Top Match Results From Last Night's WWE Live Event In TN: Punk & Jericho Wrestle As Babyfaces
WrestlingINC.com reader Jeremy Hodge sent us these results from the top matches at last night's Smackdown event in Johnson City, TN:
Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship: The fans texted and made this a "last man standing" match. The match started with both wrestlers playing to the crowd. Sheamus is way more popular than I originally thought. He got huge pops throughout the match. I'm not sure which was more popular; to cheer Sheamus or to boo Del Rio. The match went outside of the ring a couple of times and Del Rio used a kendo stick, trashcan and a chair to gain control. Sheamus eventually got a hold of the stick and a took over and overpowered Del Rio. Ricardo Rodriguez tried to get involved, but Sheamus would have none of that. Sheamus ended the match with a brogue kick and the ref counted to 10. Grade: B
Chris Jericho and Christian vsb Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes: Let me preface this by saying I am a huge supporter of Ziggler. He came out wearing a Jericho shirt. The crowd loves to hate him and he eats every bit of it up. The match itself was terrible. Jericho got the mic and had the crowd chanting "grease ball" to Ziggler because of his hair. That made me realize how different this era is. Really? Grease Ball? Anyway, Jericho and Christian won the match with Jericho hitting his finisher on Ziggler. Jericho got on the mic and talked about how he is familiar with the area and asked if a certain nightclub is still around. I was disappointed in that match. It had so much potential but didn't deliver. Grade: C
CM Punk vs. Kane vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship: This is what the crowd came for, and it was by far the best match of the night. The crowd was split between Bryan and Punk. Bryan came out to a bunch of the arena chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!". CM Punk had the biggest pop of the night, and he knew it. Kane had no business being there. He chokeslammed Punk once, but that was about it for his offense. Punk and Bryan took turns kicking Kane in the chest and the crowd loved it. Punk did a Hulk Hogan tribute on Bryan at one point. He kicked him in the face and then did the leg drop. It was quite funny. The only time we recognized Kane was still in the match is when he broke up the submission that Bryan had on Punk in the center of the ring. Punk got control after that. Kane got hit with the elbow from the top rope and Bryan got hit with the GTS to end the match. Punk played to the crowd as the show was ending. Grade: A-
Why is CM Punk not playing off of what happened at Raw? He is acting like it never happened. Maybe it was too soon and they need it to play out on TV some more. I would have loved to have seen CM Punk as a heel, but he was still good and he delivered.
The other matches were not compelling. The crowd was not into characters like Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibase and Jinder Mahal. The fans used that time to shop and use the restroom.
Overall it was an OK show. I would grade it a B- at best.
Biggest Pops:
1. CM Punk
2. Daniel Bryan
3. Sheamus
4. Chris Jericho
Most Heat
1. Alberto Del Rio
2. Dolph Ziggler
3. Cody Rhodes
4. Kane
The biggest thing I took from the event -
Jeremy Hodge contributed to this article.