WWE Smackdown’s 600th Episode
February 18, 2011
San Diego, CA
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…” The WWE video leads us into the show.
They show a really nice hype video for tonight’s episode by showing some classic clips from the show. Tonight’s main event will be a 12-man tag team match featuring all the competitors in the Raw and Smackdown Elimination Chambers.
The Smackdown video plays. Josh Mathews, Michael Cole, and Booker T welcome us to the show. Tonight we’ll see the coronation of the new World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler.
Edge is the first person to make his way to the ring for the 12-man tag. Edge is wearing the World Heavyweight Championship and Tony Chimel announces him as the champion. Michael Cole flips out and yells that he is no longer the champion. Rey Mysterio also came out to a massive pop being this is his hometown.
12-Man Tag Team Match
Edge, Randy Orton, John Morrison, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio & John Cena vs. CM Punk, King Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, Kane & Dolph Ziggler
Edge will start the match out against the King of the Ring but he immediately tags out and lets Drew McIntyre in. They lock up in the center of the ring and McIntyre backs him to the corner. McIntyre kicks and punches him down before talking a little trash to Edge and the good guy side. Edge grabs him and viciously beats on him in the corner. Edge ducks a clothesline and hits a big boot. R-Truth is tagged in and he hits some right hands. R-Truth bounces him in the corner and sends him to the ropes but lowers his head and eats a kick.
Ziggler is tagged in and he runs into a hip toss. Randy Orton is tagged in and he kicks Ziggler a few times. Orton uppercuts and punches him in the corner. Orton has a whip reversed to the corner but he explodes out with a clothesline. Orton drops a knee and gets a two count. John Cena is tagged in and he’s met with a mix of cheers and boos. Cena hits some offense but eventually runs into a back elbow. Ziggler punches him in the corner but has a whip reversed and Cena hits a bulldog. John Morrison is tagged in and Ziggler immediately kicks him in the knee. Ziggler stomps on Morrison but eventually he comes back by sweeping the knees. Morrison goes for Starship Pain but Ziggler slams him off the top rope with an inverted body slam for a near fall.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Sheamus suplex Morrison for a two count. CM Punk tags in and he kicks Morrison. Punk hits a snapmare and kicks him in the back. Punk taunts him and drops a few knees for a near fall. Punk applies a head-scissors and the crowd is in a frenzy. Morrison knees out of it and just tags in Rey Mysterio. Mysterio comes off the top rope with a seated senton, goes into the ropes, ducks a clothesline, and hits a springboard cross-body for a near fall. Punk quickly kicks him and goes for a sunset flip but Mysterio rolls through and kicks him in the head for a near fall. Punk knees him in the midsection and goes for the GTS but Mysterio gets out and head-scissors him into position. Punk grabs him as he goes for a 619 and hits a backbreaker for a near fall.
Kane is tagged in and the Big Red Machine stomps Mysterio. Kane knees him in the corner a bunch of times before being backed up. Kane sends him to the corner and scoops him up in a bear hug. Mysterio’s team and the crowd is cheering him on. Mysterio eventually punches out and kicks him in the face. Kane pushes him into the heel corner but Mysterio fights them off. Kane goes for a Chokeslam but Mysterio gets out of it. Kane slides him out of the ring sternum first and right into CM Punk’s knee! That was almost like a pseudo GTS!
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Wade Barrett deliver a backbreaker to Mysterio for a near fall. Barrett stomps him down in the corner and tags in Sheamus. Mysterio makes a break for his corner but Sheamus gets him. Sheamus hits a short-arm clothesline and gloats about it. The crowd boos him wildly. Sheamus applies an arm bar submission. The crowd gets behind Mysterio and he punches out. Mysterio goes into the ropes and goes for his team but Sheamus grabs him. Mysterio kicks Sheamus in the face but runs into the Irish Curse for a near fall.
Barrett tags back in and he stomps him. Barrett drops a knee but he’s too close to the ropes for the referee to count. Barrett knees Mysterio in the face and head-butts him down for a near fall. Barrett sends Mysterio to the corner and runs into a drop-toe-hold, sending him face first into the turnbuckle. Mysterio then takes him out with a beautiful moonsault press.
