Friday, January 13, 2012

1/13/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater: *

Cody Rhodes vs. Ezekiel Jackson: 1/2*

Ted DiBiase vs. Drew McIntyre: 1/2*

Sheamus vs. Jinder Mahal: *1/2

David Otunga vs. Santino Marella: 3/4*

Brodus Clay vs. Tyson Kidd: N/A (squash)

Tamina vs. Natalya: N/A (too short)

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): *3/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Daniel Bryan promo at the start. Did DB just say "a load of dung" on TV?! Damn you, PG rating. Mark Henry tells DB that he faces the winner of tonight's world title match next week on Smackdown.

Gabriel and Slater...this is more like it, not some over-the-top-rope "match" between Slater and Hornswoggle. This was OK, but seriously, Hornswoggle shows up to distract Slater? Oy vey.

Hey, Cody's been the IC champ for cinco months! He's bilingual! And he's gonna pull an Ultimate Warrior! Aw, I thought he was gonna don face paint and run to the ring wearing tassels. Another short match to make Cody look good.

Hunico and Camacho come down to the ring before the McIntyre/DiBiase match. The commentary, to me, was distracting and almost pointless. I'm not sure what will become of Drew now. This doesn't look like the MVP "losing streak," I don't believe. Maybe Drew gets written off TV and comes back with a new gimmick.

Sheamus and Jinder have a longer match than I expected. Still a convincing one for the Great White.

I reiterate, I am jealous that Daniel Bryan gets to work an on-screen relationship of sorts with AJ. AJ loves Daniel! Oh man, why can't I be in DB's shoes?! He's slowly incorporating the heel tendencies while retaining the "good guy" approach. Add "overprotecting the girl" to the list.

Otunga with a nice finisher. At least he won for a change.

Oh WTF, Brodus is on Smackdown as well?! Tyson Kidd's reaction is the same as mine. It took longer for Brodus to get to the ring than it did for him to pin Tyson. Good grief. Shortest match in WWE this year, and likely nothing's breaking that mark.

I'm happy for Tamina. She's finally channeling her father's character and she's got some cool music. Could be a great year for this Warrior Princess. But she needs to move faster in these short matches and not play to the crowd too much. Not believable to me that one Samoan drop will keep someone like Natalya down for a zillion seconds before the superfly splash.

AJ is down to accompany DB for the world title match. Main event intros. Yeah, this would be the time to NOT be Daniel Bryan. No, I would not like an asskicking from Big Show. Wow, Big Show with HUGE pops from this crowd as he goes after DB with a chair. That could also be attributed to Bryan playing his character so well. Not every day you see the much larger athlete get cheered and the smaller guy get booed. Oh damn, AJ took a shot there. Match gets stopped. Crowd chants "she's OK!" probably because they want the match to continue. Instead, the episode ends.

Show plays the softy. DB called Show a bastard! Where was that during the opening promo?

I'm thinking it's a triple threat next week for the title instead: DB vs. Henry vs. Show. Fittingly, next week, Smackdown is in Sin City! So I guess it's appropriate that the odds not be in DB's favor, right?

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