Smackdown Review (September 26, 2014)

[Marter]

Spoilers follow for the September 26th episode of Smackdown.

http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/09/70/40/smackd10.png

Smackdown!

The Miz (with Damien Sandow) vs. Dean Ambrose

so, we've got the brawler against someone whose face is not allowed to be touched to kick off Smackdown. Okay. Ambrose makes Miz look like a joke. He doesn't look like he's taking the match seriously, and Miz looked very much like he is not Ambrose's equal. Ambrose does hit the face a whole bunch, which is fun. The only way Miz gets offense is to cheat -- or get a distraction -- and then hit a few moves while Ambrose recovers.

It's an okay match, but really nothing special, and delivers very little reason to care. It's made less compelling by Ambrose getting to basically squash Miz. Seth Rollins and Kane tried to distract Ambrose during the match, but it didn't work. Ambrose eventually wins with Dirty Deeds.

Match Rating: **1/2

After the match, Ambrose fights off Rollins and Kane, eventually stealing the Money in the Bank briefcase and running away through the crowd.

A Goldust/Stardust promo hypes up their match with The Usos later tonight.

<color=red>Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender Battle Royal

So, all the jobbers are involved in this match, along with some more prominently featured wrestlers like Cesaro and Jack Swagger. You know it's probably going to come down to one of those, or perhaps Big E, although he's not even on TV much lately, so it's probably not going to be him.

Cesaro wins in a mess of a battle royal, as are most of them. Cesaro eliminated Kofi Kingston and Swagger at the same time to pick up the victory.

Match Rating: **1/2

The Usos are interviewed backstage. They're ready for their rematch.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. Goldust and Stardust


A rematch from Night of Champions that is pretty solid. Not quite as good as what they did on the PPV, but, then, you can't really expect that, can you? PPVs are special, and they need to remain like that. This one does have a couple of great high-flying spots, though. The finish comes from an intentional DQ from Goldust, even though it looked like The Usos were going to win.

Match Rating: ***

Kane and Rollins talk backstage. Rollins wants Ambrose punished for stealing the briefcase earlier, even though Rollins still has the contract, so it really doesn't matter.

Natalya and Rosa Mendes vs. Summer Rae and Layla

Our Total Divas feud match. It needed to be a singles match between Natalya and Layla, because that's when it gets close to good. Rosa Mendes is the worst Diva on the roster in terms of ring work, and once she gets in the match it gets terrible.

Layla rolls up Mendes for the win. Layla and Summer Rae dance in the ring after.

Match Rating: *1/2

A Main Event flashback shows us that Mark Henry gave a speech. A kind of heel speech, but not really. Big Show is going to face Rusev tonight. He's interviewed backstage after.

After the commercial, the same Roman Reigns "update" segment is shown. We've only seen it three times now.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler


So, uh, we're doing this tonight, huh? Okay.

Cesaro dominates this match. He gets in the vast majority of the offense. Ziggler gets a roll up and wins, even though Cesaro grabbed the rope. He should not have lost. I'm guessing this will lead to something in the coming weeks. I hope.

Match Rating: **1/2

Lana and Rusev are interviewed next. They hype up the main event.

Rusev (with Lana) vs. Big Show

No, it isn't good. Did you expect it to be? Big Show's come back in a bit better shape, and is moving around the ring pretty well, but that doesn't mean he can put on a good match with Rusev. Two giants fighting just isn't that enjoyable. I mean, we do get Big Show's sunset flip, so that's great, although it was sloppier than when he did it to Luke Harper.

This match exists to give Rusev more heat. Big Show actually looks like he's going to win, but Lana gets into the ring and stops him. Rusev then hits Big Show with the Russian flag, losing by DQ. So, we boo Rusev for being a heel and getting disqualified. And Big Show comes out looking impressive. Good on him.

Match Rating: **1/2

The Good: Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust.

The Bad: Natalya/Mendes vs. Layla/Summer Rae.

Match of the Night: Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust.


Match of the Night: Paige vs. Nikki Bella.

<color=D6D9DA>_________________________________________________________________________________

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.

