Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 13, 2012

Alberto Del Rio confronts SmackDown Interim GM Zack Ryder.

Fun opening segment featuring Zack Ryder and Alberto Del Rio. The audience was hot for Ryder and it's good to see him start off the show. Del Rio's interruption was logical and set up his subsequent match with Sin Cara nicely.

Good match between Alberto Del Rio and Sin Cara. They received great time and had exceptional chemistry given their similar styles. The clean finish certainly does a lot to establish Del Rio as a threat going into his World title match at Money in the Bank, while Sin Cara didn't execute any blatantly obvious botches here. I'd enjoy a feud between these two sometime down the line for sure.

Fine match with Primo defeating Darren Young. I'm glad they're finally establishing both teams here, as they need the exposure if WWE expects its viewers to care about the division and its respective feuds. Not many cared for this match-up, but it's a step in the right direction and the action was fine for what it was worth. Why take heat off of the Prime Time Players as they near their eventual WWE Tag Team title match?

Decent tag team match with Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes defeating United States Champion Santino Marella and Intercontinental Champion Christian. It was nice preview of what we'll be seeing Sunday in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match and was able to showcase all four participants. Smart move with Ziggler picking up the victory for his team, as he is certainly the favorite to become Mr. Money in the Bank on Sunday.

Painless match with Big Show decimating Great Khali within thirty seconds. Obviously, neither of these giants are the best workers in the company, so I'm glad they kept it short and sweet. Since Big Show received very little momentum on Monday's Raw heading into Sunday's event, I'm glad they put over as a beast on tonight's show by taking out Khali in quick fashion.

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Dolph Ziggler perfectly executes the Zig-Zag on Santino Marella.

Typical Ryback squash match against Tyler Reks. However, I found it to be Ryback's hardest challenge to date, as Reks was able to score a lot of offense before being inevitably defeated. Their similar builds made for a decent match while it lasted, so I certainly like the idea of having Ryback feud with both men for the time being. The fact that Reks and Hawkins both received a televised entrance is good enough for me.

Brief match with Damien Sandow defeating Justin Gabriel. There didn't seem to be much of a purpose behind this contest except giving Sandow some momentum going into Sunday's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. My only real issue here is that he didn't cut a promo, as that guy is absolutely golden on the microphone.

Excellent main event match with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defeating Chris Jericho. They had tremendous chemistry and kept me in suspense for the entire fifteen minutes that their contest lasted. The false finishes towards the end were also very well done and Jericho looked strong in defeat. Once the Celtic Warrior is done with Del Rio following Sunday's event, I'd love to see Jericho enter the World title picture. Speaking of Del Rio, he did a fantastic job of garnering even more heat by brutally attacking Sheamus to close the show. This is the aggressive side to his character that I've been waiting to see for months now, and they've built him up perfectly in recent weeks heading into his World title match so it actually looks like he might win the belt.

Overall, an enjoyable show that featured some pretty good action as a whole and successful build towards Money in the Bank. I'm not sure if Zack Ryder as General Manger did anything to enhance the show, but he was a fun addition nonetheless. That being said, why didn't he book himself in a World title match or enter himself in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match? That was a missed opportunity in my opinion.

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