WWE SmackDown: CM Punk Retains, Kane Added to No Way Out Match and More

WWE SmackDown opened with world champion Sheamus. He talked about last week and wanted Alberto Del Rio to know that he was going to kick his rear end. That brought out David Otunga, who ordered Sheamus to apologize to John Laurinaitis.

Sheamus threatened to shove his coffee cup where the sun don’t shine and that brought out Del Rio. He called Sheamus a street hooligan and Otunga booked Sheamus against an opponent of Del Rio’s choosing. The segment then ended with a Brogue Kick to Otunga.

I thought this was a decent segment. Sheamus was solid on the mic here and he spoke slowly so I understood everything he said.

Otunga was also good on the mic. I really think he should stay out of the ring and just become a manager. He’d make a great mouth piece for someone who lacks in the microphone department.

As soon as Del Rio got on the mic, though, I began to fall asleep. Even after almost two years in the WWE, the man is boring when he talks.

I don’t know why WWE insists on letting him speak.

Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater

Sin Cara won his return match with some kind of head scissor face buster. This was a decent match as Sin Cara performed quite well. There were no botches whatsoever, which makes me suspect that it wasn’t him under the mask.

It most likely was him, but it was surprising to see him not screw anything up. I’m glad he got rid of the trampoline entrance since that was something he usually ended up botching.

He looked good in his return and Slater sold very well for him. My only gripe is that stupid light that’s present during his matches! 

Damien Sandow vs. Ezekiel Jackson

After Sandow said he wouldn’t participate in the match, Jackson threw him in the ring to start the match. Sandow then squashed the bigger Jackson and picked up the victory with his neckbreaker-like finisher.

I was really surprised to see Sandow beat Jackson so quickly. I was hoping that Big Zeke would at least beat him down for a few minutes before Sandow got the win.

It’s really hard to take all these new guys, or known guys with new gimmicks, seriously when all they’re doing is squashing people. I want to see Sandow in a legit match!

Backstage, Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez were speaking Spanish when Dolph Ziggler walked in. He wanted the match with Sheamus and Del Rio gave it to him. Well, that was easy.

I’m glad to see Ziggler back in matches against main event superstars. I really hope his teased breakup with Swagger becomes a reality!

Ryback vs. Ryan Shelton and Chris Lyons

Ryback once again squashed the local talent when he hit his finisher on both of them at the same time. Much like Damien Sandow, it’s hard to take Ryback seriously. All he does is squash local talent and thrust his arms up and down.

Until I see him actually wrestle a match, I’m going to move on to the next thing since there really is nothing special to note.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

Sheamus picked up the victory after a Brogue Kick when interference from Jack Swagger backfired. This was a very good match that featured some nice back-and-forth action. Both superstars performed well, which gives me hope for the next few months.

With the main event scene thinning, guys are going to have to step up. That’s what Ziggler did here. This isn’t the first time he’s stepped up, though.

Before being stuck with Swagger in a tag-team going nowhere, Ziggler was consistently putting on good matches with the likes of CM Punk, Randy Orton and Sheamus. Ziggler is a main event caliber talent and he should have the chance to shine.

I hope his frustration over Swagger is leading to a breakup! Interrupting Vickie Guerrero before the match was a good sign that he may be ditching her as well.

Ziggler needs to get rid of the dead weight or he’ll be stuck in the mid-card.

Backstage, CM Punk declared that he liked competition. Kane may be tough, but Punk was the best in the world. This was a nice little promo by Punk. It was short and to the point, which is how all promos should be.

I don’t want to hear a long dragged out speech; I just want a few words to get me pumped for the match. That’s what Punk did.

Titus O’Neil and Darren Young vs. Santino Marella and Zack Ryder

Young was dominating Santino during the entirety of this very short match until the United States champion performed the rollup of doom for the win.

This could have been a very good tag-team match but the time it could have been given was instead given to the Big Show.

As Santino and Ryder celebrated their win, Big Show grabbed them from behind and proceeded to destroy both superstars. I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought this was really boring.

I like that Big Show is a monster now, but I don’t like that everything seems to be centered around him.

Thankfully SmackDown wasn’t like that, but Raw was. While this week’s Raw was better than last week, seeing an entire two-hour show centered around a slow, angry giant was, well, boring.

Backstage, Daniel Bryan told A.J. that CM Punk was just using her and that he didn’t care for her like Bryan once did.

I love that A.J. is still on television, but I would much rather see her in a match. I hope that once this storyline ends she’ll get into the ring more often.

Cody Rhodes vs. Tyson Kidd

Rhodes picked up the victory with Crossroads. While Kidd was impressive with the few moves he was able to perform, this was an overall squash to keep Rhodes looking strong going into his eventual Intercontinental Championship rematch against Christian.

I like that Christian is the champion as the mid-card really needed someone to help it along. There is no one more experienced in the WWE mid-card than Christian and I think that his feud with Rhodes is going to reignite things.

CM Punk vs. Kane: WWE Championship

The match ended in a no-contest when Daniel Bryan delivered a double dropkick on both Punk and Kane. This turned out to be a very good match. Punk and Kane really work well together and it created a lot of good action.

The match was also quite even as there were times that I thought maybe, just maybe, Kane could end up as the new WWE champion.

This is probably the best match Kane has been in since his return, which shows me that the man can still perform. I was getting quite bored with Kane, but this match has changed my mind.

Post-match, general manager John Laurinaitis finally showed up and he booked CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane for the title at No Way Out. I’m quite happy with this decision.

While it’s obvious that Kane won’t win the title, it keeps the Punk/Bryan program going without them having to go one-on-one on PPV again so soon.

The match itself could be quite good and it gets me excited for the event.

Overall, I thought SmackDown was a good show. While some of the matches were duds, Sheamus/Ziggler and the WWE Championship match makes me ignore them.

The backstage segments were short and to the point, which I always like, and the opening segment wasn’t bad.

SmackDown continues to be better than Raw. If things keep going the way they are, SmackDown will definitely be the better WWE show of the summer.