Friday Night SmackDown Review - June 24, 2011

The opening promo from Teddy Long and Christian to open the show served it's purpose in answering the question left hanging from Capitol Punishment. The point was made clear that Christian does indeed rightfully deserve another match, and the main event with Kane was also set up nicely.

An awesome showing from both Sin Cara and Ted DiBiase, with both young Superstars getting in impressive spots. This is the smoothest work we've seen from Sin Cara without botches so far, so I'm intrigued if he can work this well when he eventually has a match with Cody Rhodes.

In addition, Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes delivered another exciting contest to follow with their bonding chemistry. The promo also showed the American Dragon can work on the mic, which adds some fuel to this ongoing feud. Although the minor botch from Bryan slowed down the finish a bit, it was handled nicely to give Rhodes to win he needed.

The Mark Henry attacking on the Big Show was the right move, as it gives him major heat on this monster run he has going. He slipped up a little bit at one point, but it served its purpose. The video package covering the World's Strongest Man was also very well-done.

After months of failed attempts, the Intercontinental Championship Match did nothing for me. It was well obvious Jackson was coming out on top, so it only hurt Barrett in the process. However, it post-match comments to Slater and Gabriel were interesting, as it gets my hopes up he will finally get the main event push he deserves.


Another strong match from The Usos and the team of Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, as both teams were showcased as stars this week. I loved the new entrance from The Usos, as it gives them character and personality. The finish was suspenseful, and hopefully continues the rivalry in a chance to contend for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Jinder Mahal didn't do much for me this week, as it's already been established that him and Khali are forces to be reckoned with on SmackDown. It's time to get him in his first real feud, either in singles competition or tagging with Khali.

A great main event match featuring Kane and Christian, as these two veterans can work well together. I'd rather see Christian pick up the win clean and save the tag match for another week, but the tag match that followed was pretty good as well. I understand that with Henry getting the pin over the World Champion gives him heat, but it would have made more sense to give Captain Charisma the victory to establish that he deserves another shot.

Overall, a very entertaining show. It delivered great action all night long, and furthered each existing feud. Hopefully we see more build towards Money in the Bank begin next week to announce who competes in the Ladder Match at the pay-per-view.