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

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - January 31, 2014

1/31/2014

0 Comments

 
PictureTriple H confronts The Shield to start SmackDown.
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Shield Challenged The Wyatt Family

After The Wyatt Family cost them their chance to contend for the world title at Elimination Chamber, it was only logical for The Shield to move into a program with them, and I couldn't be any more excited. All three members of The Shield cut good promos, showed nice intensity, and did a swell job of explaining their motives for targeting The Wyatt Family. The Shield's confrontation with Triple H was also very well done, as it also hinted at a potential Roman Reigns-Triple H for later down the line. I have been looking forward to seeing these two feared factions face off for a while now, and if it isn't going to held at WrestleMania 30, Elimination Chamber is the next best thing.


Antonio Cesaro def. Dolph Ziggler in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

Cesaro and Ziggler are two of the best wrestlers in the company today, so I was a bit disappointed by this matchup. They have had far better matches in the past (on WWE Superstars and Main Event coincidentally enough, where no one will ever see them), and this bout was nothing more than a showcase for Cesaro. I am not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping Ziggler would get in more offense than he did. It is a shame, too, considering the great reaction he received at the Royal Rumble and his subsequent win on Raw. I am very glad to see Cesaro advancing to the Elimination Chamber and contending for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the rising star.

PictureCould Jack Swagger defeat the returning Christian?
Fandango def. Xavier Woods

Could the midcard be anymore dead? Every single week, if isn't R-Truth facing Fandango, it is Woods. What gives? It would be different if this was a rivalry, but it isn't, as it is the same result every time. Fandango's gimmick has grown tiresome and Woods shouldn't be saddled with Brodus Clay's Funkasaurus scraps. What a meaningless match.


Curtis Axel and Ryback def. The Prime Time Players

It was a throwaway match that was over in two minutes, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise. What did come as a surprise was WWE's decision to break The Prime Time Players up immediately afterward. First off, this moment was not built toward at all and the two have too much chemistry to break up right now, especially at a time when the tag team division is flourishing. I wouldn't doubt that both of them will get lost in the shuffle on the road to WrestleMania after a feud that will last a month at most. They should have at least won the WWE Tag Team Championships together before they parted ways.


Christian def. Jack Swagger in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

It is great to see Christian back in action after a near five month absence. He worked an excellent match with Swagger that brought the best out of both competitors. The commentators bringing up Swagger's Chamber win from last year was a nice touch that helped make the match mean more. It was a good first victory back for Christian and Swagger's loss seems to indicate about he won't be with Zeb Colter for much longer.


Kofi Kingston def. Damien Sandow

The commentators continue to make mention of the fact that Sandow has been on a massive losing streak in recent months, but he has yet to be put in an actual rivalry with anyone (no, I don't count The Great Khali). He just constantly loses random matches. Both he and Kofi are in need of victories, so this match did neither of them any favors, hence why it was nothing more than filler. Sandow has already threatened to "quit" before, so what more can be done with this storyline? Turning him face isn't the answer, but time will tell.


Cody Rhodes def. WWE Tag Team Champion Road Dogg

Although I enjoy them in tag team action, The New Age Outlaws should not be wrestling singles matches. They aren't terrible in the ring on their own, but their singles matches are mediocre at best and prove that they are much better off together than apart. If nothing else, at least Rhodes picked up the victory, though I can't say the post-match brawl did anything to get me excited about their upcoming Steel Cage tag team title match on Raw.


The Shield def. Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio

The combination of Bryan, Sheamus and Mysterio looked odd on paper, but the fact they are all great in-ring wrestlers made up for it. Much like the six-man tag team match from this past week's Raw, this was a solid match with entertaining action throughout. Every competitor had their time to shine and the finishing sequence was fun to watch unfold. Replacing John Cena with Mysterio this time around was a sign that The Master of the 619 would be taking the pinfall loss for his team, but it didn't take away from The Shield's strong victory or Roman Reign's dominant showing.


Overall Show

To my memory, this was undoubtedly the best episode of SmackDown in weeks. There was a lot of focus on The Shield and their pending feud with The Wyatt Family, which was exciting. The two Elimination Chamber qualifying matches were well wrestled and the main event was equally awesome. Even the vignette that aired for the debuting Alexander Rusev has me intrigued to what will he do when he eventually arrives on the main roster. Sure, the show had its share of filler (Kingston vs. Sandow comes to mind), but it wasn't anything atrocious and the good definitely outweighed the bad on this show.

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