Edge is tagged in and so is Ziggler. Edge ducks a clothesline and hits two of his own. Edge hits a flapjack and a nice impaler DDT. Edge backs up to the corner and sets up for the Spear. Ziggler slowly gets up and Sheamus gives him the Brogue Kick. Morrison takes Sheamus out with a Flying Chuck. Kane takes Morrison out with a Chokeslam so Cena runs in and takes Kane out with an Attitude Adjustment. Punk runs in and hits him with the GTS and he turns into an RKO! McIntyre runs in and gives Orton the Future Shock DDT. McIntyre then turns into Pay Dirt from R-Truth. Barrett takes him out with the Boss Man Slam. Mysterio then delivers a top rope hurricanrana, putting Barrett in position. Mysterio then dropkicks Ziggler into position as well and hits a Double 619 on both men! Ziggler then stumbles into a NASTY Spear for the win!
Winners by Pinfall: Edge, Randy Orton, John Morrison, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio & John Cena
Match Rating: *** 1/2
EXCUSE ME! Vickie Guerrero comes out to the stage to massive heat. Vickie orders him to hand over the championship belt because he is no longer champion. Vickie then plays a replay from last Friday’s Smackdown. Vickie injured herself attempting a Spear so she was taken to ringside. Edge then Speared Ziggler in full view of Vickie Guerrero. Clay Matthews then ran down in a referee’s shirt and counted the pin.
Vickie reminds Edge that the Spear was illegal. Vickie says Clay Matthews isn’t even a licensed official. Vickie says he’s no longer the World Heavyweight Champion but he boyfriend Dolph Ziggler is. Tonight on the 600th episode of Smackdown, we’ll all witness his championship coronation. Vickie welcomes him to watch from his hotel room because she knows he’s the one who assaulted Teddy Long. Since she’s known him she’s known about Edge’s rage and that rage assaulted Teddy Long. She may not see eye to eye with Long on many thing but she respects him. Vickie then informs Edge that HE’S FIRED! Edge can’t believe it and the crowd isn’t happy about this. Edge stands in the ring shocked.
-Commercial Break-
The announcers talk about how Vickie Guerrero just fired Edge before the commercial break. Michael Cole of course condoned the actions. Booker T says Vickie Guerrero is a liar and a woman scorned. They then go over what Rey Mysterio did to Cody Rhodes’s face last month. Mysterio broke his nose after hitting a 619 with an exposed knee brace. Todd Grisham caught up with “Dashing” Cody Rhodes earlier in the week.
Todd Grisham stands with “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, who stands in the shadows wearing a plastic mask. Rhodes says the world can’t see the anguish he’s gone through. Rhodes says his surgery was a success, but his opportunities for success have been destroyed. While superstars like Rey Mysterio are on the Road to WrestleMania, his journey was stalled before it could even start. Rhodes says he’s not going to bash Mysterio because he’s 10x the professional that he could ever be. Rhodes says his doctors have cleared him for travel so he’ll have an announcement for the WWE Universe on Smackdown next week.
Diva’s Champion Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix make their way to the ring. They’ll be in tag team action next.
The 2-21-11 video airs. The Undertaker is coming back. There’s not much of a swerve here now.
-Commercial Break-
They show highlights from the first episode of Smackdown that took place on August 26, 1999. They play the original music for it. The main event was Triple H vs. The Rock with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee. It was for the WWF Title. HBK gave The Rock Sweet Chin Music and cost him the match. Ah, I remember that like it was yesterday.
Maryse and Layla are in the ring when we come back. Michelle McCool is on commentary. She acknowledges her busted foot.
Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix vs. Maryse & Layla w/ Michelle McCool
Maryse slaps Beth and she doesn’t like that. Beth grabs Maryse and throws her to the corner. Beth punches her in the corner and whips her across the ring. Beth clotheslines her in the corner and clotheslines her down for a two count. Layla is tagged in and she kicks Beth. Beth pushes her down and wrenches the arm. Beth picks her up by the arm and slams her down. Eve is tagged in and she dropkicks Layla a few times. They aren’t as good as Darwin Stephens says. Eve forearms her and sends her to the corner. Eve blocks a kick and hits a snap suplex for a two count.
Layla reverses a whip and rolls through a sunset flip. Eve ducks a roundhouse kick and knees her in the face. Eve hits a bicycle kick and knocks her down. McCool gets up from commentary and yells at Eve. Beth knocks McCool in her injured foot. The referee is distracted enough for Layla and Maryse to double kick Eve. Layla then picks up the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Maryse & Layla
Match Rating: *
The Rock’s WrestleMania announcement is next. The footage will be shown next.