 

[Rozalia1]

Hey now! I'll have you know Miz was one half of the world's most dangerous tag team that had the entire locker room in fear for their safety. Yeah match was made fun by all its elements, all three men have great mannerisms.

In the battle royal the scenario of Swagger winning the Intercontinental title, Rusev the US, and than having a unification match popped into my head... but I knew better than that. Cesaro is being called the master of battle royals eh? Remember what happened to the last Cesaro...

So why didn't the Usos pin after hitting the bloody doomsday device? Goldust wouldn't have had enough time to clonk them with the belt than would he.

Rosa Mendes is still horrible... I thought maybe this Natalya thing meant that she was being trained or something...but damn did all those moves look ugly as sin. I feel sorry for those who have to sell such things.

So will Ziggler start running with the "I cheat, but I'm still a face" gimmick?

You should have noted something which I believe is a first time ever occurrence, that being Rusev going for a pinfall. The Big Russian usually ends all his matches with the Accolade as he likes to make people humble.

A good smackdown all in all I think.

 

[shintakie10]

So will Ziggler start running with the "I cheat, but I'm still a face" gimmick?

We haven't had a gimmick like that since Eddie and I do oddly miss it. Based off where Zigglers at in his career I think he actually might be able to pull that off with how much the fans love him, even when he's doin heel things.

 

[Pyramid Head]

Okay, here's a fun one. Pay attention to the official during the IC title match. There was a four count because Cesaro was too slow to reach the bottom rope. One of the announcers also spotted it, going "There's one" during the official's first smack, only then JBL and Michael Cole realized what happened and said "One" during the second slap, "Two" when Cesaro lost via pinfall, and "Three" when the official showed his disgusting and violent bigotry towards the canvas and Cesaro had grabbed the rope.


While i was typing this, planning to ignore the Big Show and Rusev match, i heard the card reader making what sounded like a mistake. It sounded to me (admittedly my TV has cheap speakers) that she said Big Show was 225 pounds.
...with someone his height and with his bone build, 225 would actually be underweight, wouldn't it?




ANYWAY! I agree that the weakpoint was the Divas match. Summer Rae ran away from Natalya at the start? And then later on put Natalya into what i didn't realize was suppose to be a submission hold until i heard them say it was a hold... plus Rosa? Now Layla and Natalya looked decent during the match. Why couldn't this have been Natalya vs. Layla and then afterwards we could have Summer Rae and Rosa build a bit of a rise and fan favor by dragging the people responsible for Totally Divas into the ring and executing them one by one?

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

WWE is still suffering the swimsuit model turned wrestler disease. Most of them aren't athletically gifted enough to pick up the ring moves and it shows. Look at the NXT Diva roster, those ladies are showing a lot more in-ring ability and grit than the main roster divas. It might also be due to the new directive in the performance center. NXT is the future of the product, its where HHH has his hands in the direction of the company and it shows. Like him or not, Hunter knows the business and what makes a good in-ring story, and when he gets the reins handed over from Vince (probably after Vince passes on unfortunately) the product will pick up.
Also remember this is the August-December slump that seems to happen yearly.
Otherwise I'm happy to see Ziggler get more screen time, disappointed with the whole Rusev angle (he is so not ready for the main stage). Ambrose and Rollins are hands down the best feud going right now, Cesaro is on the wrong card as he should be a main event threat not a mid-card guy. Paige and AJ and Natalya are the only divas worth a damn since Layla seems to be phoning it in since Michelle McCool left to be a housewife (nothing wrong with that but damn I miss her on the roster).

 

[Rozalia1]

We haven't had a gimmick like that since Eddie and I do oddly miss it. Based off where Zigglers at in his career I think he actually might be able to pull that off with how much the fans love him, even when he's doin heel things.

I too do love that gimmick, hopefully like Eddie he'll get his big moment in the future.

ANYWAY! I agree that the weakpoint was the Divas match. Summer Rae ran away from Natalya at the start? And then later on put Natalya into what i didn't realize was suppose to be a submission hold until i heard them say it was a hold... plus Rosa? Now Layla and Natalya looked decent during the match. Why couldn't this have been Natalya vs. Layla and then afterwards we could have Summer Rae and Rosa build a bit of a rise and fan favor by dragging the people responsible for Totally Divas into the ring and executing them one by one?

