BRM Reviews the 12/6/2013 Smackdown

[Big Red Machine]

BIG E. LANGSTON vs. FANDANGO (w/Summer Rae)-2/10
Sandow was awesome on commentary

RANDY ORTON PROMO- This was very interesting because, if he had just used a different tone of voice and used a few less-harsh words, the first chunk of this really could have been a good babyface promo. Then he says that he hates everyone, but he apologizes for being an ass to Hunter and Steph.
The Dragon comes out and points out that Orton never legitimately beat him for the WWE Title and that he wants the first title shot after the belts are unified. Dragon then challenges Randy to a match, but Randy declines and walks off.

CODY RHODES & GOLDUST vs. AXEL-BACK (thanks JBL!)- 3.5/10
Well, we have our next contenders for the tag titles.

BAD NEWS BARRETT- I need two volunteers. One to find me the person who thought this gimmick was a good idea, and the other person to find me a lead pipe.

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. KOFI KINGSTON- the match never gets underway because Del Rio jumps Kofi and completely destroys him.

SHIELD PROMO-good words, but I don’t like the idea behind it.
Reigns does most of the talking this time. I guess WWE REALLY wants to push him. Rollins gets angry at him for saying that he wants to hurt Punk, because then they won’t be able to all beat Punk up together as a group at TLC. Um… okay. Why can’t you all just beat him up tonight?
Reigns then says that it will take the “baddest” member of the Shield to beat Punk, and Ambrose steals his thunder and takes the match. Reigns did not look happy about this at all. I really don’t like where this is going.

DEAN AMBROSE vs. CM PUNK- 7/10
Great match, but I don’t like Ambrose getting pinned if won’t lead to a title match, and based on the way WWE usually does things, I doubt it will. If I were booking it, though, I’d do Punk vs. Ambrose for the title on Smackdown and have Rollins and Reigns interfere for the DQ and beat Punk down to oreview the danger Punk will face at TLC. Then, on the Raw after TLC, the Authority can do their thing where they try to come across like babyfaces by giving Punk a rematch, but we all know they are really being heels by giving him a rematch when he is so beaten up from his match at TLC (and the beating on Smackdown), which lets you have Ambrose beat him clean without causing Punk to lose face.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS REY MYSTERIO JR.- Rey puts over the title unification match at TLC. Then the Real Americans show up and Zeb says that he doubts that Rey is really an American citizen. Just once I’d like to see someone actually come out and give Zeb their papers, have Zeb read them over, shrug, give the guy a handshake and just say “Oh. Then welcome to America. We’re glad to have you.” It might not be quite the best for Zeb’s character (although he has been getting a bit too delusional for my tastes lately by accusing every single foreigner he sees of being an illegal immigrant), but the awkwardness would be utterly hilarious.
Anyway, Zeb challenges Rey to a tag team match, and without any sort of confirmation from anyone in power that this match will actually take place, Cole immediately takes it as fact.

NATALYA vs. TAMINA- 3.75/10
Nattie pins Tamina after Tamina misses a big splash, which really did nothing at all to put Nattie over. She got beaten up all match, then got lucky that Tamina went for a high-risk move and missed. This match should have been about putting Nattie over.

FROM THE VAULT- pointless waste of time.

REY MYSTERIO JR. & THE BIG SHOW vs. THE REAL AMERICANS (w/Zeb Coulter)- 4.5/10
Show got a gigantic pop (see what I did there?). I really hated the booking of this match. Doesn’t WWE realize that you actually need to get some heat on your heels?

TITLE UNIFICATION MATCH HYPE VIDEO PACKAGE- I appreciate that they are trying to make the match important, but I honestly don’t think they can make the match more important. I really would have preferred for them to give this time to Dragon vs. Orton. And if they absolutely had to show this video package, why not show it instead of the f*cking pointless “From The Vault” clip?

MORE BAD NEWS BARRETT STUPIDITY- WHY ARE THEY WASTING OUR TIME WITH THIS?! And this particular edition of Bad News Barrett would have been better titled “Captain Obvious.” The Unified Champ will be breathing rarefied air, but he will have a target on his back because he is the champ? No sh*t, Sherlock.

DANIEL BRYAN vs. RANDY ORTON- 6.25/10
The few video packages and Bad News Barrett made the difference between a 17 minute main event and an 11 minute main event. Of course, they decided to only go about eight and gives us a f*ck finish when the Wyatts distract Dragon… again. If you were going to do this, why would you not make Punk vs. Ambrose the main event? You could give us a better match with a clean finish that sends the fans home happy.

After the match, Bray Wyatt tries to recruit Dragon again. This whole thing would work so much better if they hadn’t been feuding with Dragon for over a month now.

Overall, an okay Smackdown. Punk vs. Ambrose really saved, though.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. JBL- “CM Punk should save those bandages. I think he’s going to need them the night of TLC.”
Yeah. Because athletic bandages are so hard to come by in WWE.

[cero2k]

The Dragon comes out and points out that Orton never legitimately beat him for the WWE Title and that he wants the first title shot after the belts are unified. Dragon then challenges Randy to a match, but Randy declines and walks off.

good that Dragon is still getting himself in the world title scene. what i wonder is if he'll simply be the scapegoat (get it?) for the Rumble title match.

SHIELD PROMO-good words, but I don’t like the idea behind it.
Reigns does most of the talking this time. I guess WWE REALLY wants to push him. Rollins gets angry at him for saying that he wants to hurt Punk, because then they won’t be able to all beat Punk up together as a group at TLC. Um… okay. Why can’t you all just beat him up tonight?
Reigns then says that it will take the “baddest” member of the Shield to beat Punk, and Ambrose steals his thunder and takes the match. Reigns did not look happy about this at all. I really don’t like where this is going.

it has begun...

DEAN AMBROSE vs. CM PUNK- 7/10
Great match, but I don’t like Ambrose getting pinned if won’t lead to a title match, and based on the way WWE usually does things, I doubt it will. If I were booking it, though, I’d do Punk vs. Ambrose for the title on Smackdown and have Rollins and Reigns interfere for the DQ and beat Punk down to oreview the danger Punk will face at TLC.

but what they're likely doing here is putting Reigns over Ambrose and Rollins. Having Ambrose lose like this is what gives Reigns the reason of why he should have had the match against Punk and not him.

[Big Red Machine]

DEAN AMBROSE vs. CM PUNK- 7/10
Great match, but I don’t like Ambrose getting pinned if won’t lead to a title match, and based on the way WWE usually does things, I doubt it will. If I were booking it, though, I’d do Punk vs. Ambrose for the title on Smackdown and have Rollins and Reigns interfere for the DQ and beat Punk down to oreview the danger Punk will face at TLC.

but what they're likely doing here is putting Reigns over Ambrose and Rollins. Having Ambrose lose like this is what gives Reigns the reason of why he should have had the match against Punk and not him.

Yeah, but they could have used Rollins for the same purpose without having a champion lose. It also doesn't explain why they weren't at ringside.