-Commercial Break-
The announcers talk about how Smackdown was actually a word invented by The Rock. Booker T says he took great offense to that back in the day because he felt it should have been called The Book Show. They then replay The Rock’s return to WWE from Raw. God, I absolutely loved that promo.
The announcers talk about the firing of Edge. They then mention that the World Championship Coronation of Dolph Ziggler will take place later tonight on Smackdown!
-Commercial Break-
They show highlights from the live Smackdown that took place two days after September 11, 2001. That must have been an amazing show. I never got to see it. I’m 25 miles outside of New York City and they had news on every channel 24/7. The highlights looked great though.
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz w/ Alex Riley
Charles Robinson, my favorite referee in the world, is the official for this contest. They lock up and Miz quickly gets a waist lock. Kingston turns into one of his own and Miz catches him with a side headlock. Kingston whips him off and gets shoulder blocked down. The Miz goes into the ropes but holds on. Miz runs into a hip toss and Kingston applies an arm bar. Kingston turns it to a hammerlock and Miz elbows him in the face. The Miz sends him to the ropes and Kingston gets a cross-body for a one count. Kingston hits another cross-body for another one count. Kingston goes into the ropes one more time and gets one more cross-body for a two count.
Kingston wrenches the arm and gets a hammerlock on. The Miz backs him to the corner and punches him down. The referee admonishes him and makes Alex Riley back away from the ring. Kingston comes back with some punches and sends him to the corner. Kingston charges but Miz moves so he jumps to the second rope. The Miz quickly kicks him in the knee before he can do anything. Kingston crumples down to the mat as we go to a break.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Miz kick Kingston in the ribs. The Miz hits a nice suplex and covers for a near fall. Alex Riley didn’t like the count and let Robinson know it. Miz pulls on Kingston’s hair and applies a surfboard stretch. Kingston fights up and tries to twist out of it but Miz keeps it locked in. Kingston fights up once again and gets a backslide pin for a near fall. Kingston kicks him a few times but Miz quickly stops the momentum. Kingston goes for a ranhei but Miz pushes him off. Kingston then hits a nice hurricanrana, sending him to the corner. Miz then walks into a dropkick for a near fall.
The Miz quickly drives him into the corner and hits a shoulder block. The Miz charges and Kingston counters him with a pendulum kick. Kingston takes him out for a beautiful top rope cross-body block for a near fall. Kingston goes for a superman punch but Miz counters into a backbreaker/neckbreaker combo for a near fall. Kingston comes back with a kick. Miz goes to throw him out of the ring but Kingston counters that. Kingston hits the superman punch and the Boom Drop. Kingston gets the crowd into it and all of a sudden…
Alberto Del Rio walks down to the ring laughing. The Miz quickly rolls Kingston up but Kingston rolls through and nearly picks up the win. Kingston kicks him in the face and goes into the ropes but is distracted by Del Rio slapping him with his scarf. The Miz then hits the Skull Crushing Finale for the win!
Winner by Pinfall: The Miz
Match Rating: **
Alberto Del Rio is happy with the result and walks away from the ring smiling. The Miz and Alex Riley celebrate their win. On Monday The Miz beat Daniel Bryan, the United States Champion, and on Friday he beats Kofi Kingston, the Intercontinental Champion.
All of a sudden Alberto Del Rio gets back in the ring and stands over Kingston. Del Rio laughs and taunts the crowd. Del Rio’s music plays and he leaves the ring.
The announcers talk about the longest running weekly episodic programs in television history. Smackdown is in third place, passing Lassie twelve episodes ago. Smackdown is 33 episodes away from passing Gunsmoke. Then Raw and Smackdown will be first and second for longest running shows in television history.
Later tonight we’ll see the World Championship coronation of Dolph Ziggler. Coming up next we’ll see Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov defend their Unified Tag Team Championships against Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel of The Corre.
-Commercial Break-
They show Eddie Guerrero’s tremendous celebration after winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at No Way Out. That’s another moment I remember like yesterday. I really miss Eddie Guerrero.
As The Corre makes their way to the ring, they show a replay of them destroying the tag team champions last week. Then they took Big Show out later in the night. Ezekiel Jackson even suplexed him!
