Last Monday night, the entire WWE roster (sans CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus) held a vote of confidence in HHH as the COO. The result? They all walked out on him, including the referees, announcers, and many of the technical crew. So how will this affect tonight’s episode of Smackdown? Will anyone show up? Or will we just see HHH standing in the middle of the ring shrugging his shoulders for two hours?

I watch, write, suffer, and succumb to this show, yet have to remind myself of what happened only minutes after each episode. That is how G’s Smackdown reviews work. This is not a play-by-play recap, there’s enough of those online. This is a highly-opinionated take of the show in question.

G’s podcast recommendation! That’s right, I am going to try and recommend a good listening experiences for us 10%’er’s. I listen to a bunch of podcasts (check out Wonderpod and Bored Wrestling Fan for the best ones!). I have my favorite shows outside of my crew too. And if you’re like me, you find yourself in situations to grab an “ear-full,” I’ll try and filter some stuff your way as often as possible. This week: Ray Rougeau – Sep 30, 2011 Ray talks about saving his lost hunting buddy in the remote parts of Northern Quebec, and some recollections as both a tag team specialist and WWF commentator. Great stuff! While you’re reading this crap, you can download it in a few ways…

– It should be noted that Assistant Smackdown GM, Zack Ryder, came back after RAW went off the air proclaiming he had changed his mind and would support HHH… only to be pedigreed for his efforts.

– So the deal is, that the talent agrees to perform TV and house shows as long as HHH is not present. I don’t like this. Here’s why. If the talent was claiming that they fear for their safety, and this was the reason they walked out in a vote of non-confidence… but will only appear if HHH is not there, doesn’t that mean they are afraid of being hurt by HHH? Does that not this just put HHH over as violent, and dismiss the whole “unsafe work environment” aspect being related to other wrestlers who have been fired attacking them? Or any other problems that could arise in a contact-based sport?

– Teddy Long opens the show talking to resident fist-pumper, Zack Ryder discussing this story. Teddy Long is in charge tonight, and “RAW’s loss in Smackdown’s gain.” Cue Green Day.

– Big Show returns tonight to confront Mark Henry. I wonder how I managed to use the Big Show’s entrance theme on today’s release of Wonderpod episode 83 on the same day he returns? Sure they told us this on Monday, but I recorded that question two weeks ago, well before the announcement was made. Everything’s coming up Millhouse, apparently.

– Vickie welcomes us to the one year anniversary of Smackdown on SyFy. Christian, Otunga, Rhodes, Barrett, Ziggler, and Swagger are in ring with her. Christian tells us that it is also the start of “what historians will call ‘The Walkout'”. Each heel takes a turn explaining that they are the reason this was coordinated by them. Otunga explains more… in well-delivered legalese he explains that if HHH does not step down this Monday, they are prepared to walk out on all shows, including PPV’s. Rhodes gets a TON of good heel heat as he talks, brilliant. Rhodes tells us that all of this organization came down in support by one particular man. And that man?

Hell yes.

– Del Rio explains he inspired all of these men. He’s here to compete, not deal with being attacked… Teddy Long cuts him off, and lets them know they need to stop blathering on or the audience will walk out. And announces a bunch of matches involving the heels. We’ll get to that shortly. “There is only one Mexican sensation, and better than any American…” retorts Del Rio who will be in action up next! Great opening segment! Still don’t like all the heat on HHH just yet (don’t get me wrong, I loved the ending to RAW, just in hindsight, a more sober version of myself has taken in the big picture).

I’ve heard about trying to break through the glass ceiling, but this guy must have missed that memo.

– * Non-Title Match: Alberto Del Rio {C} vs. (Blue) Sin Cara. There’s not a lot to tell here. Either this was booked short, or massively edited. I cannot tell, but after watching the debacle in August when they taped in Calgary… who knows with Sin Cara? What we do see is some great smooth, high paced action. Cara gets some offense in, but Del Rio pretty much dominates and submits Sin Cara with an arm bar. He’s the bloody champ after all, and should win… and this sets up… Sin Cara “Egra” or evil Sin Cara to run in and beat the living hell out of the Blue version, finishing him with a 180 diving splash from the top ropes.

