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GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 6/8 SMACKDOWN

SMACKDOWN - 08/06/2012 Email: revinsamuel@rogers.com
What needs to happen on this week’s Smackdown?
•I am sure we will get tons of hype for Vince McMahon’s return to Raw, but I hope WWE can manage to fit some pay per view promotion into this show. This includes not only delivering hype for the three matches announced, but also adding one or two more matches. I said last week that I wanted five matches by the end of this week and if they can add Cody –Christian tonight, I’ll take it since they are also promoting a Triple H return for the pay per view
•Format change. I mentioned last week that we seem to have opened up Smackdown several weeks in a row now with a promo and it’s time to divert from that and give us a match. In addition way too much of the same stuff that happens on Raw is happening on Smackdown and vice versa. Tons of talent are treading water. We saw Ryback and Sin Cara feeder matches on Raw so I’d prefer they leave them off Smackdown and showcase Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro
•Speaking of Antonio Cesaro, we are getting his return tonight and hopefully it’s impactful after taking a few weeks off and getting a promotional video last week
•I don’t recall the last time the divas division has been off the main two shows this long, but I’m guessing it’s been several years. It seems Vince has even less faith in pushing the females with the departure of the twins and now Kelly Kelly on hiatus. Hey Vince, newsflash, perhaps if you gave them something to do on your shows like Eve and AJ, they wouldn’t want to bail out after a few years. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy if you ask me. I’m making a wild assumption on that one, but very strange that the divas division goes dark following the departure of these two acts. The break could be a good thing if WWE brings it back and brings it back with a storyline to invest in. I know, don’t hold my breath. The anti authority storyline with the male wrestlers has been done to death, but it might be an interesting path to go on with the divas building to an Eve-Layla showdown at Summerslam and possibly Zack Ryder finally getting some revenge on Eve. Alright I’m done with the fantasy booking and believing WWE will ever give Zack Ryder what he earned
Show Breakdown

1. Alberto Del Rio coming out in his ring gear. Is it because he is opening the show with a match? Nope it doesn’t look like it. Standard Smackdown with yet another promo to start the show.

2. Ricardo out dressed like Sheamus. I feel like I saw this last year with Miz and Rock, I guess enough time has passed since then for this to be considered fresh again.

3. I like that Sheamus came out and a brawl ensued instead of yet another verbal exchange.

4. Because it makes sense that John Laurinaitis would put Teddy in charge...

5. Pretty solid beat down by Del Rio to build their pay per view match. Apparently Sheamus is okay since he’ll be wrestling later and I don’t really care for that, because the heel lays out the babyface, but the babyface is still healthy enough to go later. Why wouldn’t he run down to the ring and try and extract revenge? I think Teddy should have at least laid out a consequence if they continued to brawl. Maybe I’m nitpicking on this one.

6. Cena-Big Show storyline recap equals me on fast forward. Usually I like these types of video packages, but Big Show using the “I’m not an entertainer” line is The Bubble once again disrespecting their audience thinking we don’t remember that they went that direction not two months ago!

7. Brodus is no longer allowed on Raw for his own protection? Is there really any brand separation? How long until this storyline is dropped? What happens when Big Show comes to Smackdown? More disrespect to the audience.

8. I actually like the explanation for Brodus getting destroyed by Big Show in that he had been mowing through the competition and then ran into something he wasn’t used to. The key is the follow up and the follow up doesn’t mean Clay goes on to destroy jobbers like Derrick Bateman. We need to see in a program and not treading water.

9. Colour me shocked that WWE would acknowledge WCW on Raw and the Buff Bagwell-Booker T match! I guess it was a big moment in Raw history though

10. Drew McIntyre returns to Smackdown...definitely another guy who is underutilized. Drew was given a little bit in this match, but Sin Cara continues his streak of wins since returning. The question remains like Brodus Clay, how long are they going to have this guy treading water.

11. Speaking of treading water, Ryback on both shows this week. I think that`s too much, we only need to see him dominating once a week or get him into a program of some sort.

12. We`ve just seen three straight matches of guys who are treading water and have no storylines going on. I don`t mind the use of enhancement talent, but I`m just not use to so many guys not having storylines.

