I don't
think I've ever seen an episode of Smackdown with so much attention
on the current Tag Team champions. Opening segment, closing segment
and pretty much everything in between featured something from the tag
team of Kane and Daniel Bryan. If I wasn't such a big fan of D-Bry,
as well as his partnership with Kane I don't think I would have been
able to sit through 2 hours of that.
It was
the kind of character development that you would see spread out
across 4 weeks. But this week, it was all rolled into one show.
It was A
LOT of exposure on the Tag Team champions, and while the show
featured some other talent, in the end this was quite simply the
'Kane and Daniel Bryan Show'.
Layla
vs. Natalya
I might
as well get all of the other stuff first, starting with this match
between Layla and Natalya.
Although
this was a very short match, both women made the most of their time
and put on a decent match. There weren’t any faults to be seen, and
so not much else can be said about it.
For the
first time in what feels like years I'm actually interested in Divas
rivalry, and most of that is got to do with the current Divas
champion Eve. The power hungry Diva seems incapable of doing anything
wrong at the moment, and is carrying herself very well, both inside
and outside the ring.
Sheamus
and Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio
Sheamus
and Del Rio put on a solid match at Night of Champions, and Orton and
Ziggler put on a fantastic one. However, that doesn't mean they
should have thrown them all in yet another match against each other.
Is Del
Rio supposed to be getting a title shot at Hell in a Cell after that
match? Is Dolph Ziggler supposed to look strong after being pinned
once again? The match was fine, but everything else wasn't. In the
end, you'd have to wonder why they set up such a match in the first
place.
I think
the World title situation has finally hit a point where it's the
lowest it's been all year. The attention is faint, and the direction
is all over the place.
Antonio
Cesaro vs. Santino Marella
So, it
looks like they're making Antonio Cesaro a single man. I'm happy with
that, as I feel Aksana failed to give him any heat thanks to her
well, being a face an all. Also, I feel that Cesaro is perfectly
capable of carrying himself.
The
breakup seems extremely rushed however. Normally it would take a few
weeks of cost it defeats that would lead to Antonio dumping Aksana,
but instead they decided to just do it after one loss. Talk about a
fickle boyfriend.
The Kane
and Daniel Bryan Show
Now,
time for what this whole show was centred around, Kane and Daniel
Bryan. The start off the show, Edge returned to an irruptions
ovation, and while you'd feel they could have used him better than
put him in a comedy segment, he worked well with the Tag Team
champions.
All
three men showed off their mic abilities, with Daniel Bryan's short
temper, Kane's dry humour and Edge's wit mixing well together. In
many ways, it was a segment that set the tone for the rest of the
show.
The
singles encounters were fine, albeit a bit short. Daniel Bryan cost
Kane his match against Damien Sandow (who cut a good promo on the
three men that kicked off the show), and Kane later returned the
favour by costing Bryan his match against Cody Rhodes.
This
then set off a tag team main event for the evening, and proved to be
an enjoyable bout in the end. Having all the tag teams at ringside
was a bit strange considering it wasn't a lumberjack match, and you'd
have to wonder how the referee found it all perfectly acceptable.
But, it brought the tag team division some much needed exposure.
Of
course, having Bryan and Kane attack all of them with steel chairs
didn't make the division look that strong, but at least weapons were
used to create such chaos. This beatdown brought upon an
understanding between the tag team champions as they both saw each
other's joy in pummelling everyone in sight, and also played host to
one of the best moments of the night as Daniel Bryan gave Kane his
chair to use on Cody Rhodes. A strange but effective ending for Team
Friendship.
Overall,
this was a decent episode of Smackdown. The attention on Kane and
Daniel Bryan brought them a long way as a team, but unfortunately the
lack of attention on the World title scene has hurt it some more.
Stray
Observations:
- It's scenes like this that make me wonder why I watch wrestling sometimes.
- Seeing a Scotsman, an Indian (well, Canadian) and an American beat up a Funkasaurus also makes me wonder why I watch wrestling sometimes.
- Letting off loads of pyro, as well as changing the lighting to complete red should really be banned. It's actually unbelievably unprofessional.
- Surely Aksana knew what Cesaro was saying to her when he said “Finito.”
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