WWE have a knack for leaving big matches out in the dark leading up to WrestleMania. Last year it was Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio, a feud which consisted of very little build up and heat. The year before that it was Edge again, this time against Chris Jericho.
Out of those WrestleMania's we saw bigger build ups for other matches, even though the two World Title matches listed above were just as big as any other match on the card.
This seems to be the case this year again with Sheamus and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. We hear Sheamus talk about how he's going to wrestle in front of 80,000 in the biggest match of his career, on the biggest stage of them all, but so far, we haven't see any real build up. Bar a few run ins, both seem to be on different sides of the building. They talk a bit in the ring and backstage, but overall they've had no real confrontation.
I just hope that this little thing between Sheamus and Bryan (it isn't even a feud) picks up, because believe it or not, the Royal Rumble winner facing off against the World Champion should be a big deal.
This World Title situation kind of summed up Smackdown this week, deplete and drab.
It wasn't necessarily a bad episode this week. We saw some good action inside the ring, but overall, Smackdown seems to be lost in the shuffle of not pushing any real feuds, yet knowing how close they are to WrestleMania.
It was a good start to the show, with Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler putting on arguably the best match of the night. Both men looked good throughout, and was booked well in the sense that Sheamus got the important victory, yet Ziggler wasn't devalued and downed in just a couple of minutes.
The storyline that seems to be getting the most attention seems to be between Theodore Long and John Laurinaitis. The storyline has been fine so far (even though I don't like Long at all), but I just wish that there wasn't so much attention on it, especially when you see the World Title seen get so little attention.
Natalya seems to be comfortable with her farts now. That's better... I guess.
I like the idea of showing Big Show's woes at WrestleMania, its not the most compelling storyline going on at the moment but at least one match from the undercard is getting a buildup for Mania. I really liked the way Cody was shocked to find out that he would be facing Show at WrestleMania. I mean seriously, if you pick on someone with WrestleMania just a couple of weeks away you're obviously going to be put in a match with him!
Its a real shame to see Mark Henry in this type of situation now. For the first time in many years Mark Henry was been interesting again, when he was World Champion he actually looked like a massive threat and someone that no one could stop. But now? Now, he's losing to the likes of Sheamus and Big Show, which in many ways isn't that bad considering their statuses, but very bad in the manner in which he is losing to them.
His match with Show was OK this week, although to see Show kick out of the World's Strongest Slam just doesn't do Henry any favours. It also doesn't help to see Henry lose so easily. Will Henry ever get back on track the way he did late last year? I doubt it.
Another real shame is the way Drew McIntyre is being used. Even though he is fired I still expect him to return soon (possibly with Laurinaitis re-instating him when he's on Smackdown next week). And even though he's in such a rut I still expect him to get a minor push in the future. In saying all that though, Drew deserves better than being in such a generic storyline.
This weeks main event was a good bout. Both Bryan and Orton work well together, and this week was no exception. Seeing Bryan win in such a manner yet again isn't the best to say the least, although at least he still has momentum going into WrestleMania. And at this stage, I suppose thats all that matters.
It looks like Kane vs. Orton will happen at WrestleMania, and just like the Cena/Kane feud, I doubt Kane will have a reasonable explanation as well as to why he's set his sights on The Viper. For someone who was one of the best wrestlers in 2011, I think Orton deserves a better slot at WrestleMania than to face Kane.
Filler matches for wrestlers like this are always inevitable at WrestleMania, I just wish that they'd explain why these feuds are happening in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment