WWE SmackDown Review: April 15, 2011

If you thought Edge’s announcement regarding his retirement on Raw was emotional, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Note: This review covers the extended cut of SmackDown.

Hey bleachers, I’m back with my SmackDown review once again. In this episode of the weekly action soap opera, Edge relinquished the World Title and said goodbye to an audience that will never forget him.

Alberto started off the show by cutting a promo explaining how he should be given the World Championship by Edge. This, naturally, resulted in resounding boos for the Mexican star.

Teddy Long came out to confront Del Rio and to announce a 20-man battle royal would be taking place later on in the night, to find the other number one contender. Alberto was furious and the crowd erupted at the prospect of this match.

Alberto was in fact so angry that he accidentally slipped into his native language before remarking how he has never like Teddy—like a kid who has had his lollipop confiscated.

He then said he was happy he had forced Edge to retire and it was his destiny to, and I quote, “end up like a crippled coward.” Teddy retorted, telling him his destiny was to shut up—much to the delight of the crowd.

Kofi Kingston took on Ezekiel Jackson next while The Corre sat on commentary. Wade explained that Ezekiel needed to prove himself. There was however, some dissension in the team when they all disagreed on who would win the battle royal and become the World Heavyweight Champion.

Ezekiel threw Kofi into The Corre, sending them a message about how dominant he is. He won the match when Wade Barrett tried to interfere, which gave Ezekiel the opportunity to hit his modified Rock Bottom—a standing side slam. He took the victory with this and taunted his teammates, calling himself the “personification of domination.”

It wasn’t a bad match with Kofi but it certainly wasn’t anything special.

Despite this new found power I’m not sure how far Ezekiel will go in this business. His microphone skills need a lot of work and I don’t think he has the charisma to be a World Champion. He is only in the early days of his career though and destiny can change in an instant...

LayCool were shown having therapy “earlier this week.” It was a boring, unfunny waste of time consisting of them arguing. If I wanted to see that I’d watch Jeremy Kyle thanks. (Jerry Springer is the American equivalent I believe.)

Cody Rhodes amazes me every week. He looked so ominous standing in the ring in a darkened arena, his face almost completely blacked out. He showed exceptional microphone skills—panting like a madman with each sentence and talking in the monotone manner, usually found in the stereotypical portrayal of a twisted character.

Rey Mysterio arrived to attack Cody and ended up getting the better of him yet again. Please don’t bury Cody like you’ve buried wrestling WWE—please?

Rey faced Drew McIntyre after the commercial in an extremely good match, even for SmackDown. They were given a lengthy amount of time in the ring and in my opinion; they made full use of it.

I was entertained throughout—the momentum shifted back and forth between the superstars and there were some really good spots. Drew swung Mysterio like a baseball bat into the outside barrier. It sounded like it hurt. Drew then took a horrid bump to the outside later in the match which made me cringe a little.

Mysterio picked up the victory in yet another huge injustice served up by the WWE. Drew should have won, plain and simple.

Edge was then shown in a backstage segment making his way to the ring—shaking hands with Kane.

He got a huge ovation as he arrived in Albany’s arena and it was well deserved. He had come out to speak a little about his career and how much he loved his entrance. He did it again to even bigger cheers from the crowd!

He also mentioned his Mother, which elicited “Thank You Mom!” chants!

He then ended his speech saying the World Championship was symbolic —everyone in the WWE Universe holds a piece. He left it in the centre of the ring before making his way to the back.

It is weird to think Edge will never hold the title again after 11 reigns as World Champion.

He was then present in another backstage segment where he refused to shake Del Rio’s hand, to the delight of the fans in attendance.

Kelly Kelly faced Layla in a match which was purely there to show further animosity within LayCool. Kelly Kelly was about to win by count out until Michelle threw Layla back into the ring—only for her to be rolled up and lose. I’m not fussed about LayCool, I can take them or leave them so this segment didn’t really interest me.

The 20 man battle royal was next, to determine who would face Del Rio at Extreme Rules. If you have been on Bleacher Report recently this was likely spoiled by the new articles that consist of a YouTube video. Nevertheless I will give you a quick recap anyway.

JTG was the first to go after being eliminated by the Big Show. Big Show then eliminated himself and Ezekiel Jackson with a huge clothesline after eliminating Heath Slater.

Cody Rhodes was eliminated by Rey Mysterio much to my chagrin. He subsequently eliminated Curt Hawkins.

Brodus got rid of Drew McIntyre and Chavo in quick succession before being eliminated by Kane.

Wade Barrett eliminated Kofi Kingston whilst Christian rid the ring of Reks and Yoshi Tatsu closely followed.

Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel eliminated Kane together before Justin turned on his partner to make it to the final four.

After Rey made short work of Gabriel, Swagger eliminated Mysterio thanks to Michael Cole. He sacrificed himself and took a 619 to the back. It was brilliant! I don’t even care if he was protecting Swagger—Cole was 619’d!

Christian rolled out of Swagger’s ankle lock and despite all attempts by Del Rio to pull Christian off the apron; Christian overcame all the odds by sending Swagger flying over the top rope after pulling it down.

Edge came down to congratulate his best friend and former storyline brother, and they embraced in the ring. They then posed for five seconds after chants requesting the classic segment. Anyone who was watching during the attitude era will have remembered this fondly.

The whole SmackDown locker room then came out to applaud Edge—even Del Rio’s personal ring announcer!

This resulted in Edge being overwhelmed with emotion as Big Show, Chavo and Rey Mysterio all took their turns to hug the Rated R Superstar in the ring.

The Game’s music kicked in and the roster parted like the Red Sea to allow Triple H to walk to the ring and embrace Edge.

Edge then stood in the ring soaking in the well deserved cheers that echoed throughout the arena. He proceeded to thank everybody, and I mean everybody who helped him become the Rated R Superstar. He thanked Vince for believing in him and was met with “Hall of Fame” chants. I really hope he is inducted one day, he deserves it.

After one final thank you, Edge left the ring to his music and chants of “Thank you Edge!”

I’d like to end this review with my own thank you.

Thank you Edge.

Please leave comments in the section below on how Edge’s final moments made you feel, or any other pressing matters you want to discuss.

Thanks for reading once again. I’ll be back on Monday with my Raw review.