Welcome to Laying The Smackdown. WWE Smackdown is in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada this week. Like last week, I will include the match times not including any commercial breaks during the matches. The time lengths are unofficial times and may be off by a second or two. Smackdown starts with a highlight video of the Brogue Kick banning storyline. After the video, Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez, and David Otunga are in the ring. Otunga is wearing a neck brace after getting hit with the Brogue Kick last Monday on RAW.

Del Rio gives credit to Booker T for banning the Brogue Kick before, during, and after a match. Booker announced on RAW that Sheamus will be stripped of his World Heavyweight Championship if he uses his Brogue Kick at any time. Del Rio gives the microphone to Ricardo Rodriguez. Ricardo thanks everyone for their support and he gets emotional. Ricardo mentions his little Chihuahua and he hopes he can one day be able to walk him again. Otunga grabs the microphone from Ricardo. Otunga refers to himself as an officer of the court and says that Sheamus is a reckless hooligan. Otunga says it was a poor decision by RAW’s General Manager AJ Lee to make a match between Otunga and Sheamus on RAW. Does this mean Otunga sees himself as a lawyer and not a wrestler now? Are we supposed to forget about NXT and Nexus? Otunga says his vertebrae might be ruptured, but he will recover handsomely. Del Rio has the microphone again and he shows a video of Sheamus hitting Christian with the Brogue Kick at last year’s Night of Champions. Christian joins them via satellite. Christian tells Del Rio that he wants to get this over with. Christian is wearing an arm brace. Otunga says that Christian has just had shoulder surgery and he says that Christian hasn’t be competing at 100% since the Brogue Kick. Christian says he doesn’t like Del Rio and hopes Sheamus beats him on Sunday. Christian says he is not doing this interview for Del Rio or himself. Christian is doing it for the other superstars in the back who are too afraid to stand up and do what’s right. Christian says he hasn’t been right since the Brogue Kick. Christian says the nerve damage finally got to the point where he needed surgery. Christian says he lost about a year of his career and says the Brogue Kick should stay banned.

Del Rio says Booker T made the right decision and says that at Night of Champions, he will take the World Heavyweight Championship away from Sheamus. Del Rio is interrupted by Daniel Bryan. The crowd chants “yes” and Daniel Bryan tells them to stop so he can thank Del Rio and everyone else in the ring. Bryan thanks Del Rio, Otunga, and Ricardo for bringing this case to light. Bryan says he is also a victim. Bryan says people think he has a goatface and if he did, it’s because Sheamus kicked him in the face so many times. Bryan says Booker T has granted him a WrestleMania rematch tonight. Bryan calls it a rematch of the most embarrassing moment of his life when Sheamus used that illegal move to defeat him in 18 seconds. It sounds like the fans are chanting “Brogue Kick” and that gets Bryan angry. Bryan asked for the rematch to prove that Sheamus won in 18 seconds only because he caught Bryan by surprise. Sheamus comes out and says Bryan didn’t lose because of the Brogue Kick. Bryan lost because of Sheamus. He says that after he defeats Daniel Bryan and Del Rio, the whole world is going to know that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Otunga walks up to talk to Sheamus who is standing on the ring apron and Sheamus pulls on Otunga’s neck brace. The neck brace comes off and Otunga’s neck hits the ropes. Sheamus tosses the neck brace into the crowd while Otunga sells the pain in his neck. That segment was okay, but Daniel Bryan’s promo was great. Bryan’s promos are awesome when he is angry.

The Miz vs. Sin Cara

Sin Cara won after rolling up The Miz for a three count. I didn’t like how this match started, but it got better at the end of the match. Overall, it was a mediocre match, but it was a little bit interesting because it wasn’t the usual Sin Cara match until the last minute of the match. There wasn’t a lot of fast-paced action throughout the match like most of Sin Cara’s matches. The Miz got in almost all of the offense before Sin Cara made his comeback and most of the match was slow because The Miz doesn’t work as fast as Sin Cara does. The time length of the match shown on TV was 4:34.

