Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 15, 2011

The opening promo from Randy Orton and Christian was harmless, but it seems like we've seen different so many version of this from these two that it's becoming stale. But Christian's insults do make for good comedy, while Orton does nothing for me. 

The Intercontinental Championship was random for me, and it seems like DiBiase's constant losing automatically assumes he will lose. However, a good showing from Ted DiBiase even though it was mostly dominant of Jackson's part. Hopefully, this all leads to a DiBiase face turn sooner rather than later.

Another awesome match from Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan, with a sick promo recapping their feud prior to the contest. It was wise to give Rhodes the victory here, and hopefully this is the blow-off to the feud that elevates them after Sunday.

A good showing from Sin Cara and Sheamus, even if it reminded of Mysterio in action a bit due to the underdog tactics used by Sin Cara. Wade Barrett was excellent on commentary, and his attack afterwards gives him some much-needed momentum.

Surprisingly, I throughly enjoyed the Big Show-Mark Henry segment. They usually aren't hot on the mic, but they were great last night. Teddy Long was good in his role as the peacemaker, even if the final line was a little strange. Nonetheless, this promo gave Henry some explanation and gets me in the mood to see these two go at it.


The Divas match was horrible as usual, as neither of the two ladies can work a decent match. It was used to get Kelly Kelly some momentum going into her title defense, so at least it had a purpose.

A weak match from Justin Gabriel and Heath Sltaer. It wasn't bad, but these two are capable are putting on something much greater given their history. Slater is a wreck on the mic, and doesn't do anything as a heel, but I'm glad Gabriel is finally getting the face push we anticipated. Hopefully, the feud continues and we see the two go longer than what we got last night.

I was expecting a solid match from Kane and Randy Orton, but it was too short to really get started. Christian getting involved was typical, but I like the swerve of giving Kane the victory. Kane attacking Orton wasn't completely out of character being a tweener, but it certainly was interesting. I'd love to see Orton and Kane fight for the World Title down the line.

Overall, a solid show. I'm disappointed I wasn't able to go due to personal reasons, but a great build-up show nonetheless. The matches were too short to be anything special, but all served a purpose in hyping Money in the Bank. Each rivalry was highlighted, and has me getting high hopes for Sunday.