WWE Unified Tag Team Championships Match
Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (c)
Kozlov starts out against Gabriel. Kozlov quickly slams him down. Kozlov sends him to the ropes and catches a cross-body attempt. Kozlov hits a nice fall-away slam, sending him out of the ring. Kozlov taunts the crowd. Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson then walk down to ringside. They distract Kozlov enough to get him off his feet. Slater is tagged in and he kicks away at Kozlov. Slater stomps him down and runs right into a big slam.
Santino is tagged in. Santino blocks a kick and punches away. Santino splits under a clothesline, hits a hip toss, and a diving head-butt for a near fall broken up by Slater. Santino gets to his feet and hits The Cobra. Barrett immediately attacks him, causing a disqualification.
Winners by Disqualification: Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov
Match Rating: 1/2 *
Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson work over Santino until Big Show runs down! Big Show takes out The Corre with punches and head-butts. Big Show then throws them out of the ring and calls Jackson into the ring. Jackson gets on the apron and teases getting in but his friends from The Corre talk him out of it. They back up the ramp as Big Show’s music plays.
They show the classic Booker T vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin supermarket brawl from December 2001. That was a hilarious moment. So classic.
The production crew is setting the ring up for Dolph Ziggler’s Championship Coronation. That is up next.
-Commercial Break-
Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler are standing in the ring with the World Heavyweight Championship on a podium. Vickie welcomes us to the World Heavyweight Championship coronation of Dolph Ziggler. Vickie says it is her great privilege to introduce the NEW World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler. Vickie hands the title over to Ziggler and he walks around the ring holding it up for the crowd to see.
All of a sudden Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long’s music hits! Teddy Long returns and he does not look happy at all. Long gets in the ring and says it looks like they’ve seen a ghost. Long says he can imagine that they’re surprised to see him. While this so-called investigation over his attack was going on, Long asks if her investigation led her to looking in the mirror. Vickie says that’s absurd. Long says she had the most to gain from his attack and she was said to be the first person on the scene. Vickie starts arguing so Long tells her to SHUT UP! Long says she’s been after his job for a long time but she doesn’t have to worry about his job or hers. Long says this is what will happen…
Vickie explodes and blames everything on Ziggler. Ziggler can’t believe it. Long says he’s glad this is all coming out now. Long says they can forget about the coronation. Long tells the crew to clear the ring. Long says he’s back in charge and we’ll have ourselves a World Heavyweight Title match right now! Mike Chioda runs down to the ring. Long says Vickie had the power to fire people and he has the power to rehire them. That’ll be Dolph Ziggler’s opponent – the Rated R Superstar Edge!
Edge’s music hits and he makes his return to Smackdown after an hour and fifteen minute absence. Ziggler is flipping out. This match is next!
-Commercial Break-
The 2-21-11 video airs once again.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler (c) w/ Vickie Guerrero vs. Edge
The bell rings and Edge immediately ducks a clothesline. Edge hits a pair of clotheslines and a modified face-buster. Edge sets up in the corner and is looking for the Spear. Ziggler leap frogs the Spear, sending Edge shoulder first into the ring post. Ziggler attacks Edge at ringside and stomps him down. Ziggler throws him into the ring and covers for a one count. Ziggler chokes Edge on the bottom rope and elbows him in the throat. Ziggler rolls him to the middle of the ring and gets a one count.
Ziggler applies a chin lock but Edge soon fights up and punches out. Ziggler sends him to the ropes and applies the Sleeper Hold, but Edge breaks the hold. Ziggler kicks and hits a leg drop bulldog. Ziggler goes for the Zig-Zag but Edge holds the ropes. Edge then ducks a clothesline and hits a big Spear for the win!
Winner & NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Edge
Match Rating: *
Edge raises the World Heavyweight Championship over his head and he is now an 11-time champion. This is the first time in his career he’s cleanly pinned anyone without cheating to win the title. Edge taunts Vickie Guerrero with the World Heavyweight Championship.
Teddy Long’s music hits and he comes out to the stage. Long says there’s one more thing. Dolph Ziggler – YOU’RE FIRED! Vickie is in shock and Ziggler looks completely dejected. Vickie yells at Ziggler over his loss.
