WWE Smackdown Review
December 26, 2014
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
It’s pretty clear what WWE television is this week. Everyone is busy (rightfully so) with the holiday break and we got complete autopilot with both RAW and Smackdown programming.
That being said, how do you really review a show like this? If you take everything seriously you will get the “how dare you take these Christmas shows seriously” response. Or if you give it a pass you will get the “OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO BIASED ADAM!” response.
So inhale, exhale and try to not take things so seriously during this review.
Ho Ho Hogan is coming to…Sioux City?
Michael Cole’s incredibly sarcastic delivery of how there is no place he’d rather be than Sioux City, Iowa the day after Christmas was great (I can appreciate even more being from Iowa). The opening of Smackdown basically felt like a repeat of RAW even though it was taped the night before. Either way, Hogan still has a connection with the WWE audience. I’m just not sure how many more whiny Seth Rollins promos they can continue to present.
Ryback and Rusev is still fun and fresh
One of the few things I’m still enjoying with WWE programming is this emerging feud between Ryback and Rusev. The match between Ryback and Kane was quick and to the point. Having Rusev run out looking to cause the obvious distraction finish only to see Ryback pick up the win was fun. Good match and segment.
Naomi still showing tons of potential
It may have taken a while for people to notice with her being involved in The Funkadactyls with Cameron, but Naomi breaking out as a singles Diva is coming at the perfect time. She’s easily one of the most athletic girls on the roster and the storyline with The Miz and the jealous husband is still pretty fun to watch on TV.
Adam Rose character taking on some dark tones
We have only had close to eight months of Adam Rose on the main WWE roster and I feel like things are starting to pick up again with this character. Attacking the bunny and getting moody with his dancing crew has some real potential to shake things up a bit. What might appear to be throwaway matches is actually quite good character development.
Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt continue the brawling
Holy hell have we seen a lot of Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt in recent weeks. Inserting Ambrose as the mystery opponent was a nice way to mix things up on Smackdown and both guys have incredible chemistry in the ring. Yet, I’m still left scratching my head about Ambrose vs. Wyatt going forward. The brawls are fun, but why should we care?
Jimmy Uso gets his jealous husband revenge
This storyline with The Miz, Naomi and Jimmy Uso is pretty simple and kind of just writes itself. With Jimmy and Naomi off of “Total Divas”, this storyline opens up some healthy character development for Jimmy and Naomi. You can’t really hide that they are married now so why try to fight it? Embrace it and create things like this. The real key is can they keep it interesting and who will actually end up benefitting the most creatively?
Another tag team main event? Sure!
This is kind of the bread and butter of Smackdown so I can’t come down on it too hard. It was actually a really fun tag main event and the ending hot tag to Roman Reigns was really fun. Big Show getting the “BIG SLOW” chants and slowing things down was a nice transition to build to the hot tag. Dolph Ziggler again showed what a crazy awesome athlete he is with his giant jumping Fameasser spot on Big Show. Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury have become really fun bumping machines. Fun finish and a nice way to close a forgettable episode.
Overall impression
Did you know it was Christmas time, guys? Well if you didn’t, WWE sure reminded you with the RAW and Smackdown programming this week. This show just sort of happened.
Agree? Disagree? Be sure to leave comments below.
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