WWE Smackdown Review

The last Smackdown of 2011 was held at Indianapolis and the feature for the night was a falls count anywhere match between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. Did the Barrett barrage continue or did the Viper reign supreme? Continue reading as we review and analyse what happened on the show.

In case you missed it, you can watch the full episode of WWE Smackdown here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FpFQ7W2MUg&feature=player_embedded

Goldust returns as Dustin; Booker T gets his rematch for the Intercontinental title:

The opening segment was quite interesting. The aftermath of Booker T’s victory over Cody Rhodes at this week’s Raw played out. Goldust made his comeback as Dustin Rhodes without the makeup. It would be interesting to see whether he stays or turns heel to face Cody at Wrestlemania. Booker T got his rematch for the IC title next week. Whether or not Dustin gets involved in that match is anyone’s guess. Dustin got attacked by Cody at the end of the segment which suggests that Dustin might stay face and help Booker T to win his match against Cody, next week.

Cody Rhodes attacking his brother Dustin

Match 1: Jinder Mahal defeated Ted Dibiase:

Singles Match

Jinder Mahal’s anti-Americanism character was given focus by commentator Josh Mathews at the start of the match. This is actually good since Jinder might get future storylines if he develops his character. Ted Dibiase got pummeled by Jinder, who won this match with ease. This feud might continue in the upcoming weeks, which gives these two men something to work with.

Match Rating: 7/10

Jinder Mahal was at his ferocious best during this match

Match 2: Kaitlyn and Alicia Fox defeated Tamina and Natalya:

Divas Tag-Team Match

Natalya was gunning for revenge against Fox who plucked her hair out two weeks ago on Smackdown. Kaitlyn and Fox won the match, which was short but good. After the end of the match, the team of Tamina and Natalya imploded with Tamina attacking Natalya. Tamina seems to have turned face with this episode. It is up to to the WWE to make her relevant among the crowded divas title picture.

Match Rating: 6/10

Match 3: Hunico with Camacho defeated Justin Gabriel

Singles Match

Hunico and Camacho made their entrance in a low-rider bicycle — as Josh Mathews put it. Hunico himself is relatively new to WWE and hence pairing him with Camacho does no good to either of them. The spotlight should’ve been on Hunico during this match but it was shared with Camacho who seems to be bulkier. If both are clubbed together as a tag team, they might have a good run. On the other hand, Justin Gabriel has faded into obscurity ever since he was split up from Corre and Heath Slater. In this match too, he was made fodder for Hunico’s push.

Match Rating: 7/10

Match 4: Big Show defeated David Otunga

Singles Match

This was a rematch from this week’s Raw and Otunga had Mark Henry supporting him from his corner. Big Show won comfortably once again over Otunga, with some help from Daniel Bryan who distracted Mark Henry. David Otunga is continuously being buried even though he gets more TV time than other guys. Fans are beginning to lose interest in his character and he desperately needs to be given proper attention by the creative team. Having Daniel Bryan involved in a storyline is doing his run as champion no good and hence he has to given a separate storyline.

Match Rating: 5/10

Match 5: Ezekiel Jackson defeated Drew McIntyre:

Singles Match

Drew McIntyre was back on Smackdown after being a part of Raw for the past year (Really? I don’t remember seeing him on Raw for months together!) He went up against the personification of domination, Ezekiel Jackson. McIntyre was beaten by Jackson who grabbed his pants during pinfall. Looks like these two men will feud in the coming weeks.

Match Rating: 6/10

Match 6: Sheamus defeated Heath Slater

Singles Match

Heath Slater was Sheamus’ fodder this week. Sheamus still doesn’t have a storyline on Smackdown and has started talking about winning the Royal Rumble with more than a month to go for the event. He needs to be a storyline heading into Wrestlemania or else he’s not going to be a part of it, which sounds disastrous. He is one of the top faces on Smackdown and hence must be involved in a feud. With Orton out due to injury, Wade Barrett seems to be the likely opponent for Sheamus in the coming weeks.

Sheamus hitting the brogue kick on Slater

Match 7: Randy Orton Vs Wade Barrett ended in a no contest

Falls Count Anywhere match

This match was supposed to put an end to the long feud between Barrett and Orton. Both men utilised almost the entire arena during this match which lasted for more than 15 minutes. Randy Orton and Wade Barrett put on an awesome fight but it was unfortunate that the match ended in a no-contest. Being aware of the fact that Randy Orton will be out of action for nearly 6 months, WWE should have booked this match in favor of Wade Barrett rather than ending it abruptly with Randy Orton getting injured. Expect Randy Orton to feud with Barrett once he comes back from injury.

Wade Barrett and Randy Orton had an awesome match which ended in a no contest

The last Smackdown of 2011 was worth watching. With plenty of matches Smackdown catered to wrestling fans with some good action. With Drew McIntyre coming back and Randy Orton going out, coming weeks will tell us what the WWE plans on doing to fill the void of Orton’s Absence. Moreover, Intercontinental Title and World championship matches between Booker T and Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan and Big Show respectively, have been confirmed. Looking forward to next week’s show which promises to be a awesome.

Smackdown Rating: 8/10