PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISMENTS – LOOKING AT SMACKDOWN 12/16/11

What the goals for Smackdown should be this week?
•TLC Hype. It’s going to be repetitive, but the goal of this business is to get people to buy pay per views.
•Booker T returns to the ring on pay per view. In the spring last year WWE randomly gave a Booker T match away unadvertised against Jack Swagger on Raw. This time they are doing it right and promote it as best you can. The key is making Booker T and his quest for the Intercontinental title to feel as special as possible
•Mark Henry and Big Show. Hopefully this is the final chapter in this compelling program. They could take this to the Royal Rumble by giving Big Show the title on Sunday, but I don’ t think that is a smart idea
•Ted Dibiase’s push. They’ve been consistent with this for a few weeks now and no reason not to keep it going
•Randy Orton-Wade Barrett. This program seems a bit forced to me, but hopefully they can make it feel important tonight
•Sheamus. Get him away from Hornswoggle
Show Breakdown

1. It’s tough times for Vince McMahon, he just has become so burnt out that he just can’t resist having his lead announcer bury his babyface as we start out with Michael Cole calling Zack Ryder a goof.

2. Smart start to Smackdown with Josh interviewing Booker T in the ring about his return to active competition. This is going out of their way to make that match feel special.

3. I enjoy Cody’s theme song and his overall aura to me screams superstar. I don’t think he needs Booker to “legitimize” him, but it doesn’t hurt.

4. I realize that this is what wrestling is in 2011, but honesty Booker sits in the ring seething while Cody just tears him down, I figure at some point he’d have enough and blitz Cody.

5. Well Booker says he should beat Cody’s ass, but he didn’t and Cody just kept talking. Now WWE Creative has gotten involved and Cody is talking about facing Daniel Bryan without Booker being allowed to interfere or face suspension. Why would the heel request a match with the money in the bank winner? Oh that’s right, because Daniel Bryan means nothing.

6. Booker isn’t allowed to interfere in the match, but the match hasn’t started so why doesn’t he attack since Cody is now in the ring with him? I guess that’s not creative enough

7. Cody needs to lose the laugh, but the end of his promo was smart noting that he’s going to show Booker how legitimate he already is.

8. At least Daniel Bryan still has the taped ribs to justify his continual losing, let’s see if the announcers make mention of it.

9. The commentary is annoying as per usual, but I can at least put up with it, because one of the guys involved in the commentary has a title match this Sunday. I should point out that I like the touch of Josh and Booker earlier talking about what happens if Booker wins the title and does that mean he’s coming out of retirement full time.  I also like the follow up with Cole on commentary and Booker saying he’ll defend the belt when necessary if he wins.

10. Daniel Bryan treated like Yoshi Tatsu in this match. I don’t think the announcers brought his taped ribs up, because I don’t recall hearing it and even if they did, since I don’t recall them mentioning it that would say to me that they didn’t stress it enough.

11. So Cody Rhodes easily dispatches of Daniel Bryan, but the lowly announcer Booker T is a threat, only in The Bubble could that logic work.

12. This overall segment was great hype for Cody and Booker, which was a major plus

13. A nitpick but that music they use for the divas before they fade out for a commercial is overproduction issue 101. The company is too slick for their own good, it’s too much of a machine so to speak and that is most evident with the choreographed diva segments.

14. Why do they constantly have Natalya lose in one minute? At least this week they didn’t act like it was an upset. I sometimes feel like the divas are around for no other reason than for the old men backstage to have pretty girls to look at.

15. Is Natalya getting released? She loses in one minute and then gets treated like Brock Lesnar taking the stunner at Wrestlemania 20 from Steve Austin after the match. Alicia Fox barely hits her moves right after the match and kills Natalya with it. Alicia’s got alot more charisma than Kelly or Eve, but treat the girls who know their craft better than this. I’d have no issue with Fox getting the better of Natalya if they gave the match some time and it was leading to promoted Alicia vs Beth match. I wouldn’t be shocked if they give us that match unadvertised at TLC, but then again Kelly is always beating Beth on Raw so maybe she’ll get her umpteenth title shot.

