Read on for my segment-by-segment thoughts on the 5/25 Smackdown.
Alberto Del Rio is very good on the mic. One doesn't get that smooth overnight.
Orton's promo was good, too.
As was Kane's.
And it's a triple threat! Who would have thought?
Christian vs. Hunico was solid. Hunico can be great with the right opponent. Maybe he'd make more sense as a babyface or a heel cocky with his ability?
Cody's delivery was good, but if "no one cares" about Christian, why should we tune in to see him compete?
Kind of a weird backstage segment with Titus/Young and the Usos. I like Darren's delivery now.
Darren and Titus continued to show that they have what it takes as a tag team. They're young, hungry, and students of the game. They have personality: go ahead and call them Millions of Dollars.
I'm very ready for the exciting Sin Cara to come back.
Ryback's just nasty. I like the power freak. His domination is awe-inspiring.
Santino vs. Ricardo was just kind of goofy. Not much else to say about it.
Fine enough Sheamus promo. He's over.
Sheamus and Swagger played off of each other well. I look forward to a rematch.
I missed Sandow's promos.
They should have done more with Sandow having bright pink tights after looking down on people. His match was nice and effective. Not every match needs to be a full segment. The cartwheel was pretty funny.
Good Big Show promo. I'm glad the character is doing something fresh.
I like Bryan attacking Kane for continuity purposes. Maybe he'll get to be a face?
NICE main event. It set up some intriguing stories.
That's all for the 5/25 Smackdown. The 5/28 Raw will also be reviewed tonight. Up next, the 5/25 news post.
Good to see you have the site up and running again. I'm interested to hear your pay-per-view predications before tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMine: Cena over Big Show, Sheamus over Ziggler, Kane (in somewhat of an upset you can say) over Punk and Bryan to win the WHC, Christian over Rhodes, Layla over Phoenix, Marella over Rodriguez (not a fan of this "fued") and Clay over Otunga.
In relation to the Clay match, I'm really seeing the "big guy" bias come into play. Not discounting Clay and his talent, but being undefeated after like three months?
Do you see guys like him and Ryback becoming champions any time soon? I'm getting a little tired of Ryback coming out and beating jobbers every SmackDown who cut the same promos over and over again. I think Ryback is talented physically, but personality and charisma-wise, he kind of reminds me of a Vladimir Kozlov. I think there's no future long-term there.
By the way, I was cracking up at this clip here. I'm really opening up to this guy here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzjDXOxxYFo&feature=related
I briefly considered stopping the blog, but I MIGHT be able to pull it out and school and a "real" job if I stick to the format as it is now (briefer posts- I'd do longer ones if I had gobs of time). NXT thoughts might end up taking a while still with all the new Rookies coming in.
ReplyDeleteI usually did/do how I think things should go instead of out-right predictions. But this time (without much in the way of advance knowledge):
Something screwy in Cena/Show because they won't keep Cena off TV for long the way business is now unless they're really changing philosophies. After the Nexus "firing", I don't see why fans should expect the stipulation to stick. Part of me wants them to have him lose and come back as Juan Cena like he did on live events when he lost to Nexus: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cyFs_KnLJ3E/TQCfMeLmbaI/AAAAAAAAAj0/SsNIWqBk2dg/s1600/Juan-Cena2.jpg
They like Laurinaitis, so I don't think we've seen the last of him either(though I kind of hope I'm wrong). Given how long they used Cole, we could be in for something similar.
I see Punk retaining to eventually lose the title to Lesnar. If he does lose it, I think he'll get it back before Survivor Series. With Punk dropping references to Heyman and Lesnar last year, it makes me think they'll end up working together. At one point the plan was Lesnar/Rock at Mania and Rock mentioned wanting to win the title, so Punk/Lesnar makes sense for down the line.
Christian and Layla retain because they haven't held the gold all that long. Ricardo's trained as a wrestler so he could conceivably win and wrestle full-time.
Clay will almost certainly win to start the show on a good note and make the little kids happy (WWE cares a lot about them). Some of Clay is big guy bias and some is the crowd responding to him well. I see him a lot like Santino more so than Khali. If WWE thinks kids will buy into him well if he wins, he'll keep winning unless they go "ADD" again and have him lose out of nowhere.
I'm a little surprised that they didn't do more with Santino/Clay as a team and have them go for the tag titles. Unless he gets another partner, I don't see him winning gold yet.