Summer is perfectly serviceable as a heel. She has that annoying screeching, those long legs for choking opponents in the corner and doing submissions, and has a character beyond the usual crazy one they give Diva heels (the classic vain arrogant cowardly heel).

Otherwise I'm happy to see Ziggler get more screen time, disappointed with the whole Rusev angle (he is so not ready for the main stage). Ambrose and Rollins are hands down the best feud going right now, Cesaro is on the wrong card as he should be a main event threat not a mid-card guy. Paige and AJ and Natalya are the only divas worth a damn since Layla seems to be phoning it in since Michelle McCool left to be a housewife (nothing wrong with that but damn I miss her on the roster).

I'd disagree in regards to Rusev, what people don't realize is that yes while his matches haven't exactly set the world on fire, and there is no classic matches among them...you seen his opponents? Regardless while you won't see any technical masterpieces Rusev has shown to be able to work as the unstoppable monster, and as the smaller man facing an even larger behemoth.
His facial expressions are excellent (the one against Big Show after the kickout was great for example), and he is likely one of the best sellers on the roster. He's ready brother.

Remember its supposed to be entertainment, and AJ being permanently in the main event isn't entertainment to me. Naomi should have already had the belt and finished defending against the villainous Cameron, Alicia Fox, and Paige but nope we got to watch a feud between AJ and Paige that they realized was so uninteresting, that they had to put some lesbian undertones in the hopes someone would than give a crap in the hopes there would be a kiss at some point.

Reports say any women on total divas won't win the title as a result of it which if true means I can see where this all heading. Paige will stay in the main event until Charlotte comes up, than she'll be old news and AJ and Charlotte will have a million matches together until a new challenger from NXT comes up.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Otherwise I'm happy to see Ziggler get more screen time, disappointed with the whole Rusev angle (he is so not ready for the main stage). Ambrose and Rollins are hands down the best feud going right now, Cesaro is on the wrong card as he should be a main event threat not a mid-card guy. Paige and AJ and Natalya are the only divas worth a damn since Layla seems to be phoning it in since Michelle McCool left to be a housewife (nothing wrong with that but damn I miss her on the roster).

I'd disagree in regards to Rusev, what people don't realize is that yes while his matches haven't exactly set the world on fire, and there is no classic matches among them...you seen his opponents? Regardless while you won't see any technical masterpieces Rusev has shown to be able to work as the unstoppable monster, and as the smaller man facing an even larger behemoth.
His facial expressions are excellent (the one against Big Show after the kickout was great for example), and he is likely one of the best sellers on the roster. He's ready brother.

Remember its supposed to be entertainment, and AJ being permanently in the main event isn't entertainment to me. Naomi should have already had the belt and finished defending against the villainous Cameron, Alicia Fox, and Paige but nope we got to watch a feud between AJ and Paige that they realized was so uninteresting, that they had to put some lesbian undertones in the hopes someone would than give a crap in the hopes there would be a kiss at some point.

Reports say any women on total divas won't win the title as a result of it which if true means I can see where this all heading. Paige will stay in the main event until Charlotte comes up, than she'll be old news and AJ and Charlotte will have a million matches together until a new challenger from NXT comes up.

Rusev is fast but he's limited. It'll show more when he's in with a really good ring general. I think they should have left him in NXT for just a little bit more time. Not taking away from his ability to sell but overall they could have waited a little bit to debut him fully. He's got something bu I don't think he's as ready as he could have been. But they pulled the trigger and we've got to deal with it. Big E could put on decent matches and I've seen some good fire from Swagger, but yeah they haven't put Rusev in with decent opponents. The problem is there aren't many guys on the roster who can carry Rusev to a great match. Looking back on his career with WWE he probably doesn't have much long-term shelf life because of his previous injuries so that might be why they pulled him up so early.
I don't want AJ or Paige constantly ping-ponging the title either but aside from Natalya I'm not sold on any of the main roster divas at all. At times like these I miss people like Beth Phoenix (but kudos to her and Edge settling down for family time). Charlotte and Bayley are the two from NXT that I'm keeping an eye on to bring some freshness to the main roster, and Alexa Bliss is looking pretty good but she definitely needs some more time in development. Kinda sucks that WWE has already relegated Emma to a jobber because she can go with the right opponent. I know its entertainment and they have to feature the other divas from the E show at some point but the crossover isn't helping the product and Total Divas is pretty well on its own legs now so there doesn't need to be that much crossover. Especially since its all pre-taped and the feuds don't make sense chronologically to crossover fans seeing footage from 6-8 months ago.
Like I said though this is the August-December slump and it shows. Around the Rumble is when things should pick up. Hopefully the mid-card guys can really use this chance to shine though and make good on their potential. They should see the lack of good wrestlers on the main card as a chance to up their brand.

