SmackDown Results: Big Show’s battle against Orton turned into a Shield offensive and a giant response

BY Michael Burdick

March 01, 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.

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.

http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2013-03-01/results-26095442

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

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.

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