WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 31, 2014

10/31/2014

0 Comments

 
PictureDean Ambrose and Cesaro reek Halloween havoc.
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nikki Bella Won a No. 1 Contender's Halloween Costume Battle Royal for the Divas Championship

The Diva costume contests are always a treat every year, but not when they come in the form of Battle Royals. The wrestling was absolutely atrocious, but that didn't come as much of a surprise given who was involved. It didn't overstay its welcome, thankfully, but it wasn't the best way to kick off the night. If nothing else, Paige and Alicia Fox furthered their feud and Nikki is a logical contender to AJ's Divas title. Expect Brie to cost her sister the title match at Survivor Series. This feels like John Cena joining The Nexus all over again.


Kane def. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler (Non-title)

I enjoyed their match from Monday's Raw and this bout was much of the same. Kane isn't the greatest technical wrestler at this stage of this career (not that he ever really was), but he held his own against Ziggler who carried him to a good match. Although I hated how Ziggler lost a non-title match, at least it came following a cool finish of Kane catching Ziggler in mid-air for the chokeslam. Kane needs wins, but they shouldn't come at the expense of someone who also needs them.

PictureKane sets up the chokeslam on Dolph Ziggler.
Seth Rollins def. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler (Non-title)

As if the Intercontinental champion losing one non-title match wasn't bad enough, he lost two of them back-to-back! I was hoping WWE was done doing that after the strong set of wins Ziggler picked up at Hell in a Cell and on Raw, but no such luck. On the bright side, it gives The Authority members more heat, but it's all about the follow-up. If Ziggler doesn't join John Cena's Survivor Series team now (though I'm confident he will), all of this will have proven to be pointless.


Ryback def. Heath Slater

As noted in my Raw review, it's great to see Ryback back to doing his "Feed Me More" gimmick. The fans were very receptive to it on this show and it made for a fun matchup with Slater. I really liked how this wasn't your typical squash match but rather comedic filler at its best. Slater is awesome in this role and Ryback showed personality here as well. Does this mean Slater Gator is no more? Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself by writing that.


The Miz Hosted 'Miz TV' with Mark Henry

For those curious, yes, this was supposed to occur on this week's Main Event and there was no explanation as to why it was switched. Expect nothing less from WWE! Regardless, Miz and Damien Mizdow were fine in their roles as always and Henry cut a good promo. He didn't show as much fire as I would have hoped, but maybe that comes later. I'm not at all looking forward to a potential feud between Henry and Big Show (again), but Henry is most comfortable when heel and I have hope it'll reignite his career.


Los Matadores def. WWE Tag Team Champions Gold and Stardust (Non-title)

After seeing it on paper, I figured this was going to be another glorified squash match for Gold and Stardust, but apparently not. It ended up being a lot better than expected. See what happens when you strip all the stupidity away from the Los Matadores act and just let them wrestle? Now if they can only get rid of the masks... Anyway, as it currently stands, Los Matadores are jokes and jobbers, so WWE will have to do quite a bit to build them up as credible contenders to the WWE Tag Team titles if that's where they are headed.


Rusev def. The Great Khali

When was the last time Khali was in action before this match? I couldn't even tell you to be honest. That said, why is he even still around? Is he really that necessary of an asset to WWE? Nevertheless, the match was kept short and sweet and was a nice follow-up to Rusev's big (no pun intended) win at Hell in a Cell. The best part about this segment was the start of the feud between Rusev and Sheamus. I've been anxiously awaiting for this rivalry for a while now and it might be exactly what Sheamus needs to make his character interesting again.


Bray Wyatt Addressed Dean Ambrose

This was an improvement over the promo Wyatt cut on Monday's Raw. That's not a knock on Wyatt's promo ability whatsoever. It's just that he didn't reveal much of anything in that Raw promo and at least he made an attempt to garner heat from the fans by insulting them in this promo. It tied in nicely to Halloween and made me belief that this Wyatt-Ambrose feud will have legs after all. However, it's up to WWE to not screw it up.


Dean Ambrose def. Cesaro in a Trick or Street Fight

This was one of those matches that you either loved or your hated, and I happen to fall in the former category. Maybe it has something to do with how big of a "mark" I am for Halloween, but all the Halloween-themed weapons and pumpkins at ringside were great. Heck, even the name of the match was clever! Obviously, Ambrose and Cesaro could put on an instant classic in the ring, but in this kind of environment, they thrived. It meshed well with Ambrose's crazed character and the action was entertaining. What more could one ask for?


Overall Show

Most of the show consisted of comedic filler and forgettable matches, but what do you expect on a holiday show? As noted, I love Halloween more than anyone, so I thoroughly enjoyed all the holiday-themed aspects of this episode. The main event was a lot of fun and everything else was solid enough to keep me interested, so it made for an enjoyable two hours on the whole. Happy Halloween, folks!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2023 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact