Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 26, 2013

Jack Swagger lays a brutal beating on Alberto Del Rio.

Great No Disqualification match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. As proven last week, these two worked wonderfully together and kept the action exciting throughout. They made great use of the extreme stipulation and utilized the environment surrounding them. After losing to Del Rio twice before, it was nice to see Swagger score the victory here, especially in clean fashion. I would have liked to see World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler make an appearance at some point on this show, but I understand they the focus was solely kept on the feud between Del Rio and Swagger.

Fine match between Aksana and Layla. Aside from Layla getting the hometown reaction she deserves, this bout didn't serve much of a purpose. Layla is a much better in-ring worker than Aksana, so she was at least able to carry her to an exceptional contest. Although I don't see this win propelling Layla back into the Divas Championship picture, I'm glad WWE took the time to host a Divas match on the show that featured put Layla in action in her home country of England.

Brief match between Fandango and Justin Gabriel. As expected, Fandango was crazily over with the live crowd, which is a good sign for him. Whether it continues going forward remains to be seen, but he can definitely produce quality matches. We didn't see much of his athletic abilities in this brief bout, but it was a victory that helped further his recent momentum. I was surprised that his post-match promo was as short as it was, but it was still better than nothing.

Strong match between Sheamus and Big Show. These two always work well together, and this contest was no exception. Their offense was incredibly intense and hard-hitting, which kept thing interesting throughout the bout. Mark Henry costing Sheamus the victory was logical, while having Show pin Sheamus to pick up the victory was a nice touch. I hope this leads to Show, Henry, Sheamus and Orton all feuding with one another come Extreme Rules instead of the respective singles matches.

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Wade Barrett knocks out William Regal with a Bull Hammer.

Disappointing match with Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett defeating William Regal. I have wanted these two to face one another for the longest time, so the fact that this match lasted a mere minute was definitely disheartening. I realize the other matches on this show took up most of the time, but a few more minutes could have done this match justice. Regardless, it was fun while it lasted and gave England a nice treat with two of their countrymen going head-to-head. I don't expect this to turn into a full-fledged feud over the strap, but it would still be the best way to book Regal's retirement.

Good match between Mark Henry and Randy Orton. Similar to Sheamus and Big Show, these two have excellent chemistry with one another and always produce a solid match. The action was formulaic for the most part, as it was only a matter of time before Sheamus interfered. That being said, I'm glad Henry technically won the bout and Orton lost nothing in defeat.

Solid match between The Undertaker and Dean Ambrose. It easily could have gone on longer than it did, but they made the most of the time they were given. They engaged in an entertaining exchange with one another and being in the ring with the legendary icon was enough to make Ambrose look strong in defeat. There was a lot of confusion as to whether this match would air on television or not, so WWE should have done a better job of hyping this blockbuster contest in advance. Nonetheless, The Shield's ambush on 'Taker following the bout was very well done and put them over big time. This was also a smart way of writing the Deadman off television for the time being if that's the route they ultimately take.

Overall, a great show with a lot of awesome action to offer and must-see matches that left this viewer truly satisfied. WWE always puts on their best shows when overseas, so the fact this edition of SmackDown was more than likely the best of the year thus far shouldn't come as any surprise. Even still, the two hours flew by, as almost every segment on this broadcast served a purpose and was worth watching.

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