Over The Limit is over and Randy Orton is still the World Heavyweight Champion. Who's going to step up to challenge him at Capitol Punishment? Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
First off, Happy Birthday to Natalya, who turned 29 today.
No Cole Mine! Maybe the angle really is over.
If WWE wanted a strong face to be champion, Orton fits the role. I, along with many others, wish Christian would have gotten to hold the title longer, but I don't dislike Orton by any stretch.
It seems like every Smackdown starts with a series of interrupted promos. I get it, though. Set us up for what's happening on the rest of the show, continue storylines, etc..
I just got flashbacks of Theodore Long being Mark Henry's manager. It'd be a heck of a swerve if they teamed back up tonight.
No problem with this set-up at all. Challengers battle for a shot at the title, and the two who don't win can feud. I'd save the Fatal 4 Way between these 4 for later. I think that barring an injury they've got things set in the title picture for the next couple of months. I wouldn't be shocked if Kane ended up in the picture as well. Khali's a little more questionable- it depends on where they go with the Jinder Mahal storyline. I know those aren't the best performers on the brand, but they're all credible main eventers. While those guys are in the main event, Smackdown's undercard can continue to grow and improve to the point where they can enter that tier.
I think Cara's gotten past the initial stage of "can he cut it in WWE"? Now it's just a matter of how comfortable he gets in there and how well he can work.
This match is a good example of how I think having 3 commentators can cause too much chatter.
Sin Cara's still somewhat "iffy" in the ring, but I think he's getting better.
Another weird promo from Cody. I'm not really sure where they're going with the character.
That hip toss spot was pretty cool. We're off to a nice start.
That submission move's cool.
Fine match. Hopefully this feud continues. Two younger stars who are doing impressively in the midcard and improving their ring work. Bryan's 30 and Rhodes is just 25, so both these guys potentially have good things in their futures.
By 2035, every show on TV will somehow involve ghosts.
Big Zeke vs. Heath Slater. No problem here.
Watch Slater end up surprising me and be one of my favorite wrestlers in a couple of years.
I like how this feud's going so far.
Maybe Christian gets a good push out of this after all.
I'm really curious to see how Jinder Mahal wrestles, but I don't want to get my hopes up by watching FCW and assuming he'll get that much ring time or whatever here.
You'd think a Monster's Brawl would be some kind of no-DQ gimmick match (and not just because of TNA's Monster's Ball match).
That brought me back to when Khali's Vise Grip was pushed as a big deal. His World Title reign was mercifully short.
So-so match. I'm not really a fan of giant vs. giant matches.
It'd be hilarious if Jinder's actually saying something completely innocent. Then again, they presumably get this show in India, so they want it to be legit.
Didn't see that one coming. I figured we'd end up with Khali vs. Jinder. I guess it could still end up happening i Khali's being blackmailed into working for/with him.
I'm not really sure what they should do with Khali now. A Kane/Khali feud would be pretty dreadful from an in-ring standpoint, but there aren't many people who'd be believable against him. Unless the Usos combine into Super-Uso or something.
Maybe next week (or whenever he recovers) Ranjin will tell us what the heck everyone was saying.
Someone getting hit by a car is worthy of multiple video packages in a week.
I thought Booker was coming out to wrestle for a minute there.
Please don't tell me we're getting a Cole/Booker feud out of this.
Bad WWE, bad. I hope that wasn't just a waste of airtime, though I'm not really sure what it would lead to other than Cole in the ring again.
Drive Angry: And you thought wrestling companies were out of ideas.
Wait, what... who's face and heel here?
I loved AJ on NXT so freakin' much. Glad she's here on Smackdown.
If Natalya's legitimately helping AJ and Kaitlyn improve, that's fantastic.
So-so match. I wish it went longer, though. It felt like filler. I want to see how much AJ and Kaitlyn have improved since we last saw them. (Watching FCW would ruin some of the fun of seeing a new or returning talent).
I liked Mark Henry's promo. He has been in WWE a pretty long time by modern standards. One of the few people on the current roster I didn't see debut in the company, along with Goldust, Triple H, Kane, The Undertaker, and William Regal (and Jerry Lawler if you want to count him as an active wrestler).
Obvious ring psychology here, but it makes sense. Both Sheamus and Mark Henry have issues with Christian, so it makes sense they'd team up against him.
I like this match so far. Orton coming out to watch the match is a nice touch.
I guess they couldn't come up with filler TV matches for the next couple of weeks so they're doing a World Title match next week. I guess that'll end in some way that leads to a rematch or Triple Threat/Fatal 4-Way.
Fine main event. Nice clash of styles; everyone's playing off of everyone else pretty well.
I wonder how many old-school fans dislike that Sheamus tried to use Razor Ramon/Scott Hall's old finisher.
Nice ending. Sheamus wins, and Christian/Mark Henry have legitimate gripes about losing. They'll presumably either do a multiple-man match or two of them go for the title and two face off for the #1 Contendership.
And that's a wrap. I mostly enjoyed this show. I'll be back Monday for Tough Enough and Raw and a news post will be up after midnight.
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