Spoilers follow for the April 11th episode of Smackdown.
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With every Smackdown that goes by, I find myself wanting to return back to the days in which both main weekly shows were worth watching. Smackdown has become the weaker of the two shows, and it isn't ever more apparent than the April 11th edition. The Raw from earlier in the week was consistently entertaining, while Smackdown wound up being kind of anticlimactic, especially following a surprising WrestleMania and a very enjoyable Raw.
It started right from the beginning, where John Cena came out to cut a promo about how great the previous two shows were. It's true. They were pretty awesome. This sets up expectations that this show will be of a similar caliber -- expectations it could not live up to. Bray Wyatt and his family wind up interrupting via the Titantron and say the only things worth hearing for the entirety of the show. It was at this point, revisiting the "Unleash the Monster" storyline in my head, that I found myself wanting Bray Wyatt vs. Kane as a way to bring back the Kane of old. Missed opportunity, I suppose.
Cesaro (with Paul Heyman) vs. Big Show
Big Show and Cesaro shake hands to begin and then work a rather pedestrian match for a few minutes. Cesaro uses lots of sleeper holds, Big Show clotheslines his opponent, and if it wasn't for Paul Heyman on commentary, I might've fallen asleep. At one point, Jack Swagger interferes. The bout ends via DQ. Big Show throws Swagger over the top rope, but Cesaro keeps on beating on Big Show, even though the match was over. That's a heel tactic. The Neutralizer is hit on the 425-pound man, though, which was pretty cool to see.
RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Los Matadores (Fernando and Diego, with El Torito)
Two completely irrelevant stables working a completely forgettable match. Ryback and one of the Matadores work for the majority, with Ryback dominating, because who wants excitement? Eventually RybAxel wins. The two tag teams lowest on the totem pole get to work here. Oh, wait, 3MB might be lower.
Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow
This is a rematch from Raw, although nobody ever says why it needed to happen. This is more the type of match that the two men should have had on Monday. It was less of a squash match, which is almost always a good thing, and Sandow actually got in a fair bit of offense. RVD didn't do his "R. V. D." taunt more than a couple of times -- he did it something like seven times on Raw, which was annoying -- and the two worked well together. If Sandow hadn't been so buried in the last few months, a feud between them could have been good. RVD wins, because he's not going to lose to Sandow unless WWE wants to start pushing him, which they quite clearly don't want to do.
A Hulk Hogan promo is next, which means that it's time to take a bathroom break. He introduces Daniel Bryan, brother, who then comes out to the ring, brother. Bryan then ... puts over Hulk Hogan. For the rest of the promo. What? Seriously. Hogan was going to say how great Bryan was but Bryan stops him and the rest of the time is spent praising Hogan and then wandering around the ring doing Hogan's various taunts, all set to "Real American." Hogan doesn't need to be put over -- neither does Bryan, actually -- and this winds up being a completely wasted segment.
Bad News Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston
It appears as though Bad News Barrett is getting something of a push. It's about time. He gets a more squashy match than he did on Raw, essentially working over Kingston for a couple of minutes before finishing him with the Bullhammer. Not a great match, but Barrett looks in good form and he could be a contender for one of the two lesser titles. Barrett/Big E feud? It could happen.
Fandango (with Layla) vs. Santino Marella (with Emma)
The "big news" over the week in-kayfabe was that Fandango broke up with Summer Rae -- over text message, no less. It appears that his new partner, at least for now, is the former Extreme Exposé member (the announcing team neglect to mention that during the broadcast), Layla. Fandango beats up Santino for a minute, Santino brings out his sock, Layla steals it, and Fandango rolls up Santino for the win. This is a filler match, one which, like most of the show's card, was very dull.
Daniel Bryan and The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. Batista, Randy Orton, and Kane
Batista, Orton, and Kane beat up The Usos for a few minutes, all while keeping Daniel Bryan out of the match. When Bryan finally gets in, he hits a few signatures before everyone winds up on the outside and a double countout ends the match. The villains beat up the good guys for a minute before The Shield comes out to save Bryan. Kane didn't clear off the entirety of the announcer table from all the monitors, so it was obvious that Bryan wouldn't be slammed through it. Orton and Batista wind up running away from The Shield to end the show.
After the momentum generated by WrestleMania and Raw, it's a shame that Smackdown brings it all to a grinding halt. There was only one good match on the card, there was only half of a good promo, and the rest felt like filler. It's clear that WWE doesn't value Smackdown. Why should fans continue to tune in?
The Good: Bray Wyatt's half-of-a-promo. RVD vs. Damien Sandow. Paul Heyman on commentary.
The Bad: Every match but RVD/Sandow or Barrett/Kingston. The Hogan/Bryan promo. Cesaro doing heel stuff despite being pushed as a rising babyface.
Match of the Night: Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow. No, seriously.
