Tuesday, November 29, 2011

11/29/11 Smackdown

Ratings:
Divas Mistletoe on a Pole match: DUD

Justin Gabriel vs. Jinder Mahal: 1/4*

Kofi Kingston vs. Tyson Kidd: *

Randy Orton vs. David Otunga (Street Fight): *3/4

"All I Want for Christmas..." Battle Royal: *1/2

Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan (Cage; World Heavyweight Title): **3/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
We're live tonight on a special holiday Smackdown in Charlotte!

Foley comes out to start the show...as good ol' Saint "Mick." I laughed as Cole came out to the Rudolph reindeer outfit. Josh Mathews was an elf. Booker was, well...Booker Claus. It's finally here, the storyline between Cody Rhodes and Booker T. Booker has wanted one final run, and he's getting it now. This is a great chance to further elevate Cody...that should be the long-term effect of this.

Divas Mistletoe on a Pole match was a mess. Brie used her own sister as a stepladder to get a prize...of being able to kiss anyone between now and Christmas. Just a lame prize and a waste of my time.

Cole keeps dissing DiBiase during the Jinder Mahal match. DiBiase comes down to hand out gifts to the fans. This of course distracts Jinder and Gabriel got the win. Cole called this an athletic competition? So is that what we're calling it now?

I wonder if Hornswoggle spiked the eggnog. Dusty Rhodes with a cameo! ROFL! YES! Goldust! Happy to see him back on TV. Hopefully he's back to wrestling soon after undergoing major surgery earlier this year. Otunga wants to shut the party down. Foley puts him in a street fight against Orton. Ouch.

Rhodes attacks Booker backstage...maybe no match tonight.

Kofi still is recognized as one half of the tag champs as Bourne continues to serve his suspension. Tyson Kidd only gets a mention from Chimel, no separate ring entrance. Kofi takes Cole's reindeer headgear. Flying reindeer! Crossbody ends it. Relatively short match here.

Here we go with the Miracle on 34th Street Fight! Otunga comes out to generic music that just happened to be one of Justin Gabriel's old entrance themes. Oh wow, they decide to take out the Christmas trees at ringside. Looks like Orton at least likes Cole's cookies as he beats down Otunga. They get to the stage...and Otunga takes out more trees and presents. Barrett interferes...hey, he's helping a former Nexus guy! Even with that, no dice for Otunga tonight because it's Orton we're talking about. Pretty much a basic match with a bunch of stuff getting destroyed.

Battle royal gets all of the remaining Smackdown roster a chance to be on TV -- yup, even Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle goes under the ring as everyone else goes after each other. Kidd takes out DiBiase, but Hornswoggle pulls Kidd (hanging from the top rope) to the floor. Ha, that sneaky troll.... Hornswoggle is then dragged into the ring against four heels. Looks like one of those Nexus moments. Enter Sheamus to the rescue. He takes all the heels out, leaving him and Hornswoggle in the ring. And Hornswoggle...wins?! now I've seen everything.

The Hornswoggle "talking" segment was a lot of fun to watch -- especially calling Vickie a grandma.

Nice pre-match Daniel Bryan promo. And dammit, Daniel Bryan, you got a kiss from AJ? That's it, I want to apply to WWE now and become a superstar.

One thing I admire about DB in his matches: he really takes hard and flashy bumps. Not fun getting clotheslined and turned head over heels. Entertaining match with the crowd into it. Anytime you can really get the crowd going in a Mark Henry match...you've done something right. LeBell Lock was nice, but the crowd really got going with the ankle lock! Wait, that made no sense for Henry to start scaling the ropes. Very exciting conclusion here. Nice strong finish to end it.

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