PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR SMACKDOWN 4/6/12

SMACKDOWN - 06/04/2012
What needs to be accomplished on Smackdown?
•Raw was really able to keep WWE’s momentum going following Wrestlemania and now it is Smackdown’s job to continue that momentum. I’ve heard from a few casual fans who have told me they are slowly getting back into the product, I don’t buy what they are saying, but if WWE can keep up a quality product for a significant amount of time perhaps that will translate to more viewers
•In case you didn’t know, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE this past Monday and I hope Smackdown tries to hype what’s next as it regards Lesnar and Cena for Raw
•What’s the next step for Daniel Bryan?
•John Laurinaitis is in charge of Smackdown now. Is Teddy Long gone? Obviously Laurinaitis has to address the power shift, but I hope it isn’t the focus of the show
•Sheamus’s title reign got off to a rocky start on Raw. I really hope WWE handles his push with care and doesn’t end up turning him into John Cena version 2.0
Show Breakdown

1. Good to see the nod to Chief Jay Strongbow.

2. I don’t like that Smackdown starts with a graphic for Laurinaitis over the fact that there is a NEW World Champion.

3. I like that Teddy addressed why he came to the show.

4. Pretty useless segment with Laurinaitis and Teddy, but they had to address the power shift. Hopefully that’s the last of it.

5. Two of my favorite characters in WWE right now are David Otunga and Mark Henry. Hopefully the introduction of AW doesn’t hinder Mark Henry. I’m also a little scared that Mark might become Brock’s first victim.

6. Truth needs to get rid of this Little Jimmy character it has totally slowed down any momentum he had.

7. I like the storyline consistency with Booker T being summoned for a closed door meeting since he did support Team Teddy at Wrestlemania.

8. Nothing match with Truth-Henry and Otunga.

9. I’m still not sure why WWE had Kane beat Orton clean at Wrestlemania

10. This Orton-Kane match was alot better than their Wrestlemania match and the right guy went over! Hopefully Randy can get out of this feud and move on to something else. He might benefit from a jump to the Raw brand.

11. Were almost half way through the show and finally the announcers acknowledge the new World Champion.

12. I’m not sure if Sheamus getting these cheap shot brogue kicks in are going to help his cause as a babyface.

13. Wow Ryback is way too big. Vince McMahon must have been drooling in the back.

14. Gorgeous segment with Bryan and AJ. I hope that this eventually leads to AJ turning heel and helping Bryan regain the title, but I doubt that’s where they are going. Bryan is just phenomenal on the mic and hopefully WWE realizes what they have in him.

15. I was really hoping the Show-Rhodes feud was over. Cody needs to get out of this program.

16. Good to see a recap of the WWE Title feud from Raw with Chris Jericho and CM Punk

17. More good storyline consistency with Laurinaitis punishing Nikki Bella for being on Team Teddy, while giving Brie the night off. The Sheamus scripted verbiage talking about his cousins and arses doesn’t help his babyface character. This is the issue when you have writers writing a wrestling show,  it becomes more about the writers and how they want to present the character rather than weather the guy can pull it off and if it’s translating with the audience.

18. Classy video package for Chief Jay Strongbow.

19. I hope WWE isn’t planning on starting a Beth Phoenix losing streak storyline. Also I don’t need to relive the Kelly-Beth feud. Shake things up. I believe there is a certain former flawless diva ready to come back. I think she would be much fresher in a feud with Beth, but hey not being the prototypical blonde Barbie Doll might not be up to standard for The Bubble.

20. I didn’t like the introductory vignette for Damien Sandow. What he was saying was in one ear and out the other.

21. Great video package on the return of Brock. I think it would be awesome if the Three Stooges were in the ring on Monday bombing with bad comedy and then Brock hit the ring and gave them all F5’s.

22. Boring match with Alberto and Sheamus. Sheamus taking out the ref and hitting guys before they are ready has me wondering if they are doing a slow heel turn with him. Who knows...

What this show accomplished?
The Good
•John Laurinaitis addresses the power shift change and we now know that Teddy Long will remain as a character
•Daniel Bryan remains an important character with a great promo segment with AJ
•Good hype video noting the landscape change with the return of Brock Lesnar
•Nikki Bella, Booker T and R-Truth are or are going to be punished for being on Team Teddy. Storyline consistency always works for me
The Bad
•Sheamus title reign continues to have no momentum. It will be interesting to see if he can pick up steam and this is just the Wrestlemania crowd that is holding him back. Are they planting seeds for a heel turn? All I know is that for week having the title has been a hindrance to Sheamus. The material they give him for promos isn’t helping matters
•Cody Rhodes-Big Show/Randy-Kane. I’m grouping these two together because both these programs need to end. WWE did a nice job of book ending the Cody-Big Show feud on Raw. The stare down tonight tells me we are continuing down this road and that isn’t good news for Cody Rhodes. WWE could be making a much better use of Randy Orton right now helping any number of different acts
•Ryback and Damien Sandow. I didn’t like either of these debuts. I think Ryback’s body type is so played out in 2012 and the fans just don’t buy it or relate to a guy like this. Damien Sandow’s vignette reminded me of the Johnny Curtis vignettes before he was totally buried. Way too much verbiage for a guy we don’t care about. Will see where it goes, but for week one I wasn’t impressed
•Kelly Kelly-Beth Phoenix feud. I don’t want to see this one again and I don’t like the idea of putting the most dominant diva on a losing streak. Hopefully as Michael Cole said on commentary that it was just a bad Wrestlemania week for Beth Phoenix and not a sign of things to come
Overall Thoughts
•This show was not what it needed to be for the first Smackdown out of Wrestlemania. Smackdown needs  to almost flip everything they are doing and inject some fresh storylines. Cody-Show, Randy-Kane, Kelly-Beth are already stale. The new characters didn’t get off to hot start and Sheamus-Del Rio didn’t get off to the best start. Thankfully Daniel Bryan is still doing great work, but it will be interesting to see if they have him cash in his rematch clause and lose so they can move him out of the way. WWE has done this type of storyline with Teddy Long before so hopefully they don’t recycle the exact same bit, but I don’t have much faith.
What this show needs to accomplish next week?
•Freshen things up. I hate to use this word when it comes to WWE, but more creativity.
•Get some matches in place for Extreme Rules
Feedback: revinsamuel@rogers.com