13. Booker calls Ryback unstoppable, I say when is he going to get a challenge

14. Ah the Peep Show is coming up and this is what is needed to try and get Christian over as a babyface.

15. Christian finally gives us an explanation as to why he made his turn and it works for me! Good promo exchange between Christian and Cody and it didn`t seem to overly scripted, which of course means it was, but we had two guys who could pull it off!

16. Should Cody really be sitting side by side with Booker T?

17. Christian and Dolph would make a great future program.

18. Cody really doing great work on commentary, too bad he’s become Slotted Rhodes.

19. Speaking of slotted guys, Dolph Ziggler’s continues to fall from grace as he loses clean to Christian. Why even do the match? Or at least put Swagger in the role instead of Dolph.

20. Hornswoggle out and Vince McMahon gets to make fun of Jim Ross and Michael Cole all in the same segment. He must be in heaven. The Bubble lives on!

21. Tyson Kidd saves Hornswoggle, that’s a career killer.

22. Whacky Kane promo and AJ looking psycho creeping out of the background. WWE’s best work in 2012 has definitely been the character development of AJ and Daniel Bryan.

23. Sheamus favorite Raw moment makes a ton of sense with the breakthrough battle royal. I remember that Raw with Jesse and Vince doing commentary, classic!

24. Why is Sheamus doing the “Brogue, Brogue, Brogue”, doesn’t WWE remember what a failure that was when Edge tried it with “Spear, Spear, Spear”, which probably had a better shot of catching on.

25. AJ runs down and smiles at Kane as the mystery there continues.

26. Sheamus takes out Ricardo so that makes sense since Alberto took out Sheamus to start the show. Ricardo mocked Sheamus’s look and Sheamus got his revenge on him. Standard stare down between Alberto-Sheamus to end the show. I wonder how effective those are anymore.

What this show accomplished?
The Good
•Pay Per View promotion. This Smackdown was as focused as they’ve been since Over the Limit for promoting the next pay per view.  It was a above average effort, but I wouldn’t call it great by any means
•Sheamus-Del Rio continues to get the standard pro wrestling build, which is better than WWE creative tweaking it with a whack angle. WWE pulled out the old have someone come out dressed as his nemesis card and followed it up with the show ending stare down. It’s not very creative, but I’ll take it at this point
•Cody-Christian. Christian finally tells us why he turned babyface and I enjoyed the mic work between Cody and Christian as well
•AJ and Kane. I’m not sure where they are going with it, but it’s an intriguing story. My fear is that WWE doesn’t know where it’s going and Vince eventually just drops it
•The Raw flashbacks, I am going to love these and I hope they continue straight through till the 1000th episode. Also I love that they are doing two different superstars per show
The Bad
•Predictable television. The format needs to change; yet again we open up with a promo segment. We had four squash matches on this show and perhaps an angle that’s been done one, two many times in Ricardo dressing up as Sheamus. The product really needs an overhaul right now
•Dolph-Christian. Terrible use of Dolph and the crowd didn’t seem into it at all, which was disappointing. I didn’t realize standing on your own meant losing three times in a row
•Hornswoggle as JR...moving on
•Antonio Cesaro returns and it doesn’t stand out. WWE promoted last week that Cesaro was returning, and he returned to a match that didn’t stand out from anything else on the show. Get him in a storyline! The good thing about Money in the Bank being the next pay per view is that all these guys should be involved in a high profile match and therefore will be able to get out of the treading water phase
•Brodus Clay is no longer allowed on Raw. Really? What’s the betting on how long this lasts? What happens when Big Show comes to Smackdown? Stupid storyline that WWE will not be able to keep going!
Overall Thoughts
•The shows are just blending together these days. This was an effective show in some ways, but in other ways it’s just the same old thing
What needs to be accomplished next week?
•Pay Per view hype
•Sin Cara, Sandow, Ryback, Clay, Cesaro are all doing the same thing and I don’t mind that, but they can be involved in storylines at the same time. I wouldn’t mind seeing a Dolph-Cara program going forward
Feedback: revinsamuel@rogers.com