Sunday 23 September 2012

WWE Smackdown Review - 21 September, 2012


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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