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GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 3/16/12 SMACKDOWN

SMACKDOWN - 16/03/2012
What needs to be accomplished on this week’s Smackdown?
•Bryan and Sheamus. The build has been average at best for this match. Last week’s face to face was good in concept but underwhelming in delivery. I really hope WWE goes away from the predictable route of Bryan treating AJ like trash and her eventually seeing the light. I’d like to see her go heel with him as I love their dynamic together. Anyways for tonight I really want to see Bryan take Sheamus out
•The official announcement for Orton and Kane. WWE has done a great job of getting all the matches announced far in advance and I believe this will be the last one to be announced
•More participants announced in the Long-Laurinaitis match
•Video packages. WWE has done a stellar job with these so I have no doubt it keeps up tonight and it needs to for the two top matches at Wrestlemania. I’m enjoying Undertaker-Triple H program, but I still feel like something is missing and these video packages really help enhance the matches even further
Show Breakdown

1. Good to see the return of Christian, one of my all time favorite performers

2. Did Michael Cole just call David Otunga “unbelievable”? I guess he’s a heel announcer so it works. I never thought I’d have such an issue with a hot chick, but once again let me state my distain for the Aksana character and I’m starting to dislike Teddy because he’s only good in small doses and of course because I have to see Aksana every time I see Teddy.

3. Good opening segment and we found out the third member of John Laurinaitis team. Christian is just phenomenal on the mic. Loved the added touch of John holding up Christian’s t-shirt like he just drafted him.

4. Kofi confirmed for Teddy’s team so that makes three participants announced per team. I’d announce two more on Raw for Ace and two more on Smackdown for Teddy before announcing Del Rio and perhaps Rey (if he’s able) as the final two on the go home Raw before Wrestlemania.

5. Fun match with Kofi and Otunga in his slacks. These Laurinaitis and Teddy segments are really turning into Vince Russo type television the way so much is happening in them, but as I said before I don’t mind one of those types of segments per show.

6. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, I really love the dynamic between AJ and Bryan and that backstage segment proved that they continue to be gold together. Bonus for Bryan having his own entrance as the World Champion to stand in AJ’s corner.

7. When are the Bellas going to stop with these outfits, they are just awful.

8. I don’t suppose anyone on commentary will remember when the Bella Twins were chasing Bryan?

9. Booker T making a fool of himself on commentary. It’s sometimes fun to have a commentator who is a goof, but Booker is just an idiot.  

10. Bryan’s celebrate post match for AJ’s win is just fantastic. Bryan is on absolute fire...Booker on the other hand is as cold as ever.

11. Sheamus vs Jericho should have been promoted on Raw. Maybe it was and I missed it, but who knows.

12. I really like this Flo Rida song, “Wild Ones”, WWE has been using as Rock’s anthem for this match with Cena.

13. Great video package on Rock and Cena from this past Monday, although way more emphasis on Rock’s concert than Cena’s rap, but I guess the rap was alot shorter.

14. Michael Cole used the word attitudinal over and over again on Monday and on Smackdown right after that video package we have Josh Mathews using it as well and that’s just lame. It comes off way too overproduced and over scripted when you have two announcer s using the same weird word that you know wouldn’t happen otherwise.

15. Good to see the plug for next Monday’s Raw and Cena vs Henry. I wish WWE would do this type of synergy throughout the year and not just during Wrestlemania season.

16. Smart use of Khali here as a way to show that Cody can take down a giant.

17. So Kane remembers a match in which he shook Randy Orton’s hand after a loss, but not being taken out for several months by Mark Henry? I guess it at least gave these two a reason to be feuding and linked it back to a storyline from last year, which I always appreciate!

18. So Kane says the WWE isn’t big enough for both he and Randy? Does that line mean anything? Perhaps the upcoming end of Kane’s career at Wrestlemania or Extreme Rules.? He’s been a great soldier and talent for WWE, but if there is one guy I’m ready to see call it a career it’s Kane.

19. The David Otunga Law Offices commercials are great. I’m a fan!

20. So they end the firing storyline with Drew McIntyre just to continue to have him get squashed. This is the type of stuff where I say to myself the product is more about entertaining The Bubble than the audience.

21. This is how you use Mark Henry! Hopefully they don’t sink him completely on Monday against Cena.

22. Interesting that they put Ryder’s video petitioning to be on Team Teddy. It wouldn’t shock me now if he didn’t get on Team Teddy so WWE Creative can bury him even further.

23. Great promo from Chris Jericho.

24. Nice match between Jericho and Sheamus and finally they put some more juice between Bryan and Sheamus. I didn’t really care for Sheamus laying Jericho out after the match. There was no need for it and that’s the type of stuff that always makes me think there are certain forces in the company who don’t really care for Jericho. Although I’m sure Chris has no issues doing that type of stuff and has the confidence in himself to not be hurt by it.

What this show accomplished?
The Good
•Bryan takes out Sheamus. It was the first goal I listed and I’m glad they got around to putting more behind this story
•Chris Jericho. Strong promo from Jericho and he made the Punk with his alcoholic father theme work. Jericho dropping the “pipe bomb” at the end worked, but would have worked alot better if Michael Cole hadn’t turned that word corporate
•Daniel Bryan and AJ. I continue to love their dynamic and really hope they aren’t headed towards a breakup anytime soon
•Mark Henry continues to dominate
•The Peep Show. Christian was back and he is one of my favorites and didn’t disappoint. I really like his injection into the Laurinaitis-Teddy storyline
•Randy Orton and Kane. The feud is forced no question about it, but they gave it a good shot in trying to link it together through a story from last summer when Kane shook Orton’s hand after Orton beat him. I can always applaud the effort when you link stories together from years gone by
•The use of Great Khali. Fantastic use of Khali (never thought I’d say that) having him be the stepping stone to prove that Cody can slay the giant
•Promoting Raw. WWE has done a good job during Wrestlemania season of promoting things happening on Raw and Smackdown and this week’s Smackdown did another good job of promoting the two things set for Raw in John Cena vs Mark Henry and the confrontation between Hunter, HBK and Undertaker
The Bad
•The Bellas outfits. I hate those outfits. WWE micromanages so much of the product and someone needs to tell them to stop wearing that attire!
•Booker T’s commentary. Booker’s commentary was worse than usual especially during the AJ-Bella match
•Drew McIntyre story. I don’t get the usage of Drew. You finish the fire him storyline and he continues to just be used as a jobber. That isn’t progress!
•Video Packages. I didn’t think the video packages were as emphasized this week. The Rock and Cena one was great, but really too focused on Rock. I really wonder if they wouldn’t have been better showing training footage or something. I don’t even recall seeing a video package for Taker, Shawn and Hunter, but perhaps I was out of the room.
Overall Thoughts
•I liked this show. My faults with the show were minor and I liked the consistent hype for Wrestlemania. WWE has two more weeks till Wrestlemania and I think it’s really time to put the pedal to the medal, because I’m not fully in the zone for Wrestlemania yet, but the hype has been there.
What needs to be accomplished on next week’s show?
•Awesome promo work. It’s time for some outstanding promo work and not what we saw tonight from Orton and Kane. I wouldn’t mind seeing the old contract signing segment for Bryan and Sheamus. More good stuff from Rhodes and Big Show as well. Randy Orton and Kane should go back to brawling; they don’t to speak any further. I like the story of Teddy and Johnny, because they seem to get it out of the way at the beginning of the show and I hope that trend continues next week. As I said in my report, I would want ten guys announced by the end of next week’s Smackdown leading to the final two for each team being named on the go home Raw
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