BRM Reviews the 1/13/2012 Smackdown
Posted: Jan 14th, '12, 18:10
OPENING SEGMENT- AWESOME! Henry was good in his role, and Dragon’s acting was AMAZING. He and Big Show are just putting on a clinic in this feud.
HEATH SLATER vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL- 3/10. This is the problem with Hornswoggle. They try to push HIM in a feud with wrestlers, rather than someone who could believably win. The way this should work is that Slater bullies Hornswoggle, Gabriel makes the save for him, and that leads to a feud between Slater and Gabriel. WWE makes the feud be between Slater and Hornswoggle, and it winds up not only with Hornswoggle going over, but it winds up looking like Gabriel can’t beat Slater without Hornswoggle’s help… and Slater is so bad he can be beaten by Hornswoggle, so what does that say about Gabriel.
CODY RHODES PROMO- great.
CODY RHODES vs. EZEKIEL JACKSON- 2/10. Someone as big as Zeke should not being losing this quickly.
DREW MCINTYRE & TEDDY LONG SEGMENT- good. A short and sweet refresher for those who might have missed the McIntyre angle the last few weeks.
DREW MCINTYRE vs. TED DIBIASE JR- 4.75/10. Did a good job of telling its story.
DRAGON & AJ BACKSTAGE- kind of awkward, but I’m sure it will play into things somehow.
SHEAMUS vs. JINDER MAHAL- 4.5/10. Sheamus decisively defeats Mahal for what seems like the tenth week in a row.
AJ, BIG SHOW, & DRAGON SEGMENT- oh. So that’s where that was going. This is still interesting, as there are a number of ways this could go. My money is on Dragon asking AJ to help him cheat. Not sure how she’ll react, though. I can see her doing it reluctantly, and him asking her to do it for a few weeks in a row, with Dragon treating the naïve AJ worse and worse until she finally stands up to him, costing him the title. I can also see Big Show accidentally hitting AJ during the match tonight, Show stopping to help her, but Dragon rolling him up for the pin.
SANTINO MARELLA vs. DAVID OTUNGA- 4/10, but this just felt fun. Otunga really needed this win.
BRODUS CLAY vs. TYSON KIDD- Great squash, but if you are going to have squash, use a jobber, not a member of the roster.
TAMINA vs. NATALYA- Squash. If you have to squash someone… GET A REAL JOBBER. Don’t go killing the credibility of someone on your roster!
WADE BARRETT PROMO- okay
NO DISQUALIFICATION, NO COUNT-OUT MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Daniel Bryan(c) (w/AJ Lee) vs. The Big Show- No rating- okay segment. The stuff with AJ was great, and Dragon and Show still have me guessing as to who will turn heel and how. I can see Big Show snapping and going heel, and I can see Dragon becoming a manipulative jerk and going heel. Once again, I feel the need to compliment both men on their acting here.
Overall, a decent episode of Smackdown. The Dragon-Big Show angle (and AJ's involvement therein) continues to keep my interest as more and more possibilities open up each week.
HEATH SLATER vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL- 3/10. This is the problem with Hornswoggle. They try to push HIM in a feud with wrestlers, rather than someone who could believably win. The way this should work is that Slater bullies Hornswoggle, Gabriel makes the save for him, and that leads to a feud between Slater and Gabriel. WWE makes the feud be between Slater and Hornswoggle, and it winds up not only with Hornswoggle going over, but it winds up looking like Gabriel can’t beat Slater without Hornswoggle’s help… and Slater is so bad he can be beaten by Hornswoggle, so what does that say about Gabriel.
CODY RHODES PROMO- great.
CODY RHODES vs. EZEKIEL JACKSON- 2/10. Someone as big as Zeke should not being losing this quickly.
DREW MCINTYRE & TEDDY LONG SEGMENT- good. A short and sweet refresher for those who might have missed the McIntyre angle the last few weeks.
DREW MCINTYRE vs. TED DIBIASE JR- 4.75/10. Did a good job of telling its story.
DRAGON & AJ BACKSTAGE- kind of awkward, but I’m sure it will play into things somehow.
SHEAMUS vs. JINDER MAHAL- 4.5/10. Sheamus decisively defeats Mahal for what seems like the tenth week in a row.
AJ, BIG SHOW, & DRAGON SEGMENT- oh. So that’s where that was going. This is still interesting, as there are a number of ways this could go. My money is on Dragon asking AJ to help him cheat. Not sure how she’ll react, though. I can see her doing it reluctantly, and him asking her to do it for a few weeks in a row, with Dragon treating the naïve AJ worse and worse until she finally stands up to him, costing him the title. I can also see Big Show accidentally hitting AJ during the match tonight, Show stopping to help her, but Dragon rolling him up for the pin.
SANTINO MARELLA vs. DAVID OTUNGA- 4/10, but this just felt fun. Otunga really needed this win.
BRODUS CLAY vs. TYSON KIDD- Great squash, but if you are going to have squash, use a jobber, not a member of the roster.
TAMINA vs. NATALYA- Squash. If you have to squash someone… GET A REAL JOBBER. Don’t go killing the credibility of someone on your roster!
WADE BARRETT PROMO- okay
NO DISQUALIFICATION, NO COUNT-OUT MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Daniel Bryan(c) (w/AJ Lee) vs. The Big Show- No rating- okay segment. The stuff with AJ was great, and Dragon and Show still have me guessing as to who will turn heel and how. I can see Big Show snapping and going heel, and I can see Dragon becoming a manipulative jerk and going heel. Once again, I feel the need to compliment both men on their acting here.
Overall, a decent episode of Smackdown. The Dragon-Big Show angle (and AJ's involvement therein) continues to keep my interest as more and more possibilities open up each week.