Friday Night SmackDown Review - November 11, 2011

Wade Barrett upsets the Viper in England.

Predictable, yet well-done opening promo to kick off the show from Randy Orton and Wade Barrett. It's usually the same formula we see every week, but it succeeded in hyping the main event of Orton vs. Barrett and setting up Christian vs. Sheamus. On a side note, Barrett's canned heat was painfully obvious, when they should have just instead let him receive the hometown cheers he deserves from England.

Another great match between Christian and Sheamus, but it was no different than anything we've seen from them before. Don't get me wrong, it was an entertaining match that got great time in the opening slot, but it always ends with the same outcome of Sheamus emerging victorious. Hopefully, this will be the blow-off match before these two move on to bigger and better things on SmackDown.

Quick, painless enhancement match with Ted DiBiase going over Jinder Mahal. I'm loving how they are finally giving DiBiase these victories to help get him over with the crowd, hopefully building towards an eventual rematch with Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Despite Mahal's potential, I can't blame Creative for making him nothing more than a jobber for up-and-coming stars since he receives minimal heat from the crowd. 

Good match between World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry and Mr. Money in the Bank Daniel Bryan that was kept short only five minutes, but told a story while saving the full potential of this bout for a later date. Bryan's offense got him over the audience extremely, while Henry's logical win and post-match beat down on the American Dragon once again established him as threat going into Survivor Series. Big Show's promo didn't do anything for this viewer, but Henry saved this program with his mic work that coincidentally had me shockingly anticipate their pending match next Sunday.

Worthless match with Big Show dominating three local athletes in a handicap bout. Sure, it was a bit impressive, but we've seen it all before, as well as the fact that the World's Largest Athlete has already been made out to look dominant since his return last month.

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Sheamus delivers a well-placed Irish Curse on Christian.

Forgettable Divas match between Alicia Fox and Tamina. It wasn't horrendous, but Fox needs to improve quite a bit before she can be taken seriously for a shot at the Divas Championship in the near future. At least she has somewhat of a story-line transpiring with Natalya at the moment, so that should keep things busy on SmackDown in the meantime. Also, please let it be heard that I would like Aksana off my television as soon as possible.

Nothing much to say about the tag team match between Hunico and Epico and the Usos as it was over too quickly, but the action was good for what it was worth. I'm really intrigued with this new stable consisting of Hunico, Epico, and now Primo that will now give all men involved some sort of direction on SmackDown. Not only that, but it will sure as hell spice up the tag team division even more with the inclusion of this new team. Of course, there is going to be  a close resemblance between Hunico's coalition and TNA's Mexican America, but hey, at least these guys can wrestle.

Extremely solid main event match between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett hailing from Barrett's homeland of England, making the bout all the more special. Barrett's upset victory was a very smart move to continue his well-deserved renewed push on Friday nights, even if it was via dirty tactics. Additionally, it has me finally looking forward to this forgotten five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series, so this main event bout definitely succeeded in all areas.

Overall, another strong show that included exciting action as a whole, as well as making the best of hyping for the less-than-desirable Survivor Series card next Sunday. With this being the third consecutive week SmackDown has proven to entertain me, it's astonishing that the booking for Friday nights has continued to flourish while Raw has some major work to do in coming weeks in order to compete.

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