As for Ryback, they might be throwing a Hail Mary like WCW did with Goldberg in the '90s. I don't know when you started watching wrestling but here's the gist of it: Goldberg was physically impressive and won a LOT of squash matches. He slowly but surely made his way up the ranks until he won the U.S. Title and eventually WCW Title. He was one of THE guys in wrestling at his height because they used him so well: he wasn't a strong talker and didn't work 30-minute technical matches, so they used him as a physical specimen and pushed him to the moon almost entirely on that. WWE might try that with Ryback. I just don't think they can keep him undefeated for 2 years or however long it was.
I'm very glad that Santino isn't the character he first started out as in WWE. In developmental, he was something more like Vladimir Kozlov character wise: http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/b/borisalexiev/02.jpg
What do you think of Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro?
That would have been a shame if you would have gotten rid of the site, man. You're one of the only ones who I've seen not only have good knowledge of the craft, but also telling it objectively. Good to hear you're not getting rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely was 50-50 on the prediction of the Punk-Bryan-Kane match. Something in me makes me think since Kane beat both Punk and Bryan and since AJ is gravitating towards Kane, that he may end up with the win Sunday. That and being a little biased in being a Kane fan. Then again, a Lesnar-Punk showdown you mentioned makes sense. Betwene Kane and Bryan, who has a better shot to win the title at No Way Out?
I am a bit higher on Clay than I am on Ryback. I think Brodus has personality and a decent gimmick on one hand, but on the other, it's getting a tad bit old, and I'd like to switch it up a bit. I mean, still undefeated and no title?
With Ryback, that is a good comparison with Goldberg. It may or may not work, though, because of how much more personality and competition there is now with these up-and-comers. You made a good point before with these NXT guys in that they need to stand out and step it up a notch to get noticed.
It's hard to me to not think of Skip Sheffield. I was a little impartial of him on NXT. I think this gimmick is more matching and is better than the really odd cowboy gimmick he had in NXT< but it's seeming like a waste of money every SmackDown to see him beat two jobbers who are informed to cut a promo. If he can cultivate a personality, maybe I see more of a sustainable future.
I am more partial to Sandow right now than I am Cesaro. I haven't seen too much of Anthony to make a solid judgment right now, but I'm probably a little bit more on the impressed side than I am on the disappointed side. He has some room for improvement, but I like the hard-nosed, tough-guy gimmick. He's a little like Ryback in that if I can see some personality from him, I'd be higher on him.
With Sandow, I see why you were hyping him. He has a seemingly "natural" gimmick (which shows his range, as it's tough to be natural in that type of character), he can cut a decent promo, and has decent mat skills. I think if he can continue on this pace and also do something different every week to make me want to see him, he's at the top of the heap in terms of newcomers.
I wouldn't/don't want to get rid of it, but I think things are going to get pretty hectic when I head back to school in the fall. I'll do my best to keep it running.
ReplyDeleteI think Kane might have an edge over Bryan. I'm still shocked that Bryan was/is as successful as he was/is given how WWE seems to gravitate towards bigger wrestlers. No way would I have seen him being World Champion in his NXT days.
I generally don't like them changing gimmicks unless they "need" to, like Big Show turning heel. I know that it's repetitive, but I think it's good that someone fairly new is getting consistent TV time and has something that's sticking. While I think some day down the line he should get a chance to be a monster heel, it's way too soon to turn on the fans who are still warming up to him.
I think Ryback stands out just be being such a powerhouse. it's not a very deep gimmick but I think it fits him and is a nice difference from the more "colorful" characters like Sandow and Cesaro.
I think the new season of NXT will have some people who have a good opportunity to stand out. If anything, there will be too many people to process them all at once (like early seasons of the show). There's quite a number of Rookies. I think I'll just rank them on a scale of 1 to 5 instead of who's 1st, 2nd, 3rd since there are so many.
I also didn't like the goofy cowboy gimmick. I think we might end up with some goofiness on the new NXT, too since they're pretty much just pulling people straight from FCW again. But there are also some promising ones. I've heard good things about Bo Dallas, Kassius Ohno, Richie Steamboat, Seth Rollins, and Raquel Diaz. Apparently Byron Saxton, Husky Harris (as Bray Wyatt), and Conor O'Brian are getting chances as well.
I've heard pretty good things about Cesaro having personality, and have seen a little bit of his pre-WWE work. I'd like to see what he can do when given more TV time to grow as a character.
I'm a little worried with them putting Sandow in such short matches. I think he fits his character like a glove and if he can do more than what impressive moves he's shown so far, he'll be someone to watch out for in my opinion.