WWE Smackdown is in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania this week. The show starts with a Big Show vs. John Cena promo video. That’s odd to see because they are both RAW Superstars. Unless one of them is appearing on Smackdown tonight, I don’t know why they would show a video of two RAW Superstars at the start of Smackdown. I think Big Show might be officially a Smackdown Superstar, but I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem like a Smackdown Superstar because he has been at every RAW this month. Why should Smackdown fans care what happened on RAW this week? After the Smackdown song and pyro, Michael Cole asks “Will Sheamus apologize” while Smackdown shows video of Sheamus making physical contact with John Laurinaitis on RAW this week. Johnny said that he would fire anyone who touches him so I’m interested in seeing what happens to Sheamus.

Eve Torres is introduced to the ring. Eve says Johnny is still the GM of RAW and Smackdown after beating John Cena at Over The Limit. Eve says Johnny is not here tonight and the crowd cheers. Eve says Johnny left her in charge and she will deal with Sheamus. Two things will happen tonight according to Eve. Sheamus will apologize for bumping into an injured John Laurinaitis on last Monday’s RAW and Eve will name his opponent for No Way Out. Alberto Del Rio’s music interrupts Eve. Del Rio walks out from the back and says Eve is smart and beautiful. Del Rio wants to face Sheamus at No Way Out. Eve starts to give Del Rio an answer, but she is interrupted by Randy Orton’s music. Wow…poor Eve keeps getting interrupted! Orton enters the ring and introduces himself to Eve. What the hell…Eve has been in the WWE since 2008. She knows who Randy Orton is! Orton decides to poll the audience and ask them who should face Sheamus at No Way Out. Yeah that’s fair…Orton is a face and Del Rio is a heel. I wonder who the WWE Universe is going to cheer the loudest for. Orton mentions Del Rio’s name and the crowd boos. Orton asks, “Would all you people here tonight like to see Randy Orton” and the crowd cheers. Orton says that in the name of “People Power”, Eve has her answer. Before Eve can say anything, Kane’s entrance pyro scares everyone in the arena. I don’t like Kane’s pyro especially when you are not expecting it. It looks cool on the TV, but it’s not fun when you are sitting in the arena and there’s an unexpected loud fire blast. Kane’s music plays and Kane walks to the ring. At least Kane is nice enough to make his entrance when Eve is not in mid-sentence. Kane says he is more qualified than Orton and Del Rio. Kane calls Sheamus a “pasty white Irish ghost”. Haha…I like that name! Kane says he should face Sheamus because tonight’s Smackdown is episode #666. That’s an interesting fact because Kane refers to himself as the Devil’s favorite demon, but I’m not sure why that means he should face Sheamus. Eve says there is only one way to settle this. There will be a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. That’s how you book a match! All Smackdown main events should be booked that way. Good in-ring promos by all three men and the match is worth watching because the winner will face Sheamus at No Way Out. I enjoy matches more when something is on the line.

Christian vs. Hunico

Christian won after hitting the Killswitch and the Frog Splash. It was a short match, but I enjoyed it. It’s nice to see Christian back on WWE TV and I’m glad he is a face again.

Winner: Christian

Rating: **

After the match, Cody comes out from the back. Cody says he spent over eight months making the Intercontinental Championship important again and Christian ruined all of Cody’s work in one night at Over The Limit. Cody says nobody cares about the title because nobody cares about Christian. When Cody gets his rematch, he says it is only going to take three seconds to get his title back. Cody was referring to the three count of a pinfall. I don’t think he was saying that the match will last only three seconds.

The Usos vs. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young

Titus and Darren won this match after hitting their combination finisher move. This was another short match, but both teams did a lot of good stuff during the match. I would have liked to see a longer match, but I was impressed with both teams. They could have a good feud if one of them won the Tag Team Championship. I think both teams deserve a future title match.

Winners: Titus O’Neil and Darren Young

Rating: **1/4

Smackdown announced that Sin Cara will return to Smackdown next week. I’m looking forward to that. A lot of internet fans don’t seem to like Sin Cara because of his botches in the ring. I enjoy watching Sin Cara because he is fun to watch. I’d rather watch a botchy Sin Cara match than a botch-free Great Khali match.

Ryback vs. Brian Edwards and Kevin Bendl

Another Ryback handicap match. There wasn’t a “Two is greater than one” promo this time. One of Ryback’s eyes was messed up and the skin below the eye appeared to be bruised. I’m not sure if that’s a legit injury or just part of his gimmick now. Does Ryback use fake pyro? I can hear pyro during Ryback’s entrance, but I never see it. I wonder if the WWE edits the pyro sound into the show. Ryback won after hitting both men with his finishing move. Ryback picked both of them up and dropped them at the same time. The two jobbers were both very small, but that was a very impressive move by Ryback.

Winner: Ryback

Rating: No Rating (NR)

I’m not happy to see that Ryback is back to facing unknown jobbers. I like Ryback a lot, but I’m getting very impatient. I don’t know why Ryback needs to continue to destroy jobbers. I want to see him get challenged and that hasn’t happened yet. The lack of a challenge is not because Ryback is so good…it is because his opponents have been so bad. I don’t want to give a “No Rating” to all of Ryback’s matches, but I can’t rate his matches until he has a real match. I don’t think Ryback has taken a bump yet.

