WWE Smackdown Results, Questions and Comments (Jan. 7, 2011)

The work week is done, Green Day is being played at 8 p.m. on the SyFy Network; it must be time for Smackdown! 

With a few weeks left before the Royal Rumble, no set No. 1 contender to the World Title and plenty of opportunities left to build things up for one of my favorite pay-per-views of the year, what does the Blue Show have in store for us? 

We know at least two of the matches on tap, but you would've had to have watched RAW to know about that.

Every week I do one of these columns for GuysNation.com, my little piece of the Internet, which I'd be more than thrilled if you viewed on occasion to help me continue to carve my niche while finding things that might interest you.

As Smackdown begins, we are reminded that there is a double main event tonight.  Edgevs Kane in a Last Man Standing match for the World Championship, and yet another match between guys with similar heritage, Rey Mysterio vs Alberto Del Rio in a Best 2 of 3 falls match.  

Even though there's a more important match on the card and there's nothing on the line in the Mysterio / Del Rio match and we've seen the match repeatedly over the past few months, who wants to bet it is the main event?

Last Man Standing Match For the World Championship - Edge (c) vs Kane

Just as they did on RAW, the most important match of the night...starts the show.  What are the odds that in previous week's ratings for the first quarter hour were lower than Vince wanted?

Could Kane look any less interested in fighting this match and beating Edge?  With everything that has happened between them in the past few months, you'd think Kane would be interested in tearing Edge limb from limb, especially because Edge has his belt.

When Kane cowers helplessly in the corner while Edge punches him, it makes me wonder at what point we stop calling him a monster.

From the way Kane is acting, it almost looks like he's got a headache which started backstage.  What would happen if someone had a bad headache and couldn't wrestle a match they were scheduled for? 

It happened with Percy Harvin in the NFL, you'd figure it would happen on occasion in the WWE.  I suppose wrestlers can attempt fighting with a cold or the flu, but a bad headache can be disabling.

Maybe I'm mistaken but it looked like the referee was doing a countout while Kane was outside the ring.  Perhaps he was confused, as this isn't a Last Man Standing... In The Ring match.

Kane and Edge, both beaten and battered and having trouble standing... the match has just found its way to the top of a flight of stairs...perfect time for a commercial break?  Lame.  

Edge gets up at a count of 8.5, Kane walks in, easily picks Edge up, and instead of hitting the Tombstone Piledriver, he just goes for a bodyslam?  The difference in actions is very slight, but the difference in outcome is worlds apart. 

I don't want to hear any of the announcers claim that Kane is a great strategist (like they do with seemingly every other competitor).

The announce table DESTROYED by Kane in the opening match?  The quality of announcing is going down the drain tonight.

When Edge looked like he really needed help to make the standing 10 count after going through the announce table, was anyone else praying that Christian Cage would rush the ring? 

Thanks, WWE Creative, for letting us down.  I wanted a post-match Five-Second Pose.

Kane threw chairs into the ring, and with Edge as my predicted winner in this contest, I was really hoping there would be two chairs left in the ring for a Con-Chair-To, but I guess I'm just too stuck on the idea of Christian.... wait a minute, a second chair... Edge with the Con-Chair-To to the knee!!! 

Hopefully before the end of the night we'll get a Christian & Edge backstage segment which will reference the move.

Outcome: Edge retains the World Title when Kane is unable to stand up after a Con-Chair-To to the knee.

Before the commercial, we are notified that the first two matches of the night will both be championship matches, with Dolph Ziggler defending the Intercontinental belt against Kofi Kingston.

Intercontinental Title Match - Dolph Ziggler (c) vs Kofi Kingston

Despite the in-ring chemistry between these guys, how many times do we have to see Ziggler vs Kingston?  WWE UnCreative.

A friend of mine (and fellow GuysNation author) notified me that Ziggler has 10 defenses to his credit during this reign:

- vs. Kofi Kingston - Summerslam 2010
- vs. Kofi Kingston - Smackdown 8/20/10
- vs. Kofi Kingston - Smackdown 8/27/10
- vs. Kofi Kingston - Night of Champions 2010
- vs. MVP - Smackdown 10/1/10
- vs. MVP - Smackdown 11/12/10
- vs. Kaval - Survivor Series 2010
- vs. Kofi Kingston - Smackdown 12/10/10
- vs. Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger - TLC 2010
- vs. Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger- Smackdown 12/31/10

Did Matt Stryker just call Kofi Kingston a "deep ball threat"?  I'm not going to touch that comment with a 10-foot...  never mind.

Kofi Kingston goes to the top rope for his flying cross body press, and just when I take a break from typing/watching to pick up my beverage of choice, the match is over?!

Outcome: Kofi Kingston becomes the new Intercontinental Champion after a flying cross body press from the top rope, directly into a pinfall.

