The November 25, 2011 episode of SmackDown opened with Mark Henry limping to the ring on a crutch with his leg in a cast. He berated the audience for being happy about his injury at the hands of The Big Show at Survivor Series. They responded with a chant of "You suck!".
He said he wanted to compete but wasn't medically cleared. Show interrupted and brought up the low blow that got Henry disqualified. He told Henry the ankle injury was payback for what Henry did to him four months ago. Henry called Show "the world's largest loser" and Show punched him in the face.
To everyone's surprise, Daniel Bryan ran out with his Money in the Bank briefcase and a referee. Breaking his promise to cash in his contract at WrestleMania, he pinned Henry and became the World Heavyweight Champion. He stood triumphant atop the announce table as Michael Cole called him a hypocrite.
General manager Theodore Long ran to the ring and said there was no official match because Henry hadn't been cleared to compete. Bryan reluctantly handed over the belt and Long gave him the briefcase. He said Bryan could win another title opportunity if he won the Fatal 4-Way main event later in the night.
Justin Gabriel vs. Hunico
The night's first match found the highly talented but underutilized Justin Gabriel facing Hunico. While Gabriel gained a momentary advantage with a hip toss, Hunico battered him with punches, knocked him off the apron, and landed a powerful back suplex and a backbreaker.
Gabriel fought out of a chinlock but Hunico took him down with a lateral press. He went back to the chinlock and hurled Gabriel into the turnbuckle. Hunico followed that attack with a leaping kick off the top rope.
Gabriel hit Hunico with a hurricanrana and a suicide dive. Back in the ring, he kicked Hunico's back and Hunico fell in what felt like slow motion. Hunico kicked out of Gabriel's frog splash and they fought on the top rope. The advantage went to Hunico, and he did a flying leap of his own and pinned Gabriel for the victory.
Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. AJ & Kaitlyn
Alicia Fox joined the commentary team for the Divas tag team match. Kaitlyn started off against Natalya, successfully evading her attacks and throwing her partner AJ into her opponent. AJ followed by throwing Natalya into the ropes and going for a rollup. Natalya kicked out and put AJ in the Sharpshooter, forcing her to tap.
Kaitlyn abandoned her partner as Natalya inflicted more torture after the match. Beth Phoenix stood over her with a mic and demanded that AJ cry. Fox left the commentary table to come to her defense. Considering Fox was wearing a long green dress and heels, it was unlikely she could have done much to help. Ignoring the fact that they could have crushed Fox with their pinkie fingers, Phoenix and Natalya left the ring.
Another terrible backstage encounter between Long and Aksana was broken up by an enraged Henry. He asked why he would have to defend the World Heavyweight Championship next week when he was injured. Long said the doctors told him Henry was "ready to go". Henry accused Long of picking on him. When Long said the match would take place in a steel cage, Henry became angrier and said "You're going to get yours" before walking away.
Sheamus & Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger, Part 1
Sheamus found Zack Ryder playing WWE 12 on the Xbox 360. He wasn't amused by Ryder's suggestion that they become "broskis" and go clubbing to a version of his theme song with revised lyrics about dancing naked. He suggested they focus on beating Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.
Vickie Guerrero asked the audience to show respect for Ziggler's two victories at Survivor Series (conveniently ignoring the fact that he was the first man eliminated from the 5-on-5 match). Ziggler took the mic and once again insisted he wasn't showing off, but was just that great.
The match itself began with Ziggler facing Sheamus. He danced around a bit and Sheamus lost patience, driving him into the ropes. He put Ziggler in a headlock, but Ziggler impressively dodged a series of runs off the ropes and dropkicked Sheamus.
Sheamus grabbed Ziggler and tossed him to the mat. Ziggler started jumping over Sheamus' attacks again but missed and landed on his back. Sheamus picked him up and threw him down. Swagger finally tagged in and Sheamus ended their grappling with elbows and headbutts.
Sheamus got Swagger on the ropes and struck his chest repeatedly. He then tossed both men out of the ring, and Ryder leapt over the top rope and onto them. The first hour ended with the show going to a commercial break.
Paul Brown - Paul Ferrell Brown graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1994 with a B.A. in English literature, and completed his M.A. in ...
Join the Conversation