Friday Night SmackDown Review - December 27, 2013

Seth Rollins goes one-on-one with John Cena.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Shield Interrupted John Cena

Cena can be great on the mic when he is motivated, but this was unfortunately more of the same from his happy-go-lucky persona. It wasn't completely unbearable, but it definitely wasn't one of this better showings on the mic. Thankfully, The Shield cut the promo short from it got to the point of being unbearable and the crowd was hot for the the run-ins from Mark Henry and Big E Langston. It helped set the stage for the rest of the show and was a simple yet effective opening segment.


Luke Harper and Erik Rowan def. The Usos

These two teams have had great matches together in the past, so it was a shame that it lasted no more than 10 seconds. While it gave The Wyatt Family a dominant victory, the quick loss made The Usos look like enhancement talent. The post-match attack on The Usos put more heat on The Wyatt Family, but again, didn't do much for The Usos, who should be in contention for the tag titles right now.

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Dolph Ziggler takes the fight to Randy Orton.

Antonio Cesaro def. WWE Tag Team Champion Cody Rhodes

With Cesaro and Rhodes being two great workers with bright futures in WWE, I expected more from this match. It was a good match while it lasted, but it never seemed to get out of first gear. It was a nice win for Cesaro even with the use of dirty tactics, as it keeps The Real Americans in the chase for the tag team titles. More time would have benefited both competitors greatly.


The Prime Time Players def. Ryback and Curtis Axel

Both teams put forth a good effort, but it was hard to take either tandem seriously when neither of them received an entrance. Regardless, it was an enjoyable contest while it lasted that, similar to the previous two bouts, could have benefited from more time. The Prime Time Players haven't been pushed much since Night of Champions, so I was glad to see them pick up the victory here. Ryback and Axel aren't much of a pairing anyway, so the loss doesn't harm them at all.


WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler (Non-title)

Orton and Ziggler have always worked very well together and this match was no exception. However, they didn't pick up the pace down the stretch, and thus the finish wasn't properly built towards and seemed to come out of nowhere. This is in addition to the fact that Ziggler lost to Fandango on Raw only a few short days ago, so the live crowd had no reason to believe that Ziggler would win. Orton's post-match attack on Ziggler made The Viper look more ruthless, but it all but solidified the fact that Ziggler's career isn't going anywhere any time soon.


Daniel Bryan def. Damien Sandow

They worked a nice match, but it was essentially an elongated squash match for Bryan. I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but Sandow looked strong after his unsuccessful cash-in in late October, so it is a shame to see him back to his losing ways. He has no direction at the moment and desperately needs a feud to make him relevant again. The only thing worth noting here is that Bray Wyatt's post-match promo was excellently cryptic and furthered the feud between him and Bryan.


Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston def. United States Champion Dean Ambrose (Non-title)

Remember when champion vs. champion matches used to mean something? Those were the good ol' days. Anyway, it was a decent match while it lasted, but the finish felt abrupt after Ambrose re-entered the ring. It was a good win for Langston and I hope all the talk of unifying the mid-card belts is true since we would be better off with one. Ambrose hasn't defended the star-spangled prize in over two months, so what's the point of him even holding it at this point?


Roman Reigns def. Mark Henry

The similarities in size made this match appealing more than anything else. It wasn't a five star classic or anything, but it was a good outing from both competitors than helped showcase Reigns' dominance. Having him going over Henry clean was a nice touch and it gave him credibility as a singles competitor, so kudos to Henry for doing the clean job. WWE officials are obviously high on Reigns, so giving him the win here was only logical.


John Cena def. Seth Rollins

This match was set up perfectly with it being the rubber match of the three main events and it being hyped as a first time ever bout. It surely lived up to its potential of being an excellent match that saw Rollins more than hold his own against Cena. The match was entertaining as a whole and the final few minutes were also exciting. It was predictable that Cena would win to send the crowd home happy, but it still put Rollins over in a big way as well.


Overall Show

The card looked strong on paper, but many matches that had the potential to be excellent were unfortunately cut short, but I guess that is what happens on a show with multiple matches. The show really didn't feel significant until the last three matches, especially Cena vs. Rollins. Go out of your way to see that last awesome matchup that made the two hours feel worthwhile and made up for the other disappointing matches on the show.

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