BRM Reviews the 7/11/2014 Smackdown

[Big Red Machine]

The show opened with a recap of the main event of Raw (and its aftermath). I am fine with a Raw recap, but in this case, it shouldn't have happened as the cold open for the show. Neither Rollins, Ambrose, Kane, or Cena were on the show, so this was mostly irrelevant. A video package to hype up Reigns vs. Rusev would have been much better, and it also means we wouldn't have had to waste tie on the...

OPENING SEGMENT- Lana said Rusev would crush Reigns. Reigns then came out. On his way through the crowd, he walked right past Spiderman. I wonder why Spidey isn't in New York? Must be Avengers business. Or maybe an Alpha Flight team up? Please let it be an Alpha Flight team up!
Reigns said them stuff and called for a referee. A ref came down, but Lana didn't want the match now. This felt like a waste of time.

AJ LEE vs. CAMERON- 2.25/10
As JBL pointed out, Cameron's lip gloss is a foreign object, and the referee should have removed it from her person before the match. Throwing it at AJ should constitute a DQ.
Cameron locked AJ in the Cattle Mutilation. Let me repeat that. CAMERON applied the CATTLE MUTILATION.
Once AJ's comeback started, Cameron tried to walk out on the match but Naomi threw her back in the ring. Aj then hit the Shining Wizard for the win.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS RANDY ORTON- Renee asks about the dissension between Orton and Kane. Orton says he doesn't care what Kane says- only what he does, and Randy winning at Battleground is best for business. He then puts Jericho over as a legend... but reminds us that he is the Legend Killer.

FANDANGO (w/Layla) vs. ADAM ROSE (w/Summer Rae & the Exotic Express)- no rating.
I cannot see NXT Summer Rae EVER putting up with Adam Rose or the Exotic Express.
Almost IMMEDIATELY, Layla and Summer began to brawl. Fandango tried to break it up, but he accidentally got hit in the face, and also got counted out.
Rose offered Fandango his lollipop. Fandango tried to punch him, so Rose ducked it and hit him with the Party Foul. Not a good day for Fandango.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS CHRIS JERICHO- Jericho cut a good promo about his match with Bray at Battleground. He did not even mention his match with Randy Orton tonight. Why not do the Orton match tonight and have him cut this money promo to hype the PPV on the go-home show? It is a much more efficient use of time (because you can give this time to something else, and you already have Jericho doing everything he needs to on Raw.

JUST SIGNED FOR TONIGHT: Summer Rae vs. Layla, with Fandnago as the Special Guest Referee. Didn't we just get this on PPV a few weeks ago? And why not save this for Raw? Or next week's Smackdown? Or the PPV where it can be a proper blow-off?

THE USOS vs. HEATH SLATER & TITUS O'NEIL- no rating.
Very sort, but everything they did ROCKED! FANTASTIC finish!

BYRON SAXTON INTERVIEWS THE USOS- Bad. They tried to be funny by calling the match. It didn't work at all. They were REALLY annoying. Based on what whichever Uso was talking said, he also seems to be under the impression that you can win a two-out-of three falls match in one fall. They really should have cut this, then rerecorded it backstage later.

RANDY ORTON vs. CHRIS JERICHO- 7.5/10
Before the match, Bray showed up on the TitanTron to sing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands and tell Jericho "save yourself, Chris."
They had a great match, but then Wyatt magic happened and Jericho got distracted, allowing Orton to hit the RKO for the pin.

SINGLES MATCH WITH FANDANGO AS THE SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Summer Rae vs. Layla- DUD!
Cole basically buried this match before it started, which was funny. They both made out with Fandango before the match. For some reason, once the bell rang, Fandango kept trying to keep them apart. Fandango then decided to swing his hips a lot. Then the girls attacked him. Fandango ran away like a little pussy. Despite this, they played Fandango's music. Then the girls danced together and apparently they're now best friends. THIS S*CKED SO MUCH!

