Welcome to the 2nd edition of SmackDown: Under Review! With the Night of Champions PPV tomorrow there has been a decent build to it for the Blue Brand. So let’s stop with small talk and get this review underway!
So they start the show with another cheap pop for the retired Edge. I love how the WWE always brings back there retired wrestlers and love it more when they get the biggest pops of the night. Its great and all to have your old guys come back for a night for the cheap nostalgia pop but I’ve seen, what I feel, is too much of Edge lately. The fact he is booked with WWE down the road too is a sure sign they are in a big transition period and need these kinds of deals to get over the hump. Cody Rhodes makes his entrance and runs down Edge, which is great. Cody seems on fire and his win over Orton, even if dirty, is a sign they may be setting up to give him the ball for a bit.
Daniel Bryan vs. Sin Cara is the first match of the night. Did I mention Sin Cara’s lighting gimmick is the silliest thing I ever seen?? If not, it is the dumbest gimmick ever and I wish they would just go back to regular lights and not the blue and gold glow he has now. Good match overall, Sin Cara can be exciting with his big aerial moves and Bryan was not named Wrestling Observer’s “Wrestler of the Decade 2000-2010” because he is a hack. The DQ finish was a rip but it is building to something bigger and doesn’t make either look weak. The double Sin Cara confrontation finally happened which is good, Mistico puts too many asses in seats for WWE to let him head back to Mexico where he is a megastar. I think this could be a hot short-term feud to get the “real” Sin Cara over a bit.
My man Teddy Long and Zach Ryder on my TV makes me happy. Ryder as assistant to Long is great, they seem to have a bit of chemistry and keeps Long out of trouble of getting beat up. “WOO WOO WOO playa, don’t mess this up” was the best line of the night when he told Ryder to relay his no contact rule, and then we get Aksana. Let me tell you how much I DON’T like this, the slut gimmick is old and been played out within the WWE. She doesn’t seem to have much going for her and I see her being swept out sooner rather than later. Trish Stratus makes the save; of course she is going to show up in Toronto.
Video package for Sheamus after the commercial was real good. The one thing the WWE does right every time is their video packages. Trish is now backstage with Edge, no surprise. Ryder running in and telling edge to tell both Henry and Orton about the no contact rule actually worked. They make both Orton and Henry seem like scary dangerous guys who will hurt you for just annoying them.
Tag team action now as Wade Barrett and Christian against Justin Gabriel and Sheamus. Sheamus’ speech before match was ok, I get the whole Irish heritage thing but it almost feels like he is trying too hard to get over as a face. The match though was pretty good, how the mighty have fallen though in Barrett’s case. HE used to be a star on RAW headlining PPVs and RAW episodes, now he is losing tag matches on SmackDown. Then again the whole original Nexus has seemed to have stagnated. Christian has also been taking a lot of losses lately but he is playing the squirrelly, coward heel, so it suits him well to lose. This may be a set-up for a Christian vs. Sheamus feud, which sounds awesome to me.
Khali vs. Slater is next up for the night, and may I ask why? The one good thing about this match is they are defiantly splitting Mahal and Khali up, which needed to happen. This angle is tasteless and pathetic in my opinion and has no place on TV when this kind of thing really does happen in the world.
Speaking of Awesome though, Evan Bourne comes out with Kofi for a match against R-Truth who is joined by the Miz. Truth and Miz have me now, the rap was hilarious and Miz looks like he is having a blast making a fool out of himself. Rules #1 in my world is enjoy what you do or don’t do it and it’s good to see some guys can go outside their character and have a sense of humor in the ring. The match was not bad, although it was short and I kind of want to see Truth and Miz win the title; Miz is an amazing tag partner and you can’t go wrong putting anyone with The Miz.
Cutting Edge is on now to end out the show with Mark Henry and randy Orton. Edge goes right for the jugular with both men, asking Orton how he thinks he can beat Henry and telling Henry that his time in the WWE has been a joke. Both Orton and Henry sounded great, both admitting the man in front of them does have a chance to beat them but they are the more dominant wrestler. Henry getting candid with his tenure in the WWE was actually good for him, shows that he isn’t just slaughtering people to slaughter, but he’s sick of missing boat constantly. The stare down with Edge commentating as he moved the chairs and left the ring was a classic Edge move and really set the mood. Teddy Long sending down the SmackDown’s J.O.B. Squad was a waste, but made both Henry and Orton look strong and made for a good build for NoCs.
All in all another productive show, everything had a point and they even set up for some new feuds for after this Sunday. I am giving the 9/16 SmackDown a 7/10. There was a bit of cheap nostalgia, good video packages, decent matches, building feuds for the future, and Teddy Long saying “WOO WOO WOO.” This was a good ‘go home” show and I am excited to see night of champions!
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