Reviewing the 4/22/11 episode of Friday Night Smackdown…
1. Only in the UK could that many fans not only accept the Cody Rhodes paper bags passed out, but also wear them.
2. Not sure how many turns Michelle McCool is going to do on Layla before she finally takes a hint. What she may also have to worry about is the artist formerly known as Awesome Kong as this time she ripped the legs off of a brunette doll in her second debut vignette. She’ll be an equal opportunity Diva destroyer by the looks of things.
3. I don’t know what Trent Barreta or Chris Masters have to do in order to get bigger pushes in WWE, but hopefully the WWE Draft can have a positive effect on both of their careers. New opponents or a possible new brand. It would be a shame for either of them not to get a chance when they are both clearly showing improvements in the ring as well as showing they can pull off the necessary intensity and exciting moves to justify a leap of faith by WWE. Hopefully wherever Barreta and Masters end up, they do get one more chance to show what they can bring to the table. Hell, I’d even team them up if the tag titles end up meaning anything in WWE again. They could be this millennia’s version of Power & Glory, one of my favorite tag teams of all time.
4. The character profile videos WWE added to the Smackdown broadcast I watched is a very cool idea. It puts over the talent as well as preps for the upcoming WWE Draft. Hopefully this continues on both shows as the post draft editions could use the character introductions and videos to help build up the newcomers to the show. Not sure if this was a WWE.COM exclusive, but it is a cool touch.
5. After watching Drew McIntyre’s impressive victory over Chris Masters, it makes me wonder what happened to the Kelly Kelly storyline. Did WWE forget where it was going? Did they not have a plan so they just dropped it? Seems very disappointing since it was one of the more compelling and interesting storylines on Smackdown in the past year. It does look like that WWE is back to grooming Drew McIntyre with the teasing he just needs one big victory to put him over the top. I have a feeling that victory will come on RAW, however. At least he’ll have the potential to team with his good friend Sheamus on that brand if the U.S. Champion stays on that show.
6. I give credit to the Big Show for showing tremendous fire at the end of his tag team title victory with Kane over The Corre. I don’t think I’ve ever seen The Big Show moving that fast or showing that much extended intensity in the ring. Congratulations to Show and Kane for a much deserved title victory over the bickering Corre. With the problems being teased last week and this week, it seems very likely that their may be a split in The Corre come the WWE Draft next week. More than likely it will come from Ezekiel Jackson switching brands. His interference backfired in both of The Corre’s championship matches this week.
7. Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay’s reactions and facial expressions when the fake Lita was brought out(for the mock Edge retirement party)Â were priceless. Although I swear Edge and Christian have gotten the upper hand on ADR so many times now, nothing short of a World Championship victory now can help rebuild ADR enough to recover his aura of superiority he had when he first came in.
8. Line Of the Night:
a. Why he agrees with Cody Rhodes wanting to disfigure Rey Mysterio so he becomes a scary monster to his own children
Michael Cole – “(Because)Rey Mysterio turned Cody Rhodes from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde.”
9. Match of the Night:
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Tremendous rematch from Wrestlemania. Rey continues to have great chemistry with virtually anyone he is matched up against. Rey and Cody tore it up on Smackdown. After Rey’s win, the two proceeded to have a brawl around the ringside area which ended with Cody giving Rey the Cross Rhodes on the floor and then put one of his paper bags over Rey’s head. This ultimately led to a Falls Count Anywhere match being announced later in the show for the two to square off one more time at Extreme Rules. Perhaps the final match in the feud before Cody is drafted back to Raw. A Cody vs. Randy Orton feud could be fun on Raw. This also might give Ted Dibiase a chance to come to Smackdown and for the writing team here to rebuild his character.
10. Final Show Thoughts:
WWE continues to do the cross brand promoting debut vignettes for wrestlers entering the company. But will the artist formerly known as Awesome Kong actually be in the draft? Will Sin Cara a few weeks into Raw be drafted to Smackdown? WWE built up the Extreme Rules match for Rey vs. Cody big time with this week’s show. They also have advanced the Lay Cool break up to the point where a match should also be imminent for Extreme Rules. I’m not sure where they are going with The Corre this soon into their development as a power group. It looks like they could be setting Zeke up for another singles push and maybe one of the current Nexus members will be drafted to Smackdown to join The Corre if they want to keep them at four team members. Or could Husky Harris under his new Mulligan disguise be joining the power group? Either way, Smackdown should get an influx of new talent and possibly an overhaul if The Miz is drafted to Smackdown(& Del Rio to Raw). Of course The Miz and Cena could stay on Raw and Morrison might be drafted to Smackdown teasing a possible title victory at Extreme Rules. A lot of possibilities going into next Monday’s annual WWE Draft.
Show MVP:
Rey Mysterio
That is all.
M.C. Brown
You can find me on Twitter as
ShocXwavE
