Mike Tedesco’s Smackdown Thoughts
January 9, 2015
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
Ok, it’s got to be a rib at this point. Roman Reigns’ promos are so unbelievably brutal that it has to be a rib. Someone is screwing with him. There’s no doubt that Reigns’ delivery is brutal, but that’s the least of his troubles. It’s the garbage that they’re scripting for him to recite that is inexcusable. This guy is supposed to be built to be the next top guy, and he’s saying “suffering succotash” and “donkey dung”? Are you kidding me? I seriously question Vince McMahon’s sanity because you know he approves all of this. Nothing is aired without his seal of approval and apparently this was good enough in his mind. If you’re a shareholder, I’d suggest selling because I think it’s going to be revealed that he had severe head trauma without anyone knowing. I cannot believe that McMahon would approve of this if he had control of all of his mental faculties. If he’s fine (which I’m sure he is), then he’s severely lost his touch. Reigns will be eaten alive in hardcore cities if this continues to happen. On the other hand, I really liked Seth Rollins’ promo to kick off the show. The guy gets great heat and is tolerable when they don’t have him trying to cut a promo for a half hour to kill time.
What in the world is there to say about Big E versus Adam Rose other than I’m glad it was short. There is simply absolutely no reason to be interested in anything happening with The New Day, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose. These are guys floating in professional wrestling purgatory. It kind of makes you cringe when you watch The New Day make their entrance, try to get a chant going, and absolutely no one responds.
The Ascension had another quick enhancement match, which was what it was. There’s nothing particularly interesting about them. I guess if the powers that be think the best way for them to get heat is to trash legendary teams, then whatever. I don’t care for it, but I guess they think buzz is buzz. It’s another thing when all three commentators trash them. The heel commentator isn’t even on their side. Am I missing something here? Shouldn’t someone be like, “Hey, they’re just as good as those teams,” even though it’s a complete lie? They can use the WWE Network to go back and listen to real heel commentators like Jesse Ventura and Jerry Lawler in his prime. It isn’t hard.
So far up to this point (I’m writing thoughts as the show goes on), this has been pretty bad. It’s like they don’t want to give anything good away at all since they seem to be saving everything for next week and the move to Thursday. The Naomi/Alicia Fox match was pretty lame. Naomi dominates her the entire match to the point where Alicia pretty much only got a knee to the midsection in, and then she loses on a lame, sloppy roll-up. That sure makes Naomi look smart, but then again it’s the Divas. The higher ups of WWE don’t care about them on the programming. Why should I?
I really enjoyed the WWE Tag Team Championship match, which was without question the highlight of the night up to this point. I don’t think the finish was ever in doubt, but all six men worked hard and put on a great match. My only qualm is I just wish they would have three people in the ring for a triple threat match. The idea of a competitor tagging in an opponent is insulting to the intelligence. I know it’s a lot of blind tags, but most of the time the commentators are questioning why it’s done this way. Is it that hard to put together a match with three guys in it instead of two at a time? Still, the match was a lot of fun and helped pass the time on what has been a pointless, lackluster show up to this point.
The curse of the Intercontinental Championship continues with Bad News Barrett. His first night after winning the title sees him lose to Sin Cara of all people. When the heck was the last time we saw Sin Cara on the main roster on any of the big two shows? It’s been quite some time. I just have to roll my eyes and throw my hands up in the air on this one. Sin Cara wins, but then Barrett attacks him after to save face. No one gets over in the end. If you’re going to put Sin Cara over, let him get over. If you want Barrett to go over, let him pick up the win. I’m so tired of these segments where it’s a total waste of time because they’re afraid to let anyone get over.
I really enjoyed the main event. It was neat to see a pseudo-Shield reunion with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose teaming up to face Seth Rollins and Big Show. It was nice to hear the big reaction Ambrose got. Following losing every big match to Bray Wyatt (and really every big match since The Shield broke up), hopefully they’ll treat him a little better. Ambrose is definitely a star in the making, but he needs to be nurtured and handled carefully. If not, that great reaction will be no more and he’ll be just another guy, just like three-quarters of the roster already is. I think they’re missing the boat on him because of his size. Who knows? Reigns looked very good in this. I have to attribute to the fact that he didn’t have to do any selling, which is not his strong suit, among a few other things. Still, it was a fun match and a good way to finish off Smackdown on Fridays. Finally, I no longer have to recap wrestling on Friday night!
Bump of the Night: Jey Uso hitting a suicide dive on his opponents
Match of the Night: The Tag Team Title Triple Threat ** 1/4
Final Rating: ** 1/4
E-Mail – MikeyT817@gmail.com
Twitter – @MikeTedescoWV
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Thanks for reading!
Mike Tedesco is the official recapper of WWE RAW and Smackdown for Wrestleview.com.