Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, and Sheamus. Similar to last week, the opening segment on this edition of SmackDown felt jam-packed and overbooked. Sure, it provided nice hype for the Elimination Chamber match as well as WrestleMania, but none of the four Superstars involved had any real significant mic time since it felt rushed. Regardless, I did get a kick out of Cody Rhodes's jabs toward the Big Show. Throwaway match with The Great Khali dominating Jinder Mahal. I would have liked to see more from these two due to their history, but Khali is just way too limited in the ring. Although I'm not sure if it was piped in or not, his reaction from the crowd is at least getting better. I'm not looking forward to him in the Elimination Chamber match by any means. Typical Divas match that wasn't at all terrible, but its two-minute length made it feel meaningless. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix continues to establish herself as a dominant title-holder, which will do wonders when she eventually feuds with the returning Kharma. In the meantime, her rivalry with Tamina over the strap should be a nice place-holder. Great tag team match that saw Sheamus and Big Show defeat the team of Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. Everyone was able to get their respective time to shine, with an entertaining final moments of the bout. I've grown accustomed to Sheamus being booked as a monster face recently especially since he'll be headlining WrestleMania, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this marks the third loss for both Rhodes and Barrett in the last week.
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CM Punk takes out both Dolph Ziggler and The Miz. Solid segment to kick off the show featuring WWE COO Triple H address the cliffhanger from last week regarding John Laurinaitis as well as the return of the Undertaker. Originally, I was completely against the idea of another WrestleMania match between the two, but this promo certainly changed my mind to an extent. The Undertaker's video package was very well done and unique, making his vendetta against HHH something much different than anything we've seen before. I hope they keep this rivalry as exciting for the next two months going into Mania. Good match between World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Big Show while it lasted. The two tell a nice story in the ring, and the count-out finish is a smart move in preserving the feud and continuing the story with AJ. Everyone was great here, giving the SmackDown title picture some nice exposure. Quick squash match with Sheamus and David Otunga that didn't seem to serve much purpose. Since Sheamus is the 2012 Royal Rumble winner, I'd much rather see face more credible Superstars if he plans on headlining WrestleMania. Nonetheless, this bout was harmless and also established Otunga as somewhat of a mini-threat with the minimal offense he received on the Celtic Warrior. Excellent promo from Chris Jericho that finally explained his motive for coming back to the WWE, while also targeting WWE Champion CM Punk as his poser. Obviously, I've been waiting for Jericho to address this for a long time now (dating back to last summer), so I personally got great enjoyment out of his usual awesome mic work here. I'm glad Punk didn't even speak a word realizing that it's a major segment that can be saved for a later date down the line, so that was a nice foreshadowing of what's to come. Meaningless tag team match with Randy Orton and The Great Khali defeating Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. Although I do realize that it was done in order to hype the SmackDown Elimination Chamber, no one really got anything out of this whatsoever. Firstly, Khali should be by no means in the ring, much less dominating future World Champions. Secondly, the tension between Khali and Orton was the only positive aspect to the bout, with the Viper delivering and RKO to the Punjabi Playboy soon after. Randy Orton glares at World Champion Daniel Bryan. Decent segment to kick off the show, but it felt like too much was going on to really enjoy it. I'm glad they announced the participants of the Elimination Chamber, but removing Mark Henry from the match moments later felt pointless. To make matters worse, they made him look weak on the way out due to his "suspension" by having him take a beating from Sheamus. Not the best way to start the night by any means. Great match between Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and Sheamus, but it was quite predictable the Celtic Warrior was going over. Rhodes can take the loss, so it wasn't a shocker since Sheamus just won the Royal Rumble match. Nonetheless, it didn't take away from the action and it was enjoyable for the time it lasted. On a side note, why are the commentators saying that the Celtic Cross that Sheamus used as his finisher is a maneuver they've never seen before? How typical. Originally, I thought Cody Rhodes attacking Justin Gabriel meant the continuation of the feud between the two, but instead it looked to set up the return of the Great Khali to SmackDown, signaling a feud between him and Rhodes in the near future. I've never been a supporter of Khali, and he received little to no reaction when he came out. Pairing him with Rhodes in a rivalry won't do anyone any favors. Brief tag team match between WWE Tag Team Champions Primo and Epico and the team of Santino Marella and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Sure, Hacksaw was fun in his return to the ring, but he didn't make this bout all that entertaining. Primo and Epico need serious contenders for the straps if they want to be known as credible champions. |
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