411’s Instant Analysis 03.16.12: Friday Night Smackdown

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Friday Night Smackdown Instant Analysis, I am David McGregor. I was meant to be here last week but I had a weekend long power cut, so come Monday when it was finally fixed there was little point doing an instant analysis column of a 3 day old show.

Apologies for that but I am back with one last column before I retire from the instant analysis position. Things are getting very busy for me so I had to quit one of my columns, and seen as this is on a Friday night and doesn’t get as much front page love as my other article I sold out ran to the games section. I don’t know if the powers that be have found a new man for the job or not yet but this will be my last article. Thanks for reading the column, as it surprisingly does pretty well. And if you haven’t had enough of me I have the 8 Ball over on the games section every Monday and I will be writing for a few of the Wrestlemania reviews that are currently running. But anyway let’s begin with the final Smackdown of the McGregor era, does 3 months count as an era?

Opening Segment – The Peep Show Returns!

This was probably the worst set up for any Piper’s Pit rip off I’ve seen! It was basically a carpet with a crappy sign; this was no Carlito’s Cabana that’s for sure. Set issues aside this was an average segment at best, it furthered the build up to Team Mr. Excitement v Team Long at Wrestlemania and brought Christian back to TV so it wasn’t a complete loss. But it didn’t seem like anyone, bar Big Johnny, was all that bothered about being entertaining. Even Christian seemed a tad bored. The return of the Peep Show could have been so much more.

I didn’t hate it but it was pretty much just there, nothing more nothing less.

Rating 4 out of 10

Kofi Kingston v David Otunga

Against all the logic in the world I am actually starting to like David Otunga. He actually seemed very motivated in there with Kingston, and both put on quite the compelling match. I will admit this was about as overbooked as you can make a match, but everything worked in really well. Santino was there as back up for Kingston, Big Johnny and Teddy were hilarious at the announcing table and Christian was running around with a Mr. Excitement mask (which I definitely want)! There was even a WBF mention by Booker T, what’s not to love?

It is weird how the previous segment seemed so unmotivated and boring, yet moments later everyone has upped their game and trying their best to further the angle. It is a bad day when the GM’s have a more interesting rivalry going than the World Heavyweight Championship match does, speaking of which…

Winners Kofi Kingston
Rating 8 out of 10

Backstage Segment – Daniel the Douche / Nikki Bella v AJ

I’m not entirely sure where they are going with the Bryan/AJ angle, all I know is it more interesting than Sheamus costing D-Bryan match after match and vice versa. It sort of seems like a mental domestic abuse angle but that seems way too serious for Wrestlemania time, but there are definite elements of that in there. All I can say is that it’s working; I’m looking forward to seeing Sheamus kick Bryan’s head off come April 1st. I just wish Sheamus has a more active role in this thing, as there doesn’t seem to be much of an actual feud between him and Bryan as of yet.

As for the Diva’s match, it was in fact quite entertaining. That was mostly due to Daniel Bryan and his words of wisdom for AJ. I’m actually getting a little bored of the “YES!YES!YES!” chant after every match, that’s one of the few things I won’t miss about Smackdown even though people seem to love it.

Winners AJ
Rating 5 out of 10 (for the match) 7 out of 10 (for the segment)

Khali v Cody Rhodes

I like the way Rhodes is looking at his Wrestlemania match with Big Show, makes me think he actually has a chance of winning. I just hope they do put Rhodes over Show at WM, as Show has went over way too many people to simply defeat another up and comer. He may have name value but Rhodes could be a huge star if given the right opportunity.

The match was the definition of average, although I loved the fact that Rhodes went over Khali completely clean. Cody now looks like he could take down the Big Show come Wrestlemania, well one can only hope. I sort of hope that Rhodes get drafted to Raw after `Mania for a decent WWE Championship run, as there is no way anyone is getting it off of Sheamus until at least SummerSlam.

Winners Cody Rhodes
Rating 6 out of 10

In Ring Promo – Orton and Kane Bore the World!