16. Why are they showing this pipe bomb of the year award video package again? Does WWE Creative need to pat themselves on the back for all their horrific one liners this year? How about dedicating a video package to a TLC match. This company is so out in space.

17. WWE just doesn’t get it. I appreciate the logic behind the Jack Swagger-Mark Henry segment, but you’ve treated Swagger like a joke for months now, why all of a sudden would we assume he is a serious threat to the Big Show? That being said the way Swagger held his ground with Mark Henry showed me that perhaps one of Swagger’s strengths would be portraying him as a bad ass wrestling machine similar to the Kurt Angle character as oppose to the comedy figure sidekick of Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero.

18. The WWE has some nice tag teams if they invested any time into character development. The Usos are the sons of Rikishi; let’s see a video package or some promo packages with them talking about their lives growing up. I guess that’s too sports oriented for WWE.

19. Finally Rosa Mendes being used to her best ability. This is fine for her, Primo and Epico, but I would have preferred her with Alberto Del Rio.

20. Nice of Josh to tell us why Rosa has aligned herself with Primo and Epico, I don’t buy the story and the effort is weak, but this is WWE Creative so I guess we just take what they give us.

21. The Rosa Mendes dancing post match was a pleasant sight to see, but of course.

22. How long do Rosa, Primo and Epico stay together?

23. Well you can’t say WWE isn’t trying by showing us the video clip from 2010 of Swagger taking out Big Show, but to me it isn’t enough after Swagger has been jobbing left, right and center lately.

24. WWE had it backwards earlier in the night with Cody Rhodes the heel wanting a match with Daniel Bryan and they have it backwards again with Mark Henry the heel World Champion still selling a leg injury going into a title match with his babyface challenger who is a giant.

25. Let’s break this down. I appreciate the overlying objective of what WWE was trying to do tonight in two similar situations. They had Cody Rhodes beat Daniel Bryan to build up his match with Booker T and they had Big Show beat Jack Swagger to showcase him for the Mark Henry match. My issue is you tried to tell us Jack Swagger was a threat, but he got minimal offense in against Big Show and we all know about Daniel Bryan and being fodder to build something else up. This to me is short sighted thinking, you have other guys you can put in these scenarios other than Swagger or Daniel Bryan, both of whom you might want to make use of down the line. WWE is so arrogant in assuming their audience is forgetful and if Swagger and Bryan don’t get over later when WWE wants to push them, well who will take the blame?

26. Swagger now getting the Natalya treatment after the match. I guess he can complain about it later with Dolph who got put through a table post match last week on Smackdown...yeah I don’t think that’s brought up again either.

27. I like the drama and intensity between Big Show and Mark Henry as I always have, but after Henry hits the camera man with a chair, why does Big Show stand in the ring and say “Mark is that necessary? You’re a coward”. Mark Henry is limping and he’s not too far away, step over that rope and just go after him and have a pull apart. WWE just loves having people do verbal exchanges that end in stare downs and I understand that plays to WWE Creative’s strength of scripting everyone, but it’s beyond predictable. Not every segment has to end with an intense stare down.

28. WWE would be alot better off having Randy Orton endorse Zack Ryder rather than John Cena, but I guess that’s more of using Ryder to get Cena cheered.

29. Finally they show us footage of the Dibiase posse parties!

30. The most overall productive segment on Smackdown tonight. Dibiase keeps up his win streak, Mahal attacks after the match and that is called building to a future match. Yes Ted Dibiase vs Heath Slater with a post match run in from Jinder Mahal has been the most productive thing on the show, of course that will all go to waste when Sheamus destroys him next.