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http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/09/70/40/smackd10.png
With every Smackdown that goes by, I find myself wanting to return back to the days in which both main weekly shows were worth watching. Smackdown has become the weaker of the two shows, and it isn't ever more apparent than the April 11th edition. The Raw from earlier in the week was consistently entertaining, while Smackdown wound up being kind of anticlimactic, especially following a surprising WrestleMania and a very enjoyable Raw.
It started right from the beginning, where John Cena came out to cut a promo about how great the previous two shows were. It's true. They were pretty awesome. This sets up expectations that this show will be of a similar caliber -- expectations it could not live up to. Bray Wyatt and his family wind up interrupting via the Titantron and say the only things worth hearing for the entirety of the show. It was at this point, revisiting the "Unleash the Monster" storyline in my head, that I found myself wanting Bray Wyatt vs. Kane as a way to bring back the Kane of old. Missed opportunity, I suppose.
Cesaro (with Paul Heyman) vs. Big Show
Big Show and Cesaro shake hands to begin and then work a rather pedestrian match for a few minutes. Cesaro uses lots of sleeper holds, Big Show clotheslines his opponent, and if it wasn't for Paul Heyman on commentary, I might've fallen asleep. At one point, Jack Swagger interferes. The bout ends via DQ. Big Show throws Swagger over the top rope, but Cesaro keeps on beating on Big Show, even though the match was over. That's a heel tactic. The Neutralizer is hit on the 425-pound man, though, which was pretty cool to see.
RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Los Matadores (Fernando and Diego, with El Torito)
Two completely irrelevant stables working a completely forgettable match. Ryback and one of the Matadores work for the majority, with Ryback dominating, because who wants excitement? Eventually RybAxel wins. The two tag teams lowest on the totem pole get to work here. Oh, wait, 3MB might be lower.
Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow
This is a rematch from Raw, although nobody ever says why it needed to happen. This is more the type of match that the two men should have had on Monday. It was less of a squash match, which is almost always a good thing, and Sandow actually got in a fair bit of offense. RVD didn't do his "R. V. D." taunt more than a couple of times -- he did it something like seven times on Raw, which was annoying -- and the two worked well together. If Sandow hadn't been so buried in the last few months, a feud between them could have been good. RVD wins, because he's not going to lose to Sandow unless WWE wants to start pushing him, which they quite clearly don't want to do.
A Hulk Hogan promo is next, which means that it's time to take a bathroom break. He introduces Daniel Bryan, brother, who then comes out to the ring, brother. Bryan then ... puts over Hulk Hogan. For the rest of the promo. What? Seriously. Hogan was going to say how great Bryan was but Bryan stops him and the rest of the time is spent praising Hogan and then wandering around the ring doing Hogan's various taunts, all set to "Real American." Hogan doesn't need to be put over -- neither does Bryan, actually -- and this winds up being a completely wasted segment.
Bad News Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston
It appears as though Bad News Barrett is getting something of a push. It's about time. He gets a more squashy match than he did on Raw, essentially working over Kingston for a couple of minutes before finishing him with the Bullhammer. Not a great match, but Barrett looks in good form and he could be a contender for one of the two lesser titles. Barrett/Big E feud? It could happen.
Fandango (with Layla) vs. Santino Marella (with Emma)
The "big news" over the week in-kayfabe was that Fandango broke up with Summer Rae -- over text message, no less. It appears that his new partner, at least for now, is the former Extreme Exposé member (the announcing team neglect to mention that during the broadcast), Layla. Fandango beats up Santino for a minute, Santino brings out his sock, Layla steals it, and Fandango rolls up Santino for the win. This is a filler match, one which, like most of the show's card, was very dull.
Daniel Bryan and The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. Batista, Randy Orton, and Kane
Batista, Orton, and Kane beat up The Usos for a few minutes, all while keeping Daniel Bryan out of the match. When Bryan finally gets in, he hits a few signatures before everyone winds up on the outside and a double countout ends the match. The villains beat up the good guys for a minute before The Shield comes out to save Bryan. Kane didn't clear off the entirety of the announcer table from all the monitors, so it was obvious that Bryan wouldn't be slammed through it. Orton and Batista wind up running away from The Shield to end the show.
After the momentum generated by WrestleMania and Raw, it's a shame that Smackdown brings it all to a grinding halt. There was only one good match on the card, there was only half of a good promo, and the rest felt like filler. It's clear that WWE doesn't value Smackdown. Why should fans continue to tune in?
The Good: Bray Wyatt's half-of-a-promo. RVD vs. Damien Sandow. Paul Heyman on commentary.
The Bad: Every match but RVD/Sandow or Barrett/Kingston. The Hogan/Bryan promo. Cesaro doing heel stuff despite being pushed as a rising babyface.
Match of the Night: Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow. No, seriously.
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If you wish to be notified whenever I post something new, please join this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.
For an archive of all my previous WWE reviews, please go <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.846764-Marters-WWE-Reviews-Archive>here.
Talk to me on the Twitter, <url=https://twitter.com/martertweet>@martertweet.