LOOKING AT THE GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THIS WEEK'S SMACKDOWN
By Revin Samuels on 6/25/2012 12:12 AM
SMACKDOWN - 22/06/2012 Email: revinsamuel@rogers.com
Before I start I wanted to give some comments on the new NXT, which I caught this week here in Canada.
I thought the vignette they did for this new tag team of the Ascension was great. Some might have seen it as overproduced and too slick, but I thought it was perfect and the gimmick fits right in with the vampire and wear wolf craze that the younger demographic loves. I’m not sure if WWE Creative could pull this off without making it too hokey, but I think it might be able to work.
Tyson Kidd-Mike Mcgillicutty was a good match, although I’m not sure why they haven’t changed McGillicutty’s name since they are referencing that he is the son of Mr. Perfect. I also like the video features they did on Bo Dallas and Seth Rollins. Finally the commentary of JR and Mr. Regal was a refreshing change of pace. Regal is especially great from a viewer like myself who hasn’t heard him all that much.
What this show needs to accomplish?
•While the Raw Rating has been up the last few weeks, the Smackdown rating continues to be on the decline and the goal for Smackdown should be to get that number back up to a 1.9-2.1 range. I think one of the issues on Smackdown is that the show is planned out with a very predictable format and that needs to change hopefully starting this week
•In addition to Smackdown having a predictable format they have anywhere from three-five guys depending on the week in treading water matches with no character or storyline development. I don’t have an issue with squash matches as long as there are stories to tell. Right now WWE isn’t telling any stories with Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro, or Sin Cara. They appear to have started a storyline with The Primetime Players, but the audience has no reason to believe WWE will keep this up. The Ryback thing is okay, but I’m not sure it’s catching on with the audience
•PPV hype. WWE spent Monday’s Raw wrapping up the John Laurinaitis storyline and plugging Raw 1000. I am not sure if they even mentioned Money in the Bank and hopefully it gets some promotion time on Smackdown tonight
Show Breakdown
- Sheamus vs Ziggler again? That’s refreshing
- Of course we open up with a promo...double refreshing
- Two good things out of this Big Show promo and that is focus on the WWE Title and the ppv by announcing his participation in MITB.
- I like the intensity of Brodus as he hits the ring and it’s good that WWE used logic in that Big Show on Smackdown means Brodus can confront him.
- Big Show took a hell of a bump for Brodus’s head butt to the stomach.
- I’m not sure why the Otunga-Clay feud must continue.
- A “You can’t wrestle” chant for the Big Show, lol. Great crowd.
- Clay-Show could be a good feud and great for Brodus in that he gets a rub from working with Big Show, but instead everyone is slotted and Clay will feud with David Otunga.
- Watching Otunga dance, it’s clear someone in WWE creative has an erection for the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Carlton Banks.
- The Ryback continues to do the same thing. I think the crowd is into it, but it’s time to put this guy in the ring with higher caliber talent. I like The Ryback sign in the front row...I’m betting that was planted, smart move if it was.
- “Don’t you have some sushi to go eat” – Vickie. “You are ugly like an old witch” – Yoshi Tatsu. WOW. In 2012 this is the material they come up with and then they follow it up with Great Khali dancing. These are the small details that continue to hold WWE back.
- Daniel Bryan’s Raw Flashback moment was a great one. WWE went all the way back to the start of Raw and highlighted the fantastic Jannetty-Michaels match. Of course Bryan’s favorite Raw moment should be the Raw after Wrestlemania this year, but he’s a heel and it’s always good to pay homage to history in a good way.
- Great work in this Christian-Del Rio match. I don’t understand why Del Rio is beating the IC Champ, but that’s WWE.
- Slotted Rhodes has lost twice to Christian now, but for some reason this feud must continue.
- Cool video package on the AJ love triangle storyline.
- Another twist in the AJ sage. This outcome would lead you to believe that she likes Punk better than Kane, but Kane better than Bryan? Lots of questions, which can be a good thing.
- They couldn’t give Long Island the hometown boy, Zack Ryder, but they give it to Baltimore? This company...
- Thank God Ryder was able to beat Slater after all the burying of Slater in the last few weeks.
- I have to admit I’m a fan of the Primetime Players, I hope the push remains consistent this time. AW doesn’t do much for me, but maybe he’ll grow on me.