31. Well I stand corrected as Sheamus didn’t squash Mahal that being said what’s the point of building a Mahal-Dibiase match if Mahal is going to lose clean to Sheamus. WWE has totally forgotten how to build storylines. It’s just an amazing thing what they attempt to pass off for compelling storytelling in 2011. At least Hornswoggle wasn’t there to bring Sheamus down.

32. Why are we getting another video package on Slammys Raw? Was this a show WWE was proud of? Video package on TLC would probably at least earn you a few more buys, but WWE’s too far off the pulse to recognize the importance of that. I guess I should have remembered that Raw ended with Kane’s return as oppose to a closing segment to hype TLC so it only makes sense that they give us an extended video package on the entire show. They couldn’t just show us the part where Kane comes out and attacks Cena? WWE really needs someone who understands how to maximize television time working for this company.  

33. So now that Kane is doing the evil laugh again, does that mean Cody will finally get rid of his?

34. I like the usage of WWE 12 to help promote pay per view matches.

35. Well its main event time so I guess that means no full card rundown for the pay per view, what a surprise.

36. I like the viral videos and again I stick with it being Chris Jericho especially with the static leading in and closing out the videos.

37. What really stands out in this main event match is the total lack of calling the action by the commentators.

38. Interesting to see Cole mention that Ziggler has had some of the best matches in WWE in recent months that being said how much does it mean when a heel commentator compliments another heel, but it’s done in his lead commentator voice.  I don’t think it means much; you can’t play multiple personalities with your lead announcer.

39. Ziggler loses to Orton again, but what can you do. He wins on Raw this week, he loses on Smackdown. Same story, different day.

