Smackdown opens with MizTV and his guests are Dolph Ziggler with AJ Lee and Big E Langston. Miz eventually calls AJ crazy and Langston delivers his finisher to him for it.
^So Dolph and AJ are officially a couple; it slightly reminds me of Shawn Michaels and Sherri back in the day. I like the Langston’s gimmick as the group bodyguard, because eventually you know he’ll get sick of his group and turn face; the potential here is nice.
Backstage, Teddy Long convinces Booker T to give Brad Maddox a shot tonight. Booker tells Teddy that Maddox will learn the identity of his opponent just before his match.
^Teddy Long is pushing Brad Maddox? Is Teddy up to something? No one could blame the guy for going heel and trying to evolve so that he could be a better GM if he took the reigns of Smackdown again.
Damien Sandow defeats Sin Cara after a distraction by the Shield. The Shield toss Mysterio’s mask in the ring(signifying that they attacked him and took it) to cause the distraction and they beat down Sin Cara after the match.
^This match was pretty good, and the chemistry between Sin Cara and Sandow was fun to watch. I liked the match, and I like the storyline write-off for Sin Cara as he’s apparently nursing a knee injury.
Team Hell No and Kofi Kingston are shown backstage talking about their match tonight.
^I know these guys are teaming together, but how awesome would it be to see Kofi and Dbry have a rivalry for the IC Title?
Kofi and Team Hell No defeat Wade Barrett and the Prime Time Players. Kane gets the win with a chokeslam.
^This was a fun six man tag, but I’d like to see the PTP challenge Team Hell No and have the titles before Team Rhodes Scholars. I’m completely okay with Kofi and Barrett continuing their rivalry, and I’m looking forward to whatever rematches they may have down the road.
Sheamus and John Cena are shown backstage talking about Big E Langston and about AJ.
^Sheamus and Cena interacting as friends is just funny to me after their rivalry three years ago. I really hope Sheamus doesn’t go down the same road as John Cena and become public enemy number one.
CM Punk comes out and cuts a promo. Ryback interrupts and declares that he will challenge for the WWE Title on the first Raw after the new year. Punk leaves.
^Punk’s promo was excellent and enjoyable. Ryback challenging Punk could finally be the epic one on one battle that I’ve been hoping for.
Ryback defeats Antonio Cesaro with shell shocked.
^For a short tv match, these two gave us an entertaining show. I was surprised at how well Ryback held his own to make this an interesting story. I do question why WWE would give us the walk away from Cesaro on Raw and then give us the proper finish just twenty-four hours later. Why not make us as fans anticipate the match a little more and then hype the match over the course of a week?
Kaitlyn and AJ exchange words backstage and AJ jumps Kaitlyn when she goes to walk away.
^Anyone else want to see this intense rivalry continue with some good quality wrestling? Me too, but it’s WWE and it’s the divas.
Kaitlyn defeats Eve by DQ when the ref’s ankle is grabbed by Eve as she tries to avoid Kaitlyn.
^So the Eve/Kaitlyn saga continues. This match was actually pretty decent for the little bit that we got, but that’s WWE booking for you. We get a clean finish to Ryback/Cesaro one day after their first match, but these two divas could be rivaling past the Rumble. Some things are just a mystery in life.
Big Show confronts Dolph, AJ, and Big E. He tells Ziggler he will knock him out if he tries to cash in tonight.
^If by some chance Ziggler did cash in on Big Show, could Ziggler bring out the best of Show if they had a one on one match with Zigs as champion? The possibilities…
Brodus Clay defeats Brad Maddox. The Shield come out and beat down Clay after the match.
^I don’t like Brodus Clay’s character, and I enjoyed seeing him beat down. Brad Maddox still seems boring to me, and his talent is limited, but clearly WWE has plans to use him in the future. Also, anyone who says it’s a coincidence that the Shield keeps getting involved when Brad Maddox competes hasn’t opened their eyes to the Punk/Heyman stable that’s formed but not official.
John Cena and Sheamus defeat Dolph Ziggler and Big Show by DQ when Big E Langston interferes to attack John Cena. Langston nails his finisher on Cena and stands over him just like on Raw to end the show.
^Well, that wasn’t much of a main event, and Smackdown ends in an almost identical way as Raw. What’s up with that? Ziggler didn’t cash in, but the dominance of this small stable has now been revealed. I love seeing Ziggler in the main event scene, and I love the fact that WWE has finally allowed him to talk and show exactly how good he is in all aspects of entertainment.
For a live Smackdown with no commercials, there really wasn’t too much significant wrestling. The standout matches were Ryback/Cesaro and Sin Cara/Sandow. Everything else was too short to really be anything special, but at least the show didn’t feel like it was full of a ton of garbage like Raw. I’ll call it just an average Smackdown that borders on less than average. I won’t be doing a rundown this weekend for just a few shows, but I’ll have something a little bit different up before the Raw Analysis. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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