For the 4/27 Smackdown, it's only a few days until Extreme Rules. Sheamus has to take on the World's Strongest Man before his 2 out of 3 falls title defense against Daniel Bryan, Big Show takes on Alberto Del Rio before putting his title up against Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton is interviewed before his match with Kane. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happened.
I like the announcers selling what happened to Mathews. Someone beating up an announcer should be something they're concerned about.
I finally saw the clip of the UFC fighter Bryan is imitating. It's not as entertaining as Bryan's parody of it.
I like Bryan putting the loss on AJ. Textbook example of a narcissist.
I like the slow-motion footage, too.
I think Bryan's going to eventually turn face given how much the fans are behind him. Ricardo could turn face some day too in a Santino Marella sense.
Ugh. Big Show. With such entertainers as Del Rio, Ricardo, and Bryan in the ring we go to him?
Glad Rhodes made sure Del Rio didn't eat a loss on his way to the title picture.
Every time I see Rhodes in the ring with Show I get ticked that Mania went the way that it did. What happened for Rhodes to get derailed?
I wonder how long it will be until Long and Aksana get back in control of the show.
While it's Nikki's first title, Brie was Champion before. Not looking forward to that Divas match.
Is it bad that I understand what Sandow is saying?
I wish Brock would have taken Booker out instead of Josh.
I wonder how many fans are too young to know the Matrix reference.
You'd think Lilian or the timekeeper or someone would tell the ref that it was Brie who snuck in and got the win.
Cole's covered wars, you know.
Why'd we have to sit through so long of Darren feuding with Titus? They work better as a goofy team.
Ezekiel looks something like Ron Simmons with his hair grown out.
I wonder what the end-game is for Teddy/Aksana.
Inside gag there with commentators and headsets.
Darren and Titus are goofy, but at least they're not yelling at each other like the NXT days.
Nice fire from both men. I'm very glad they've been put together if the alternative is them feuding some more.
Darren seems a lot more natural in this role.
I like how Orton's character has evolved over the years.
Didn't expect Jinder to interrupt.
I'm not really sure what Jinder's interference accomplished.
Looking forward to seeing Cesaro.
That was certainly something different! Cesaro definitely has a unique moveset and is a student of the game. I like him so far.
I actually feel kind of bad for Teddy for going through so much over the years.
Rhodes has his work cut out for him against Khali.
Cody's doing the best he can against a limited opponent.
Cody, Goldust, or Dusty must have done something to tick someone else to warrant the Rhodes de-push.
Interesting theoretical set-up for Ryback going for the tag titles down the line.
I wonder how long they can keep Ryback destroying people interesting.
Kaye cut a good promo. I like the selling of Ryback as a big beast. He's someone new and fresh for once.
Another impressive demolition derby from the former Skip Sheffield.
AJ plays her role perfectly. She's convincing at having "lost it".
Good psychology between Sheamus and Henry.
Solid finish to the match.
And a good set-up to the PPV World Title match.
That's all for the 4/27 Smackdown. I'll be back with Extreme Rules coverage shortly. Up next, two news posts. Thanks for reading!
Again, good insight this week. How surprised are you that two guys who have only tagged for just a couple of short months and have had two feuds have gelled so well together? I guess your stance that all it took was a push really broke them out of their weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing charisma, aggression, teamwork (with the tag poses, entrance and moves) and an overall "hateable" factor that just can't be taught. It's good to see what they can do when given more of an opportunity. That being said, in a weaker tag division, do you 1) think they stand out, and 2) will become tag champs soon?
Hypothetically, if both men were on NXT still (and I know it's hard to generalize when they're not there anymore) what ranking 1-5 would you give them and what grade? I know a lot of both men's flaws have been reduced and/or eliminated over the last few weeks of teaming.
I definitely see the makings of a "differentiated" tag team. Notice how The Usos, for example, don't really bring anything new to the ring and in the ring from week-to-week. From Young and Titus alone, I've seen each of those aforementioned elements that really make them stand out and make me want to watch them. Do you agree?
By the way, though I try not to listen to too many Youtube viewers, but I'm hearing Goldust got fired due to some reason relating to the Young/Titus match with Tatsu and Jackson? Have you heard anything on that and/or do you know the reason why?
ReplyDeletePart of me isn't as surprised as time goes on given that Young was a goofy tag team guy in FCW for a while with Percy Watson. It looks like he was just miscast as a serious character. Sometimes people who work against each other a lot have chemistry and that transfers over to teaming.
ReplyDeleteI don't really see them as hateable since they're kind of goofy in backstage segments. Not that I'm complaining about that aspect. They do that better than the intense stuff on the mic.
I think they stand out and given that they're teaming up with no tension between them, they'll probably at least get a shot at the titles. I'd be kind of surprised if they gave the titles to Kofi and Truth just to put them on a relatively new team, but stranger things have happened and they might like the two of them that much.
They're an A and a 5 as a team since they add to each other there and both can do what they're best at. As singles stars, I'd give both 4s and Bs since it's a lot harder to break out when you're on your own, and they'd be competing with some other new/returning people for TV time. Given that I've seen them for a year and have seen Ryback and Cesaro only a few weeks, I'd want to give them so more time to show what they can do before going with Titus and Darren by default, especially with Cesaro's reputation as a workhorse.
They certainly do something different from the standard team given that they gel pretty well together. I like seeing them team.
As for Goldust, I haven't seen the full story yet so I don't know 100% what it was, though it was something to do with a Smackdown taping. I know that he had been in hot water with them in the past for blocking a lot of people on Twitter, so it could have just been a "Straw that broke the camel's back" thing. I'm sure I'll eventually uncover more on the situation, but the popular opinion online is that it was something to do with that match. Weird.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I figured it was a number of things that constituted the release of Goldust. In fact, I'm hearing that finisher Young and Titus did has been banned, and they are going to use a new finisher, instead. I know Yoshi got injured from it.
ReplyDeleteThat is a decent point about them not having that "hateable" factor yet. I think it will be there with time with how obnoxious and irritating their team has been (which is a good thing), though.
That being said, with the team standing out a bit and actually wanting me to see them every week with them doing something different each week, how would you rate teams like 1) The Usos and 2) Epico and Primo and 3) Kofi and Truth as teams?
I know that with The Usos, they have some positives, but I fail to "want to see them every week", because they do the same things week after week. I've seen good things from Epico and Primo in the ring, but I've seen next to nothing promo and charisma-wise as bad guys that makes me want to dislike them or want to see them every week. With Truth and Kofi, they bring more to the table than the others, but it seems like the typical team where two stars are thrown together just to bring legitimacy to the tag team division.
Those are just my opinions, but what do you think of those three compared to Young and Titus?
If Tatsu got injured, it didn't keep him out but a few weeks. Obviously I'm still behind and don't know the whole story, but I would think that if he got injured, it would have been reported around the time the match aired. It could have been a near miss like with Miz and R-Truth not too far back. The match was taped on 4/24 and Goldust wasn't released until early May.
ReplyDeleteSometimes in WWE it's a matter of whether someone's already in hot water as to whether they get blamed for something. Miz got chewed out for not catching R-Truth, while Big Show injured Barrett throwing him into the announce table and didn't get any heat from it, though it's important to note that the people who make the decisions on who gets chewed out have seen enough wrestling to know what's an accident and what's a mistake.
I guess they're heelish because they dissed Teddy Long, but it wasn't in a way that seemed like it drew a lot of heat. Since Booker has good words for them on commentary, they're more "moderate heels" in my eyes.
I think there's potential with the Usos, but something's still kind of missing for them to go to the next level and be the team to watch in the division. You make good points that their matches are formulaic. Primo and Epico also need some kind of spark (and I don't know if A.W. is the answer). Part of me wants to see what the buzz is about with Epico's partners from FCW and how they play off each other instead of the "cousins teaming" bit that has them kind of stuck.
I probably still like Kofi and Truth more based on seeing both of them for longer and knowing that both could end up being used in a higher role down the line given their past work as singles guys. Darren and Titus are still early in their careers and I can't say that about them just yet. I definitely see the complaint that they were thrown together because they're not doing anything else (and Bourne was suspended then injured), but maybe working with a veteran like Truth helps Kofi come along on his own.
So, Kofi/Truth > Darren/Titus > Usos > Primo/Epico for me right now.
Fair insight there. I would see how you would lean a bit towards the team of Kofi/Truth being a step ahead of Young/O'Neil with the lack of experience, but I believe if they both can keep up with this pace, they will move ahead in your mind (hopefully).
ReplyDeleteI won't blow the cover for you, because I know you haven't seen the 5-2 version of SmackDown, but it really attributes to that point. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on their performance on this week's show, because it seems every element you viewed Young as lacking has really come to fruition.
By the way, I'm assuming you're not buying to the whole Lesnar quitting angle? I don't see any justification towards signing a big deal to be in one pay-per-view.
It's not going to be easy to top Kofi and Truth, since collectively they have a good number of years on Titus and Darren. It's not impossible, but I don't see it happening soon barring some amazing performances.
ReplyDeleteThey probably just had him "quit" for now because they only signed him for a certain number of appearances. If they use a lot of them up early, there won't be many left for Mania season. I'm assuming Brock/HHH for Summerslam or so, and the popular theory is Brock/Rock for the WWE Title at WM29. Things can always change, though.