Friday Night SmackDown Review - December 23, 2011

Daniel Bryan locks in a LaBelle Lock on Swagger.

Quality promo from Big Show, Mark Henry and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan to kick off the show. Both Henry and Show staked their claim for the golden prize, while Bryan came off as a main event threat here as well. Additionally,. it successfully set up a TLC rematch for later in the night.

Great match between Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and United States Champion Zack Ryder that was more focused on Booker T's feud with Rhodes rather than the actual bout. With this being the first time Rhodes and Ryder have collided, I'd like to see more from them at some point down the line.

Pointless segment between Mark Henry and Big Show with their advertised match being called off due to David Otunga that was used merely to kill time. It's not shocking not to see this bout come to fruition given Henry's injury, adding to the fact that this feud has run its course anyways. Both Henry and Show really need to move on to something much bigger on Friday nights.

Quick match with The Miz challenging Sheamus to a match which should have been given more time in order to feel special. I enjoy Miz on SmackDown, so hopefully this was a test run for him to see how he'd do on Friday nights if they opt to move him next year. As I've said before, Sheamus is completely irrelevant without a credible heel to work with. He's in desperate need for a fresh feud that will last him until WrestleMania 28.

Awkward brawl with Randy Orton dominating Wade Barrett in the parking out. Barrett's promo prior to the attack was well done, while Orton's ambush didn't feel that it left much impact. The RKO on top of the car was a cool spot, but I personally felt playing the Viper's entrance music at the conclusion of the beat-down despite not being in the arena was unnecessary. 

Painless match with Kofi Kingston quickly going over Primo. It's was shown a few weeks ago on WWE Superstars that both of these guys can work well together, so more time was needed in order to be effective. I would have preferred the victory for Primo, but Air Boom needs to regain the momentum they lost before Evan Boune's suspension a while back.

Good tag team main event with World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Big Show defeating the tandem of Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. The previous bout between Bryan and Ziggler was going excellent before it was interrupted, but what we got in the tag team contest was fun for what it was worth, especially the ending moments.

Overall, a decent edition of SmackDown that was primarily the aftermath from TLC, which is to be expected given the holiday week. There was a bit left to desired as far as the action goes, but at least everything on the program served a purpose.

---