ARCHY’S ANALYSIS
WWE Smackdown Review 7/8/11
By Adrian Arciuli for Wrestlezone.com
Rating- 6/10
Smackdown this week was a case of the good the bad and the ugly with Friday’s show failing to live up to the expectations of week’s past.
I tend to think with the Smackdown brand touring South Africa this week the writers decided to have a week off.
The show didn’t end with much fan fare. Randy Orton just gave an RKO to Sheamus after the Celtic Warrior took out Christian with a Brogue kick.
There were no real developments on this show going into the MITB pay per view with the same matches as weeks past occurring with just differing results.
The opening segment was bland with two heels having a verbal stoush over nothing although I thought Sheamus really stood out. I like how he declared his intentions if he is to win the MITB ladder match. The opening segment was a nice touch but it just looked really awkward. It just highlighted what is wrong with how the characters are being presented in WWE right now.
Can someone tell me how we can take a champion seriously after he loses on television in consecutive weeks? Ezekiel Jackson needs wins or someone to challenge him; instead he gets pinned in a tag match by TED DI BIASE. He needs to look strong not weak; so much for the personification of demonization moniker.
Sin Cara and Tyson Kidd had a solid match and the Mexican sensation is starting to get over with the WWE audience.
Mark Henry picked up a dominating victory over Kane, which I thought was great booking because he needed a clean victory over a formidable opponent. I love how they used him throughout the show. It just emphasised what he is capable of right now. His post match trash talking of the announce team was exceptional and it will be intriguing to see why Teddy Long didn’t respond to Striker’s backstage question.
I still feel action should be taken against Henry for his destruction of the production guy last week because the heel should always be punished for his actions.
Jinder Mahal once again had another decisive squash victory but I thought the match was overshadowed by Great Khali’s terrible commentary. I found it a tad funny but it just highlighted the woes of WWE’s announcing right now. The post match beat down of Trent Barretta was ok but they should start positioning the Indian connection in a feud ASAP.
Back to the announcing and I thought this week it was at its worst. Booker, Cole and Matthews are just completely terrible together and you can’t take the matches seriously anymore while these three are in the booth. How about Josh Matthews saying Heath Slater is no chance of winning the MITB pay per view. We know that Josh, but hey at least try and make the guy seem like some sort of a threat. This is just one problem with WWE’s product right now.
Let’s hope Smackdown produces a solid go home show leading into the Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
SMACKDOWN MATCH RESULTS AND RATINGS
Cody Rhodes/Ted DiBiase vs. Ezekiel Jackson/ Daniel Bryan, WINNER: Rhodes/DiBiase
Rating: 2/5
Length: 10 minutes
Tamina vs. AJ, WINNER: AJ
Rating: 1/5
Length: 2 minutes
Kane vs. Mark Henry, WINNER: Henry
Rating: 1.5/5
Length: 5 minutes
Tyson Kidd vs. Sin Cara, WINNER: Sin Cara
Rating: 1.5/5
Length: 5 minutes
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus, WINNER: Orton via DQ
Rating: 2/5
Length: 11 minutes
You can contact me via twitter at @ausportingpost or email at ama760@uowlive.edu.au
