Friday, January 6, 2012

1/6/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T (IC Title): ***

Hornswoggle vs. Heath Slater (Over the Top Rope Challenge): DUD

Hunico vs. Ted DiBiase: *1/2

Santino Marella vs. Drew McIntyre: *

Primo & Epico vs. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne: *1/2

Tamina vs. Natalya: 1/4*

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): *3/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
It's the first Smackdown of 2012, with a couple of big matches lined up!

Booker and Cody start things off. Cody skins the cat in this one, a great show of agility. Crowd is really jacked for this match. Nice moonsault from Cody but it looks like he tweaked his knee. Doesn't deter him, though. It's clear from this one that Booker's still got it. Whoa, Cody kicks out of the Scissors Kick! Crowd really thought it was over there. Beautiful Disaster wins it. Very good stuff here. A huge win for Cody, and I do mean huge. He needs this win to make him that much more of a legit threat.

Cody looks like he's moving on to feud with brother Goldust. Good confrontation in the back between the two.

Aw, Zack Ryder is not gonna be Long's assistant anymore. He nominates Santino to take his place. Santino faces Drew McIntyre tonight. Uh oh, Drew's gonna lose again.


I saw a video package for AJ. Maybe they're trying to push AJ real soon? I'd really like that. Speaking of which, AJ's with Alicia in the back. DANGIT, Daniel Bryan in a storyline with AJ? Damn you, DB. I want your job.

An over-the-top-rope challenge with Slater and Hornswoggle? Seriously?! This match was a joke. Bigger picture was Gabriel saving Hornswoggle on the post-match attack. Slater and Gabriel in a feud, I guess?

A few good spots in the match between Hunico and DiBiase. Mathews calls DiBiase a Southern gentleman? So Florida's in the south, but I wouldn't really equate that with the southern culture.... I really dig the low-rider bicycle. Check out the submission-pinning combination from Hunico to end it. That was unique and awesome.

Barrett cuts a promo, all proud that he took Orton out for good. Sheamus comes out, so he'll be feuding with Barrett in the meantime. I'm digging Sheamus' face promos. A good balance of fun and seriousness. Wait, Jinder Mahal? Good sequence here. Nice way to put over the Winds of Change slam. Jinder picks the bones with that Punjabi Clutch.

ROFL, really? They put "Shortest World Title Reign Ever" in the tale of the tape between Show and Bryan? That's sad. They coulda referenced he was the first WWE/World/ECW (WWE version) champ, but nope.

Average match here with Santino and Drew. Come on, you thought Drew was winning? Vintage trombone celebration! I think Drew loses next week as well, gets taken off TV, then comes back with a vengeance. It could even be McIntyre/Long storyline all over again.

Air Boom back in action against Epico/Primo. Again, Bourne is apparently in the doghouse for comments made regarding R-Truth and their suspensions. If this is true, it's not surprising Bourne's the one getting pinned here. At least I will admit Cole has toned down his act lately.

Good face-to-face showdown between Show and Bryan in the back.

Oh, I'm really liking this. A divas showdown between two daughters of legendary WWE superstars! Natalya and Tamina! Tamina's got new music. Good video packages of Neidhart and Snuka. The match didn't even go two minutes. Whole point was to get Tamina some momentum.

World title time. Mark Henry's out for this one, so he's likely interfering. Main event intros. Ha, Henry tells Josh Mathews to shut up...awesome. Big Show dominates early. Like DB trying for the countout win. Pretty good match despite the size difference. Mark Henry pushes DB in front of the ref. DB gets the DQ win and gloats like it means the world to him. I can't help but see this as a heel move from a guy that's supposed to be a face. Blurs the line a bit more between heel and face, huh? People still think Show will go heel, and that may be the case. However, I'd love a DB heel turn. I want to hear "I've got till FIVE!"

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