WWE SmackDown, March 4, 2011: Captain Charisma and the Deadman Return

World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated Drew McIntyre

Decent match, but it had more potential than what was given. These two have chemistry, and if McIntyre can re-establish himself as a threat, then this would be a great future feud over the world championship.

I give this Match of the Night due to the overall lack of wrestling on this show, in addition to being a good opener. Here's hoping McIntyre gains more momentum heading into WrestleMania.

On a side note, McIntyre was not fired due to the outcome. He would have been fired had he not competed.


Cody Rhodes Promo

Cody Rhodes has always been good on the mic, and this was no exception. I'm not saying it was a tremendous promo, but it got over the basics in saying why he did what he did and to challenge Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania.

I'm glad he was able to get over by himself without his father, and looks to be a promising heel on the Friday Night brand. Their rivalry should be good on the Road to WrestleMania and lead to a good blow-off match.


WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel defeated Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (WWE Tag Team Championship Match)

What else is there to say about this match? We've seen it time and time again, and nothing changes. Very predictable and boring to this viewer.


The Undertaker Returns

Awesome promo by the Deadman. This surpassed Triple H's promo by far, and set up an already established confrontation between the two. Taker's return should give people another reason to tune into SmackDown.


Lay-Cool defeated Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes

Obviously a miss, as the match lasted only two minutes. Just when I thought WWE began to take the Divas division seriously, they revert back to short throwaway matches.

They don't accomplish anything, and certainly aren't building towards anything relevant atWrestleMania. Please do us a favor, WWE, and debut Awesome Kong now.


Big Show defeated Kane by Disqualification

The match itself was okay, and fun while it lasted. As former rivals and tag team partners, Kane and Big Show have chemistry, so it usually makes for a decent match.

From rumors I've heard, The Corre is fighting Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and Christian in an eight-man tag team match. I'm not looking forward to that at all, as it seems as just a desperate effort to fit the forgotten SmackDown stars into a match at WrestleMania.

Turning Kane face in the post-match was a terrible idea, as he just had a tremendous run as a heel and shouldn't be reverted so quickly. Let's hope if they do choose to keep him as a face, let it be a tweener at the very least.


Jack Swagger defeated JTG

Pointless match, but at least it was successful in getting both Jack Swagger and Michael Cole some more heat. A match wasn't needed, but it was only JTG who was squashed, so it doesn't make a difference.

Very looking forward to some more heel comedy from Swagger and Cole leading up toWrestleMania.


World Heavyweight Champion Edge and Alberto Del Rio Contract Signing; Christian Returns

The contract signing was good for what it was worth. The attacks from Del Rio onto Edge in the past few weeks have been great and have accomplished getting Del Rio even more heat than he already has.

The feud has been good, but the match just doesn't feel special to me. Involving Christian may not be intriguing to some people, but in my opinion, it adds a more intense and historic feel to the match if he does participate in some form.

Hyping his return on next week's show was a great idea to have more people tune in. His first promo back since September should be interesting, and explain his participation in the match if any.


Final Review

A show that was very short on wrestling, but high on promos. As noted by other people, people look to SmackDown to make up for RAW's lacking in wrestling each week, but I guess it's expected since we are on the Road to WrestleMania.

With numerous feuds continuing to heat up, the ratings continue to accelerate for the Friday Night show. An enjoyable episode nonetheless.