Back off
the heels of the 1000th episode of Raw, it was back to
business over on Smackdown.
The
episode was what you'd expect from the blue brand – squash matches,
focus on younger talent and just better matches all round. The last
bit was particularly good to see as Raw didn't exactly deliver on
that front this week.
The
Smackdown poster may lack some depth, but with so much attention on
Raw, it's not exactly a bad thing to see Smackdown deliver shows like
this. The type of shows where you don't need to tune in every week,
but if you do, you're bound to be entertained by some pretty good
action.
Intercontinental
Championship
The Miz
vs. Christian
I think
it's fair to say that the Intercontinental title will never reach the
heights of prestige that it had many years ago.
They
tried to do it with Cody Rhodes, but his long reign was lacklustre
throughout. And since then we've seen the title switched around too
many times for it to be considered a prestigious title.
Still
though, I can't say I care that much, because as long as we get
solid, hard fought matches like we did here between Miz and
Christian, then I'll gladly accept the IC title as nothing more than
what it is – a mid-carders title.
This was
a really fun way to open up the show, as Christian and The Miz put on
a solid bout. The commentators excitement for this match added that
much more to it as well, as they constantly put over both opponents
and what it means to be the IC champion.
As I
said, if we get matches like this, then I'll be content with how the
title is being used.
Jinder
Mahal vs. Ryback
So, last
week it was Jack Swagger showing his toughness against The Ryback,
and this week it was Jinder Mahal getting in his fair share of
offence against him.
I
actually quite liked this match, mostly because of Mahal's aggression
and the way Ryback actually took a little bit of a beating. Will it
lead anywhere though? I don't really know, in a matter of just a few
days we could be back with Ryback squashing people in one minute.
Lets hope that's not the case though.
Sheamus
vs. Cody Rhodes
OK, I
think we've established that Sheamus is a fighting champion who'll
beat anyone that comes in his way. I get that. But, doesn't everyone
get that by now? I really don't see why Cody Rhodes had to suffer
another clean loss for no real reason.
The
introduction of Ziggler in this match (which was fine in many ways)
also took all the attention away from Rhodes, and in the end just
made him look like any other mid-carder who was eventually going to
lose.
The
match was fine, but a total miss for me because of how it was all
booked.
Santino
Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro
The guy
may not be in any real storyline, but this thing with Santino is a
start at least. It'll be interesting to see if they give Cesaro the
title, despite only being here a couple of months, and having yet to
get any real heat as a heel. But, if it happens then I'll be happy
for him. The hugely talented Antonio deserves a good career here in
the WWE, so let's hope a US title win would be a step in the right
direction.
Daniel
Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
I'll
just say it now – this was a great main event. It was fast,
furious, and had fantastic action all round. Everything just came off
very smoothly here, and the constant scrambling for that vital pin
fall made this a very enjoyable watch.
The
finish may indicate that Rey Mysterio may still get into the World
title match at SummerSlam, especially with him feuding with the no. 1
contender Del Rio. The only thing that doesn't indicate that however
is the fact that the match would have two faces and one heel,
something you don't normally see in Triple Threat matches.
It may
end up that way, or maybe we'll see another person put into the mix.
Either way, I just don't see it being another one-on-one contest
between Sheamus and Del Rio here.
Overall,
this was a very good episode of Smackdown. It had a very nice pace to
it and we were also greeted with two stellar matches as well.
Smackdown
may not have the hype or attention that Raw has, but hey, at least
they deliver the goods wrestling-wise, right
Stray
Observations:
- The banter between Michael Cole and Booker T was great this week. They make such a good commentary team on Smackdown... as well as Josh Matthews of course.
- I should really try and find the statistics for the amount of times a new champion has been crowned on a weekly show from someone using their rematch clause. I highly doubt the success rate is that high.
- “How to last longer than 18 seconds”. Ha, I see what he did there.
- Damien Sandow must really hate Yoshi Tatsu. Like, REALLY hate him.
- Who booked this week's show if there's no GM?
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