WWE Smackdown 31.08.12

Welcome to my review of the August 31st edition of WWE Smackdown!

Tonight’s show comes from Green Bay, Wisconsin and opens with the Smackdown theme, including the usual intro and pyro’s. Josh Matthews hypes up the main event of Dolph Ziggler vs Randy Orton before Lilian Garcia introduces the World Heavyweight Champion, Sheamus.

Sheamus says that before he gets down to business, he wants to acknowledge Triple H. Sheamus wrestled his first Wrestlemania match against The Game, and he gave him his first Wrestlemania loss. He says that Triple H has his respect, as well as the respect of the WWE Universe. Triple H is everything that Sheamus’ opponent at Night of Champions isn’t.

Hallelujah! Damien Sandow is out to grace us with his phenomenal mic-skills. The Intellectual Saviour of the Masses is here to help. He’s here to help Sheamus specifically. Sheamus seems to be as ignorant as he is enormous. He bad-mouths Triple H, referring to being attacked by him and D-Generation X. Sheamus says that their attack was Go Híontach (it’s fun knowing what he said before he translated it). Sandow questions that Sheamus calls himself a proud Irishman. He says that Sheamus is disgracing his country with all of the Irish stereotypes. Sheamus invites Sandow into the ring to say that to his face. Sandow declines, as Sheamus is unworthy of his kind.

As he turns to leave, Smackdown General Manager Booker T comes out to stop him in his tracks. He agrees with Sandow. Nobody wants to see an intellectual thrashing; they want to see a physical thrashing! He announces that Damien Sandow will go one-on-with with Sheamus, tonight! Now can you dig that… Sucka?!

Thoughts: I loved all the references to Ireland. It’s nice to hear mentions of your country on WWE TV. It’s great to see Damien Sandow already being put up against the World Champion. Damien is without doubt, a future Champion in WWE. He has the mic-skills, which he proved in the opening segment of the show, and he has the in-ring skills, not to mention his brilliant character! Consider this a teaser for what’s to come, because it’s only a matter of time before we see Sandow in more high profile matches like this.

After the break, Rey Mysterio makes his entrance, communicating and connecting with his younger fans as usual. He’ll be facing a future World Champion, in Cody Rhodes. I thought this was a great match! There were some great fast-paced moments, with some great work from two talented men. Rey Mysterio won with a quick pin after Rhodes attempted to remove his mask. As Cody attacks Mysterio out of frustration post-match, Sin Cara comes to the rescue. Rhodes eats a 619, and to add insult to injury, Sin Cara puts one of his masks over the head of Rhodes.

Thoughts: Although I think Cody Rhodes is worthy of a lot more than losing week in, week out because of sneaky pins, I’ll put up with it, because it’s part of a storyline. He wouldn’t be losing so often if it wasn’t for his obsession with masks. I don’t quite know where this feud is going, but I don’t see it making much difference for Rhodes. He needs something better, and I’ll be waiting as patiently as I possibly can for him to get it.

Eve Torres makes her way to the ring to join the commentary team, as a replay of Kaitlyn’s Battle Royal victory is shown. After a break, both Kaitlyn and Natalya are in the ring, which is a bit funny, because they both got the jobber entrance. After an average Divas bout, Kaitlyn obviously picks up the win against Natalya with a roll-up.

Thoughts: I’m completely against Kaitlyn being the #1 Contender for the Diva Championship at Night of Champions. Her in-ring work is average for that of a Diva, but her promo work is absolutely appalling. Listening to her work with Michael Cole on commentary last week was not very fun. She needs to improve, because a Superstar/Diva needs to have the necessary skills to be a Champion, and Kaitlyn is not there. If I had to choose someone worthy of facing Layla, it would be Natalya. She’s a great wrestler, she can talk, and she’s all-around the most talented Diva on the roster. Something WWE needs to do is utilise the talent that they have, and they could start with Natalya.

(On another note, I’m growing weary of seeing several matches end with Roll-ups, or Small Packages or any sneaky pin like that. It’s not just the Divas, either! A lot of recent matches have ended that way, and I don’t mind it now and again, but if everyone is winning with roll-ups, then nobody is going to look like they truly earned their victories. They’re all going to look like flukes.)

Matt Striker is backstage, ready to interview Booker T. A replay of Vickie Guerrero’s rant on Raw, followed by AJ’s attack is shown. Booker says that AJ over-stepped her boundaries with that un-called for attack. Vickie cuts in, and talks about how all of AJ’s friends have turned their back on her. AJ is crazy, and everyone has been encouraging Vickie to take action against her. Her run as General Manager will come to an end. Vickie Guerrero has spoken to the Board of Directors, and they have vowed to do something about AJ’s actions.