– Cole and Booker bicker, yawn… and we cut to Matt Striker interviews Air Boom, asking why they walked out. They claim it had nothing to do with Miz or Truth, but the culmination of everything going on. Until HHH steps down, you will not see them on RAW. Yeah, but what else has been going on?

– * Non-Title Match: Air Boom {C} vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger. The heels attack Air Boom on route to the ring (HHH’s fault, I guess). Vickie watches her stable beat on both faces outside the ring. In a neat bullying spot, Ziggler pulls the bottom of Bourne’s T-Shirt over his head, while Swagger holds him in a full-Nelson. Then Ziggler punches him in the face! I loved this… commericals, adverts and time murderers… FFW!

– We return to action, and the referee finally rings the bell. The heels double team on Kofi as Bourne is attended to ring side by officials for some reason… Unsafe work environment indeed! I’m sure that’s why they are selling an injury (hopefully, no hate on Bourne). Kofi continues to survive until Evan Bourne shakes it off and rushes the ring, hot tags Kofi…but eats a reverse neck breaker from Ziggler for his efforts and a sidewalk slam via Swagger who gets the pin! Another fun match!

Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down…

* WWE Divas Title Match: Beth Phoenix {C} vs. Alicia Fox. Not much of anything here. Beth squashes Fox. Post match Natalya holds Fox in while Phoenix tells her she wants to hear her pain. This is how they should have been booked since the start of the Divas of Doom, not instead losing to Kelly fucking Kelly of all people on two consecutive PPV’s (including her home town) and then being attacked by a rabid Kelly on Monday.

– As expected, the crowd explodes as The Big Show makes his return donning a new “W.M.D.” (front) and “Big Show ******** Precision Strike” (back) shirt. I love the idea of calling him a Weapon of Mass Destruction! The back? Not so much, but whatever… check that out here. It’s certainly alot better than John Morrison’s god awful new shirt and catchphrase: “Jomosapeins.” I think that one’s turrib…… just got a tweet, hold on…..

Charles Barkley @G: “Wait, Smackdown is on? I thought everyone quit on Monday… I’m just grinding through this RPG.”

G @Charles Barkley: “Kayfabe dude.”

-…OK, back to Big Show’s return. Great shirt… See, Big Show requested time off had his ass handed to him by Mark Henry a while ago (systematically along with Kane, and recently The Mediocre Khali). He’s been gone for four months with a broken ankle… He show’s us the clip he’s been watching multiple times per day… it’s his Hall of Pain induction! “I was humbled by Mark Henry…” Show begins, “Mark Henry reached into my chest, and ripped my heart right out of it.” Show shows much almost tearful emotion about things he normally took for granted in life. He notes, as a professional he can handle the physical pain, but the emotional pain kept him awake at night. Show goes into anger mode, and says all of this motivated him to come back stronger than ever (he does look in better shape, actually).

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

“Mark Henry, your momentum is a downward roll… I’m going to take all that physical pain, and emotional pain and ball it up in this fist […] I’m going to take from you what validates your entire career, I am going to take the World Heavyweight Championship from you. The first championship I ever held in my hand.”

– Believe you me, this was an awesome promo by the Big Show! Show calls out Henry for a match… Henry makes his entrance… Henry lists ending Kozlov’s career and putting Lawler through a table, but completely neglects to mention the Mediocre Khali! HA HA! Snub! Henry goes off on Show, calling his absence a “vacation that [he] afforded [him].” Henry says he’ll face him when he feels like it, and doesn’t care what Show wants… perfect heel response. Show says, if he doesn’t hear an answer by the end of the night, he will put HIM through the announce table, and break his ankle with a chair on top of it. FUCKING AWESOME PROMO! I dread watching the eventual match, but hot damn if I don’t love the build.

What ever that substance is, I want some.

– Speaking of snakes, the Viper is interviewed by Striker in order to bore us to sleep. The only question of relevance is why Orton wasn’t present for the walk out. Orton says if he has a problem with HHH, he’ll deal with it personally. He doesn’t play well with others. All monotone. All boring. All the time. What a buzz kill coming off of the Show/Henry showdown. We get hype videos for RAW and how not everyone did not walkout on HHH. And that all the guys I listed at the start of this article and Big Show will headline Monday night.

