WWE Smackdown Coverage: Not Quite a Blast From the Past

Roddy Piper, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Pat Patterson, Sergeant Slaughter, Jimmy Hart, Tony Atlas, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Dusty Rhodes and Ted Dibiase were all on TV this past Tuesday.

No, it wasn’t the return of “Tuesday Night Titans,” but rather a “blast from the past”-themed live episode of Smackdown, because WWE needed one for whatever reason.

They could’ve opted to push the upcoming “WWE Legends House” TV show in one short Raw segment. Instead, they dedicated an entire Smackdown episode to it.

The crowd in Hampton, VA sat on their hands the whole night, but can you blame them? They weren’t given much to be excited about.

Piper’s Pit with Daniel Bryan and AJ was the best thing on this show. Everyone played their roles perfectly and the announcement of Daniel Bryan and Sheamus in a 2 out of 3 falls match at “Extreme Rules” just makes one want to shout, “YES! YES! YES!” as these two will finally get their well-deserved in-ring time.

That’s great for “Extreme Rules,” but nothing could’ve saved this show.

Matches:

Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry: There were some impactful maneuvers, but this ended before things could take off. With Henry down on the outside, Orton rolled into the ring and Kane’s pyro went off. Kane appeared on the screen and said he was having so much fun. The camera panned back and “Cowboy” Bob Orton was unconscious on the floor. Orton rushed backstage to find Kane and once he did, Kane attacked him with a pipe and laid Randy out alongside his Father. Kane uttered, “I’m a sucker for family reunions.” Right. Well at least these two have a real feud now.

Ryback vs. Benny Camer: Ryback nearly clotheslined Camer out of his boots and finished him off with a Samoan Drop. Several legends watched backstage and laughed.

Heath Slater/Tyson Kidd (W/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Usos: Mick Foley came out for commentary and put an end to the annoyance Hart’s bullhorn provided with Mr. Socko. Hart crawled through the ring and distracted Slater and The Usos took advantage and hit a top-rope splash for the win. Foley put the Mandible Claw on Hart afterwards.

The Great Khali/Alicia Fox/Natalya vs. Drew McIntyre/Bella Twins: McIntyre walked away and screamed he was “better than this.” Can’t blame him. Who thought this was a good idea to begin with? Fox won with a Northern Lights Suplex with a bridge. Khali, Fox and Natalya danced on stage, followed by Mae Young who danced and kissed Khali. In the words of Booker T, “An old chicken makes good soup.” Really, Booker?

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Hunico (w/Camacho): When Camacho tried to interfere, Duggan motioned for Sergeant Slaughter and he came down to help, as he handed Duggan the 2×4. Duggan hit Hunico with it and got DQ’d. Camacho suffered a Cobra Clutch when he attempted to make a save. Fans chanted USA, but who really got over?

Sheamus/”Mean” Gene Okerlund vs. Daniel Bryan/Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez): Sheamus and Bryan hooked up in the ring for a few minutes with nice exchanges, but that’s about all the fun this match offered. Rodriguez, Del Rio and Bryan cornered Okerlund and threatened to beat him up. Piper’s music hit and down came all the legends. Del Rio escaped, but Rodriguez couldn’t. Bryan was distracted by Piper and turned around right into the Brogue Kick (again) and it was over. The legends continued to hit moves on Rodriguez and Cole came into the ring. He insulted the legends and was knocked out by Pat Patterson and Sheamus swept him out of the ring.

Final Thoughts: Why WWE thinks these live Smackdown episodes need a “theme” to get over is beyond incomprehensible. Sure, it’s great to see legends, but was anything gained from this? As far as the Cody/Dusty Rhodes/Big Show segment, at least Show didn’t show Cody a video package from what happened on Monday, when he came out to show Rhodes a video package of him showing a video package the week before that cost Cody his match.

Boy, has that feud simmered down since Rhodes lost the title.

Laurinaitis looked great in the segment that opened the show. Daniel Bryan had a great night and continues to be Smackdown’s top draw. Also, with Ryback and the soon-to-debut Damien Sandow, there is much hope for Smackdown’s future. Overall, “Blast from the past” was a regret to forget.