Thoughts: As I suspected on my Raw Review, AJ is already being looked into by the WWE Board of Directors. For some annoying reason, WWE just won’t let us have a good General Manager for more than a few months. In this case, a few weeks! WWE have a good thing going for them with AJ’s character, so if they know what’s good for them, they’ll keep her as General Manager. I don’t know what they have up their sleeves, but I don’t think AJ’s run is over just yet.

After some hype for the WWE Championship Match at Night of Champions, a replay of Monday Night Raw is shown. It highlights CM Punk and Jerry Lawler’s opening confrontation, Steel Cage Match, and Punk’s post-match attack before John Cena made the save.

After the break, Sheamus makes his way to the ring, and Damien Sandow follows as they are set for action. After a decent match, Sheamus wins via count-out when Sandow ran away.

Thoughts: I think it was a good idea not to have a winner via pinfall or submission. It keeps things exciting for the next time these two square off, which could possibly be for a Championship.

Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd and the Prime Time Players are in the ring for tag-team action. A replay of the brawl that broke out between the tag division last week is shown. We also see a Tout from the Uso’s, saying that they are the one true tag team in WWE today. After some very good tag team action, Darren Young picks up the win over Gabriel with his finisher.

Thoughts: I like the amount of attention the tag team division is getting since last week’s brawl. It’s a great division, that needs to be treated with more respect. Out of Kofi Kingston & R-Truth, The Prime Time Players, The Usos and Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel, I think that Darren Young and Titus O’Neil will be the next Tag Team Champions. They’re not my favourite team or anything, but I think they’re being pushed too much not to win gold eventually.

In the ring, Josh Matthews announces Ricardo Rodriguez. He introduces Alberto Del Rio, who comes to the ring for an interview. They show a replay of Del Rio’s victory over Randy Orton last week. “I made one of the toughest men in WWE history tap out”. He plans to do the same to Sheamus at Night of Champions. Josh Matthews annoys Alberto and he says that Kane throwing Josh away like trash is nothing compared to what he’s going to do to him. Kane comes out and chases Del Rio away. Josh is scared out of his skin. As part of his Anger Management, Kane apologises to Josh Matthews for throwing him over a barrier at Summerslam. He thanks Josh for being a part of his programme.

Teddy Long comes out and says that Kane will face Del Rio right now! To be honest, what did Alberto Del Rio expect, coming to an interview dressed in his ring gear? He’s usually in a suit! Alberto Del Rio picked up the win with a Backstabber after a distraction from Ricardo Rodriguez.

Thoughts: The finish was slightly disappointing, because it seems like a pretty weak move, and it shouldn’t be enough to put Kane away. It made Kane look a bit weak, which is saying something, considering he apologised pre-match. It just doesn’t feel right coming from a monster like Kane. Thankfully, Kane regained his monster-edge by chokeslamming Josh Matthews in the middle of the ring.

Michael Cole says that something needs to be done about Kane, and announcers being attacked regularly on WWE TV. He gets all serious and talks about Triple H, before they show the footage of his speech on Raw.

Vickie Guerrero is out to the stage and introduces Mr. Money in the Bank, Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler shows off in the ring, as he awaits the arrival of The Viper. Orton is out, and the match is underway.

Orton wins a very entertaining match-up, with an RKO out of nowhere. As Orton celebrates, Guerrero grabs a mic and says that Dolph Ziggler is still Mr Money in the Bank. They leave the arena and Randy Orton poses as Smackdown goes off the air.

Thoughts: I was surprised that Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus didn’t get involved in the main event. Although I think the World Heavyweight Champion should be at the end of the show every week, I thought this was a nice change, as it was good to see Dolph Ziggler get the main-eventer treatment, even if he was unsuccessful.

Dolph Ziggler is very lucky with his current position in WWE today, and how his run as Mr Money in the Bank has gone so far. I’ll take you back to last year, when Daniel Bryan was holding the briefcase.

The time between winning the 2011 Money in the Bank Ladder and his World Heavyweight Championship win at TLC may have been the worst few months of his pro-wrestling career. He had no feuds, he wasn’t winning many matches, and he was just in a terrible spot in the company. That all changed, obviously, when he won the World Championship, and over time, became one of the most interesting faces in the WWE.

Dolph Ziggler, however, has had a very different run with the briefcase. He’s been in a very entertaining feud with Chris Jericho, who he forced out of the company, and he’s currently involved in the World Heavyweight Championship scene, along with Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton. He’s lucky that his Money in the Bank win has already proven to be one of the greatest things to happen to him, as he’s received quite a push since. At this stage, I don’t see the Show-off losing any of his relevance, because I believe that it won’t be long until he cashes in, wins the World Heavyweight Championship, and finally becomes the main-eventing, top name that he deserves to be.

It was a good show, with some nice ring-work. Thanks for reading my Smackdown review.