Rey Mysterio and R-Truth Defeated "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and Alberto Del Rio
There was some debate on this one, but I'm going with this match as Match of the Night over the Kingston vs. Swagger match. It gave a reason for us to watch it with the decent promo at the top of the show at the same time building hype for the Royal Rumble. Rey Mysterio carried Truth through this match, but it was still very well done. It got great time and had a logical yet anticipated finish. Can anyone explain why the brand barrier continues to be broken? Trent Barreta def. Drew McIntyre A decent match while it lasted, but I would of liked to see a little more aerial maneuvers by Baretta again as I always look forward to watching his matches. I'm glad Baretta got the win here, and it helps the feud continue. It's not the greatest rivalry, but at least Baretta is getting used on television. I still don't like this McIntyre and Kelly angle though. It came off last night as a cheap chick flick, and the last time I check this was pro wrestling. I know, not that much of a difference, but this love angle is pointless for both of them. Big Show defeated Wade Barrett by Disqualification The match was pretty good while it lasted, so I'd like to see more from these two. They have chemistry, and is pretty much the only feud I'd like to see Show in with anyone else on the roster. The finish was well done as it leaves the match to continue for another day. The birth of this new Nexus with Barrett, Gabriel, Slater and Jackson dosen't interest me, but the debut of Ezekiel Jackson does, and I am ecstatic he is finally being used right. On a side note here for those who don't know, I am very big fan of Ezekiel Jackson. I have spent months arguing as to that he is face, but now that is all down the drain now with this heel turn. Sorry for the confusion. Beth Phoenix def. Michelle McCool with Layla Once again, another quality Divas bout. It wasn't excellent, but it is certainly better than the contests we usually seen done on SmackDown. The only thing that was missing is a story-line. Now that sometimes may be a good thing, but they should explain these matches as revenge of some sort or to get in line for contention at the Divas Title. One could only hope they are stalling for the debut of Awesome Kong... Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston Defeated Jack Swagger Although we have seen this match done numerous times in the past, these two can really work. Only if there was more time, it would have won Match of the Night. This should be the ending to their feud, as I see many possible opponents for Kingston's title on the horizon. Nonetheless, awesome match with many exciting spots. The Cutting Edge with Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero A great segment that helps build some more hype to the Royal Rumble in two weeks. These two have excellent in-ring and promo chemistry ,so building for the match will make the match worth watching, enjoyable and logical. Why would no one remember the wedding these two had three years ago? Oh yeah, the kids would. Anyways, it was nice revisiting history. I liked the "spear" tease for Vickie and the attack by Ziggler was well done. Ziggler has all the tools of becoming a break-out star in the WWE. Final Review A very enjoyable episode. The promos that occurred were either limited or meant something, and the matches were around average. Building hype for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view is a key factor in watching SmackDown, so that was also accomplished last night. Especially with this new Nexus faction, I for one am looking forward to the next edition of Friday Night SmackDown. Chris Masters and JTG defeated Curt Hawkins and Chvao Guerrero
I expected a decent contest at best, seeing how Hawkins and Guerrero at least have some chemistry. And I liked how at least someone remembered they were in La Familia together. Anyway, the match itself was meaningless and mediocre. Chris Masters and JTG were randomly thrown together, and neither are very good wrestlers. The wrong people went over here, as with the tag division in turmoil, Chavo and Curt would make a decent tag team. Burying them again dose nothing to help a very talented Hawkins. Gail Kim defeated Alicia Fox An excellent Divas contest. Josh hit it right on the button when he said Gail Kim was underrated, and hopefully she is soon put in the Divas Championship picture after the Natayla vs. Melina feud is over. Both of them hit a lot of good moves, so it wasn't like Kim was carrying Fox the entire time. Fox has come a long way from being a wedding planner to manager to champion. The win is good for Kim and I'm glad to see the fans cheering loudly (in my opinion) for her victory. As I've said in the last few weeks, it looks WWE is really starting to care about wrestling inthe Divas Division these days. Yoshi Tatsu, David Hart Smith, Darren Young and Primo defeated Zack Ryder, William Regal, and The Usos Without much competition, and the Divas contest close behind, this earns Match of the Night. It got great time, and it was a treat to see an eight-man tag team match on Superstars. It was good that everyone got some time in the ring, so that helped matters. But one question: when in the blue hell did Primo turn face? I'm going to get some criticism for this, but I think the wrong team went over here as I don't really like anyone on the face team. But there is a reason to that. Tatsu has no mic skills and will not break out despite all hype, DH Smith has no character, Darren Young still can't wrestle, and Primo just lost. However, Ryder deserves it as his character may be sloppy, but he can talk and wrestle. The Usos are in line for a tag team title match, and Regal, well I like him so he should be pushed before he leaves such as a program with Daniel Bryan. Final Review A decent show, but the hour went by fast. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but there was nothing that memorable about this show if at all. I am grateful, however, we had a special main event. the wrestling was pretty good overall, and this show didn't include any single jobbing matches. World Heavyweight Champion Edge def. Kane in a Last Man Standing Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
