Credit: Edward Kirby & ProWrestling.net
Pre-show notes: The Baton Rouge River Center is a small venue, but not small enough to keep from moving all kinds of people around to make the place look full. Everything from behind the WM26 sign around the hard camera side was tarped off on the top level.
There were problems with tickets and seating as a result. I was moved from the mid-level section on the left side of the entrance ramp where it forks around the ring to the floor level right next to the production/pyro area.
WWE Smackdown taping
There was a botch on the Titantron during the SD! intro sequence. Guess even the Tron team has an off moment.
1. Rey Mysterio beat CM Punk (w/ Luke Gallows and Serena) via pinfall. Huge pop for Rey. I couldn’t tell if Punk got initial heat, but damn Serena is hot. A lot of fun, continuous action throughout the match. Watch for referee Mike Chioda’s reaction Punk whiffing a slide on Rey in the Tree of Woe. Funny stuff. The crowd erupted when Rey reversed the GTS into a huracanrana. Pretty good post-match beatdown by the Straight Edge Society, and they got massive heat as they walked back up the ramp.
Batista’s explanation was advertised as "Next" but wasn’t until much later in the show. So we got Drew McIntyre instead. Pretty cool entrance music, as I thought it was just a hype vid. He drew plenty of heat in the ring, and cut a promo saying he was "Undefeated….unstoppable" and that he didn’t care who his opponent was. Enter Kane to a good pop.
2. Drew McIntyre fought Kane to a double countout. Drew tried to back out as the referee was insisting the match was on. The match eventually spilled to the outside for a double countout. They took it back to the ring, where Kane got in a chokeslam and did his pyro routine (which, surprisingly, much of the crowd mimicked).
During the Mickie James and LayCool segment, huge LOLs for the cottage cheese on Vickie Guerrero. Even Tony Chimel got a good laugh out of it. The crowd didn’t give a damn about Layla when she came out, but popped hard for James. Vickie came out still covered with cottage cheese (and dripping onto the stage) and announced the Handicap match.
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