Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 11, 2014

John Cena recaps the wild week in wrestling.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bray Wyatt Interrupted John Cena

After his disappointment of a match against Wyatt at WrestleMania, you'd think Cena would take a more serious approach in his promos. Just because he beat Wyatt at the event doesn't mean he go back to being campy and corny. Him recapping the wild week in wrestling was fun, but unnecessary, hence why Wyatt's interruption was welcome. I loved how Wyatt completely brushed off the loss and continued to taunt Cena anyway. I'm fine with keeping this feud alive if only because it was so well done prior to 'Mania, but here's hoping they don't lose their way with it now that Cena has already overcome his nemesis.


Cesaro def. Big Show by Disqualification

While they worked a good match, it was slow paced for the most part and many fans were just waiting to see if Cesaro would hit the Swing on Show. Jack Swagger interrupting the match was only logical and it was smart to save the finish for another day. However, it was still very cool to see Cesaro hit an extremely impressive Neutralizer on Show. It's hard to tell what Cesaro is at the moment. He's feuding with Swagger, but has a heel manager in Paul Heyman, so perhaps he's tweener?

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Big Show slaps the chest of Cesaro.

Curtis Axel and Ryback def. Los Matadores

These two teams have worked together so many times in the past and their matches are never any different, though it's not like either tandem means anything right now anyway. They worked in some fun spots here and there, but nothing that will be remembered tomorrow. In short, it was a meaningless match. At least Ryback and Axel finally defeated Los Matadores for once.


Rob Van Dam def. Damien Sandow

The fact Sandow didn't get an entrance pretty much foreshadowed the finish, but it was obvious from the moment the match was made that he wasn't winning. Unlike their encounter from Raw this week, this match was a bit more competitive and went a big longer, but not by much. Sandow being underutilized comes as no surprise and RVD is still extremely over. It's great to have RVD back in the hold, but here's hoping Creative will actually give him some direction this time around.


WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan Posed with Hulk Hogan

Hogan still comes off as a special attraction and it was cool for him to make an appearance on the blue brand for the second consecutive week. What was even cooler was Bryan appearing alongside him in this segment and getting a major rub from the WWE Legend in the process. Nothing of note was said in their respective promos and there was no real storyline development, but it was still an awesome moment.


Bad News Barrett def. Kofi Kingston

Clearly, the post-WrestleMania crowd in New Orleans on Raw was more receptive to Barrett, but he still garnered a good reaction here. It was sad for the video of Kingston avoiding elimination in Sunday's Battle Royal to be shown only for him to be quickly defeated by Barrett here. However, it was have the right move to have Barrett win here since he's the one with more upside at the moment. The Bad News gimmick certainly isn't main event worthy (where he belongs), but it's entertaining.


Fandango def. Santino Marella

I'm no fan of the ongoing feud between Fandango and Santino and don't see what purpose it's suppose to serve, but I love the idea of splitting Fandango and Summer Rae up. Now being prominently featured on Total Divas, it's smart to allow Summer to go off on her own. Layla was a great replacement, as she is too talented to not be utilized. Fandango's win here essentially meant nothing, not that I was paying attention since my eyes were glued to Emma and Layla at ringside.


WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. Randy Orton, Batista and Kane Ended in a No Contest

The match was given great time and everyone involved was able to shine at one point or another. The hot tag to Bryan was built up well and the action as a whole was very solid. Neither team should be taking a loss, so I was fine with the non-finish. I didn't like how The Usos were once again manhandled by Orton and Batista, so hopefully they get their revenge at some point instead of just forgetting all about it. The Shield making the save made sense and having them close the show alongside Bryan, like on Raw, built anticipation for a multi-man match of some kind at Extreme Rules.


Overall Show

Of course, this wasn't at all the hot show that Raw was on Monday night, but it was still better than most episodes of SmackDown. It was very star-heavy with appearances from Hogan, Cena, Bryan, Orton, Batista and others. The in-ring action left a lot to be desired, but storylines were furthered and talent was showcased, so that's all one can really ask for. The show isn't worth going back to watch in its entirety if you missed it, but the main event was enjoyable.

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