Winner: Sin Cara

Rating: *1/2

The Miz is interviewed by Matt Striker backstage. Striker wants to know how The Miz feels about facing an unknown opponent at Night of Champions. They are joined by Cody Rhodes and Miz wants Striker to ask a certain somebody why he attacked Miz from behind on RAW. Rhodes says he wants his Intercontinental Championship back. Rhodes asks someone what he wants and that someone is Rey Mysterio. Where did Striker go? Rey says he pinned Miz last week and says he deserves an opportunity at the championship. Miz says what do you want to someone. Sin Cara walks towards the group. Sin Cara points at Miz’s championship title. Rhodes says that Sin Cara doesn’t get anything by pointing. Miz says if the title was on the line during the matches against Rey and Sin Cara, he would have beaten them. Miz says he would have beaten Rhodes too. Rhodes says that is laughable and Miz is overrated. Teddy joins the group and says on the behalf of Booker T, Miz will defend his title in a fatal four way match at Night of Championsh. That was a good segment.

Smackdown shows a video recap of the Kane and Daniel Bryan anger management storyline.

Backstage in the arena, Kane is squeezing a stress ball. Dr. Shelby is there and says that what Kane is doing is very good. Daniel Bryan enters the room and says Kane is doing it wrong. The ball is supposed to be in his left hand. Daniel Bryan wants to talk about what happened on Monday night. Kane says he did what he had to do to be victorious. Kane says he wants to be the next tag team champion. Daniel Bryan says he wants to be the next tag team champion. Dr. Shelby says he sees they both have balls. Kane and Daniel Bryan both lift up their arms and each of them is holding a ball. He says the reason he gave them the balls is because when you squeeze them, it helps you feel better. Wow…is he allowed to make that comment on a PG show? Shelby tells them to squeeze the balls and feel the anger wash away. Both of them squeeze their balls. Kane looks at his ball and says his ball is bigger than Daniel Bryan’s ball. Bryan says, “Is it? I don’t think so.” Funny segment. Daniel Bryan and Kane might be my favorite WWE duo since The Rock and Mankind.

Kane vs. Kofi Kingston

Kane won with the chokeslam. Kane vs. Kofi is a surprising good match-up, but this match need more time. The time length of the match was 2:13.

Winner: Kane

Rating: *3/4

After the match, Dr. Shelby is on top of the entrance ramp. Kane had left the ring, but now he goes back into the ring. Kane picks up Kofi by the neck and gives him a hug.

Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton in the interview area. Striker wants to know why Orton asked Booker T for a match against Tensai tonight. Orton says he doesn’t know. Orton says neither man was doing anything so he wanted a good old fashioned brawl. Orton says that maybe he wanted a 360 pound tune-up before his match against Ziggler at Night of Champions. Striker wants to know how much Orton is looking forward to his match against Ziggler. Orton talks about a situation in which Ziggler cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase and wins the World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions. That would create an opportunity for Orton to leave as the World Heavyweight Champion because according to him, his match vs. Ziggler happens sometime after the World Heavyweight Championship match. Orton says another reason why he might be looking forward to the match is because he doesn’t like Ziggler and wants to tear him a new one this Sunday.

Randy Orton vs. Tensai

Orton won with the RKO. I liked this match more than I thought I would. This was a back and forth match and it looked like a brawl more than a wrestling match. I didn’t like the first half of the match, but the rest of the match after the commercial break was good. The time length of the match shown on TV was 7:08.

Winner: Randy Orton

Rating: **3/4

After the match, Vickie Guerrero comes out and says Dolph Ziggler didn’t appreciate the comments Orton made to Striker. Vickie says Ziggler took the night off. She says Ziggler will defeat Orton at Night of Champions. Orton says that Vickie talking to Orton with his back turned can only mean one thing. Orton turns around and stops Ziggler from attacking him. Ziggler had started to enter the ring, but he quickly ran away.