Edge grabs a microphone and excuses himself. Edge says tonight has been one long party. It’s the 600th episode of Smackdown. Edge was here for the first episode and now he’s on the 600th episode with the World Championship right where it belongs. Now Dolph Ziggler is fired. Just a few hours ago he was fired and it doesn’t feel very good. Edge says it makes a guy want to sing seeing Ziggler fired. Edge asks the crowd to sing along with him as confetti pours down from the rafters. Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye! Ziggler leaves the ring slowly as Vickie looks livid. Confetti continues to pour down as Edge raises the World Heavyweight Championship over his head.
Quick Match Results
Edge*, Randy Orton, John Morrison, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio & John Cena def. CM Punk, King Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, Kane & Dolph Ziggler*
Maryse & Layla* def. Eve Torres* & Beth Phoenix
The Miz def. Kofi Kingston (non-title)
Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov def. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel via DQ (Santino & Kozlov retain the titles)
Edge def. Dolph Ziggler to become the World Heavyweight Champion
Bump of the Night: Mysterio being slid out of the ring right into CM Punk’s knee!
Match of the Night: The 12-Man Tag Team Match *** 1/2
Mike’s Thoughts
This was a tremendous episode of Smackdown. This was a big night to deliver the goods and they certainly came through. We had a little bit of everything. We had a huge tag team match to open the show, the WWE Champion in action, the Tag Team Titles being defended, and we saw the World Heavyweight Championship change hands and then minutes later change hands again. Somewhere in there they squeezed the divas in just because they have to reach their quota of bad diva segments for the week. All in all this was a terrific episode that was a lot of fun to watch.
They seem to love the big tag team main events to highlight their big TV shows, especially for Smackdown. I’m not complaining, I’m just noticing the trend. This was a well-booked match that was given plenty of time, and everyone shined in some way. I really enjoyed it. I even enjoyed the typical “every hit your finishers now” point that you know comes in every match like this. It was just a load of fun and a great way to open up the show. They then followed that up with the big story for the rest of the night, which was Vickie Guerrero firing Edge.
I really liked the “Dashing” Cody Rhodes interview this week. I like how they kept him in the shadows while talking. His promo definitely got me excited to see him and hear his announcement next week on Smackdown. I think this feud with Rey Mysterio could be a sleeper hit at WrestleMania.
The divas wrestled the same old match that they’ve been wrestling for the past year or so. It was just filler and not much happened. They discussed McCool’s injury before hand so now that’s one less diva wrestling on Smackdown. By my count, minus Kelly Kelly, who is “fired” and Rosa Mendes, who never does anything, we have three that wrestle on the roster. I included Kaitlyn in this and I’m not sure if I should, seeing as she’s only had one match and she’s greener than grass. The division is in shambles. Why do I have to keep repeating myself?
I enjoyed The Miz’s match against Kofi Kingston tonight. I think they are two guys who have styles that mesh well together. They put on an entertaining match and Miz picked up a much-needed victory heading into Elimination Chamber against The King. I’m even looking forward to watching Kingston take on Del Rio this Sunday. That should be a pretty good match.
The Tag Team Titles match wasn’t memorable in the least and it was just there tonight. Hopefully we’ll see a rematch this Sunday and the rematch will see The Corre take the titles off Santino and Kozlov. It was fun while it lasted.
I really enjoyed the final twenty minutes of the show. The championship coronation was short lived due to the return of Teddy Long. That was probably the biggest reaction Long has gotten in a while. Long has never really been much of an authority figure in my opinion but he did a pretty good job tonight. It definitely got the crowd pumped up by having the title match right then and there. The rehiring of Edge was also great. It’s an official title switch because they recognized Edge as the new champion so this is the beginning of a new reign. The match was nothing much but it’s not often that you tune into Friday Night Smackdown and see a World Title change.
The firing of Dolph Ziggler leaves an open slot in the Elimination Chamber match. Who will it be? Let the theories begin! Sting, Triple H, Bobo Brazil, Doink The Clown?! At least there’s some intrigue and fun added to the match because the winner is pretty much a foregone conclusion.
I almost forgot to mention! This win for John Cena tonight was his FIRST televised win of 2011. Cena is now 1-5!
Thank you to those of you who followed along with the LIVE results tonight. For those who didn’t I thank you for logging on to read the recap.
Final Rating: ****
E-Mail – MikeyT817@hotmail.com
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Thanks for reading! Enjoy Elimination Chamber 2011!