Tonight we've got a Last Man Standing match, a 2 out of 3 Falls match, and a Raw superstar making the move to Friday nights. Let's get right to it!
I'm surprised that they started the show with the World Title match. I figured they'd save this for the end and have it be total carnage.
I think that this match started off a little too quickly for my liking, and the counts were done too much. Hopefully these two won't face a lawsuit in 2022 because they fought in the crowd here. I really liked the clever spot with Matt Striker. I'm a bit surprised that they didn't have Kane attack Striker for that. The ending sequence up through the One Man Conchairto was pretty good as well. Nice match.
Kofi vs. Dolph was very good. I went through a time where I wasn't crazy about Dolph, but I think he's improving. And Kofi's even more of a prospect. I loved the swerve too. It made us angry at Dolph and Vickie, and Kofi got a big pop for his revenge. Kofi's a clear-cut babyface, and Dolph's a clear-cut heel. None of this "maybe he's doing dog fights, or maybe he's raising pets for local kids" crap. I hope both of these guys have a good future. For the record, the reason I don't like that angle is because of the frequency of face and heel turns and the number of "tweeners" there.
Big Show looked WAY too dominant in this match. He'll be 39 next month. His career's got to be winding down. He should be used to help get over this wave of young talent. They should have had Barrett take out Show, then the Zig Zag on Show gets Ziggler the win. He kicked out of 3 big moves, AFTER going through the barricade AND being beat down by Barrett. And he almost broke up the pinfall. Inexcusable.
I'm not crazy about Edge vs. Ziggler, but I'm glad he's not getting lost in the shuffle. I think I'd prefer Edge vs. Swagger or Del Rio, but the story set-up is solid so far for Ziggler, and Vickie and Edge obviously have history, so I'll give it a chance.
Wade Barrett will be part of the Smackdown brand from here on out. I'm glad they found a way to keep him heel without my overblown Nexus civil war idea. I'd like to see him get to the next level by beating Big Show.
Laycool beats Kelly Kelly again. I like all of these people, but we've seen it too many times at this point. I think it's time to see Kaitlyn and Naomi be a part of this division now. Naomi can be heel, going after her ex-Pro Kelly for her not getting the win on NXT. (She'd team with Laycool, but wouldn't be a member or do any of the "Flawless" stuff. She needs to be more no-nonsense.) Kaitlyn would also be involved here to counter Naomi. Drew McIntyre supporting Kelly and any face Diva who helps her (Rosa, Kaitlyn, Beth) could improve his babyface turn. I'd wait a bit on AJ's role on the main roster. The storyline would be crowded enough as it is. With the recent debut of Kaitlyn, Beth and Rosa's returns, and a debuting Naomi, you could keep her out of it until you either need a boost to it or they decide to put her on Raw. I like AJ a lot, but I think this one has Naomi's name on it.
Del Rio's a fantastic heel and a ring general. Mysterio is still spot-on in his role as lucha machine and underdog. This was a PPV-level match. Del Rio should be in the World Title picture sooner rather than later, after a solid feud with Christian. That would lead right into a feud with Edge for the Title.
Unless they have bigger plans in mind, I think next week should have been Barrett's official signing with Smackdown (isn't he friends with someone from SyFy or something in storyline? They could use that to explain why Teddy Long would hire him), and THEN they go to a match with Big Show either the week after that or two weeks after. It's all about building anticipation.
So there's this week's Smackdown, very late. I apologize. I'll be back on Sunday with my thoughts on TNA Genesis.
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