Friday Night SmackDown Review - August 30, 2013

Triple H crashes the set of "Miz TV".

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Miz Hosted "Miz TV" with Big Show and Dolph Ziggler

"Miz TV" doesn't usually feature anything of note, but I thought everyone played their respective roles extremely well here. Miz came off much more organic than he usually does and the silence from Ziggler and Show spoke volumes. Triple H established his role as a hated heel here and also managed to take a few shots at the audience, garnering major heat in the process. The matches made by HHH helped give viewers a number of things to look forward to for the rest of the night.


WWE Champion Randy Orton def. The Miz (Non-title)

It was interesting to see Orton and Miz go against each other, especially since the roles were reversed this time around. They work well together and had a solid bout that could have used a few more minutes to feel a bit more memorable. Michael Cole pointed out on commentary that is was The Shield's interference that ultimately cost Miz the match, which helped protect The Awesome One in defeat. The crowd was red hot for Daniel Bryan's save and it was cool to see Miz and Bryan alongside one another for the first time in years.

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Rob Van Dam nails Damien Sandow with a frog splash.

Rob Van Dam def. Damien Sandow

I expected more from this match given who was involved, but it was a decent bout while it lasted. Alas, Sandow's lengthy losing streak continues. I found it odd that his feud with Cody Rhodes wasn't furthered here, but the commentators made reference to it. World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio's post-match promo was great and was the best hype the world title match at Night of Champions has received thus far.


The Shield def. Dolph Ziggler in a Handicap Match

This was essentially the same match we saw on last week's edition of Raw, but it was still well wrestled. Ziggler sold the offense from The Shield like a champ, especially that spear from Roman Reigns at the end. In other words, this contest was relatively short and sweet. The Handicap matches will grow tiresome at some point, but I don't mind them for now.


Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman Addressed CM Punk

Heyman cut yet another passionate promo here filled with incredible intensity. He hyped his handicap match against Punk at Night of Champions in fantastic fashion and made the fans really want to see Punk get his hands on him at the event. As for Axel, he still lacks in the charisma department, but his mic skills are at least improving. Notice how the crowd is chanting "CM Punk" instead of "Axel sucks"? Yeah, that's something that Axel needs to work on going forward.


Erik Rowan and Luke Harper def. Tons of Funk

Does The Wyatt Family have a problem with Tons of Funk and nobody else? I mean, this was the third time these two teams have clashed and The Wyatt Family has yet to take on anyone else in tag team action. Aside from that, though, the bout was pretty painless and put over the group's dominance. I would have liked to hear from Bray Wyatt on the mic, but his post-match attack on Tensai was good enough for this viewer.


Daniel Bryan def. Ryback by Disqualification

These two always had solid outings against one another and this was no exception. Bryan was able to score a substantial amount of offense against Ryback and the hot crowd was engaged in the action the entire time. It seems that the matches between Ryback and Bryan always end in disqualification. What would the harm have been in Bryan making Ryback tap out? It's not like Ryback is involved in anything of note at the moment. Anyway, the post-match attack from Randy Orton and The Shield on Bryan was excellently executed and put a great deal of heat on Orton, The Shield and Triple H. Similar to the handicap match situation I referred to earlier, the heels getting the better of Bryan time and time again will grow old after a while, but I have hope that they will find a way to freshen things up at some point soon.


Overall Show

Every match and segment on this show served a purpose, thus making for an enjoyable two hours that absolutely flew by. There was plenty of hype for Night of Champions and the in-ring action was excellent as well. While nothing may have been all that memorable, this week's SmackDown was certainly worth watching and ended the summer season on a high note.

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