Similar to RAW, they did the right thing by having the World Title match open the show. It was a good match, and made sense to have it open the show with the Contenders match later in the show. Obviously, they could of done more, but it was still a decent Last Man Standing match with the stars involved. The ending was suspenseful, and some great spots were involved like the tremendous chokeslam through the table by Kane. It was the perfect ending to blow-off this less-than-stellar feud, and both can now move on to something fresh in the new year. Kofi Kingston def. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler (twice) to win the Intercontinental Championship Obviously, these two have met over a dozen times, but every time they do, it's the best match on the card. That wasn't the case tonight since the title contest was too short, but still an excellent match while it lasted. The crowd was super hot for Kofi's crossbody, and Ziggler sold it perfectly. It was huge surprise to see it win the match (in a good way), and cashing in the rematch clause immediately makes sense storyline wise for the future. Giving Kingston the title may seem like a step back, but he doesn't have enough momentum right now to go to main event. As for Ziggler, giving him the title was a good idea seeing that there was a lack of challengers with his incredible reign and that it was time for him to escalate to bigger things. Tyler Reks, Cody Rhodes Jack Swagger, and Curt Hawkins are four great challengers right off the bat for Kofi Kingston. Dolph Ziggler def. Cody Rhodes, Big Show, and Drew McIntyre to become the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship When I saw the match preview, I had no idea Ziggler would be entered into the contest. But even when I saw he did enter, I still had doubts he would win with the tremendous reversals and pinfalls in the match. The contest actually turned out to be really good, and Big Show played his part well. Carnage was everywhere, and the teamwork was played out well. The definite highlight was the three finishers taken by Big Show, where the suspense really sunk in. The clean finish was perfect. This win will do wonders for Ziggler, and becoming the contender against Edeg will put on a great match. Oh, did I forget to mention Wade Barrett's intervention? Former Nexus leader Wade Barrett intervened and attacked Big Show, thus starting a good feud between the two. They face off next week, and I'm very looking forward to Barrett's debut on the blue brand. Michelle McCool def. Kelly Kelly Yes, of course, the match was terrible. But the match wasn't the focal point here. After Kelly's loss to one-half of Lay-Cool, they attacked her brutally before Drew McIntyre came out to save her and further display his love interest. The part was still bad, since no one cares about either of them, and making this the only miss of the night. Alberto Del Rio def. Rey Mysterio in a Two-out-of-Three Count Falls Match With little debate this wins Match of the Night. The chemistry and history between these two has really clicks, and always put on a good match. However, the ending bothered me. I'm glad Del Rio won, but was it necessary to end this 5-month rivalry by count-out for the last fall? I really do not want this to continue, because I can't think of anything else that can top it. This gives great momentum to Alberto Del Rio going into the Royal Rumble, and hopefully a returning feud with Christian could only help him more before Wrestlemania. Final Review Without a doubt, this was a great episode. Moreover, this has been the best episode ofSmackdown in a long time and gave pay-per-view quality matches. We witnessed a new champion, new contender, World Title match, debut of a new superstar, and the culmination of two long rivalries. A really high note to start off 2011, and hopefully we see more episodes like this in the future. Tyler Reks def. JTG
Very boring contest, and I couldn't find myself to concentrate. We've seen this before and knows who is going to come out with the win, so why bother? The only real highlight of that match was at the end when JTG hit Reks with a nice reversal head-first in the turnbuckle... ouch! But the contest ended seconds later, so it was worthless. With Reks gaining so many wins over the last few weeks, is it time to expose him more to Smackdown and enter the Intercontinental Title angle? Chris Masters def. Curt Hawkins Mediocre match. Chris Masters, at this point, is a veteran tool that can be used to help escalate newer and better wrestlers. What is that called? Oh yea, a "jobber." The wrong man went over here, since Hawkins has a lot of potential and ability. Masters is argued to deserve an Intercontinental Championship because he's underused. Though that may be true, it's too late for that now. Besides, he's already lost to every heel onSmackdown, so how is he expected to put on a good match much less be a good champion? Yoshi Tatsu def. Zack Ryder Yet another mediocre match. We've seen this dozen of times, and nothing ever changes. They both are tremendous athletes, but it was predictable as was the logical finish. Now let me get to my next point: Why would they air a promo hyping Zack Ryder, and then have him lose? And then go on to air a promo for Yoshi Tatsu? Of the two, Zack Ryder is the better man who deserves to go over. Though he doesn't bring that much excitement to the WWE Universe as Tatsu, Ryder actually has mic skills and I could definitely see him as United States Champion. Tyson Kidd and Ted DiBiase (with Maryse) def. United States Champion Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry By far, this was the Match of the Night. Right when I thought of changing the channel (well the website, since I watch it on YouTube), this match impressed me while it was good. Every man in this match played a good role, and it's finally great to see a Superstar like U.S. Champion Daniel Bryan on Thursday Nights once in a while. It got good time, and was very glad to see Kidd get the pin on Bryan to pick up the victory for his team. This win helps both Dibiase and Kidd out of their slumps, and will now hopefully make a good feud with Bryan over the title. Great finish by the way. Final Review Very lackluster show, except for the main event. It didn't really feel like a chore this time around, but it did fail to impress. The hour went by quickly, and featured numerous re-matches that shouldn't have happened. However, I am proud we got a real champion on this show, so I hope WWE continues that aspect of the show in the course of 2011. |
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