Mike Tedesco’s Smackdown Thoughts
November 2, 2013
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
Smackdown kicked off in a big way with the appearance of the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena. Cena kicked off the show with his usual “The Champ is here” shtick before saying that he and Friday nights are going to get really comfortable. That crowd was super red hot for him. Say what you want about John Cena, but he does bring a certain atmosphere wherever he goes. His presence is good for Smackdown. More people will buy tickets to go see the show and more people will tune in just because he’s on it. That can only be a sign of good things ahead for the show, not that the show was doing bad or anything. I know I definitely enjoyed recapping his segment a little more than I do for normal opening segments just because of the energy from the crowd.
The Real Americans came out to interrupt him, and Zeb Colter thanked him for beating Alberto Del Rio before offering him a spot in the Real Americans. I thought Cena’s reaction was spot on. He looked completely perplexed by Colter’s offer. To his credit, Colter was perfect in this. He was so sure Cena would accept his offer. I found myself chuckling a couple of times during his little speech. Cena then proceeded to tear down each member of the stable. I loved the reference to Biff from Back to the Future as he was roasting Jack Swagger, but I found it a little uncomfortable when he was talking about Antonio Cesaro’s nipples. It’s not the first time he’s mentioned them, and each time he does, I wish he hadn’t. On a PG show, guys should not be talking about another man’s nipples. It’s just… gross – unless you’re into the nipple thing. In that case, um, thumbs up to you. You’re cool.
Cena then capped it off with a Captain America promo before Damien Sandow charged his way to the ring. Sandow brought some urgency back to the segment as he said his sole purpose from this point on was to end the Cena Era. I was busy on Monday so I heard of Sandow’s failure to cash in successfully from my girlfriend, and I was not happy. I thought it wasn’t a good move, but now after watching him in that opening segment, I realize I was wrong. He never would have gotten any credibility by just becoming champion. His character wasn’t at that level. However, having a serious feud with John Cena where he attempts to tear him down might not be such a bad thing for him. Even if he ultimately fails, a program with John Cena can’t be a bad thing for your career. Anyway, as things broke down, it looked like Cena was going to get beat down by the heels until Cody Rhodes and Goldust ran in to even the odds. Vickie Guerrero then booked a six-man tag for the main event.
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins lost to Jimmy and Jey Uso in a decent opening match. Before it began, there was a promo with The Shield backstage where Ambrose spoke on their behalf. When he mentioned he was going to do that, both Rollins and Reigns looked at him with a sort of indignant look on their faces. I know it happens with every tag team, but I really don’t want to see The Shield break up. I don’t even want them to tease at it. I don’t feel like any of them have a character developed enough to stand on their own. Not only that, but they consistently put out great matches week in and week out as a unit. The Shield has been involved in some of the year’s best matches in my opinion. I think it’s a really poor move to even tease splitting them.
The match itself was fine. These two teams always match up well. Big E Langston was out there as well to make sure no tomfoolery happened on the outside of the ring. I like Langston in his role right now. It’s unbelievable that three weeks ago he was just floating around on the roster, and now he’s a face getting some good match time. He’s definitely got talent. After the match, Langston stopped The Shield from beating down The Usos, and Roman Reigns had to be held back by his teammates. There wasn’t any hostility toward them for holding him back, so that’s a good thing I suppose.
The Wyatt Family took out The Prime Time Players in quick and easy fashion. There wasn’t much to the match. It was just the usual mauling by them. After the match, Bray Wyatt took down Darren Young with Sister Abigail. It was just a moment for the commentators to talk about all the destruction they caused on Monday night.
The Miz was out next for an episode of Miz TV. He was supposed to have Shawn Michaels as his guest, but HBK didn’t show up. Randy Orton then came out, and he lambasted The Miz for being irrelevant and having a stupid show. Orton then complained about being knocked out by the Big Show on RAW before taking The Miz out with an RKO. The Miz said nothing as he was being torn down, and he was left laying like a chump at the end of the segment. I just don’t see where they’re going with this. On the one hand, The Miz is still getting TV time, however all that time is spent tearing him down with him giving no fight back. He just takes it before getting taken down in quick fashion. He was even fed to Kane in quick fashion on Monday night. He’s experienced quite the drop-off since main eventing WrestleMania 27. I think they should have him off TV. They had the perfect opportunity after Orton laid him out back in August in his hometown. They could have kept him off TV, and he could have come back with a purpose. Instead, he was back on Smackdown that very same week. It almost seems like they’re devaluing his name. I doubt they’re going to release him, but his career is certainly not on the up and up.
The divas had a quick tag team match which saw Natalya, who I suppose is AJ’s next challenger, pick up the win over the champion. There wasn’t much to comment on in the match. There weren’t any flaws, but it wasn’t particularly great either.
The main event was a long six-man tag team match that saw John Cena, Cody Rhodes, and Goldust defeat The Real Americans and Damien Sandow. I certainly enjoyed the match because it was given a ton of time to build and gradually get more and more exciting, but in the long run it doesn’t mean anything. It was just a fun TV main event. Goldust is the renaissance man. He looked great in this match as usual. He was the whipping boy for most of it, and his hope spots were fantastic. He can garner so much sympathy. I don’t know what it is about him. He’s just so damn good right now.
The final few moments of the match were really fun to watch. I loved Antonio Cesaro’s intensity when he caught Cody Rhodes with the Cesaro Swing. I loved the crowd’s pop when he got ready for it as well. It’s really getting over.
All in all, it was a good showing for everyone involved, particularly the Real Americans. Sandow kept his intensity going as well. This was a wrestling heavy show with not too much storytelling. I was surprised that Alberto Del Rio didn’t make an appearance. I barely recall the commentators even really mentioning him. The only mention I can remember came from Zeb Colter. I wonder how they’ll handle that going forward.
Bump of the Night: John Cena spearing Jack Swagger on the outside!
Match of the Night: The six-man tag team match *** 1/2
Final Rating: ***
E-Mail – MikeyT817@gmail.com
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Thanks for reading!
Mike Tedesco is the official recapper of WWE Smackdown for Wrestleview.com.