 

[Pyramid Head]

Okay, i stupidly decided to watch an episode of Main Event because i wanted to see Dean Ambrose get interviewed by The Miz. It was... pretty bad. Granted Naomi put up a decent match against Paige, but otherwise it was pretty damned stupid. The highlight though, aside from the kind of funny Miz TV interview, was Kofi Kingston, someone i think the WWE should send out more often, fighting Bo Dallas. I think i saw what was supposed to be his heel turn though. I never saw a match with him before, and even though Bo Dallas is apparently supposed to be "Inspirational," all of the pre-match banter was him bitching, and moaning, and bitching, and bitching, and bitching, and then Kofi nailed him with Trouble in Paradise and pinned him. Is that just Kofi's character now? He's a leaping sword of Damoclese who beats the crap out of superstars who get too cocky?

 

[Rozalia1]

Rusev is fast but he's limited. It'll show more when he's in with a really good ring general. I think they should have left him in NXT for just a little bit more time. Not taking away from his ability to sell but overall they could have waited a little bit to debut him fully. He's got something bu I don't think he's as ready as he could have been. But they pulled the trigger and we've got to deal with it. Big E could put on decent matches and I've seen some good fire from Swagger, but yeah they haven't put Rusev in with decent opponents. The problem is there aren't many guys on the roster who can carry Rusev to a great match. Looking back on his career with WWE he probably doesn't have much long-term shelf life because of his previous injuries so that might be why they pulled him up so early.
I don't want AJ or Paige constantly ping-ponging the title either but aside from Natalya I'm not sold on any of the main roster divas at all. At times like these I miss people like Beth Phoenix (but kudos to her and Edge settling down for family time). Charlotte and Bayley are the two from NXT that I'm keeping an eye on to bring some freshness to the main roster, and Alexa Bliss is looking pretty good but she definitely needs some more time in development. Kinda sucks that WWE has already relegated Emma to a jobber because she can go with the right opponent. I know its entertainment and they have to feature the other divas from the E show at some point but the crossover isn't helping the product and Total Divas is pretty well on its own legs now so there doesn't need to be that much crossover. Especially since its all pre-taped and the feuds don't make sense chronologically to crossover fans seeing footage from 6-8 months ago.
Like I said though this is the August-December slump and it shows. Around the Rumble is when things should pick up. Hopefully the mid-card guys can really use this chance to shine though and make good on their potential. They should see the lack of good wrestlers on the main card as a chance to up their brand.

All the Big E and Swagger matches were pretty good, not 5 star classic good but the crowd was really into it. Rusev also while winning all the encounters really put over how much a threat both men were, heck he put over the effectiveness of the Patriot lock for like a month even while he was squashing jobbers.
Rusev isn't merely going out there giving someone a chop and winning, he is putting on fine performances.
As for NXT...what could he do there exactly? Squash Mojo Rawley a million times (by the way his squashing of Mojo at Arrival was beautiful)? How different would that be from his debut on Raw where he squashed a selection of jobbers a million times?

