WWE SmackDown: John Cena Knocks out Laurinaitis, Ziggler Pins Sheamus

WWE SmackDown opened with A.J.

She was going to explain her reasons for kissing Kane, but was interrupted by Vickie Guerrero. Guerrero said no one cared about her and introduced Dolph Ziggler.

He declared that he would defeat Sheamus to win the title. That prompted A.J. to say that the bleach in his hair has hit his brain—because he and his “grandma” were delusional.

CM Punk then made his way out. He made fun of Guerrero until Daniel Bryan came out. Bryan told Punk that A.J. was using him and that she’d cost Punk the title.

Like she had cost him at WrestleMania.

Sheamus then came out and told Ziggler that he’d beat him at No Way Out. A.J. then went after Guerrero, but Punk caught her in time.

This was a well done opening segment. I was hoping to hear an actual promo from A.J., as she’s very good on the mic, but her going crazy more than made up for it.

The four men in the ring were solid on the mic and really delivered good promos.

This is the best opening segment I’ve seen on SmackDown in awhile. Why can’t the creative team produce this kind of work on Raw as well?

CM Punk and Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler picked up the win for his team after A.J. pushed Guerrero in the ring, which caused Sheamus to be distracted enough to get the rollup of doom.

This was a very good tag-team match.

All four wrestlers performed great, and it gets me excited for their respective matches at No Way Out.

The in-ring work, in addition to Kane, has me looking forward to their matches and their matches only on Sunday. The card is centered around the cage match between John Cena and the Big Show, and I couldn’t care less about it.

If I watch the pay-per-view, it’ll be because of the two world title matches.

Post-match, A.J. attacked Guerrero. It eventually led to Vickie kicking her away onto the ring apron. Kane came out and picked her up, but she was saved by Punk.

By the end of it, both Punk and Bryan were laid out by a Chokeslam. A.J. was at the top of the ramp mesmerized by the situation.

The storyline for this match was great. It’s definitely the match I’m most looking forward to.

A.J. has once again proved to be the best Diva on the roster with a few simple actions and facial expressions. Beth Phoenix and Layla could have a great match at the PPV, but they still won’t surpass what A.J. is doing.

Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater

The Funkasaurus got on the mic first and told everyone that he was banned from Raw. He also said if he went near the Big Show, he’d be fired.

John Laurinaitis told him he’d be laid out at the end of the match, and that brought out his opponent Heath Slater.

Clay was decent on the mic, at best. I don’t think the character is good for promos.

The match itself was the typical Funkasaurus squash match, so there is nothing special to note.

After the match, though, Clay’s No Way Out preshow opponent, David Otunga, ran in and took out the knee of the big man. He then spent a few minutes attacking the leg.

For the first time since he debuted, I liked something that Otunga did. He’s been so boring in the ring—his only real strength has been his mic work. He showed intensity here, which proved to me that he’s more than just a Chris Masters rip-off.

He’ll probably get squashed on the preshow, but at least he had a moment of intensity once during his career.

Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox

After Alicia hit a few moves, Beth squashed her with the "GlamSlam."

This was the typical “make Beth look strong going into PPV” match.

I would like to see the Divas get a legitimate match on Raw or SmackDown for once. Despite what people think, they are talented. Some of them have worked really hard to improve, and have done so.

The fans just don’t get to see it because they’re either getting a 30-second match on television or aren’t featured at all.

I miss the days of when WWE actually cared about the division.

John Laurinaitis then made his way out. He apologized to Vince McMahon, saying it was a mistake.

He then introduced the Big Show. He gave a boring speech about being held down by Hulk Hogan, Sting and Ric Flair in WCW, and then stepped over by John Cena, CM Punk and Randy Orton in WWE.

What he does to Cena at No Way Out will be deliberate and uncomfortable—and he will win. Michael Cole then announced that John Cena was on his way to the building.

Big Show got something right. His match with Cena at the PPV will be uncomfortable— uncomfortable to watch, that is.

There is nothing in this world that could get me interested in this match. I find this feud boring and I almost fast-forwarded through this since I was watching it on DVR.

Big Show is solid on the mic, but he puts me to sleep when he speaks. If WWE wants him to be a monster, then they must have him be a monster.

Let him destroy people every week—he doesn’t need to speak to do that.

Christian vs. Jack Swagger

Christian picked up the victory with the Frog Splash in what was a decent match. The match featured a good amount of back-and-forth action, but it was too short for my taste.

Both Christian and Swagger are two great in-ring talents and they could have delivered a very good match. It was brought down by time constraints.

If WWE gave these two more time, they could have had quite the match.

I was disappointed to not see Cody Rhodes, as it takes two to hype a one-on-one match. At least they’ll have a great match at the PPV.

As for Swagger, he needs to ditch Guerrero. His career is going nowhere, and Guerrero isn’t exactly helping him much.

Ryback vs. Two Local Talents

And here we have the typical Friday night Ryback squash match. He once again destroyed two guys half his size, and hit his finisher on both at the same time.

Same old, same old when it comes to Goldberg 2.0.

Perhaps the fans will get to see him face three guys soon. That will certainly heat things up.

Tyson Kidd vs. Damien Sandow

After Sandow said some big words, he took out Kidd quite quickly. Kidd got in a few moves, including a great moonsault, but he was no match for the intellectual savior of the masses.

Why can’t WWE put him, and the other guy’s constantly squashing people, in real matches?

Mainly Sandow, as I want to see this guy put on a match with someone.

Backstage, John Cena arrived in the building. He entered Laurinaitis’ office, smirked and walked out.

What a good use of 30 seconds.

John Cena then made his way to the ring. He had heard that Big Show called him out earlier, so he came to the building. That brought out the general manager, who said that he sent Big Show home.

The Board of Directors said that the match was going to happen “no matter what,” so he didn’t want to jeopardize it. Cena was ready to fight, so he said he’d knock out out Laurinaitis.

Big Johnny threatened to fire him, but Cena brought up the “no matter what” stipulation. Johnny Ace then declared that he’d fire him on Monday if he touched him now. Cena then knocked out Laurinaitis with a single punch, and walked out.

All this was missing was Big Show and McMahon. Then, this would have been almost exactly like Raw’s closing segment.

SmackDown started out with a strong segment and ended with a carbon copy of Raw’s final segment. Sure, it was awesome to see Cena punch Laurinaitis in the face, but the segment had me bored.

I am not looking forward to the cage match at No Way Out. I may turn off whatever I have on to watch it before the match starts, and just read the results online.

Overall, I thought SmackDown delivered another good episode. There were a few good matches, a strong opening segment and everything else was entertaining to a certain degree—except for the Big Show’s segment.

I can’t properly compare it to Raw this week, though.

I was live in attendance at the event, and being live at Raw is always an awesome experience. I don’t know how it all came across on television, so I can’t say anything past that.

Since SmackDown has been better than Raw for the past month, it probably was once again.