custom graphic and theme song for this. If anyone is good at that stuff and wants to provide one let me know.
99. My nickname for Otunga has to be "The Pea-secutor."
100. Ziggler gets the advantage and has Khali on the mat.

101. He quickly comes back and slams Ziggler and starts hitting chops.
102. Ziggler slaps on the sleeper and Johnny Ace rings the bell prematurely, declaring Ziggler the winner.
103. Khali is pissed as Long comes in to restart the match.
104. The ref counts out Ziggler and Khali is declared the new winner as Team Johnny pouts on the ramp.
105. Kofi and Santino run Ziggler back in the ring, who eats a huge Brain Chop to end the segment.
106. Considering this was a match involving Khali, I have to say that I didn't hate it.
107. Miz and Bryan are shown backstage before commercial and Bryan rolls his eyes as Miz says they both need this.
108. Sheamus and Bryan start out but Bryan tags out right away and Miz gets taken to school by Sheamus.
109. Punk is in and he and Sheamus hit a double-team on Miz before Punk goes to work on his arm.
110. Sheamus tags in and ends up hitting his leaping shoulder block on Miz.
111. A huge back-breaker from Sheamus to Miz before Bryan breaks it up.
112. Miz catches Sheamus from behind as Sheamus yells at Bryan, who then hits Sheamus while he is on the ground outside the ring.
113. Punk is in and this reminds me, Jericho was on Fallon last night and he was awesome. He and Jimmy sang some parody song with Jean Claude Van-Damme's name being substituted for all the lyrics.
114. Bryan tags in and he starts taking it to Punk. These two need to feud after Mania. Vegan vs Straight-Edge could be an interesting feud.
115. Miz tags in, and he and Bryan have Punk down after numerous punishing moves.
116. Miz hits a back-breaker but when he goes to follow up, Punk hits a huge round-house kick.
117. Bryan tags in and tries to keep Punk from tagging Sheamus, but fails.
118. The two men with coordinating attires go at it and Sheamus is on a roll.
119. Bryan rolls out after tagging and Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick for the win.
120. Punk and Sheamus celebrate in the ring after the match while Bryan and AJ stand on the ramp looking at them.
121. Good show. It was entertaining and advanced several feuds heading into Mania.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts and additions to the list below. Also, please take a moment and make your prediction for the length of the next Divas match as well as your nickname for David Otunga.