Mike Tedesco’s Smackdown Review
February 13, 2015
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
I totally messed up the way I usually do these Smackdown reviews. Normally I review the show as I watch it, but this time I was rushing and just wanted to get through the show. Now I’m sitting here a day later trying to compose my thoughts on a show that, aside from a fantastic near hour-long main event, was largely just there. Even the main event, which was fantastic, had an aura about it that just reeked of “Well, we’re short staffed because of the United Arab Emirates, so let’s just have the two top talents we have wrestle a few tag teams for an hour to get through this show.”
The first hour felt like an episode of WWE Superstars aired by accident. Bray Wyatt was in the first match against R-Truth, but I honestly couldn’t have cared less. I’ve seen Wyatt and R-Truth wrestle a number of times now, and each time gets less and less interesting. Wyatt just showed up, did the crabwalk, hit the Sister Abigail, and left. They should have just had him tape a promo for Undertaker and given him the night off. It didn’t add anything. Then there was some divas match between Paige and Summer Rae that was void of any heat whatsoever. I recall there being some awkward moments when Paige was staring at the Bella Twins while attacking Summer Rae, but they were so wrapped up in talking that they completely missed each cue. The match probably went three minutes, but it felt like fifteen. Finally, we saw Fandango beat Adam Rose in a nothing match. They showed a replay of the Rosebuds dropping Rose on the trust fall last week, and I completely had forgotten about that. It felt like that aired a month ago. There’s just so much content that you have to sit through with WWE.
Finally we got to the main event, which started at the top of the hour. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns were forced to team up in Tag Team Turmoil. I have to go to the start of the show to talk about one aspect of the match I liked a lot. I really liked that they kicked the show off with Kane and Big Show “rallying” the troops. They were getting the tag teams pumped up for the match tonight and telling them they have a chance to prove themselves. That was a great segment to show the motivation of these teams heading into the match later in the night. They want a chance to prove themselves. It’s a simple storyline. Simple isn’t bad. Simple works. Simple has worked in wrestling for years. People generally like simple, no matter what demographic.
Bryan and Reigns started against The Miz and Damien Mizdow. This was fine for what it was. Miz and Mizdow continued to have their problems while Bryan and Reigns were taking turns trying to one up each other. Bryan tagged himself in to play off what happened in the main event of RAW to take the pin from Reigns.
Next was the longest bout of the Tag Team Turmoil. Bryan and Reigns fought The Usos in a near half-hour long match. I liked that Reigns was showing an internal struggle early on about having to face his family. I also liked how he admonished Bryan for going too hard against them. It wasn’t a blow away good match. There definitely were parts that dragged. It went through two commercial breaks and honestly didn’t get really interesting until the end. All four men worked hard, and The Usos really showed me something by going that long. I think part of what hurt it is all four men are technically babyfaces so I guess the crowd couldn’t really get into it. Still, even though it dragged and lacked heat for a little bit, it was better than any match you generally see on the main roster.
The next two parts of Tag Team Turmoil saw Bryan and Reigns beat Los Matadores and Slater Gator. It was a sort of “anything you can do, I can do better” deal. Bryan refused to tag Reigns in and picked up the win on Los Matadores. Then Reigns easily handled Slater Gator on his own without tagging Bryan in. They were one-upping each other at this point, and it was definitely getting interesting.
Next out was The Ascension. The commentators didn’t really stress it, but they were doing The Authority’s dirty work. They went out and absolutely mauled both Bryan and Reigns. It was by far the strongest they’ve looked since debuting on the main roster. They viciously beat Bryan and Reigns down before the referee threw them out of the match.
That brought out Big Show and Kane to pick the scraps. I’m really tired of seeing these two on my television screen. It’s not like it’s an “Oh they’re heels, I’m supposed to not like them or want to see them.” It’s more of an “I’ve seen them team up a million times in the last sixteen years – I’m over it” type of thing. For some reason, Big Show and Kane were arguing for a good portion of the match. Maybe I missed something, but that dissention wasn’t hinted at all on any shows prior. They had their little scuffle at the Royal Rumble, but that wasn’t really followed up on at all. Now they’re arguing in this match, and Big Show wound up knocking Kane out. For those keeping track, I don’t think this was Turn #33 for Big Show. I think he just knocked out Kane out of frustration and will remain a heel. In the end, Reigns and Bryan showed cohesiveness. Bryan picked up the pin on Big Show. We were then left with the image of Bryan and Reigns showing a mutual respect for each other after the war they just went through. I don’t think that was enough to reverse the damage the booking has done to them, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’m interested to see how they follow this up on RAW.
Bump of the Night: Jey Uso hitting Roman Reigns with a plancha
Match of the Night: Tag Team Turmoil *** 1/4
Final Rating: **
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.