Reviewing the 3/25/11 episode of Friday Night Smackdown…
1. So far I’ve seen two very good contests between Edge and Drew McIntyre. I’d love to see what they could do if given PPV time and how great of a match they could have. Drew stayed on Edge’s arm throughout the duration of the match in great ring psychology while Edge picked up the big win via submission as well as hitting his patented spear after the match. Great effort in such a short amount of time between the two. Smackdown is the place for the best wrestling in WWE right now.
2. Hearing such legends speak on the Undertaker vs. Triple H match up makes me think how great and distinctive some of their voices are and that they’d be great to hear in animation. Harley Race and Arn Anderson specifically. What an excellent package. They are doing everything right promoting this match up as best as they can putting over both combatants.
3. Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental title to capture his first title in the WWE. The Corre is thriving while Nexus is seemingly gone on Raw. With Wade Barrett’s victory for the Intercontinental title and with Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater controlling the tag team titles, The Corre has positioned themselves as a force to be reckoned with and revered on Smackdown. Their decimation of Kane and Big Show was certainly a spectacle last week. Even though there wasn’t a terrible amount of impact, Barrett’s Wasteland on Big Show was definitely an impressive feat. WWE has done a good job of establishing The Corre as a force on Smackdown. Ezekiel Jackson has fit in and fortified the group, too. I was unsure of how he would fit at first, but he has blended nicely into the fabric of the former Nexus team members. I did love the counter of Trouble in Paradise into the Wasteland. Very nice finish of the title match.
4. Who would have thought WWE could find a song with words that could actually fit into the Deadman character and entrance of the Undertaker. Certainly not the first time Taker has come out to a song with words, but a first for this version of him. The Johnny Cash “Ain’t no Grave” song fits perfectly. Combine that with the roar of the crowd and the song just sounds awesome accompanied with the Undertaker’s entrance. Undertaker addressed the WWE Universe in a solid promo foreshadowing Triple H will become just another number at Wrestlemania. Nineteen. He already holds one spot. Why not another? In a very cool touch, during Undertaker’s exit from the entrance stage, the rain pouring and lightning effect from the screen provided a very cool background as he turned and walked away after making his strong point.
5. Michael Cole should never rap again in his life. Cole got into the ring after Jack Swagger defeated R-Truth and proceeded to verbally berate him on the mic including a brief lame rap. If any WWE superstar is going to have any semblance of some kind of rep as a tough character then everybody Cole has humiliated needs to get a shot back at him at some point.
6. John Cena’s bit of subterfuge on RAW was a nice shot at not only surprising The Miz, but a veiled shot at The Rock as well when he said he was indeed broadcasting from his home for the last 9 years…WWE. Tied into both feuds nicely.
7. WWE stacked this week’s Smackdown with some very solid matches. Most of them kept relatively short save for the Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio match, but there were some very good match ups in there. Speaking of Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio, the storyline with Edge was played perfectly in the match along with the well placed interference with Edge, Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez. The story was Edge could not touch Alberto Del Rio for revenge after what happened to him last week. Teddy Long wants to protect his Smackdown Main Event investment. Of course Del Rio couldn’t touch Edge either, but he was in no position to as Christian in the post match clobbered Del Rio with the chair for Edge as Edge taunted Del Rio. Christian’s win even via distraction was a huge win for him. It raises the question, could he possibly be added to the Main Event match at Mania or is he being set up for a strong post Mania #1 contendership?
8. Lines Of the Night:
a. Michael Cole– “Cody Rhodes looks like a freak. He’s hideous. All because of Mysterio.”
b. In response to Alberto Del Rio saying he didn’t have the guts to ban him from Wrestlemania if he laid his hands on Edge before Wrestlemania
Teddy Long– “You see there have been 26 Wrestlemanias without you. And if you think I can’t make it 27, then you just try me.”
9. Match of the Night:
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Great hard hitting Wrestlemania 26 rematch between these two superstars. It was great to see CM Punk back on Smackdown where he has achieved so much success and really hit his stride as a heel in WWE. These two have tremendous in ring chemistry from their many battles and their acumen as two of the best in their game at their ability to adapt and have good matches with most opponents they square off with. Watching these two compete against each other is definitely a treat. They pulled out on lot of big moves even in such a short match. Although Cody Rhodes ruined the contest from having a decisive winner, it all furthered his upcoming encounter with Mysterio at Wrestlemania. Cody used his own exposed knee brace to run his knee into Rey Mysterio’s face in the corner in an attempt to recreate the same injury he received at the hands of Rey Mysterio. Cody is in such an advantageous spot right now. Cody has turned from an effeminate comedy character into a vicious combatant all because of this feud with Rey Mysterio. All that’s left is to see a great match between the two at Wrestlemania. Great story and excellent execution by all involved.
10. Final Show Thoughts:
Del Rio should prevail at Wrestlemania if you are counting on WWE’s use of not showing their hand or doing the opposite leading up to PPV’s. Del Rio after the Rumble has only had a couple of shows where he really looked strong against Edge. Beating Kofi Kingston is one thing, but Wade Barrett just established he could do that, too and he was one of the final three guys in the Rumble. Of course it has yet to be determined for sure if Christian will be added to the match at Wrestlemania. If he is, that is another loophole for Del Rio to get his big Mania win by not even pinning Edge and causing friction between Edge and Christian as well as set up a whole slew of rematches between the three superstars. It’ll be a very interesting final week of WWE programming. Another yet to be determined match is The Corre vs. ????
Who shall team with Big Show and Kane?
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov? Kofi Kingston? Or long shots Diesel or previously rumored Christian? Kofi would now have an excuse after losing his title to Barrett. As would Diesel since Wade was relentless on him at the Royal Rumble. It would be a huge, figuratively and literally huge team if Diesel teamed with Kane and The Big Show. It would also be a first to have both versions of Diesel on the same team to the best of my knowledge as well.
Show MVPs:
Edge and Christian
The combination was on fire again both adding elements to the show that continued to keep things strong for Smackdown as they roll down the Road to Wrestlemania.
That is all.
M.C. Brown
You can find me on Twitter as
ShocXwavE
