Social Media SmackDown: March, 1, 2013

Alberto Del Rio def. Damien Sandow and initiated a huge Twitter poll

OKLAHOMA CITY — On an historic night that saw SmackDown become the center of the social media universe, all hell broke loose in a main event showdown between The Viper and The World’s Largest Athlete.   

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WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler joined the SmackDown announce team as the blue brand celebrated the first-ever Social Media SmackDown!

Prior to the night’s opening match, Damien Sandow made it clear to the WWE Universe that — unlike “others” — he felt World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio fit in with the rest of America, insulting the champion’s “poor grammar,” “lackluster word choice,” “abhorrent” sentence structure and his friend Ricardo Rodriguez. An amused Del Rio responded by addressing the irony of Sandow speaking about the “unwashed masses,” since he felt his opponent needed to wash his mouth out because it smelled like “caca.”   

With Del Rio’s WrestleMania No. 1 contender Jack Swagger and his cohort Zeb Colter watching from the back, an extremely fierce match ensued between the reigning titleholder and The Intellectual Savior of the Masses. And in the end — despite an almost maniacal aggression by his opponent — Del Rio countered Terminus to make Sandow tap out to the Cross Armbreaker.

Moments later in a WWE Active exclusive, the World Heavyweight Champion showed what a gutsy leader he was, celebrating Social Media SmackDown with the bold suggestion that the WWE Universe should choose his opponent for the following Friday’s show. The poll would take place via Twitter, with the fans being able to choose between Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett and Antonio Cesaro.

United States Champion Antonio Cesaro def. The Miz in a 2-out-of-3 Falls U.S. Title Match

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In a WWE Active exclusive prior to his U.S. Title Match, Antonio Cesaro revealed that he would no longer wave the American flag en route to his matches.

Without the stars and stripes in hand, the Swiss Superstar emerged to take on The Miz — a challenger who was now apparently fully recovered from a painful AC joint injury he suffered at the hands of the freakishly strong titleholder. Miz earned the 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the U.S. Title after defeating the champion in a non-title No Disqualification Match on the Feb. 18 edition of Raw.

In the contest that followed, Cesaro — a true throwback to the classic rough-and-tough competitors of old — captured the first fall with the Neutralizer. Then, in a truly epic Social Media SmackDown moment, The Miz won the second fall by making Cesaro tap out to the Figure-Four Leglock during a TV commercial break on WWE Active on the WWE app! ( GET THE APP)

All tied up at one fall each, a showdown for the third fall commenced, with both competitors giving everything they had. But when Miz was kicked into the referee by his adversary, Cesaro took advantage of his foe’s back being turned and rolled him up for the pin attempt. Although Miz countered for a pin of his own, Cesaro reversed it yet again and picked up the three-count with the help of a hand full of tights.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross interviewed Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter

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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross returned to SmackDown, looking to get to the heart of the controversy involving Jack Swagger — who Good Ol’ J.R. first brought to WWE many years before — and Zeb Colter.

The pair granted J.R. the exclusive interview, feeling he was a “real American” and that, as a result, they would be treated better than they felt they had been on Monday’s edition of “Miz TV.”

When J.R. inquired about what happened to Swagger during his three-month absence from WWE, Colter answered for his compatriot, saying he opened Jack’s eyes to the truth about what was really going on in this country. Colter went on to say that WWE was a microcosm of that problem — how when Swagger went on a losing streak, it opened the door for Alberto Del Rio to “sneak in” and take his position. He claimed WrestleMania was not only about the World Title Match, but it was also a battle for the heart and soul of the country.

When J.R. accused Colter of brainwashing Swagger, the “Real American” knocked J.R.’s hat off, accusing the announcer of being a “sympathizer.”

As things were going from bad to worse, Alberto Del Rio emerged. Placing J.R.’s hat back on his head, Del Rio claimed Swagger was not a “Real American," but instead a “jackass.” Although it looked like things were about to turn physical, Swagger and Colter elected to leave the ring, saving their fight for The Show of Shows.

The Prime Time Players def. WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No in a Non-Title Match

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On Raw, WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No triumphed over The Prime Time Players, despite the special circumstances of their specialty match in which Daniel Bryan was forced to wear a hood over his head and Kane had one arm tied behind his back. 

Before their rematch on SmackDown, Bryan talked to General Manager Booker T, making it so his Big Red partner would have to wear the hood, while he had his arm tied behind his back. Kane’s response was that it was actually a good thing for two reasons: When he beat their opponents again, it would prove he was better than his fellow Tag Team Champion and, with the hood on, he wouldn’t have to see Bryan’s goat face.

A surprise came moments before the match, though, when Bryan put the hood on The Big Red Monster, revealing a goat face painted on it.

In the match that followed — moments after Bryan tagged himself in — a blinded Kane grabbed both the referee and his partner, trying to determine if either one was his opponent. While he soon figured it out and let both go, Bryan elected to push him when he turned around. This prompted Kane to shove Bryan to the canvas, setting up Titus O’Neil to pick up the quick pinfall.

After the match, Kane discovered the goat face on his hood and proceeded to place it on a hug-seeking Bryan before sending him back to the canvas for a second time. 

Chris Jericho joined Social Media SmackDown via Skype

Chris Jericho joined the first-ever Social Media SmackDown via a Skype, live from Australia where his band, Fozzy, is touring.

Fandango informed Matt Striker he was not ready to compete

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For weeks, vignettes have been airing, heralding the emergence of Fandango. Prior to his scheduled SmackDown debut, however, the new Superstar was interviewed by Matt Striker. After the announcer had trouble pronouncing Fandango’s name, he informed Striker and the WWE Universe that would not compete in his first match.

The WWE Universe picked Dolph Ziggler to face Alberto Del Rio next week

Moments before the SmackDown main event began, the results of the special Social Media SmackDown poll were revealed. World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio will go one-on-one with The Showoff, Dolph Ziggler, next week on SmackDown!

Randy Orton def. Big Show by Disqualification

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On Raw, Randy Orton and Sheamus set up The Shield, allowing The Viper to hit the RKO on an unsuspecting Seth Rollins. As a result, The Celtic Warrior promised to get The Viper’s back if the trio sought retribution during his match against Big Show. Typically a loner, Orton chose to thank the first Irish-born World Heavyweight Champion for his offer.

And it’s a good thing he did. For in the grueling final moments of the match — moments after Orton hit The World’s Largest Athlete with an incredible hanging DDT using the top rope — Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Rollins attacked. This caused the match to end, not with a RKO, but with a disqualification victory for The Viper.

The Shield’s offensive came to a screeching halt as quick as it began, though. In the heat of the 3-on-2 melee, Reigns was suddenly shoved into a waking Big Show. The irate giant preceded to KO Punch him out of the ring, causing his shocked associates to retreat. But when Big Show followed up his attack by hitting Orton with a chokeslam, Sheamus blasted the giant with a Brogue Kick.