Smackdown 12-30-11

Last show of the year!

Matches:

1. Jinder Majal v. Ted Dibiase - 2 out of 5
2. Kaitlyn & Alicia Fox v. Natalya & Tamina - 2 out of 5
3. Hunico v. Justin Gabriel - 3 out of 5
4. Big Show v. David Otunga - 2 out of 5
5. Ezekiel Jackson v. Drew McIntyre - 4 out of 5
6. Sheamus v. Heath Slater - 3 out of 5
7. Wade Barrett v. Randy Orton - 4 out of 5


Barrett and Orton's huge battle was the story of the night, of course, ending in a No Contest when Randy ended up at the bottom of a flight of stairs. WWE had already been reporting that Orton was injured immediately after the show was taped, breaking the illusion of a "live" show, so we were already interested to see how it happened and if this might be, as the marks on our favorite wrestling forum immediately cried, a work.

So the match worked its way backstage, onto an elevator, and into a stairwell, with cameras struggling to keep up with their progress. The camera that caught the last few moments of the match conveniently paused at the door, choosing instead to catch glimpses of the fight through the narrow window on the door. It didn't breach the door until after Randy's fall, so we didn't actually see anything. Now, while it's entirely possible that Randy tripped and botched an already planned work, the result is that it feels like the workiest work that ever worked.

As you can see from the match list, not much else happened this week. Teddy Long did set a title match between Daniel Bryan and The Big Show for next week. One can only wonder how Bryan will get out of that alive, but I expect one of them ought to commit to their heel turn before the night is out.