Spoilers follow for the June 20th episode of Smackdown.
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John Cena kicks off Smackdown, which is a rarity. Smackdown has become far more of the C-show than the B-show in WWE circles. Main Event -- currently a USA-exclusive show -- has almost become more important. That's fine. Americans get some good wrestling and big announcements. Like this one: Apparently there will be two ladder matches at Money in the Bank. We know about the first one already, which will be for the WWE Championship, but the second one will be for the Money in the Bank briefcase. Cool.
Cena hypes up his match and reminds us that if he wants to be, he's really good on the mic. Alberto Del Rio interrupts to remind us that ... he's still in this match. It's easy to forget about that, isn't it? Sheamus interrupts Del Rio. Everyone's going to come out now, right? And, in Teddy Long fashion, we're going to get a tag team match later on, yes? Cesaro and Paul Heyman are out after Sheamus. Then Roman Reigns (who drugged an innocent woman to earn his spot in the match). Then Randy Orton. Reigns attacks Orton. The Superstars in the ring brawl with each other. Eventually it stops and we head to commercials.
Seth Rollins vs. Kofi Kingston
Seth Rollins has generic music and an awful ring attire. Hopefully these are both placeholders, but the attire very well might be here to stay. That's ... more than I have to say about this match, which was dull, slow, and had no spots worth mentioning and nothing worth remembering. There's no way that Kofi would win, either, which furthers its boredom.
Match Rating: **
Following the win, Rollins grabs a mic and begins to talk about how he'll win the second Money in the Bank ladder match. Ambrose interrupts him on the Titantron. Ambrose will take out Rollins. So he says. There are exchanges and words and I tuned out. This feud should have so much more to it.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett
These two have only had one televised singles match before, and it took place in April. It was the match of the night. Does this one live up to that hype? Well, not really. It was too short to really stand out. It was a fine match, and is worth seeing, but the April 14th match was far better. This one stands out because Dolph Ziggler picked up the victory. Yes, really. Dolph Ziggler. A victory. I know! He's attacked after the match by Barrett, because apparently WWE doesn't want him acting like a babyface anymore, but a win is a win.
Match Rating: **1/2
Titus O'Neil vs. Adam Rose
Remember when Titus was being pushed as "aggressive" but then nothing came of that? Yeah. Now he's jobbing to Adam Rose. Rose rolls him up after precisely no offense and wins.
Match Rating: *
Titus requests a rematch. He wasn't ready, he claims. We do it again.
Titus O'Neil vs. Adam Rose
Rose slaps Titus and then rolls him up for another win. How terrible. Does the WWE not understand that this isn't how you get people over? I guess not.
Match Rating: *
Kane vs. Dean Ambrose
Seth Rollins is on commentary, even though he's really not that good on the mic. Perhaps this will allow him to improve. The WWE can just edit out whatever doesn't "work." Ambrose comes down with jeans and a tank top, because that's apparently his ring gear now. Ambrose does a lot of the work in this match, and he very well might wind up being the standout star of The (former) Shield. For a far-too-brief match, this was fine. Just, like I said, way too short. It felt like it was about three minutes long, which is simply not enough. The finish came when Ambrose had Kane down, attacked Rollins, and then lost after a chokeslam.
Match Rating: **1/2
Zeb Colter is on the mic after the commercial break. He's taking issue with Big E for reasons that make little sense. Big E and Swagger should be teaming to take down Rusev, not participating in 1-minute squash matches. That's what this becomes, by the way. Spoiler alert.
Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) vs. Big E
Big E dominates in about a minute. Fine.
Match Rating: *
A backstage segment has Summer Rae apologizing for her behavior lately. Then she kisses him. Layla sees this. Is this part of a bigger plan by Summer Rae? Does anyone care about this feud (no)? Stay tuned.
Bo Dallas vs. Fandango
Summer Rae comes into the ring before the match and dances a bit with Fandango. Layla attacks Summer Rae. Fandango tries to break it up. Eventually they wind up running backstage. Dallas comforts Fandango but then hits the Running BoDog for the win. Another squash match. Yay.
Match Rating: *
Bray Wyatt has a Titantron promo after about how he'll win the Championship at Money in the Bank. Good for him. I hope he is victorious.
Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro (with Paul Heyman), Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt
A good match but somehow not as good as the multiple battles between The Shield and The Wyatt Family. It's enjoyable to see so many top players competing at once, but they're not going to put on a top effort with Money in the Bank happening so soon. You don't want people to go "I've seen it before" and not buy the PPV, right? So, while the match is perfectly fine and certainly entertaining -- and given the state of the matches on this episode, easily the match of the night -- it's a low-risk advertisement for the PPV and little more. Cena spends most of the match getting beat up, for those who care. the match was built around getting Reigns in the match, because (1) that's his thing and (2) he can't wrestle well enough to be in the match for long enough (or when he's not dominating).
Reigns wins it almost single-handedly, like he usually does. He hits one of his four moves on each of the four opponents and then gets the pinfall victory to end Smackdown.
Match Rating: ***
The Good: Ziggler/Barret. Main event.
The Bad: All those squash matches.
Match of the Night: Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro (with Paul Heyman), Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt.
