The World Heavyweight Title bounced around a couple of times on Friday Night’s Smackdown. Vickie Guerrero stripped Edge of the belt and fired him, then turned around and handed the title to Dolph Ziggler. Naturally, since nobody stays fired in wrestling, General Manager Teddy Long resurfaced later in the night to set things right. He rehired Edge, who promptly defeated Dolph Ziggler to regain the World Heavyweight Title, a strap he’s worn eleven times now. Immediately following the match, Long fired Ziggler for good measure. Remember, though, nobody stays fired in wrestling.
In addition to the World Title match, Smackdown featured a 12-man tag team contest between all of the Elimination Chamber participants. The faces went over after a spot where everyone hit their finishing move, taking out a member of the opposing team, until just Edge and Ziggler were left. After a spear, Edge picked up the three count. This match was much better than I anticipated it to be. Usually, a tag match of this size is just a cluster of brawls, however this one was given the time to unfold nicely. Not crazy about the two commercial breaks that interrupted, but I can forgive it. The rest of Smackdown after the jump.
- Layla & Maryse picked up a win over Beth Phoenix & Eve. It took some distraction from Michelle McCool, but Layla was able to secure the pin for her team.
- Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston went head-to-head with WWE Champion the Miz, and the two title holders put on a solid show in the middle of the card. In the second consecutive match that ended as a result of a distraction, Miz stole a victory when Alberto Del Rio made his way to ringside and whipped his scarf at Kingston.
- The Tag Team Champions, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, gained a DQ victory over The Corre. Santino looked to have a clean win in the bag for his team after a Cobra strike, but Wade Barrett and Big Zeke prevented that when they entered the ring and launched a group beat down on the reigning champs. Big Show hit the ring for the save, and a confrontation between he and Jackson was teased, although the two did not come to blows.
Smackdown was a efficient, albeit not stellar, go-home show before the Elimination Chamber. It is kind of confusing why WWE would choose to give Dolph Ziggler a one-night stint as champion though. His name’s officially in the title’s lineage, and it didn’t really serve much of a purpose. It looks like they might be building towards a Big Show / Ezekial Jackson match at WrestleMania, although I have to wonder if they’ll be room for it on the crowded card. It’ll be interesting to see how things shape up over the next few weeks.
