WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 12, 2013

4/13/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dolph Ziggler cuts his first promo as World Champion.
Excellent opening segment featuring new World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler and his various rivals. I assume Ziggler lost his voice during his championship celebration on Monday's Raw, but his promo here was still great, regardless. The interruptions from Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho were all well done with each competitor stating why they deserve a shot at the title. Furthermore, this was an effective way of setting up the main event match between Ziggler and Jericho for later in the night.

Fine match with WWE Tag Team Champion Team Hell No defeating the Prime Time Players. We've seen this match a number of times in the past, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a shame to see how far the tag team division has fallen, as it's basically Team Hell No and everyone else. On the bright side, it's nice to see that The Shield have set their sights on the gold based on their post-match promo.

Basic match with Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett defeating Santino Marella. To Marella's credit, he truly is a great competitor when he wants to be, so this bout was well wrestled while it lasted. The outcome was never in doubt, but it was still a good win for Barrett, nonetheless. WWE has done major damage to both him and the belt in recent months, so this was a nice way of starting the rebuilding process.

Throwaway six-Diva tag team match with the Bella Twins and Tamina Snuka defeating Divas Champion Kaitlyn and the Funkadactyls. The action was rapid fire at the start, but the bout was over before it even started. There was nothing necessarily wrong with this contest, but it didn't seem like it served much of a purpose. Nonetheless, it's still nice to see a majority of the Divas division receive television time for the for the first time in a long while.

Picture
Triple H makes his signature entrance on SmackDown.
Solid segment featuring Triple H, 3MB, The Shield and Team Hell No. Triple H's promo was fun for what it was and touched upon his victory over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. 3MB's involvement here was painfully pointless, but The Shield's interruption made more sense and was well done. Team Hell No making the save shouldn't have come as a surprise to most viewers since we saw something similar with Undertaker on this week's Raw.

Decent Handicap match with Randy Orton and Sheamus defeating Big Show via count-out. It is not often you see two top fan favorites take on a heel in a two-on-one scenario, so it felt a bit strange. Losing the match via count-out protects Big Show, but it doesn't make me care about this feud any more than I was going into it. If an Orton heel turn is on the horizon, I surely hope they fast forward to that point sooner rather than later. While Mark Henry's backstage attack on Sheamus was intense, I'm not anticipating their pending feud since it's been done before.

Nice match between United States Champion Antonio Cesaro and Kofi Kingston. The match could've used a few more minutes in order to feel memorable, but it was fine for what it was. Kingston winning does nothing for this viewer, as we've seen him receive mid-card pushes countless times in recent years and it's no different each time. Cesaro has fallen far since the start of the new year, which is a shame because he has a very bright future and his potential is currently being put to waste for no apparent reason.

Great match between World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho. They have fantastic chemistry with one another inside the squared circle and this bout was no exception. The action was extremely entertaining throughout and the two delivered yet another instant classic. I would have liked to see Ziggler win clean here, but I'm still glad he was given the victory over a top name such as Jericho in his first match as champ. Fandango's post-match attack on Y2J was a nice momentum booster and was a good way of writing Jericho off WWE television for the being.

Overall, a mediocre show that didn't do much to leave this viewer looking forward to next week's edition. The only segments worth watching were the opening segment and main event match, as everything else seemed to fall flat. Sure, nothing on this show was horrendous, but it felt more like a chore to watch than anything else. Here's hoping the blue brand begins to feature more promising programs in coming weeks.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2023 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact