Friday Night SmackDown Review - November 30, 2012

John Cena returns to SmackDown to take on Alberto Del Rio.

Fine opening segment featuring John Cena and Alberto Del Rio. Cena's promo was nothing special, but it helped hype his on-going angle with AJ and Dolph Ziggler and to give viewers an incentive to tune into the upcoming edition of Raw. Del Rio was pretty bland on the mic as expected, but I appreciated the fact they mentioned their feud from last year instead of completely ignoring it.

Entertaining match between John Cena and Alberto Del Rio. Both guys hit their signature spots and the crowd was definitely into the near-falls down the stretch. Sure, the inevitable outcome of Cena emerging victorious was never in doubt, but it didn't take away from the exciting action whatsoever. Having Dolph Ziggler attack Cena from behind on the stage following the bout was also smart booking.

Throwaway match between The Great Khali and David Otunga. We saw this same exact match a few weeks ago, so what was the point of having it again? The in-ring action was obviously terrible, but thankfully, it lated a mere minute. Khali's association with Hornswoggle doesn't help matters, either.

Solid six-man tag team match with Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No defeating Wade Barrett and the Prime Time Players. It was given great time and the styles of all six competitors meshed nicely. Everyone was given an equal amount of time to shine and the finish was very unique. I have no complaints with the faces going over, as they needed the victory more than the heels here.

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Sheamus pounds on the chest of Mr. Money in the Bank Dolph Ziggler.

Nice match with Damien Sandow defeating Tyson Kidd. Sandow's promo prior to the bout was excellent, entertaining and effective, as heard by the massive amount of boos during the segment. Kidd had a nice showing against Sandow, so it wasn't a complete squash, but Sandow's victory was necessary. Here's hoping Sandow continues to search for an "apprentice" in weeks ahead just so he can cut more of these brilliant promos.

Decent tag team match with 3MB defeating the Usos. The action was fine for what it was, but it was pretty predictable that 3MB were going over. I'm still confused as to why WWE is so determined on pushing 3MB regardless of their horrendous gimmick, as the Usos are vastly underutilized in the tag team division.

Great match between Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. Despite having seen it numerous times before, these two continue to provide fun matches with exciting action. Ziggler looked great here and Sheamus came off as extremely aggressive, which is good to see. While it would've been better if Ziggler were to win here, I'm content with him losing via disqualification as opposed to pin-fall. The interference from Big Show and John Cena at the end was logical, and it also foreshadowed a potential tag team match for next week.

Overall, an enjoyable edition that featured some solid wrestling and good continuation of a few feuds. While there were some parts of the show that felt meaningless, they were harmless and didn't drag down the overall episode. The two hours went by quick and it certainly didn't feel like a chore to watch this week, which is always a good sign.

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