It’s not very often the number 2 guy in the company introduces himself, I guess he has been injured quite a lot recently. I will never understand why the WWE put these two guys together, at times two of the most boring performers in the entire WWE! Kane has never been the great orator, but since he has returned and delivered that horrendously long promo to Cena he has been unbearable. At least Orton tried to spruce things up a bit, but Kane just kept going with his impression of Freddy Krueger that has swallowed a thesaurus.

This is by far the most unappealing match signed up for Wrestlemania! I don’t know why they would waste a talent like Orton in a shitty match like this. Kane has always had a bit of a cult following online, yet he is one of the worst performers the WWE has! I’ve never understood why the WWE insists on giving this waste of space so much time; at least Mark Henry lost 100 pounds and started trying. Here’s hoping after Wrestlemania that Big Show and Kane go to wherever the Undertaker was for the past year. I’m getting all my pent up Kane anger out seen as I will be talking about Mario and Sonic after this.

Rating 4 out of 10

Big Show v Drew McIntyre

Big Show squashed Drew McIntyre, which is pretty much all that happened. I can understand why Big Show went over, but I can’t understand why McIntyre was reemployed for this crap. Filler segment in every sense. Would have been better if McIntyre wasn’t even on the show, but I guess this is some master plan by the WWE to push Drew to the moon. Yeah right because losing angles always equal money!

Winners Big Show
Rating 3 out of 10

Mark Henry v Yoshi Tatsu

Mark Henry looked like a proper bad ass here, probably more so than he has done since he lost the World Championship. It actually built up a little of his credibility as he has been taking pinfall loses way too much since WWE TLC in December. I wouldn’t have thought that the burial of a low card wrestler would make someone like Henry look as good as it did.

That is how you squash someone and not bore the audience into a coma.

Winners Mark Henry
Rating 6 out of 10

Sheamus v Chris Jericho

Jericho laid down a pipe bomb of his own before the match; it wasn’t as good as Monday night and seemed a bit similar to his 2008 stuff but was still well done. I sort of wish they had brought up the alcoholic dad angle a couple weeks ago as it is a really interesting avenue to go down. If this continues this could cross the line to becoming a blood feud, which are always great TV when done well. I just hope that they get enough time come Wrestlemania to put on the show everyone is expecting.

I was surprised at how good the Sheamus/Jericho match was. With a few weeks left until Wrestlemania I thought they would have held back a lot more than they did, but I definitely wasn’t complaining. I hope that Sheamus and Jericho get an extended program of matches very soon, as they could do some great things given the right time and feud. Even just a randomly put together match on TV was brilliant, and one of the best matches I’ve seen on Smackdown since I’ve been doing these reviews. Perfect booking all round, D-Bryan’s kick and subsequent walk away from the crime scene was picture perfect and made him look like the faultless heel. Bryan and Sheamus still don’t have a proper feud yet but this finale was enough to keep me happy until next week, maybe then they can get something more personal going.

Great stuff all round, brilliant way to end my Smackdown reviews.

Winners Chris Jericho
Rating 10 out of 10

Final Analysis

Moment of the Night – Chris Jericho v Sheamus

Trash of the Night – Orton and Kane boring the world.

Final Analysis – This is actually one of the best episodes of Smackdown I have had the pleasure of reviewing. The main event was brilliant, I enjoyed every minute of it and it built to the big show perfectly. The rest of the stuff was either average or good, and from what I have seen that is a rarity on Smackdown these days. Rhodes continues to impress and I just hope he takes down Big Show come April 1st. Kane and Orton is going just as badly as Cena and Kane did last month, the WWE should cut their losses and enter both into the 12 man match! Overall a very good show, probably the one I’ve enjoyed most since I stated this in December.

Show Rating – 8 out of 10

And that’s it for the instant analysis, and my time doing the column. I hope you all enjoyed at least one of the articles. I did try to be honest through the whole thing, even if it wasn’t the most acceptable of opinions. Thanks for reading anyway, much appreciated.

God me leaving has started Flair off again!