Friday Night SmackDown Review - March 9, 2012

Randy Orton delivers an RKO to The Miz.

Entertaining Steel Cage match with Santino Marella successfully defending his United States Championship against Jack Swagger. I don't think the cage was all that necessary, but it made for a fun environment. Vickie Guerrero costing Swagger the match by accident was a nice swerve and will cause tension between the two if the plan is to split them up in the near future.

Typical squash match with Drew McIntyre defeating Hornswoggle to earn his spot back on the SmackDown roster. However, any heat he may have gotten from the victory was quickly diminished when The Great Khali interfered. I hope to see McIntyre on Team Johnny at WrestleMania, but they really need to start booking him correctly.

Good match between Mark Henry and Ezekiel Jackson that featured a quicker pace than what you'd expect from these two. It was short and sweet, while giving Henry a much-needed victory. I'm not too sure where these two go from here, as both dominant forces need a direction on Friday nights.

Throwaway match between Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis that included pretty much what you'd expect. It furthered the Kane and Randy Orton rivalry, but Kane shouldn't be made out to look this weak. The only thing I liked about this match is that thankfully we won't be seeing it at WrestleMania 28.

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Fun tag team match with Kofi Kingston and R-Truth defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Primo and Epico in a non-title bout. It got decent time and allowed all four Superstars a chance to shine. Based upon the outcome, I assume we'll be seeing a rematch at WrestleMania for the titles, which is a passable idea to get them all on the card.

Solid promo between World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Sheamus. This WrestleMania match hasn't been given all that much hype since it's been announced, so it's good to see an effort being made here. Sure, nothing too intense or noteworthy was said, but they have evident chemistry. AJ played her role well and her intriguing inclusion here foreshadowed the role she might play during the title match at Mania.

Enjoyable six-man tag team action to close the show with Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus defeating Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, and The Miz. Everyone was able to get involved and a handful of feuds were included in this bout as well. None of which got too much focus, but the action was pretty good. Miz taking the pin-fall was pretty predictable, but you can't expect anything different given how he's been booked recently. Kane and Orton's brawl to close the show was fine, but still doesn't have me caring about their rivalry.

Overall, a good show that didn't feature a lot of action, but a decent amount. A number of WrestleMania feuds were furthered during the show which is always a good thing, but not enough. If more time was spent on the rivalries going into the event and less on worthless matches with no purpose, then SmackDown could be in better shape.

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