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John Cena kicks off Smackdown, which is a rarity. Smackdown has become far more of the C-show than the B-show in WWE circles. Main Event -- currently a USA-exclusive show -- has almost become more important. That's fine. Americans get some good wrestling and big announcements. Like this one: Apparently there will be two ladder matches at Money in the Bank. We know about the first one already, which will be for the WWE Championship, but the second one will be for the Money in the Bank briefcase. Cool.
Cena hypes up his match and reminds us that if he wants to be, he's really good on the mic. Alberto Del Rio interrupts to remind us that ... he's still in this match. It's easy to forget about that, isn't it? Sheamus interrupts Del Rio. Everyone's going to come out now, right? And, in Teddy Long fashion, we're going to get a tag team match later on, yes? Cesaro and Paul Heyman are out after Sheamus. Then Roman Reigns (who drugged an innocent woman to earn his spot in the match). Then Randy Orton. Reigns attacks Orton. The Superstars in the ring brawl with each other. Eventually it stops and we head to commercials.
Seth Rollins vs. Kofi Kingston
Seth Rollins has generic music and an awful ring attire. Hopefully these are both placeholders, but the attire very well might be here to stay. That's ... more than I have to say about this match, which was dull, slow, and had no spots worth mentioning and nothing worth remembering. There's no way that Kofi would win, either, which furthers its boredom.
Match Rating: **
Following the win, Rollins grabs a mic and begins to talk about how he'll win the second Money in the Bank ladder match. Ambrose interrupts him on the Titantron. Ambrose will take out Rollins. So he says. There are exchanges and words and I tuned out. This feud should have so much more to it.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett
These two have only had one televised singles match before, and it took place in April. It was the match of the night. Does this one live up to that hype? Well, not really. It was too short to really stand out. It was a fine match, and is worth seeing, but the April 14th match was far better. This one stands out because Dolph Ziggler picked up the victory. Yes, really. Dolph Ziggler. A victory. I know! He's attacked after the match by Barrett, because apparently WWE doesn't want him acting like a babyface anymore, but a win is a win.
Match Rating: **1/2
Titus O'Neil vs. Adam Rose
Remember when Titus was being pushed as "aggressive" but then nothing came of that? Yeah. Now he's jobbing to Adam Rose. Rose rolls him up after precisely no offense and wins.
Match Rating: *
Titus requests a rematch. He wasn't ready, he claims. We do it again.
Titus O'Neil vs. Adam Rose
Rose slaps Titus and then rolls him up for another win. How terrible. Does the WWE not understand that this isn't how you get people over? I guess not.
Match Rating: *
Kane vs. Dean Ambrose
Seth Rollins is on commentary, even though he's really not that good on the mic. Perhaps this will allow him to improve. The WWE can just edit out whatever doesn't "work." Ambrose comes down with jeans and a tank top, because that's apparently his ring gear now. Ambrose does a lot of the work in this match, and he very well might wind up being the standout star of The (former) Shield. For a far-too-brief match, this was fine. Just, like I said, way too short. It felt like it was about three minutes long, which is simply not enough. The finish came when Ambrose had Kane down, attacked Rollins, and then lost after a chokeslam.
Match Rating: **1/2
Zeb Colter is on the mic after the commercial break. He's taking issue with Big E for reasons that make little sense. Big E and Swagger should be teaming to take down Rusev, not participating in 1-minute squash matches. That's what this becomes, by the way. Spoiler alert.
Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) vs. Big E
Big E dominates in about a minute. Fine.
Match Rating: *
A backstage segment has Summer Rae apologizing for her behavior lately. Then she kisses him. Layla sees this. Is this part of a bigger plan by Summer Rae? Does anyone care about this feud (no)? Stay tuned.
Bo Dallas vs. Fandango
Summer Rae comes into the ring before the match and dances a bit with Fandango. Layla attacks Summer Rae. Fandango tries to break it up. Eventually they wind up running backstage. Dallas comforts Fandango but then hits the Running BoDog for the win. Another squash match. Yay.
Match Rating: *
Bray Wyatt has a Titantron promo after about how he'll win the Championship at Money in the Bank. Good for him. I hope he is victorious.
Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro (with Paul Heyman), Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt
A good match but somehow not as good as the multiple battles between The Shield and The Wyatt Family. It's enjoyable to see so many top players competing at once, but they're not going to put on a top effort with Money in the Bank happening so soon. You don't want people to go "I've seen it before" and not buy the PPV, right? So, while the match is perfectly fine and certainly entertaining -- and given the state of the matches on this episode, easily the match of the night -- it's a low-risk advertisement for the PPV and little more. Cena spends most of the match getting beat up, for those who care. the match was built around getting Reigns in the match, because (1) that's his thing and (2) he can't wrestle well enough to be in the match for long enough (or when he's not dominating).
Reigns wins it almost single-handedly, like he usually does. He hits one of his four moves on each of the four opponents and then gets the pinfall victory to end Smackdown.
Match Rating: ***
The Good: Ziggler/Barret. Main event.
The Bad: All those squash matches.
Match of the Night: Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro (with Paul Heyman), Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt.
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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.