Read on for my segment-by-segment thoughts on Smackdown.
Ryder's promo was good to set the tone for the show.
Del Rio's act and put-downs are kind of stale. He's missing something to be a bad guy we "have" to see each week.
Sin Cara vs. Del Rio was good. Del Rio looked good doing into the PPV. I just wonder where they're going with Sin Cara. He doesn't have nearly as much momentum as he used to.
Fine backstage segment to set up Show vs. Khali. Yeah, that sounds like a miserable match, but it makes sense to do giant vs. giant.
Young vs. Primo was nice. Darren pulled out some good moves. AW did what AW does at ringside. Here's what's missing: character development. Fans need a reason to like Primo and Epico beyond AW turning on them. Just because a heel left them, that doesn't make them faces. I'd also like some vignettes with the #1 Contenders partying or something to show that they aren't just a tag team called the Prime Time Players: they have personalities that live up to that moniker.
I liked the Ryder/Sheamus/Jericho segment.
Vickie still cutting promos for Dolph makes me wonder if they think he can't cut it on the mic.
Good little tag match. Ziggler's pretty crisp and I hope he's the guy who brings home the briefcase.
With using so many recap packages instead of fresh development of wrestlers, WWE must think we have bad memories.
At least Show vs. Khali was quick. Basic storytelling here: Khali's doing nothing and Show's in a big PPV match, so Show wins.
And Ryback's "Goldberg" path continues. There's really not much to say at this point. How are they going to keep this up? Eventually they'll get to someone they don't consider expendable and will have to either push someone unproven in longer matches in Ryback or have him lose. It's a lose-lose if they don't do it right.
Fine little match between Sandow and Gabriel. If WWE wasn't more concerned with social media than wrestling, that could have grown into a nice match of decent length.
Sheamus vs. Jericho was pretty good. They play off of each other well. To those complaining that Sheamus won: he's the top face on Smackdown going into a big title defense. He should be looking strong. Plus, he's still in his prime and committed to WWE. Jericho might be going back on the road with Fozzy soon and there's no guarantee that he'll come back as a full-time guy. He's holding on remarkably at 41, but there's less of a chance that he'll be able to be a full-time guy in 5 years compared to the 34-year-old Sheamus. So, WWE should be investing more in Sheamus if they're thinking of the future (and they should be).
Good post-match to put the champ in some danger ahead of the PPV. I hope there's more to the story than Sheamus overcoming the odds. WWE should be thinking of something bigger going into Summerslam.
I'll be back on Sunday for MITB, and a news post will be up later.
I agree with that point you made about Del Rio getting a bit stale. I really liked the gimmick when he started out, but his promos and mannerisms are getting a bit old. I see guys like Sheamus and Cena (for the MOST part) pushing the envelope and doing at least one thing different each week. In my book, he needs to make some changes to impress myself, as well as the more important WWE.
ReplyDeleteI admit I was a bit confused to see Primo get booked to win against Young. He also was booked to win against Titus last Superstars. I have nothing against Primo's ability, but 1) I've heard Primo talk like once, so why give him a main-show victory because of that, 2) Primo's team is on the typical downfall ex-tag champs like Otunga/McGillicutty, for example, have experienced, and 3) Young and Titus seem to be on the rise, so why book them to lose to a team seemingly lacking charisma and is on the downfall?
Probably because they don't want to give Young and Titus the titles right away and want them to experience some growing pains? I would assume that's the only explanation, because fans don't like to see axiomatic and obvious conclusions like that. My "beef" I guess is that it's losing to Primo and Epico and not Kofi and Truth. I wouldn't object to that. Do you think they will end up winning the titles within a month or so?
Now how much stock do you put into the WWE placing Ryder as Interim GM? Do you see it is just a way to entertain the crowd (with him being arguably the most popular wrestler) or do you see it as a chance of a push? He has been booked in a pretty mediocre fashion. I personally think he's worthy of a mid-card push right now. I'm a fan of his, and the fans are behind him, but one thing he lacks that "fire" and aggression. I mean, how many times did he get pummeled by Kane and did nothing about it? Some also criticize his gimmick, which is entertaining, but some say it's not "serious" and lacks that aforementioned "fire" to do anything serious credential-wise.
Some of the blame for Del Rio's staleness is on Management. His character's in kind of a holding pattern since they pretty much just made him #1 Contender and put him in a feud. They've done some to make Del Rio/Sheamus a grudge (the attack with the car and working on the arm on Smackdown), but Del Rio's pretty much the same character underneath. I think if the feud goes past MITB, they should add in something like Del Rio being ticked that he STILL hasn't fulfilled his destiny of being World Champion. He's a very talented guy, but there's not much for him to work with right now.
ReplyDeleteI guess they're not ready to move on to the tag title feud and are killing time with or just want to do more with Epico/Primo vs. PTP. It makes sense to do that feud since AW switched allegiances, but I guess they want to keep Epico and Primo heel. Or you could be right and they don't want the two guys who are relatively new to the main roster to be given titles so soon.
When they move past that feud, I can see them getting the tag belts. It all depends on how much Management thinks of them. Good crowd reactions and such will help them there.
They could just have put Ryder there to kill some more time before the new GM is named. He's something of a mascot like Hornswoggle, Brodus or Santino (not that he's not talented!). I wouldn't read much into it unless there's good follow-up.
I think they wanted to show that Kane is unstoppable (unless you're Cena), and fighting against him isn't wise because he can wreck you. It might have been smarter for Ryder to run than get crushed by him again. That's just my guess of their thinking, since it did kind of make Ryder look weak.
As for his gimmick, I'd rather him make money as a goofy character the fans are behind than be stuck on Superstars as a serious athlete. I think the Little Jimmies outnumber those who want things like fire. Maybe once he gets some BIG traction behind him and is "ready" to move up past US/IC level, showing fire and shedding the goofy gimmick will work (like Kofi dropping the Jamaican accent), but fans got behind him so much from his webshows, which showcase the goofy character, so I wouldn't change it yet if I were whomever gives the ok to change it.