Friday Night SmackDown Review - May 4, 2012

Daniel Bryan delivers a forceful dropkick to Sheamus.

Strong segment featuring Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio to kick off the show. All men played their roles very well and furthered the feud nicely between all three of them. I was baffled as to why we'd be receiving the World Heavyweight title match at the start of the program, but luckily it ended quickly via disqualification to set up the rematch later in the show.

Fun match with WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeating Hunico and Camacho. It gave a good victory to Truth and Kignston to establish them as legitimate champs, while Hunico and Camacho had an impressive showing. I liked Abraham Washington hanging out with Primo, Epico, and Rosa on the stage, so hopefully the angle leads somewhere. 

Typical match with Brodus Clay defeating Jack Swagger via count-out. The action was fine, but it was obviously too quick to mean anything. It benefits Brodus in the sense he's defeating former World Heavyweight Champions, but it's become too predictable at this point that it doesn't do much.

Great promo from Damien Sandow here. They built him up perfectly with the vignettes that have been airing in recent weeks, and he certainly delivered. As much as I would like to see him compete, it was smart to hold it off so it garners him more heat. I enjoyed the mini promo Derrick Bateman cut, mostly due to the fact that he mentioned his NXT match from a few months ago and actually applied to WWE logic. Ryback accepting the challenge was a pleasant surprise and gave him a victory that wasn't against a local athlete.

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Kane makes the leap of faith as Cody Rhodes looks on.

Solid tag team match with Big Show and Randy Orton defeating Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and Kane. Everyone was able to get in some offense while providing entertaining action. As much as I don't like to see Rhodes get destroyed after just winning back the Intercontinental title, it was done so in an efficient way that didn't bother me as much.

Brief match between Divas Champion Layla and Natalya that wasn't as bad as most Divas matches are these days. Layla is an average worker, and pairing her with Natalya made for a fine match. Hopefully they could develop this into a rivalry, as it could do wonders to get the Canadian Diva back into the title picture.

Excellent title match to close the show with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defeating Daniel Bryan to retain the strap. It made their match at Extreme Rules feel a bit meaningless, but even still, the action here was phenomenal with a fantastic finish. Having #1 Contender Alberto Del Rio get involved was a smart move in building his pending match for Over the Limit, but didn't give too much away.

Overall, a an awesome show that was very enjoyable throughout. The night had its share of solid in-ring action, while it felt like a nice aftermath show following Extreme Rules last Sunday. AJ also made an appearance, who forcefully slapped Kaitlyn backstage in an intense encounter. This was certainly one of the few Friday night broadcasts that was successful as a whole in feeling like it wasn't a chore to be watching.

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