As weeks continue to go by in WWE television programming, I become more and more certain of a couple of things.
- Zack Ryder deserves much more screen time than half these schmucks, and
- SmackDown is a superior show to RAW.
This Friday was no exception, as although Friday's show didn't have the volume of matches Monday's had, the quality of them (along with the storytelling) vastly outstripped RAW. Let's head to the recap.
- "Nah guys, really. It's 'kay...": Christian opens up SmackDown, essentially trying to cool the ire of the crowd for him losing the belt last Friday. Christian's natural charisma aided in what could have been an extremely awkward attempt at appeasement, and before too long we were into the show and setting up matches. Mark Henry interrupts Christian, followed by Sheamus, both wanting a piece of the former champion. Before they can beat up on him too bad, Randy Orton, in true "face" fashion, rescues him. The main event is then set up later as a tag match featuring the four of them.
- Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan: I genuinely look forward to Sin Cara's weekly appearance, but when I saw he would be taking on Daniel Bryan, I nearly flipped my shit. This match was great. Lots of exciting spots, great technical wrestling going on, it was just a lot of fun.
- Of course, if this was just going to be a "card filler", the quality of wrestling would easily push it up. However, this match actually furthered the Sin Cara/Chavo angle, as Chavo not only introduced Sin Cara, but commentated the match AND interfered; giving Sin Cara an opening to land his finisher. Sin Cara, despite wearing a match, sells his emotions both during and after the match extremely well, and you could tell he was more than a little hot at Chavo for giving him the win in this dishonest fashion. I can foresee a real Rudo vs. Technico rivalry building between these two, and it should be fun to watch.
- Kharma Strikes Again: Layla's next to come out, and attempts to work the crowd. Sadly, I don't think she was succeeding very well, and I actually relished Michael Cole's interruption. Cole rants a little about his own feud with Jerry Lawler, but before he can get too far, Kharma comes out. She does her usual schtick on Layla, but in a surprise move, she actually goes after Cole. While I would have loved to have seen Kharma actually destroy Cole, and I think it would have gone further in showing how much of a threat she is (this whole "Diva destruction" angle is getting somewhat tired). It's good to consistently see Kharma, and I'm glad that WWE had the wisdom to NOT put a pointless Diva match to bring her out. I just hope we see her get an official match some time soon.
- The Corrrrre Comes Together: Kane is scheduled to have a match with Wade Barrett. Though I question their continually splitting them up, I understand Kane and Big Show are big singles draws that can hold good matches separately. Case in point, this is a solid match. Both wrestlers are in their element here in what turns out to be a back and forth brawl. Despite it being one of the night's longer matches, the pace was so high that it didn't drag in the least.
- The match ends in disqualification when the Corre interfere and beat up Kane. Ezekiel Jackson attempts to take on his old team, but in a surprisingly competent move, the Corre overpowers Zeke and takes him out as well. Not only was the match solid, but these post-match shenanigans all served great purpose as well. The Corre is looking to be a genuine threat again (after several months of looking just plain stupid) and the Corre and Zeke feud is furthered with the odds being continually stacked against Zeke. I expect it to come to a head in time for Over the Limit, but it may drag into Summer Slam as well.
- Khali's Reality Check: The Great Khali comes out for a "Kiss Cam" segment. Honestly, this was the point I felt SmackDown was going to lose momentum, but even this seemingly stupid segment served a purpose. As Khali has pretty much become a joke under the management of Ranjin Singh, a new player (who, not knowing his name, I can only identify as Khali's potential new handler), has seemingly appeared to whip Khali back into shape. I can foresee this leading to Khali becoming a "monster" heel again. Although I'm not a Khali fan in the slightest, I certainly would appreciate having him taken more seriously. We'll see where this goes.
- Only Smoke and Mirrors...: Cody Rhodes comes out to face his former partner, Ted DiBiase. As you might expect, Cody gives another silly/crazy rant. The match itself is somewhat forgettable, but it wasn't bad. Predictably, Rhodes takes it, but I can see this building him up to be more relevant in some kind of title picture. Also, Cody's gimmick, though silly, is lots of fun. It's good to see him getting a lot of appearances on LIVE shows.
- The Main event: Lastly, we have our main event. As most main events seem to be, we get a bit of a slower paced match, with the strongest segments being those that involved Christian vs. Sheamus. However, the pace eventually quickened halfway through the match, resulting in a very fun contest overall. The contrasting styles of all the dudes involved certainly helped with this. The finish was great, and ended the show on the highest of notes, leaving Orton staring down Christian and building up their rivalry for their match at Over the Limit.
SmackDown knows how a wrestling show is run. Build up a good main event? Check. Use your talented wrestlers to handle the mid card while building up intriguing plot lines? Check and Check. Use even dumb segments to build up towards future payoff? Triple check. When all that comes together, you get a 5 star show. That's what SmackDown was this Friday, and I for one can't wait for next week.
Monday is RAW, and with it will come my recap.
For last week's installment, click the link HERE.
For the first two installments of the Wrestling Showcase, my spotlight on Youtube's wrestling goodness, click the links HERE and HERE.
Until next time, stay sexy, peeps...
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