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

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - September 28, 2012

9/30/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Randy Orton delivers an RKO to Alberto Del Rio.
Decent opening segment featuring Big Show, Randy Orton, and Alberto Del Rio. I'm not intrigued by any of the three at the moment, but at least we're seeing fresh faces in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. Show did well with his promo and I liked the fact he mentioned his past history with the title after what occurred last year. Orton hitting Del Rio with an RKO so quickly felt unnecessary at first, but it later made sense after what transpired at the end of the show.

Fine match between Antonio Cesaro defeating Santino Marella to successfully retain his United States Championship. Most of the silliness we usually see from these two was left out, so I appreciated that aspect of it. Santino beat Cesaro last night, so it only made sense to give him a title show this week. It was a basic bout, but I hope this is the end of the feud between Cesaro and Marella, as Cesaro needs legitimate opponents so he can get over as champion.

Great match between Beth Phoenix and Natalya. It consisted of excellent reversals and nice story telling seeing that Phoenix and Natalya were once a part of Divas of Doom together. Phoenix's hometown crowd made for suitable environment and the roll-up victory for the Glamazon somewhat solidified her face turn. My only complaint is that it didn't go longer, but having it go for the five minutes that it did was still good to see. Obviously, this was the Divas match of the year thus far, but even that's not saying much. Eve suspending Phoenix didn't make much sense to me nor did Natalya's crying following the bout, but hey, at least they're giving the division something to do.

Nice match with Wade Barrett defeating Zack Ryder. While it was obvious Barrett would pick up the victory, Ryder was still able to score some offense and create some good chemistry with Barrett. Since this was a first-time-ever match, it also felt fresh. Only thing that could've made this more meaningful was if Barrett cut another awesome promo following the bout, but it wasn't meant to be apparently. Hopefully he gets entered into a feud soon before these squash matches start to grow tiresome.

Picture
World Champion Sheamus speaks with IC Champion The Miz.
Solid Miz TV segment featuring World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and Intercontinental Champion The Miz. This is what I hoped to see the segment accomplish when it first made its debut last week. It promoted a handful of story-lines and was actually entertaining. Sheamus was great on the mic here and finally allowed his aggressive side to shine through without cutting any corny jokes. Dolph Ziggler coming out might be foreshadowing his eventual Money in the Bank cash-in, which makes for a suspenseful teaser. Sure, Sheamus got the best of both Miz and Ziggler at the same time, but that wasn't all that surprising anyway.

Brief match with Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes defeating The Usos to advance in the WWE Tag Team Championship tournament. The tournament itself is a brilliant idea and is yet another awesome way to restore relevance in the tag division. While the inevitable outcome might be a bit predictable, it still highlights each of the teams in WWE today. The match was short and nothing to write home about, but it helped establish the Rhodes Scholars as a tandem and a threat in this tournament.

Impressive outing from Ryback with his victory over Tensai. The match was as short and basic as anything other Ryback match, but Ryback still came off as an absolute beast for dominating someone with Tensai's size. Ryback hitting his finisher on Tensai was an extremely cool sight and made Ryback look even more like a force to be reckoned with.

Boring main event match between Big Show and Randy Orton, however, it was filled with smart booking. Alberto Del Rio attacking Orton prior to the match gave Orton an out for losing, while Show's clean victory gives him credibility. It took two chokeslams to put away Orton, so the Viper looked strong in defeat. Del Rio's attack on Orton at the conclusion of the show indicates that he'll be taking some time off to film the sequel to 12 Rounds, so that was well-done. Sheamus vs. Show for the World title might not be the most exciting match, but it's certainly fresh, unprecedented and ten times better than yet another Sheamus-Del Rio contest.

Overall, a great show filled with enjoyable moments, solid action, and smart booking. They progressed handful of story-lines happening at the moment and I'm excited for each of them. The show also featured some hype for Hell in a Cell next month, which is also great to see since they usually wait until the last possible minute to start building towards their pay-per-views.

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