- I can’t believe I’m watching a preview for No Holds Barred.
- Did I just see a backstage pull apart brawl between two lower card tag teams? Could WWE finally be giving attention to some lower tier acts?
- What a garbage segment with Santino. I guess that’s what classifies for entertainment.
- Sheamus and Ziggler was a World Title match at the pay per view not six days ago and WWE is giving the match away for free on Smackdown. This company should not get the viewers into the habit of believing this will be a regular thing, which quite frankly it is!
- Good match, but I think we get it at this point, Sheamus has Dolph’s number. Move on Creative.
What this Smackdown accomplished?The Good• Good wrestling. I enjoyed the Christian-Del Rio and Ziggler-Sheamus outing• Opening segment. A solid segment. Big Show’s promo was a spot on heel promo. He buried the crowd, he put over the title and the pay per view, while also selling huge for an up and coming babyface• The crowd. Another great crowd who were into putting together some funny chants. I was especially amused by the “You can’t wrestle” chant directed at Big Show• AJ-Bryan-Kane. More questions to be asked following this match. This week we’ve seen AJ help Punk retain his title and then kelp Kane defeat Bryan. What does all this mean? Tune in next week• Raw flashback segment. This was one of the better flashback segments they’ve done. I enjoyed the one on Raw with Lawler highlighting Steve Austin dressing up as a doctor to attack Vince McMahon in the hospital, but we’ve seen that clip so many times. Tonight they highlighted something we don’t see spotlighted all that much in the Jannetty-Michaels match from 1993•Pull apart brawl. WWE stepped out of their comfort zone and did a backstage pull apart brawl and they did it with four lower tier talents. I like that and I hope they continue to focus on these talents going forward. The lack of reaction all these guys got at No Way Out hopefully sent a message that we haven’t done right by these guys and not that these guys can’t get over•The Ryback. The crowd appears to be getting more and more into Ryback, at least this crowd was•Ryder gets a win! Always a plus when Zack can pick up a quick victory even if it was over Heath Slater•WWE once again began the show with a formulaic promo segment, but they did move away from three or four treading water matches. The Ryback match was the only squash on the show and every other segment from Ryder-Slater and Foley to The Primetime Players vs The Usos seemed to have a purposeThe Bad•Slotted Rhodes continues to be slotted. Why is the Slotted Rhodes-Christian feud continuing after Christian has beaten Rhodes twice? If the answer is we have nothing for either guy to do, it’s a crappy explanation. This feud isn’t doing anything for Slotted Rhodes•Speaking of Rhodes-Christian, why is Christian basically jobbing clean to Del Rio? Was this to signify that Del Rio is above the IC Title?•Santino segment. What a complete waste of time. Santino has rarely been funny too me as a babyface and this segment highlighted that with his continual overacting•Sheamus beats Ziggler for the 4th time. Ok we get it•Lack of pay per view hype. WWE continues to give consistent hype to Raw 1000, but for week one on the road to Money in the Bank, it was definitely lost in the shuffle despite Show announcing himself as a participant in the match•Vickie Guerrero, Mick Foley, Yoshi Tatsu, Great Khali backstage segment. “Don’t you have some sushi to eat”...dear god. Sixteen writers. What kind of material was that? This is 2012, yet between this and the Tuxedo match at the pay per view, WWE seems to want to get themselves back to one of their lowest time periods of the summer of 1996. BTW Vickie as GM next week is not very fresh. You have alot more to choose from with Bret, Shawn, Stephanie, etc•Brodus Clay-David Otunga feud. Brodus-Big Show could be a fresh feud that would give a great rub to Brodus, but instead we have him in a slotted mid card feud with my favorite character, David OtungaOverall Thoughts• I thought this was a much better Smackdown than in recent weeks, but still some annoying quirks that need to be taken care of such as Ziggler-Sheamus free after just giving us the match on pay per view and Christian as IC Champion losing relatively clean to Del RioWhat needs to be accomplished on next week’s show?•The continued development and focus on the mid card. You really can’t hold your breath on this, but I’ll cross my fingers•Money in the Bank hype. WWE wasted this week for pay per view hype so hopefully they put it in gear next weekFeedback: revinsamuel@rogers.com