After the match, Vickie Guerrero grants Ziggler an immediate rematch because Teddy Long isn't in attendance tonight, and before I can fully write up my thoughts on that, Kofi Kingston hits a quick Trouble In Paradise and gets his first title defense.  

Wow, technically three title matches to start Smackdown in 2011.  What are the odds we get a Tag Team Title match next?  Maybe a Diva's title match? 

One of those isn't likely, and the other isn't preferable... unless Gail Kim is involved.  Or Maryse.  Or Eve Torres.  Or either of the Bellas.  Or Kelly Kelly.  Oh never mind, we enjoy Diva's wrestling. 

Were this Twitter, I'd say #BringBackLita or #BringBackTrish.  But it's not, but I will say "Follow @GuysNation on Twitter".  

Am I the only one watching Smackdown who is old enough to think that the castle in the RIFT commercial looked like Castle Grayskull?

Backstage, Vickie is dressing down Dolph Ziggler for not retaining the Intercontinental Championship, nor regaining it in the rematch.  If he's a "two time loser", what does that make her?

RAW Rebound?  Non Reciprocation by RAW for Smackdown, so I'm fast forwarding.  Want a recap of what happened?  Go read my Monday article.

Kelly Kelly bouncing around backstage, and Drew McIntyre shows up and wishes Kelly well.  Did Kelly decide to take that route to the ring because of the pink lights that were setup beforehand?  Is that how Drew knew where to wait for her? 

Good thing he's not slightly colorblind, he might've found himself waiting near the red lights where Kane hangs out...which would give the concept of "the Red Light District" a crazy twist.

#1 Contenders Match for the World Heavyweight Championship - Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre

So Vickie Guerrero shows up and adds Dolph Ziggler to the formerly three-way match, making it a Fatal Fourway... and is this her way of making it up to Ziggler?  Should he be happy about having a third match in a row? 

It's a huge opportunity, but he's already knocked down a peg because of early action.  Vickie should've at least let the match get started and added Ziggler to the contest after it had been going for a while.

RAW "Creative" should take note from this:  have a face champion, make the top contenders match feature three heels and one face. 

The RAW contenders match where they were fighting to get the opportunity to face The Miz, a heel, was undoubtedly going to Orton, the only face in the match.

Wade Barrett vs The Miz?  No way.  Sheamus vs The Miz?  No chance.  

Thus far my prediction of the announce team having a bad night was wrong.  Stryker and Mathews doing well.  I'm doing my best to ignore Michael Cole as always.

Favorite move of the night thus far:  Rhodes & Ziggler trying to pull Big Show out of the corner, one on each arm, and instead, Big Show reverses it and throws Rhodes & Ziggler over his shoulders over the ropes to the outside.  I'd love to see them do that again during the Royal Rumble.

At this point in the match, I'll admit it, I'm excited about the prospect of seeing a World Title match at Royal Rumble featuring McIntyre, Rhodes or Ziggler.  Big Show, not so much, but I still see it being unlikely. Which is a good thing.

Why in the world is Wade Barrett coming to Smackdown and attacking Big Show during the #1 contenders match? 

Does anyone else think that Wade Barrett probably had the same reaction that we did?  "Why in the world is Wade Barrett coming to Smackdown and attacking Big Show during the #1 contenders match?"

So The Beautiful Disaster kick by Cody Rhodes, followed by the Zig-Zag from Dolph Ziggler, followed by the Future Shock DDT by Drew McIntyre isn't enough to take out Big Show? 

Huge push for Show, big detriment to those three "finishing" moves from the midcarders.

Outcome:  Dolph Ziggler becomes the No. 1 contender as he tricks Cody Rhodes into turning his back on him to focus on Big Show, only for Cody to get Zig-Zag'ed and pinned.

So how about it, Ziggler fans.  Has it been a roller coaster of an evening for you?

Match - Kelly Kelly vs. Michelle McCool

Am I the only one who notices that Kelly Kelly has shown marked improvement in the ring?  Not only does she have some good signature moves now, but she has far better timing than she did before.  

Outcome - Michelle McCool gets the victory by using her rip-off of AJ Styles' signature pinning maneuver, The Styles Clash. (She calls it the Faith Breaker-ED.)

Does anyone else think that they could easily use "Styles Clash" as the name for the move when Michelle McCool uses it?

And the matches keep coming.

Best 2 of 3 Falls Match - Alberto del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

Am I the only one who thinks we saw this car parked backstage underneath a dust tarp earlier during the Kane / Edge match?

The full version of this article is over at www.GuysNation.com, complete with nearly a dozen polls and the questions and comments surrounding the evening's main event and the aftermath. 

Give it a look, voice your opinion, and you might find the chance to win a free shirt!

There are also several other articles over there which you might find of interest, including:

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