RYBACK (w/Curtis Axel) vs. GOLDUST (w/Stardust)- 2.75/10
What was the purpose of this match? We already know that the story is that Rybaxel haven't been able to beat Goldust and Cody since Cody became Stardust, and we already know that they have a match coming up at Battleground. What does it do for WWE to just give us a match we have already seen a million times already, where the bayface once again beats the heel clean. How does this build to the PPV match if all they are doing is telling the same part of the story? Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to have Goldust & Cody face (and cleanly defeat) a different team and have Rybaxel on commentary talking about their secret plan to beat the RHodes Brothers at the PPV?

POST-MATCH STUFF- Ryback tried to attack Goldust, but Stardust made the save by stealing Alexa Bliss' gimmick and throwing pixie dust into Ryback's face.

HANDICAP MATCH: Bo Dallas vs. El Torito & Diego- 0.5/10
Bo cut a great pre-match promo saying that he would be "handicapable" tonight because all of his BOlievers would be his tag team partners.
The match was very short. Torito never even tagged in, which saves the babyfaces from the complete and total humiliation of losing clean to a heel in a handicap match. It still would have been better if Bo had cheated to win or something. After the match, Bo tossed Torito into the ring and gave him a BoDog. I didn't like this. It was too overtly heel for Bo.

ROMAN REIGNS vs. RUSEV (w/Lana)- 5/10
This REALLY annoyed me. They match only went about seven minutes. Reigns had just hit the Superman Punch and was setting up for the spear when Orton came out and attacked Reigns, causing a DQ. This gave Rusev his first loss in WWE. This fact that not even mentioned by the announcers.
Rusev then tried to beat Reigns down but he ducked Rusev's clothesline and took out Orton. Rusev hit Reigns with a superkick, but Lana then ordered Rusev out of the ring even though he clearly had the advantage.
Orton then took forever to get into the ring, then did the Viper Dance and gave Reigns an RKO.
A few problems here. The first is the short main event ending in a DQ. The reason this ended in a DQ was because they didn't want either guy to get beat. Well if you don't want either guy to lose, there is a very simple remedy: DON'T BOOK THE F*CKING MATCH!
Secondly, even just being about to lose hurt Rusev here, as he is now a lot less scary because we know there is someone who can beat him. And of course he is now no longer undefeated because he lost by DQ.
Fourth is this Reigns not standing tall at the end. Don't get me wrong: I am an advocate of heels getting their heat. But in this case, it was the wrong thing to do. On Raw they have bent over backwards to always close the show with Reigns standing tall, so why would you have him not stand tall here as well? And knowing the way that WWE books, he'll probably get the heat back on the go-home Raw because they'll want him to get the heat back from Orton but he can't do it at the PPV because he won't be winning.

Supposing that, for some ridiculous reason, they absolutely had to book Reigns vs. Rusev, here is what I would have done instead:
Put the match in the middle of the show. Have both guys go for a few minutes in an even fight. Then have Swagger come out and attack Rusev, causing a DQ, so that Rusev wins. Reigns will be angry at Swagger setting up a match for Raw (which you also really can't have either guy get beaten, so I'd have Rusev attack Swagger on his way down to the ring to get heat for that match going into Battleground.

In the main event, I would have Orton vs. Jericho. It went longer, was a better match (and they knew it would be better going in because it has better workers and got more time), and had more star power. Do the same finish there (so that Jericho doesn't lose clean). Then have Orton try to attack Jericho but Reigns comes out and makes the save, sending Randy running like a scalded dog. Everyone looks good, no one looks bad, we have a good main event instead of a disappointing one ending in a DQ, Rusev's streak is intact, and we have a match for Raw.


A bad Smackdown aside from the Orton vs. Jericho match and the Usos vs. Slater & Titus match... and one of those went about a minute and the other didn't have a clean finish. WWE would be much better served by a more episodic build-up for their shows. It would reduce redundant matches, which would both save time for the matches there are and would cut down on the number of matches guys wrestle, both keeping them healthier and saving match-ups for important spots.