WWE Smackdown: This Week's Analysis

The previous edition of the WWE Smackdown saw several important occurrences such as the face turn of Sheamus, who challenged the vicious Mark Henry to a match and also the appointment of Zack Ryder as the assistant general manager of Smackdown. The announcement of a No Disqualification match between Randy Orton and Christian was also made last week. With just 9 days to go for Summerslam, several important events took place at this week’s smackdown too. He is a brief review on what happened during the show.

Match 1: Sheamus versus The Great Khali

Singles Match

The Great Khali Making His Entrance With Jinder Mahal

A recap of last week’s interaction between ‘The Celtic Warrior’ Sheamus and ‘The world’s strongest man’ Mark Henry set the tone for this match. Sheamus made the entrance first and was followed by The Great Khali who came out with Jinder Mahal.

Khali had the upper hand initially with a series of chops on Sheamus. But Sheamus came back later on in the match, hit a Brogue kick when Khali went down to his knees and got the three count. A decent match which furthered Sheamus’ face turn by putting him in a match against a bigger heel, where he was impressive against a larger opponent. Sheamus is certainly one for the future.

Winner: Sheamus

Match Rating: 3/5

Match Duration: 5 Minutes

Match 2: A.J. Lee versus Natalya

Divas Singles Match

This match was billed as a Student vs Master match as AJ was being coached by Natalya until last week. The athleticism of AJ and the power of Natalya were at the fore throughout. Natalya locked AJ in the Sharpshooter and AJ tapped out quickly to hand over a pinfall victory to Natalya. After the match, Natalya attacked AJ which signalled her heel turn. She then made an announcement addressing Beth Phoenix stating that she was with her and the days of cute little princesses are over. A good move by the WWE to bring some sense into the Divas division by turning two of their best divas to a heel character.

Winner: Natalya

Match Rating: 2/5

Match Duration: 2 Minutes

Match 3: Daniel Bryan versus Tyson Kidd

Singles Match

Daniel Bryan attempting a flying dropkick on Tyson Kidd

Wade Barrett came out to join the commentary team. Michael Cole kept insisting that the Labelle Lock must be banned during the course of the match. Bryan and Kidd put on a clinic with well executed moves. Both men showcased their athletic ability and their intent to take risks to gain the upper hand during the match. An exciting match in which Daniel Bryan got the submission victory through his Labelle lock. A great, entertaining, and well executed match between Kidd and Bryan. Both of these men can go with anyone, and when paired together, may be two of the best bell to bell wrestlers in the company. This is what made wrestling so great in the 80′s, and still related to every fan that has watched professional wrestling. Great timing and veteran in ring ability, with submissions, air attacks, and usage of the kicking really made this match flow with ease.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Match Rating: 4/5

Match Duration: 7 Minutes

Match 4: Ezekiel Jackson versus Zack Ryder

Singles Match

Zack Ryder: Are You Serious Bro?

Zack Ryder came out to the ring to make the state of smackdown speech during which he was interrupted by the reigning intercontinental champion Ezekiel Jackson. Jackson questioned Ryder on his decision to put him in a handicap match in last week’s smackdown. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase came out and attacked Jackson. The Manager of smackdown – Teddy Long came out and made a match between Zack Ryder and Ezekiel Jackson. A decent match in which Zack Ryder showed glimpses of his brilliance before being run over by Jackson. Jackson locked Ryder in the Torture Rack which forced the long island iced Z Zack Ryder to tap out. A pretty good match between the two considering the fact that there is no history between them.

Winner: Ezekiel Jackson

Match Rating: 2/5

Match Duration: 2 Minutes

A backstage segment between Teddy Long and a former NXT rookie Aksana during which Aksana revealed that she wanted to make a business appointment was interesting. Aksana was last seen in a WWE show during the third season of NXT and was involved in a marriage storyline with Goldust.

Match 5: Mark Henry versus Vladimir Kozlov

Singles Match

Henry brutalizing Kozlov

Two behemoths in Kozlov and Henry, took on each other in a match which eventually turned out to be Kozlov’s last match in the WWE, because he was released on the same day. Mark Henry was the first to gain the upper hand. Kozlov tried to retaliate but his attempts were futile. He got caught by Henry who delivered the world’s strongest slam to get the pinfall victory. A very short match but it served the purpose to portray Mark Henry as a dangerous opponent. After the match he injured Kozlov’s ankle in the same manner that he damaged the ankles of Kane and the Big Show – Using a steel chair.

Winner: Mark Henry

Match Rating: 2/5

Match Duration: 1 Minute

Match 6: David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, and JTG versus Trent Barreta and The Usos

Six Men Tag Team Match

The match started off with Jey Uso taking on JTG. JTG lasted not too long as he tagged Michael in. Michael to faced stiff fight against Jimmy Uso and Trent Barreta. Then, Otunga tagged in and together they hit the Demolition style forearm on Barreta from the turnbuckles for the three count. The WWE Tag Team Champions are in a roll in the recent past. Let’s what they’re able to achieve in future against stiffer competition.

Winners: David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, and JTG

Match Rating: 3/5

Match Duration: 4 Minutes

Johnny Curtis came on screen yet again only to announce that he will make his debut next week. It is sad to see a talent like Johnny Curtis, who won season 4 of NXT, getting wasted in these 1 minute segments. Let’s see if he indeed makes his debut in next weeks’s smackdown.

Match 7: R Truth and Christian versus Randy Orton and John Morrison

Tag Team Match

Christian hitting the Killswitch on Orton

R-Truth and Randy Orton started off against each other in this tag team match. A long match with plenty of back and forth action through the course of the match. Then, the match came down to Morrison and Christian, with both exchanging a lot of offensive maneuvers. Morrison got the raw deal as he was continuously attacked by both Christian and R-Truth for a while before Morrison tagged in Randy Orton. Christian went for a killswitch which was reversed by Orton into a DDT. This was followed by a period of commotion between all the 4 superstars. At the end of it, Randy Orton was set for the RKO on Christian but his viper senses somehow detected R-Truth behind him and hence he hits the RKO on Truth. This allowed Christian to hit the Killswitch on Orton for the three count. It was the better option to let Christian to get a clean pinfall victory on Orton just a week before their match at Summerslam. This match adds further credibility on Christian who looked significantly weak inspite of being the World Heavyweight Champion when compared to the former Champion Randy Orton.

Winners: Christian and R Truth

Match Rating: 4/5

Match Duration: 11 Minutes

The Bottomline:

A wonderful show for hardcore wrestling fans since almost 5 of the total 7 matches were actually good. The tag-team main event was the best match of the night. The appearance of John Morrison and R-Truth on Smackdown for the second consecutive week turned out to be fantastic since both men added an extra flavor to the show. Let’s wait and watch how the feuds pan out in the next week’s show.

Show rating: 4/5

Best Match of the Show: Match 7: R Truth and Christian versus Randy Orton and John Morrison