40. Another stare down to end the show, they completed the hattrick.

What did this week’s Smackdown accomplish?
The Good
•Smackdown had three matches to promote for TLC and they did a nice job of promoting all three of them
•Booker T’s return to the ring. They didn’t give us a video package on Booker, but they did do an in ring segment and talked throughout the entire Cody-Bryan match about Booker’s return so they made it feel important
•Ted Dibiase continues his winning streak and the feud with Jinder continues. The most basic pro wrestling segment on the show was Dibiase-Slater and Jinder Mahal attacking Dibiase post match
•This only gets put in the good column, because they didn’t have Hornswoggle anywhere near Sheamus tonight
•Rosa Mendes, Epico and Primo. I like this combination and hopefully they remain together and remain on television (Note, not on Superstars and NXT)
•The video clip from MITB 2010 of Jack Swagger taking out Big Show. What a beautiful touch to show us that. Words only do so much, give us the visual and perhaps will buy into it
•The quality of wrestling on the show was good tonight as it is every Smackdown, but I usually forget to mention it
The Bad
•Predictability. WWE does what I want them to do, they give me some TLC hype, but they end each segment the same way with the intense stare down. I understand you don’t want the guys touching each other before the pay per view, but there are other ways to get around that. For example in the first segment how about Cody continues to attack Daniel Bryan after the match and Booker runs into the ring to make the save and gets some offense on Cody before Cody bails and then do the stare down. Or if you don’t want them to touch, Booker hits the ring and Cody bails and maybe Booker holds up the title. In the Big Show-Mark Henry segment, Henry hits a member of the production crew with a chair and Big Show is calling him a coward, but all he had to do was step over the top rope and give chase and I’m pretty sure he would have caught Mark Henry who was limping and then you turn that into a pull apart. Finally in the third segment you can do the basic stare down and fade out with Orton and Barrett. I guess I should resist complaining since it was TLC promotion, but there was no creativity to anything they did in these segments that being said if I asked them to be creative, it would probably be even worse
•The divas segment. This was a fine segment if Natalya and Alicia actually had a match, but instead it’s a one minute victory and Natalya comes back afterwards to get further buried and takes an ugly looking finisher from Alicia. In addition to Kelly slapping Beth on Raw and Beth and Natalya backing off, this Pinup Strong team sure is looking dominate. I wouldn’t be shocked in the least to see an unadvertised Beth-Alicia or Beth-Kelly match at the pay per view
•Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and Natalya. This was only meant for Jack, Dolph and Daniel, but Natalya fits in as well and the key here is how short sighted WWE is being. Four talented performers who WWE will likely want to do something with down the road should not be treated as fodder. You have fodder guys that you put on Superstars, put them in these roles. There is no reason for your Smackdown MITB winner to always be losing and your commentators don’t even mention that he’s still hurting from a previous match. You ask us to take Jack Swagger seriously as a threat to Big Show yet you’ve jobbed him out consistently over the last couple months and Dolph Ziggler, the man who has had some of the best matches in WWE in recent months according to your heel, lead play by play announcer loses on every other show. I understand people have to lose, but these are the wrong people losing and then when you want them to mean something they don’t as Jack Swagger showed us tonight.
•Sheamus-Jinder Mahal. WWE did everything right in the Dibiase-Slater-Mahal segment. They continued to build a nice minor program and then they beat the heel clean in the next match. Is it any wonder guys like Bret hart and Dave Batista are speaking out against the current product?
•Slammy video packages. This stuff was useless. I didn’t mind the Slammy show as much as most people, but you could have cut those packages down to showing Snooki (You know WWE marks out for the celebrities so I’ll give them that) and Kane returning and focused more time on TLC promotion
•TLC Card run down. It is unacceptable for WWE not to be doing a segment dedicated to running down the entire TLC card. It’s like Vince McMahon is ashamed of being a promoter now so he refuses to do this, but the full card run down gives importance to every match and on this card you have six matches that all have decent builds as well. You did a great opening segment to remind us that Booker T is returning to the ring against Cody to go after the IC Title, but would it have hurt at the end of the show to mention that one more time? That’s what a card run down is for.
What needs to happen next week on Smackdown?
•Let’s establish a new challenger for Mark Henry. I feel this program is done and I really hope Big Show isn’t getting the title at TLC, but they are playing up that Henry is hurt so it wouldn’t surprise me if they go down that road
•Daniel Bryan – Is this man on the Road to Wrestlemania or the Road to a Hardcore Holly like title shot at the Royal Rumble. The way they keep destroying him, I really wonder if he’s cashing in against Henry at the Royal Rumble. Either way this man needs some resuscitation immediately
TLC Predictions
I’ve decided to add this to my Smackdown columns on pay per view weeks so I’ll provide some quick thoughts on the matches and where I think they need to go with them
Punk-Miz-Del Rio – Punk wins here probably pinning Del Rio and perhaps leading to Punk-Miz one on one at the Royal Rumble. Although with Truth likely coming back in the picture, I wouldn’t mind seeing Dolph drop the US Title to Ryder and then move into a program with Punk for the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber pay per views.
Henry-Show – Henry needs the win here. Show seems to get the better of Mark, week in and week out so Henry should win here in my book.
Nash-Triple H – Triple H wins and see you later Big Kev. If Nash looks passable against Hunter, I’m not opposed to the idea of having him go off television for six weeks and return as a surprise in the Royal Rumble and then build to that Wrestlemania match he wants with Big Show especially if they play off their WCW history.
Orton-Barrett – This would be an interesting match to have Barrett win since Randy doesn’t need to get pinned, but Randy has also been doing alot of jobs lately. I say Randy wins and Wade becomes even more violent as this feud continues.
Ryder-Ziggler – They need to give the belt to Ryder here so much so that I can see them not doing it to spite the fans. I really hope John Cena isn’t there to help Zack win so WWE can feel like they’ve manipulated the audience again, because they are cheering a Zack Ryder title win and then telling us the fans are cheering John Cena. My hope is that Ryder wins and Ziggler moves on to bigger things.
Rhodes-Booker – I assume Rhodes goes over here, but part of me suspects that this isn’t a one and done program.
F: revinsamuel@rogers.com