Read on for my take on last night's Smackdown.
I mostly liked the opening segment with HHH. I can definitely see the complaint that he was too belittling of the superstars and that this whole angle seems to be about showing how powerful and awesome he is. We'll see where things go (even shutting down Sandow, who was supporting him). I really hope we're not in for a repeat of what happened with Punk where we ended up with HHH vs. Nash as a top feud.
Orton vs. RVD was really good. That could be a WWE Title match as far as I'm concerned.
Nice to see Del Rio get some heat in on RVD. Their match seems to be kind of on the back burner compared to the top angle.
I'm really into Bryan's current character. IF they keep his momentum going, he could be a really big deal (even bigger than had he left Summerslam as Champ).
Wow. Good stuff from AJ. She's definitely one of the best promo-cutting Divas I've seen in a while.
Ryback vs. Ziggler was pretty good, although both men have been devalued in the past few months. I like both men and hope they'll be more over when the Dictator Haitch angle is over.
Kofi vs. Axel was pretty good as well. No shock there.
That Wyatt promo was still great the second time around. WWE's already got the sheep mask, fedora, and T-shirt for sale. That's really impressive for only being on the roster for a few months.
I enjoyed the Heyman promo to make up for the loss earlier in the night.
I'm really enjoying this new Divas' feud. The division finally has some prominence as a whole now.
I was hoping that Colter would cut a promo about Samoa for the Usos. Maybe later? They might be from an American territory, but Swagger and Cesaro are REAL AMERICANS.
I'm really impressed by the teaming of Swagger and Cesaro. Both men look like they really want to make an impact in the future of WWE. The Usos have good things going for them as well, though I think they might still need some time to grow. And that's ok! They're still fairly young.
Nice HHH/Show segment. I actually wouldn't mind them fighting in a big match since it will have been built up well and it's between two big stars. It probably wouldn't be a 5-star classic, but it could be fun since it will be so heated. I wonder when they'll start to move Show into more of a part-time role. It's got to happen at some point.
Show just killed 3MB. I have a soft spot for seeing a big monster just run through people. That was definitely a showcase for that. I like 3MB, but I think it's ok that they were fodder here. They're something of a comedy gimmick at this point. They're all still young enough to break out down the line.
Clever stuff between Show's match and Bryan's match.
Two former ROH Champions just headlined Smackdown. That's pretty special. The match itself was really good. They went all out to show that they belong in the main event.
That damn Orton keeps one-upping Bryan. That's ok, though. Bryan will get his hands on him at NoC.
More wrestling coming up.
I'm interested to hear your stance regarding Daniel Bryan's situation. By my count, that is three straight Raw and SmackDown shows that he has gotten pummeled by The Shield or Orton. With Triple H yielding so much power, it's basically five-on-one every week. The only way Bryan can actually come out looking strong without getting pummeled every week is if 1) An authority figure emerges to challenge Triple H or 2) If a faction joins Bryan to go against Triple H. What do you think will happen?
ReplyDeleteNot to sound redundant, but this article sums up my thoughts about Sandow's situation. It just seems that if the company books him to win the briefcase over half of a dozen competitors (in which all of them are the future of the company) all to lose to mid-card wrestlers really devalues him as a whole.
http://www.rantsports.com/pro-wrestling/2013/09/06/why-does-wwe-continue-to-have-damien-sandow-lose/
I'm under the impression that they're looking to tell a pretty long story involving Bryan vs. HHH's group. They need a big angle with Cena gone, and this is it. HHH is going to throw everything he can at Bryan, and ideally Bryan will slowly but surely overcome the odds to win back the Title and somehow end HHH's Regime. It means a lot more for Bryan if he has such great odds stacked against him at first and has to scratch and claw to reach the top.
ReplyDeleteOne thing people hate about Cena is that he's rarely in danger with impossible odds against him. When he does have a big challenge ahead of him, he treats it as a foregone conclusion that he's going to come out on top. Instead of treating Nexus as a threat to the very foundation of WWE, he was cracking jokes about them as if they were just some nobodies. And a lot of times when he's facing big odds, he's presented as "Super-Cena" who can stand tall against Henry, Show, etc.. There's not much drama to some of his encounters because it's pretty much a sure thing that he'll win again and be the top guy... again.
Anyway, I can see both of those things happening. Just not immediately. They want to get as much out of this story as they can, possibly leading to a big blow-off at Mania. So we might be in for HHH's regime standing tall for a while longer. But that's ok! That way it means all the more when the hero prevails.
I like the idea they presented about Sandow being World Champion as part of HHH's group (which really needs a name by now). They might want to save that one for a few months from now so as to not play all of their cards too soon. I can see a babyface beating Del Rio all for Sandow to cash in with HHH's group's help. But for now, HHH's character has shot Sandow down. HHH's character seemingly always has to be better/cooler than almost everyone else. That's great for him, but not for the rest of the roster who shouldn't be in the shadow of someone semi-retired from the ring.