– Another Brodeus Clay hype clip package…. meh. He’s ok, but probably served the Del Rio bodyguard role better…

– * Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jinder Mahal (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada). Mahal is saying something in his native tongue, which is technically English, or French since we’re from the same town, but I can’t translate it. Weird. Big Zeke enters and pushes Mahal before the match starts and Mahal can disrobe… and the match starts. It’s pretty much a squash. Sad. I want to see what Mahal can actually do, and feel like we never actually get the chance. BOO!

I have a feeling the dude running the ropes isn’t going to excel as a professional wrestler.

– Johnny Ace meets with Teddy Long about the walk out. Ace tells Long that they are both company men, and he has his back. This will affect all of them… monotone (is this guy Orton?). Then Hornswoggle returns, taking Booker T into the ring to talk for him? I guess so… meh. Hornswoggle wants a Spin-A-Rooni, and Booker sates the fans as Cole calls him a “Spotlight Hogger.” Hornswoggle attempts his own interpretation…. Brutal.

Self-explanatory

– * Randy Orton & Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes & Christian. We go immediately to this after that crap in the ring. The combatants get to it, while I get very annoyed by Micheal Cole going off on Booker for being a follower for walking out on RAW. Cole claims he did it for the same reasons as the heels and Booker is a sheep. Very distracting… but you already knew that. For a TV match, they give it some time. And the result is a very watchable TV match. I expected Orton and Christian to have good spots, but can’t recall Sheamus and Rhodes together. There is good chemistry here! But ultimately, Orton snags a pin on Rhodes just after much abuse inflicted by Sheamus. He isn’t booked weak here.

I can’t stop being both disturbed and amused by this one…

– Even MORE clips of “The Walk Out.”

– Mark Henry is in the ring. He says he is infallible. And a big fuck you to the Big Show on his title match request. Show runs in (theme music in tow) and attacks! Show makes a bunch of punches look silly until security attempts to restrain him, but he breaks free and hits a spear? WTF? Security attempts to stop him again, so he chokeslams and big boots most of the indie guys security. Henry walks out as Show is more the reason for an unsafe work environment in about 60 seconds than HHH’s entire run as COO. We get a slight overrun segment as the two brawl outside. BOO!! They shouldn’t touch each other yet, way to give it away for free! Henry clears the announce table and goes to slam him through it, BUT NO!!! Big Show CHOKESLAMS HENRY THROUGH THE TABLE INSTEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THIS AWAY FOR FREE??? DUMB!! Then Show gets a chair to break Henry’s ankle… and walks atop the ring steps to get some height… puts on his touque… until Teddy Long interrupts and informs Show he has his title match, unless he breaks Henry’s ankle… Show takes the chair off of Henry’s leg, and hits him in the back with it instead. Shitty finish, they book the champ weak here. Why do these fuckers have to rush through every thing? I liked tonight’s show, but hate that they stole my FFW gimmick.

– So prior to next week’s RAW, all of the WWE crew will participate in a “Solidarity Rally,” as HHH has vowed not to step down as COO. Or at least, that is what is being reported by the “E” on their dot com.

The WWE logo comes up, and I’m out.

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This Smackdown Review Appears on Three Sites!

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A break down of various professional wrestling programs and events from the eyes of the smarky fan! I highly recommend checking out the BWF!

The official home of Wonderpod, and an assortment of content ranging from all things wide and far… depending on what the author’s feel like writing about. A home for reviews, commentary, pop culture, and fiction just to start. Always worth a look.

BTW, Actually
These reviews started off in a place called Project Wonderboy, a site that shares the name with it’s original founder, “whatever.” But this incarnation was under the Morphine Nation banner. That site is now evolved with all it’s original members at BTW, Actually. This place is all about challenging censorship and political correctness in an intelligent way.

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Shameless Plugs!

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The Cultural Revolution (TCR Comix)
Al Creed’s comics dominate tongue and cheek humour here.

Wonderpod
A weekly podcast about the world of video games, from player experiences to current events in the industry, Bruce McGee, Pat Man, Glasenator, Jonkind and/or Gun Sage provide insight into the medium for any gamer (whether casual or “pro”). Clicking the jump will take you to the iTunes page!

LarG Productions
An online music production project, free tunes spanning many genres… check it out!

Thinksobrain
ThinkSoJoE’s band, who is also the boss over at Bored Wrestling Fan. For those digging some sweet metal influenced, intriguing tunes… you really need to grab yourself an earfull.