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

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - December 20, 2013

12/21/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureJohn Cena and Daniel Bryan confront Randy Orton.
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

John Cena and Daniel Bryan Interrupted WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton

Orton's promo wasn't necessarily bad, but it certainly wasn't anything of note. Cena's promo was much of the same, and I dislike how he comes off as superior to Bryan. In a way, he is, but they should be portrayed as equals on television. It was good to see Bryan finally get mic time and show some aggression when confronting Orton. There was a good deal of foreshadowing done here with Bryan teasing a potential rematch with Cena down the road. The Shield's interruption and CM Punk making the save helped set up the main event match for later in the night.


Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston def. Jack Swagger (Non-title)

This was a nice follow-up of the tag team match between The Real Americans and Langston and Mark Henry from Raw this past week, but I don't see what point it served aside from furthering Langston's momentum. I am very high on The Real Americans as a team, but it doesn't look like they'll be branching off in singles competition to chase the mid-card titles any time soon. It was a basic squash for Langston, which is a shame given the fact Swagger was a force to be reckoned with earlier this year.


PictureBig E Langston and CM Punk fend off The Shield.
Brie Bella def. Tamina Snuka

I am confused as to whether The Bella Twins (specifically Brie) is still chasing the Divas Championship or not. This win, as well as her post-match push to AJ Lee at ringside, seemed to indicate that she is, but it is still undetermined. The win didn't do much for Brie considering the match lasted only mere minutes, and having Snuka lose so decisively in such quick fashion was a mistake.


Sin Cara def. Drew McIntyre

With two wins over Alberto Del Rio under his belt, defeating McIntyre essentially means nothing for Sin Cara. The match was relatively quick and painless, but was easily forgettable. JBL stated on commentary that this is a new Sin Cara we are seeing, but I am hoping that he was just trying to be clever and not trying to signal that Hunico is really under the mask. Do we really need another atrocious Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud?


Tensai def. Brodus Clay

While I am all in favor of turning Clay heel (which was long overdue), I couldn't care less about his current feuds with Tensai or Xavier Woods, and I think the live crowd felt the same way. The match was deplorable and Woods distracting Clay with his own entrance music was cheap. Clay should be stacking up wins as a heel, not being outsmarted by Woods on a regular basis. I am a major advocate of Woods, but both he and Clay deserve better than this.


Luke Harper and Erik Rowan def. WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Non-title)

Should it really come as any surprise at this point that these two teams put on a great match? The Rhodes brothers have been consistently having awesome matches in recent months and this bout was no exception. The Rhodes brothers battled back against The Wyatt Family after being brutalized for most of the contest only to come up short. I usually don't like it when champions lose non-title matches, but this sparks a title feud between the Rhodes brothers and The Wyatt Family, which could be exciting. Daniel Bryan making the save during the post-match was fun and helped further the feud between him and The Wyatt Family, which is apparently continuing after all.


Damien Sandow def. The Miz

These two have had entertaining matches in the past, so the fact this match was cut short only a minute in was rather disappointing. They grappled briefly before Miz immediately went for the Figure Four Leglock. How ridiculous. If nothing else, Sandow's pre-match promo was good and helped hype the Christmas-themed episode of Raw for next week (which I am sure the ratings will be through the roof for). I have simply accepted the fact that Miz is a tweener and won't bother complaining about his constant flip-flopping.


Fandango def. Kofi Kingston

How many times have Fandango and Kingston faced each other in the last few months? And how many of those matches actually mattered? They are capable of having good matches together, but this match was utterly meaningless. I assume it was done to give Fandango his heat back after losing to Dolph Ziggler on Monday's Raw, but does anyone honestly care by this point?


John Cena and CM Punk def. The Shield by Disqualification

In theory, Punk and Cena could have easily won this match considering Punk beat The Shield all by himself at TLC, but I guess that logic was thrown out the window for this match. Even still, it was a very good matchup with enjoyable action. It was given great time and the non-finish protected The Shield in defeat. Big E Langston making the save in the post-match was a pleasant surprise, so it is cool to see him being featured alongside the main event stars. It also helps make the Intercontinental Championship feel a bit more prestigious as well.


Overall Show

The show started off strong with the opening segment, but it all went downhill from there. The Wyatt Family-Rhodes brothers tag team match as well as the main event were worth watching, but everything else was pure filler. Nine matches on a two hour show? Raw had less match this week! They probably figured SmackDown would have a lower audience anyway given that it is a holiday week, but I don't find that to be much of an excuse.

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