The
contrast between Raw and Smackdown has never been clearer than what
we've seen this week. While Raw's Money in the Bank Ladder match has
focused on former WWE champions, Smackdown's, in normal fashion, has
focused on younger stars such as Tyson Kidd, mid-carders such as
Christian, and people who are still looking for that break such as
Tensai.
Both
Ladder matches are very different, and in many ways, show what both
shows are all about. This week on Smackdown, we saw that focus on
younger mind-carders who need the attention, and the upper
mid-carders that are there to balance the roster out.
Daniel
Bryan and AJ
As
usual, Daniel Bryan was on top form last night, but not in terms of
actual wrestling. Bryan, the slimy, manipulative heel that he is,
took to the mic as he demanded AJ to be banned from the WWE title
match at Money in the Bank.
However,
after finding out that AJ would actually be the special guest referee
for the bout he quickly changed his approach to comforting the 'crazy
chick'.
It was
great to see Bryan transition from the dickhead heel to the guy that
pretends to really care for his ex girlfriend.
AJ
shouldn't take anything away from what should be a great WWE title
match, and should also finally cap off this whole storyline, so I'm
all for her putting on the black and white stripped top at Money in
the Bank.
Money in
the Bank Qualifiers
So,
while the participants of Raw's MITB Ladder match were just announced
this past Monday, over on Smackdown people had to earn their place in
the MITB Ladder match.
To start
things off, it was Damien Sandow who picked up the victory over Zack
Ryder. While I'm fine with Sandow being one of members in the MITB,
you've still got to feel that the man he beat deserves it more than
him.
Ryder
hasn't done a whole lot this year (and that's an understatement), but put
him in a high profile match such as the MITB and you're bound to see
him get a good reaction.
Next up
was Tyson Kidd who got a rather surprising victory over Jack Swagger
in a pretty decent match. It's good to see Tyson be one of the
selected few for the MITB Ladder match, even if he'll only be used
for a few high risk spots here and there.
What
followed was Christian and Santino Marella downing David Otunga and
Cody Rhodes in a tag team bout. With Cody Rhodes protesting about not
getting into the MITB without even being pinned, I think it's safe to
say that he'll find his way into the match eventually.
The MITB
Ladder match was looking very solid until Tensai got the win over
Justin Gabriel. I get that WWE likes to put a powerhouse in these
types of matches but why him? Tensai can just about work singles
matches so I definitely see him having trouble keeping up with the
rest of the competitors.
Who
knows, maybe he'll surprise me, but I'll remain by my opinion that
he'll fail to deliver in this match at Money in the Bank.
So,
those are the contestants for the MITB Ladder match so far, with the
rest being announced next week. So far it's definitely weaker than
last years, but you never know who'll get announced next week (well
ok, you probably do... Rhodes, Sin Cara and Barrett perhaps?)
Sheamus
vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio
With
Smackdown featuring small and quick matches for most of the night, it
was nice to see the Triple Threat match get enough time and a clean
ending.
This was
a pretty fun TV match with all three men looking good. With Dolph
Ziggler getting pinned, that could mean that he's out of the World
title picture, and with Del Rio not getting pinned it means that he
has a case for a one-on-one title match Sheamus.
Overall,
this was a fairly good episode of Smackdown. It had Daniel Bryan
magic, some decent enough qualifying matches and a solid main event.
Thumbs up from me.
Stray
Observations:
- "Daniel, I'm sure everyone out here is tired of you saying your stupid catchphrase... I said Excuse Me!” Genius.
- David Otunga doesn't deserve such a long and over-the-top entrance. At all.
- Apparently, to prevent concussions all you have to do is “man up.” According to Booker T anyway.
- Pointers when facing Ryback: Don't run at him. Don't try to escape by running back up the ramp. And for the love of God, don't jump on his back.
- Teddy Long will be in charge of Raw and Smackdown next week, and what is the first thing he does? He announces a tag team match.
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