Santino vs. Ricardo Rodriguez

Before the match, Ricardo introduces himself to the ring. I don’t think I have ever seen that happen before. Ricardo is wrestling this match in the ring announcer clothes…awesome! Santino wins after hitting Ricardo with the Cobra. If you like technical matches, don’t watch this match but do watch this match if you enjoy being entertained. I can’t give this match a rating because I want to give it a good rating, but that would seem odd because there wasn’t much wrestling in this match. It felt more like a segment than a match even though it was an official match with a clean finish. This match was funny and entertaining. Some people take wrestling too serious and don’t like comedy matches, but I don’t mind them especially when the two superstars are Santino Marella and Ricardo Rodriguez. When you see that those two guys are in a match together, you know that the match is not going to be very serious. Santino is actually one of my favorite superstars in the WWE just because he is very entertaining and I enjoyed this match.

Winner: Santino

Rating: NR

Sheamus is introduced to the ring. He is in the ring because Eve has ordered him to apologize to John Laurinaitis. Sheamus says it was an accident when he bumped into Johnny on RAW. He says he was running to the ring and Johnny was in his way. I disagree with that. It did not look like Sheamus accidentally hit Johnny and if the WWE wanted it to look like an accident, Sheamus botched it. Sheamus says people think he did it on purpose and if that’s true, then it was accidentally on purpose. Sheamus says, “I would like to apologize…”. Sheamus stops and says, “I would to apologize…” and stops again. Sheamus says, “I would like to apologize for John Laurinaitis being a massive arse.” Sheamus says that if he had his way, he would face Randy Orton at No Way Out. Before Sheamus can say anything else, Vickie Guerrero says, “Excuse me” from the entrance ramp. Vickie announces that Jack Swagger will face Sheamus in a match.

Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger

Sheamus won with the Brogue Kick. It was an okay match. The match wasn’t bad and it wasn’t a squash victory for Sheamus, but it didn’t seem much different than the matches Sheamus usually has on Smackdown. Sheamus hit many of his signature moves during the match.

Winner: Sheamus

Rating: *3/4

Yoshi Tatsu is in the ring. He will face Damien Sandow.

Damien Sandow vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Before the match, Sandow cuts a promo. The promo sounded like the promos he cuts every week. The words may be a little bit different each week, but they are sound the same to me. It reminds me of when CM Punk would cut the same promo every week when he had his “Straight edge means I’m better than you” gimmick. Sandow won this match in less than minute. It was a very quick match, but it’s nice to see Sandow finally in a match. I don’t mind the match being a squash, but I would have liked to see the match be at least a minute long. I think Ryback’s match was longer. Sandow looked impressive, but I want to see what he can do in a longer match.

Winner: Damien Sandow

Rating: NR

Big Show is introduced to the ring. Big Show explains why he helped John Laurinaitis defeat John Cena at Over The Limit. It was an interesting promo, but it doesn’t make me want to see Big Show vs. John Cena at No Way Out. After the Big Show-Cena PPV feud in 2009, I don’t know why the WWE thinks it is a good idea for Big Show and Cena to start a new feud. Even if the story is good, the matches will be bad. I saw Big Show vs. John Cena at Judgment Day 2009 and it was the worst main event match I have ever seen at a WWE event.

Before the main event, Kane enters the ring first and Daniel Bryan attacks him. Daniel Bryan hits Kane with a chair several times. The crowd does a very good Yes Chant.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane

Del Rio wins this match after stealing the pin from Randy Orton who had hit Kane with the RKO. Daniel Bryan returned to the ringside area during this match with a chair in his hands, but didn’t enter the ring. Daniel Bryan’s presence distracted Kane and that helped Orton hit the RKO on Kane. It’s weird to see Smackdown tease a Daniel Bryan-Kane feud when Daniel Bryan is still feuding with CM Punk. I liked this match, but I would have liked to see a longer match.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Rating: **3/4

After the match, Sheamus hits Del Rio from behind on the entrance ramp.  Smackdown ends with Del Rio lying on the ground and Sheamus standing next to him.

Matches to Watch: Christian vs. Hunico, The Usos vs. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young, Santino vs. Ricardo Rodriguez, Damien Sandow vs. Yoshi Tatsu, Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane

Matches to Skip: Ryback vs. Brian Edwards and Kevin Bendl, Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger

Best Superstar of Smackdown: Christian

There were many good performances on Smackdown, but there weren’t any great performances. The tie-breaker goes to Christian because it is nice to see him competing in a ring on Smackdown again. Christian is 38 years old and he is still one of the best workers in the WWE. I wouldn’t be surprised if he participates in a World Heavyweight Championship match later this year.

Best Moment of Smackdown: Ryback hitting both opponents with his finishing move at the same time

I didn’t enjoy Ryback’s match very much, but the ending of the match was the most impressive match finish of Ryback’s WWE career. What I love about the move is that he executed the move the exact same way he does when he is carrying only one person. The extra person didn’t slow Ryback down at all.

This was an average Smackdown. None of the matches were terrible, but Smackdown lacked a good match this week. Last week, Smackdown had two very enjoyable matches. This week, the matches were enjoyable, but none of them were long enough to be considered great matches. The AJ-Kaitlyn feud was ignored again, no Teddy Long, no John Laurinaitis, and Daniel Bryan was barely on the show. There weren’t any Divas on the show which is rare. There have been several Smackdown episodes that were worse than this week’s episode, but this episode could have been a lot better.