Thanks to Emilie Manchon for sending this in:
WWE Smackdown House Show Results (9/3): Paris, France
1. Over The Top Rope Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship Tony Chimel announced that the winner would face Randy Orton in the main event.
Participants: Daniel Bryan, Ezekiel Jackson, the Usos, Brodus Clay, Tyson Kidd, Jinder Mahal, The Great Khali, Heath Slater, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Yoshi Tatsu, Sheamus and Christian. Not much to say, a typical battle royal!
I tried to keep track of the eliminations as you have to have eyes everywhere in that kind of match but I think that the order (not that it really matters!) in which the guys were eliminated was: Slater, Rhodes, Jackson, Kidd, Tatsu, Clay, the Usos, Mahal, Khali. Sheamus tried to eliminate Barrett but eliminated himself in the process! The two kept fighting on their way out. Christian and Bryan were the last two Superstars in the ring and Christian eliminated Bryan.
Christian vs Orton for the title, nothing surprising here!
2. Natalya vs Alicia Fox
Natalya came out first to a huge pop! Looked like people didn't know that she's one half of the Divas of Doom now! And obviously, Fox got booed. Good back and forth between the two but I would say that it was an average Divas match. Natalya kept saying "you're pathetic" to Fox but people didn't seem to notice as they still cheered for the former. Natalya put Fox in the Sharpshooter (yeah!) but Fox managed to reverse it (no!) and with a roll up pinned Nattie for the victory.
3. Sin Cara vs Tyson Kidd
We could see guys at ringside placing the trampoline so no surprise here, Sin Cara was on his way! People started chanting "Sin Cara! Sin Cara!" as soon as his music hit! People booed Kidd but he didn't seem to mind! Before the match started, Sin Cara pointed to the crowd several times to get some cheers, but poor Kidd didn't get any love! I expected Sin Cara vs Bryan and Kidd vs Tatsu but we got a solid match from these two skilled and talented Superstars, a lot of great maneuvers, good interaction with the fans on Cara's part. This was a very fast paced match but you can't expect anything less with these two, can you? Sin Cara won and hung out with fans after the match for about 5 minutes, posing for pictures and signing autographs. I thought it was really cool.
4. Jinder Mahal (w/ Khali) vs Ted DiBiase
Before Ted arrived, Mahal spoke in Indian, so I have no idea what he said, then he spoke in English and said something about prestige and stuff. Yeah, whatever! Ted's music hit and he got cheered! That was quite surprising but since Mahal was the heel, that made sense. Another great match, but not as exciting as the previous one. With Khali at ringside, we could expect some sort of intervention on his part to help Mahal win. At some point, Mahal distracted the ref long enough to allow Khali to hit Ted and Mahal pinned him for the victory.
5. Wade Barrett vs Sheamus
I screamed like a little girl when Barrett's music hit as I LOVE him but I was a bit surprised as I thought that his match would be one of the last matches of the night and not the one before the intermission! Since Bryan didn't face Sin Cara, I expected Barrett vs Bryan but Sheamus's music hit and so we would get Barrett vs Sheamus! Yeah, even better! I screamed a bit more as he is another one of my favourite Superstars and loved it when they faced each other on SD a while ago. I crossed my fingers hoping that this match would be awesome and guess what? It was! Very great match with a good back and forth, lots of "let's go Sheamus" chants but some "let's go Barrett" chants too! They both hit a lot of their usual moves which got a good reaction from the crowd. Wade was getting ready to put Sheamus on his shoulders for the Wasteland but Sheamus escaped and won with a Brogue Kick.
6. Ezekiel Jackson vs Mark Henry
As soon as Big Zeke's music hit, I kinda knew that the match wouldn't be very interesting. And when Henry's music started, I definitely knew that it would not be interesting at all. However, it was not that boring, but it was definitely not exciting. We knew that Zeke would not perform the Torture Rack on Henry. Sure, he did it on Khali and Barrett defeated Henry with Wasteland a while ago on Raw but come on! A Torture Rack on Henry? No way! But a World's Strongest Slam on Zeke? Yes way! Henry won with the WSS.
7. Cody Rhodes (c) vs Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship
Cody Rhodes didn't want to talk our "dirty language" and brought Christophe Agius, a French commentator (who's our "Michael Cole" but to a lesser extent though!), to translate what he wanted to say. He said stuff about being great and that we should show him respect as he is the IC champ. He lifted the belt saying that it was the international sign of greatness or something like that and then showed a paperbag saying that it was the international sign of mediocrity. He then said that he didn't support Paris Saint Germain (Paris's soccer team) but Olympique de Marseille, the big rival (I don't really know what the equivalent in America could be). Cody got what he wanted: people booing him like crazy! Before Agius left the ring, Cody put the paperbag on his head and got another heated reaction! DB's music hit and I knew that it would be a great match. I also knew that there was no way the title would change hands but it didn't matter! Shortly after the beginning of the match, Cody jumped over the crowd barriers and a fan approached him giving him the finger! That was kinda funny! Cody got back into the ring and he and Bryan had great spots, Cody dominated the match though even if Bryan put him in the LeBell Lock! Cody managed to put his foot on the rope and hit Cross Rhodes to retain the title. After the match, Cody lifted the belt but Bryan attacked him (go Dragon!), kicking him in the chest while Cody was on his knees! He then grabbed the belt while Cody was writhing in pain!
8. Christian vs Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship
Christian got booed, Randy got cheered and the funny thing was that he blew a kiss to someone at ringside only to give them the finger because their sign read "Randy Orton future Divas Champion" (the other side of the sign read "Wrestling Observer Awards 2011: Most Overrated Randy Orton"!) Before the match started, Christian grabbed a mic and said that we would not see a RKO tonight but him lifting the belt, which got people chanting "RKO, RKO, RKO". We got our typical great and solid match between these two, both hit their signature moves, twice Randy tried to hit Christian with his DDT from the second rope but both times Christian managed to escape. But you know what they say, third time's a charm and down went Captain Charisma! Christian performed one hell of a Spinebuster which was very impressive. Lots of near falls, and at some point Christian managed to grab Randy for the Killswitch, we thought that was it but NO! Orton kicked out! Christian climbed on the top rope for a diving headbutt or something but Orton grabbed him in mid air and RKO! 1, 2, 3! Orton retained the title!
Biggest Heat:
Christian
Khali / Mahal
Barrett
Rhodes
Biggest Pops:
Sin Cara
Sheamus
Natalya
Ted DiBiase
Randy Orton
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
