10 Thoughts on Smackdown 08.12.2011: The Great Khali v. Randy Orton, Christian, Alberto del Rio v. Daniel Bryan

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It’s the send-home show before Summerslam, and that means time for another 10 Thoughts, fresh from the cesspool that I call a brain. It’s a scary place in there, people, I tell ya! Summerslam looks like it could be a good card…might not match Money in the Bank, but at least it’s got a lot of momentum heading into it. Now then, on to business…

And here…we….go!

1. The opening segment had a few holes in it that I don’t get. One, all of Christian’s part of the promo was negated by HHH. The problem with this COO angle is that it makes it nearly impossible for anyone to go over HHH on the mic now, and this promo didn’t do much to further the Orton/Christian story. All it did was lead to a Sheamus/Christian match, and therein lies my second problem: once again, continuity! Granted, the Orton/HHH history was mentioned, but when Sheamus came out, there wasn’t even a standoff, a look…NOTHING. Just a little bit of continuity…please? I’m not asking for perfection here, just a little bit of history to remain consistent, that’s all.

2. The Sheamus/Christian match redeemed the promo that preceded it. The way Christian got himself counted out reminded me a lot of the late 80’s, when the Honky Tonk Man was Intercontinental Champion. He wasn’t the best in the ring, but man, could he draw heat by finding ways to keep the title with doing as little work as possible! Christian is a much better in-ring performer than Honky was, so he has to find another way to draw heat by using the Honky formula. So what does he do? He bails when he’s getting beaten, even if there were a way he COULD win, and tries to hide behind his legal team. This could be a nice breath of fresh air to Christian’s career…we’ll have to see what happens.

3. Natalya and Beth Phoenix looked good in their match tonight, and I don’t just mean in the physical fashion. I would argue that they are the two most talented Divas on the roster, and by putting them together, it only serves to allow them to show that talent. However, with the Glam Slam…was the double underhook really necessary? All it did was lead into the same position Beth put AJ into in the first place. Slight nitpick, I know, but it was just a thought.

4. Sin Cara made his return this week…but as most people know, it wasn’t the same man who’s been behind the mask who appeared this week. Booker T and Michael Cole tried to cover up by making mention of his larger appearance, but he also looked a little taller as well. The moves didn’t look the same either, although there looked to be a few new ones added, as Booker T pointed out. Anyone who paid attention would have noticed the small differences, as Kidd had faced Sin Cara a few weeks ago. This was a totally different match. However, the one thing that did surprise me: the crowd’s reaction. The character itself is really over with the fans, and that’s going to make a possible impact on how he’s booked. Would I be the only one who would suggest bringing back the Cruiserweight Division?

5. Johnny Curtis made his debut this week, and I thought that the brief segment between him and Mark Henry was clever, and fit in with Henry’s current persona. His debut match though…not exactly the most auspicious of starts. If anything, it showed how green he still is.

6. Cody Rhodes won the Intercontinental Championship this week, and I’m kind of glad he did. If you can count on one hand how many successful title defenses you had, and it’s less than or equal to the number of months you had said title, AND you lost more matches with the title than you won, then that’s not a transitional champion…that’s poor booking. Ezekiel Jackson’s run with the Intercontinental Championship, quite frankly, wasn’t that good. He still needs a little more work in the ring (look at the way he sold the arm Rhodes had been working, or the lack thereof, for example), but this loss of the title might help him. Now maybe he can be put in a program with someone who he can learn from. Cody Rhodes is a good choice for the Intercontinental Championship at this point in time, and perhaps it could lead to a mini-feud with Booker T, looking at the way the baggers have been handing Booker a paper bag quickly over the past few weeks. That, come to think of it, could be interesting. Rhodes has come along , and I for one, will admit I was wrong. When he and DiBiase came in, I thought it would be DiBiase who would shine, and now it’s the other way around. Kudos to Rhodes, and here’s hoping he will make a good champion. By the way…that gorilla press slam on DiBiase…OUCH. DiBiase face turn, perhaps?

7. Alberto del Rio/Daniel Bryan at first made me think of a question that’s been bothering me for a while now: what’s the point of the brand extension now that we have wrestlers jumping from show to show now? If wrestlers (sorry, SUPERSTARS, forgot I can’t call them wrestlers!) are jumping back and forth every once in a while to make good matches, then it adds a little intrigue to the match…but not when they’re doing it as often as they are. Oh well…anyway, the match itself was okay, but it seemed a little rushed, and not very fluid at all. I guess they just don’t have chemistry together, but it wasn’t a bad match…just not spectacular either. I’d give it 3 ¼ stars. Wade Barrett’s run-in did its part to further the Bryan/Barrett program, so no complaints there.

8. The Great Khali/Randy Orton match was passable. That grin he gave after hitting Khali with the RKO kind of reminded me of the grin we were used to seeing during his Legend Killer gimmick. It seems like the WWE is trying to get the “Viper” character to evolve a little bit, but at this point, I don’t quite know what they could do with it that would make sense. Thoughts?

9. Khali is a heel now, correct? He’s supposed to have a change in his attitude, correct? WHY IS HE STILL WEARING HIS PUNJABI PLAYBOY PANTS?!?!?!

10. Joe’s Food For Thought: The past few weeks, I’ve been leaving a thought for you all to consider, so I’m gonna try to make it a weekly thing. This week’s question: What exactly defines a “heel” or a “face”? You look at two of Smackdown’s faces, Randy Orton and Sheamus. What is it that they do that makes them faces? Neither one make it a point to play to the crowd…all they do is beat up the guys we boo. Does that sufficiently constitute them as effective faces? Look at when Christian turned when he lost the World Heavyweight Championship the first time…he had legitimate claims, and yet, he was booed. What determines the line between face and heel now? Hmmmm….

An okay show to head into Summerslam. Not exactly groundbreaking, but it didn’t suck either.

Until next time…

Currently a junior at Murray State University, Joe Violet has been writing for Inside Pulse Sports since the summer of 2010, and started writing for Inside Pulse Wrestling in the summer of 2011. He follows several sports, and also follows professional wrestling and MMA. He is pursuing a degree in creative writing/journalism.