Natalya has never been trusted with the top spot for whatever reason, personally I think she can go just great but lacks in terms of character. She just isn't all that good a face and should stick to just being a heel (together with Mr Hart of course).
Bliss and Bayley will be jobbers and everyone knows it, if they're lucky they'll be ones jobbing to AJ and Charlotte every week instead of you know...not appearing at all. Paige will be stuck in purgatory like Naomi in where everyone talks of how talented and a threat she is...yet at best wins some matches against jobbers before jobbing to AJ/Charlotte the week before the PPV to put over how much better they are(worst being not appearing at all).
You underrate the other divas, they may not be smark favorites but they can work just fine. Nikki and Alicia are oddly though in a good way fine enough "power" Divas (Monster heel Nikki Bella? Yes please). Naomi has come a long way and is in my opinion a far better performer than all the other divas. I have no idea why they'd stick the title on AJ who is an absolute horrible face and not put it on the biggest natural face they have.

Okay, i stupidly decided to watch an episode of Main Event because i wanted to see Dean Ambrose get interviewed by The Miz. It was... pretty bad. Granted Naomi put up a decent match against Paige, but otherwise it was pretty damned stupid. The highlight though, aside from the kind of funny Miz TV interview, was Kofi Kingston, someone i think the WWE should send out more often, fighting Bo Dallas. I think i saw what was supposed to be his heel turn though. I never saw a match with him before, and even though Bo Dallas is apparently supposed to be "Inspirational," all of the pre-match banter was him bitching, and moaning, and bitching, and bitching, and bitching, and then Kofi nailed him with Trouble in Paradise and pinned him. Is that just Kofi's character now? He's a leaping sword of Damoclese who beats the crap out of superstars who get too cocky?

It wasn't stupid at all, that Main Event had the debut of Slatorgator and their new music and Mini-tron. No basically Bo Dallas seems to be on the path of picking up his losses against people he calls failures. Last time it was R-Truth he called a failure and than got pinned for it.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

All the Big E and Swagger matches were pretty good, not 5 star classic good but the crowd was really into it. Rusev also while winning all the encounters really put over how much a threat both men were, heck he put over the effectiveness of the Patriot lock for like a month even while he was squashing jobbers.
Rusev isn't merely going out there giving someone a chop and winning, he is putting on fine performances.
As for NXT...what could he do there exactly? Squash Mojo Rawley a million times (by the way his squashing of Mojo at Arrival was beautiful)? How different would that be from his debut on Raw where he squashed a selection of jobbers a million times?

Natalya has never been trusted with the top spot for whatever reason, personally I think she can go just great but lacks in terms of character. She just isn't all that good a face and should stick to just being a heel (together with Mr Hart of course).
Bliss and Bayley will be jobbers and everyone knows it, if they're lucky they'll be ones jobbing to AJ and Charlotte every week instead of you know...not appearing at all. Paige will be stuck in purgatory like Naomi in where everyone talks of how talented and a threat she is...yet at best wins some matches against jobbers before jobbing to AJ/Charlotte the week before the PPV to put over how much better they are(worst being not appearing at all).
You underrate the other divas, they may not be smark favorites but they can work just fine. Nikki and Alicia are oddly though in a good way fine enough "power" Divas (Monster heel Nikki Bella? Yes please). Naomi has come a long way and is in my opinion a far better performer than all the other divas. I have no idea why they'd stick the title on AJ who is an absolute horrible face and not put it on the biggest natural face they have.

I'm not taking away from his talent, I just think Rusev still has a lot of green areas in the ring. Ability to sell isn't the only thing needed to put on a 5* match. Since he's got no mic-skills pairing him up with Lana works, but his other in-ring abilities are still green and noticeably so. Timing is off and that is what I meant by staying in NXT. I'm not talking about building the character I'm talking about ring timing. But like I said its all said and done and there's no going back. Credit where it is due, he is committed to the product so there's that. I just felt he could have used a little extra time working with the trainers and developing his timing a little more. *shrug*
That leads me to why I'm not hot on the main roster divas. Aside from Nattie, AJ and Paige I haven't seen a great Divas match since Michelle McCool retired. By which I mean the current non-wrestling background divas are so awful in the ring, there's no timing, tons of botched moves that even a ring general like Nattie can't overcome... The Bellas are just... ugh... boring. Naomi has some talent but she doesn't cut it. Bayley has had some strong showing in NXT, don't count her out just yet. Her Takeover 2 match with Charlotte was on-par with the first NXT women's championship match Nattie vs. Charlotte. A good match is a good match, no matter who jobs to whom.