Coming at you from Las Vegas, Nevada, it’s WWE Friday Night Smackdown with Michael Cole and JBL!
MizTV kicks off Smackdown and the Big Show and Dolph Ziggler are the first guests. Miz wants Big Show and Dolph Ziggler to share their opinions with how Triple H is running WWE. Triple H interrupts them and books them in matches. Miz will face Randy Orton, Ziggler will face every member of the Shield in a handicap match and Big Show gets the night off to join the announcers and watch the show tonight.
^I was bored with this, and it honestly felt like a dull opening to Monday Night Raw. The storyline isn’t bad, but this felt dragged out especially when Big Show took his time going over to the announce table. I don’t like the changes surrounding Smackdown thus far.
Miz faces Randy Orton in the opening match. The Shield come down to the ring during the match with their theme music and we go to commercial. Orton defeats Miz clean with an RKO while the Shield stand guard of the ring. Daniel Bryan comes down to the ring with a chair after the match and saves Miz from Orton and the Shield.
^This was a solid wrestling match from Orton and Miz, and I’m grateful for that as it’s what Smackdown is all about: good wrestling. As far as Dbry goes, he’s the modern day Steve Austin when it comes to his rebellion, but to me this is better because of his wrestling ability. Good match and great way to close out the segment as the crowd goes crazy for Dbry!
Raw rewind. Thanks for the replay…again.
Rob Van Dam with Ricardo Rodriguez takes on Mr. Money In The Bank, Damnien Sandow. Sandow cuts a promo about Las Vegas being a horrible place. RVD beats Sandow in a short match. Alberto Del Rio comes out after the match and says Ricardo Rodriguez betrayed him.
^I don’t like seeing Mr. Money In The Bank get buried here, but at least he was defeated by the number one contender. I could definitely see Sandow cashing in on Del Rio or even Van Dam down the line. I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t see more of Del Rio, as Smackdown used to be the show for featuring the World Title rivalry all night long.
Dolph Ziggler is defeated by the Shield when Roman Reigns pins him after a spear. They beat down Ziggler after the match and taunt the Big Show before delivering a triple powerbomb to Dolph.
^More awesome wrestling from Ziggler and the Shield! WWE has done a phenomenal job at building young talent into the main roster and making their storylines interesting. Can you imagine what it would do for Ziggler’s stock right now if he were booked to defeat these three in another handicap match? His rumored match with Dean Ambrose for Night of Champions has me quite excited.
Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel cut promos about facing CM Punk in a handicap match at Night of Champions. Heyman says if Punk gets his hands on him, you’ll never see Paul Heyman again.
^Paul Heyman is great for making Axel look good and truthfully Heyman could probably make any guy look good. I wish more people would take notice of Axel’s veteran ring style and see how easily he works matches with nearly every superstar he sets foot in the ring with. Their handicap match at Night of Champions against CM Punk has the potential to be a show stealer.
Brodus Clay and Sweet T take on Erick Rowan and Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family…again. Wyatt takes out Sweet T after the match…again.
^Most everyone has been impressed by the Wyatt’s booking, but this was pointless. We’ve literally seen this exact same segment already. It’s time for something fresh for these guys!
Ryback goes one on one with Daniel Bryan. Randy Orton comes in the ring to cause the DQ when Dbry gets the yes lock on Ryback. Dbry gets the yes lock on Orton and the Shield comes down. Big Show comes in for the save but Triple H comes down and demands Show get out of the ring. He walks show to the back and then gives Orton and the Shield the nod to continue their assault on Bryan. Orton spray paints “no” on Daniel Bryan’s chest to end the show.
^Ryback constantly impresses me when he’s in the ring with Dbry, but I actually think it’s Dbry bringing out the best in his opponents. Hunter’s power trip will obviously result in Vince trying to take him down a notch, but for now it’s got a very nice “attitude era” feel to the overall storyline of the boss ticking off the employees. Good wrestling match and good segment to get heat on the heels as the show ended.
Good wrestling took place all night and good storyline advancement happened. My biggest gripe is the slow pace of some of the segments(particularly anything with Big Show and Triple H this week), but overall the show quality was very high.
I’m working hard at finding more time to write again, so please bear with me! While you wait, make sure to enjoy our team of writers on the ThunderStruck Wrestling Community page as they cover a ton of shows during the week! Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