Antonio Cesaro is in the ring. He doesn’t like that a pre-show battle royal will determine his Night of Champions opponent. Then, Cesaro says “outraged” in five languages. Tyson Kidd comes out and says Cesaro will be a former United States Champion after this Sunday. Cesaro attacks Kidd and throws him out of the ring. Brodus Clay comes out by himself and enters the ring. Cesaro walks away from Brodus and is kicked by Kidd. Brodus hits Cesaro with the big splash. Brodus and Kidd dance to Brodus Clay’s song in the ring.

After a commercial break, Wade Barrett cuts a promo on top of the entrance ramp. Barrett says that everybody is either too scared or too stupid to understand what he meant when he said he was open for business.  Barrett says that one lucky person will get to “sample the product” next week and “business will be booming”.

Kaitlyn vs. Beth Phoenix

Kaitlyn avoided the Glam Slam and then won after hitting Beth with a reverse DDT. I was really surprised to see Kaitlyn get a clean win over Beth Phoenix. It didn’t look like one of those “she got lucky” wins. The match was better than most Divas matches, but I won’t watch it twice. The time length of the match was 2:50.

Winner: Kaitlyn

Rating: *1/4

Smackdown shows the RAW Rebound. The video shows highlights of the John Cena, Bret Hart, and CM Punk segment on RAW.

In Booker T’s office, Eve is talking to Booker T. Eve says banning the Brogue Kick was a difficult decision, but it was an excellent decision and she supports Booker T 100%. Teddy Long joins them and Teddy says almost the same thing Eve said, but just uses different words. Booker tries to give Teddy a fist pound, but Teddy was expecting a handshake. Booker laughs and leaves the office with Eve.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

This match was promoted as a WrestleMania rematch, but Daniel Bryan and Sheamus have wrestled each other on TV or Pay-Per-View at least three times since their WrestleMania 28 match. However, this is their first match since WrestleMania with the Brogue Kick banned. Sheamus won after Daniel Bryan tapped out to the Texas Cloverleaf. Another good Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus match. Not including the 18 second WrestleMania match, I don’t think I have seen these guys have a bad match when they face each other. This is a match-up I always enjoy seeing and this match didn’t disappoint me. Was the ending predictable? Yes, but it was a good match to watch. What I really liked about this match was that they got a good amount of time and it was commercial-free. The time length of the match was 9:05.

Winner: Sheamus

Rating: ***1/4

Del Rio, Otunga, and Ricardo are shown backstage watching the TV monitor. Smackdown ends with Sheamus celebrating in the ring.

Matches to Watch: Randy Orton vs. Tensai, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Matches to Skip: The Miz vs. Sin Cara, Kane vs. Kofi Kingston, Kaitlyn vs. Beth Phoenix

Best Superstar of Smackdown: Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan won the Smackdown Triple Crown. He had a great in-ring promo, backstage segment, and main event match. Smackdown is a lot better when Daniel Bryan is on the show.

Best Moment of Smackdown: Daniel Bryan and Kane’s session with Dr. Shelby

It should be mandatory that Daniel Bryan and Kane do a backstage segment every week. I honestly wouldn’t mind if they devoted an entire episode to Daniel Bryan and Kane. The stress ball segment on this week’s Smackdown was just as good as those anger management classes on RAW.

I didn’t watch the episode from start to finish without interruption, but if I did, I think would have enjoyed watching all two hours of Smackdown without turning the channel or skipping some stuff. There was nothing that was very great on the episode, but everything was solid. The good matches were enjoyable. The other matches weren’t that good, but they weren’t bad either. The promos and backstage segments were either average or above average. What I liked about this episode was that there wasn’t anything that was really bad. There were stuff that was worth watching more than others, but this was a good Smackdown from start to finish.

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