GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE 8/3 SMACKDOWN
By Revin Samuel on 8/4/2012 2:10 PM
SMACKDOWN - 03/08/2012 E: revinsamuel@rogers.com
What this show needs to accomplish?
•The New Smackdown GM. I hate that they are still using this device, but since they hyped this with the return of Mr. McMahon to Smackdown hopefully they deliver on the hype
•Summerslam hype. The hype for what WWE considers the second biggest show of the year has been subpar to say the least. Perhaps they can get it going tonight
•What’s next for Cody Rhodes? Cody has been floundering since MITB and they need to put him in something important soon
•Alberto Del Rio-Sheamus. Why do we want to see this match again when Sheamus beat Alberto clean at the ppv? They need to make us want to see this match yet again
•Brock and Hunter. I don’t need to see three video packages recapping Stephanie and Paul Heyman, but if Brock and Hunter are going to be on Raw this week, WWE needs to promote that on this show, because if they promoted it on Raw, I totally missed it!
Show Breakdown
- Vince makes an appearance to start the show and he’s got the strut back, which of course is the sign that he’s in character (unlike Raw 1000 where he just had a normal walk going and was clearly in Vince mode).
- The Book is announced as Smackdown GM and it’s a good role for him, although I wonder how pleased Book is with this change as it takes him off commentary into what I’d consider a bit of a smaller role.
- Book’s got great charisma and mic skills to take on the GM role. I somewhat wish he would bring back the King Bookah voice!
- Book announces Del Rio vs Orton for later and as suspected the Del Rio won’t compete till Summerslam stipulation comes to an end before it can even get started.
- We get Sheamus vs Tensai as the first match of the show and the commentators really putting over the beating Tensai is putting on Sheamus. I take that as a sign that the talent is being somewhat protected even when he’s going to be defeated.
- As expected Sheamus beats Tensai with the brogue kick.
- Teddy takes his demotion like he just won the lottery. I am unsure why he’s still around, but I guess it’s someone to play off of. Eve was looking mighty good though and if I was Book, I probably would have thought with my unit on that one!
- One wonders why Cesaro who beat Santino clean last week has to have another non title match with the man. Just take the US title off Santino; it’s doing nothing for the title.
- Cesaro beats Santino again and I can only assume that means Santino will eventually beat Cesaro as the US title continues to trend downwards.
- Why would heel Daniel Bryan stand by and watch a video package on all the bad things that have happened to him. Sometimes the product is too slick for its own good.
- Daniel Bryan with a great promo and this man continues to be the gem of 2012.
- This should be a good match with Bryan, Ziggler and Miz against Jericho, Christian and Kane.
- I love how Cole is still saying Miz just filmed a major film.
- Fantastic ending sequence to the six man tag. Good to see Bryan finally pickup a win, and of course Jericho takes the pinfall, which I am sure Dolph will mention again in the weeks leading up to Summerslam.
- Bryan gets into a nose to nose, Yes/No off with a random fan and I am not sure it’s the smartest idea, because the fan is laughing and isn’t scared of Bryan in the least. I know that might be old school thinking, but I assume you’d want your fans to be afraid of top heels.
- Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton and one can only hope that Randy doesn’t start the interview with the “My name is randy Orton” nonsense.
- Isn’t it interesting that on the Randy Orton interview for television he says being away from Raw and Smackdown is like having the air sucked out of him, yet on wwe.com he says he’s never felt fresher? Weird how that one happens eh
- So we saw the ever anticipated non title rematch of Antonio Cesaro vs Santino and this week we get the even more anticipated rematch of Ryback vs Jinder Mahal.
- Ryback does his first promo in an in set promo before the match and it was fine talking about the food chain and the law of the jungle.
- Mahal gets himself DQ’d and I assume will be getting a third helping of Mahal vs Ryback. I guess it’s a program for Ryback.
- Speaking of feuds that have no end in sight, Titus beats Kofi on Raw, Young beats Truth on Smackdown and this program continues even though Truth and Kofi already beat The Primetime Players when they had their tag title shot.
- Raw recap package and all this made me do was hate the way they’ve changed the AJ character. Hopefully they tinker with her character going forward. Just because you are a GM doesn’t mean you suddenly go corporate.
- I continue to fast forward right through the Touts.
- Layla like Eve is worthy of a backstage segment in WWE these days, because lord knows the women aint wrestling.
- Cody shows up and I’m not sure who that’s more awkward for Booker or Layla. Google it.
- I am glad that they remembered the Cody-Booker feud and Book makes a random match for next week in Cody vs Sin Cara. Layla is still around and wants to talk to Booker about changing things up and I am sure that is going nowhere quickly.
- What a lame DQ finish. WWE really needs to find more creative ways to complete matches if they don’t want to do clean finishes.
What this show accomplished?
The Good
•Quality in ring action. I liked the Sheamus-Tensai, six man tag and the main event
•Daniel Bryan is on fire. This man is the man in the business, bottom line
•Booker T as GM. It’s a great role for Booker and probably more suited to his strengths. I also wouldn’t mind if it led to Booker possibly getting in the ring more
•Cody vs Sin Cara announced for next week. This was random, but it makes both guys feel special and WWE remembered the tension between Booker and Cody
The Bad
•Summerslam hype is non-existent. WWE has done nothing to promote Summerslam. The video packages are repetitive at this point and are complete fast forward material. They really need to amp the hype up on Raw this week
•Lame DQ finishes. Just like the GM is an overdone creative device, lame DQ finishes are what WWE is becoming known for and it’s just not smart long term thinking by WWE
•Feuds that go nowhere. I don’t mind Ryback-Mahal, but Truth/Kofi-Primetime Players has been done to death and since when does a person need to get two wins over a Champion to get a title shot, let alone at the United States Championship
Overall Thoughts
•I like this show, but I want to see the company succeed and not promoting your pay per view isn’t smart business!
What needs to be accomplished on next week’s show?
•Summerslam hype. It’s getting repetitive, but that’s what they need to be focusing on and I don’t mean the same video package over and over again
Feedback: revinsamuel@rogers.com
