WWE Super Smackdown Live Review
December 24, 2015
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
WWE rolled into a cold Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday night to present a live edition of Smackdown on the USA Network, just two weeks shy of the show moving to said network.
These “WWE Week” shows during the holiday break usually get labeled as throwaway shows by wrestling fans and it’s hard to disagree. Last year we were treated to a Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler main event on a live Smackdown. Nothing against Rollins and Ziggler, but that’s probably not a live episode you would go out of your way to catch.
This year WWE stepped it up a notch and announced not one, but two championship matches with The New Day defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against The Lucha Dragons and Dean Ambrose defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match against Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens.
AMBROSE, ZIGGLER AND OWENS DELIVER ON A LIVE SMACKDOWN
WWE really gets two hour television presentation. They get exposed when you add a third hour. Seriously, the pacing of this show and the constant build throughout the night involving interviews with Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens was just flat out really well done and had you looking forward to the main event. Toss in that this was live and you had the makings for a really fun atmosphere in Des Moines.
The offense from Owens continues to impress me when it felt like things were starting to cool off for him, including the nasty delivery that pretty much dropped Ambrose right on top his head. What a two-day span for Ambrose requiring six staples in his head from a match on RAW and then getting dumped on his head in scary fashion.
Ziggler’s involvement upped the pace and kept your attention. I was even more pleased to see them avoid the cliche “Tower of Doom” spot and just get creative with offense, especially outside of the ring. All three worked really hard and the live atmosphere added to the presentation. Solid main event from WWE on Tuesday night.
HAVE A “BOOTY” CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY “NEW DAY”
Great call by WWE to have New Day kick off the show this week. This was another fun match, especially the back-and-forth offense between Kalisto and Big E. Sin Cara and Kalisto are a perfect tag team for this division and literally could work with just about any team. Xavier Woods on the outside is always entertaining and the finish sequence was paced so well that I nearly missed it recapping live. Well done by both teams.
QUICK THOUGHTS
* Wasn’t a fan of the backstage Christmas party stuff. Just wasn’t funny.
* Holiday wishes from WWE stars is fine. Charlotte’s message made me cringe.
* It’s almost a given that any six or eight man matches with The Wyatt’s will be good.
* The Usos offense as a team was sorely missed and great to have back on WWE TV.
* I still don’t get The Ascension presentation. Worked in NXT, but not on the main roster.
* Becky Lynch is showing character growth. Really enjoying Charlotte’s heel tendencies.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Another good episode of Smackdown. The two hour formatting just shows how much more watchable RAW could be every Monday night with a one hour lead-in of some kind that doesn’t involve storylines or even RAW focused content. I’m very intrigued to see if this same Smackdown presentation continues with the move to USA in two weeks. Really looking forward to hearing Mauro Ranallo on commentary as well.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know your Smackdown thoughts in the comments below.
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