Mike Tedesco’s Smackdown Thoughts
November 10, 2013
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
The show kicked off with an angry CM Punk calling out the Wyatt Family after their attacks on him over the last two weeks. There really isn’t a better way to describe the quick promo other than “paint by numbers.” It was the classic face promo. Suggest something that the crowd might want to see, but they know it won’t happen.
Of course it didn’t happen as the personality deficient Curtis Axel came out to the ring to cut a promo on Punk taking out Paul Heyman. If you’ve been reading my featured column for any amount of time, you’ll know that I simply cannot stand Axel anymore. Simply put, the guy is terrible. How do you hang around with Paul Heyman for five months constantly and not absorb one single shred of knowledge on how to act like a heel? I feel embarrassed when I watch him perform. He delivers his lines with all the emotion of a dead fish, he smiles way too much, and nothing he does in the ring looks convincing. It’s just brutal. Even the way he sort of fell into his challenge for Punk last night was sad. Some guys just don’t have it no matter how many opportunities they’re given. The match itself was nothing to really write home about. Punk looked strong throughout until the Wyatt Family’s music hit. Punk got distracted, but he still picked up the win over Axel. Wyatt appeared on the titantron after it was over, and he laughed at Punk all creepy and such.
The next match was a six-man tag team match where the result was never, ever in doubt. 3MB had as much chance of picking up a win as I do of being signed by WWE to be a referee. Still, it was a fun little match. I’m really into everything The Usos do as a team, and R-Truth wasn’t bad in his interactions. He looked a little extra pumped up being in his hometown.
I didn’t mind the divas tag team match too much. Maybe it’s because three out of the four can actually go in the ring. Cameron spent some time in the match, but she didn’t totally look like a fish out of water this time. In fact, she took some pretty tough slams from Tamina. Actually, both her and Naomi are pretty tough ladies. They both took a good beating from Tamina before AJ came in to pick the scraps.
Alberto Del Rio was out next to make excuses for why he lost at Hell in a Cell to John Cena. Del Rio claimed he was sick and injured, but he still competed like a man. I thought the promo was funny, but I wonder why it didn’t happen like a week ago. I thought they were going in the direction of Damien Sandow, but he didn’t make an appearance at all on the show. It’s really bizarre the way they went about this title match at Survivor Series. I thought Sandow’s sole intention was to end the Cena Era? So much for that… Anyway, Cena came out next to make fun of Del Rio for making all the excuses, and he challenged him to a title rematch at that moment. Of course, Vickie Guerrero 86ed those plans. I always get a kick out of crowds that really believe it when faces challenge heels to title matches. Nine out of ten times it never happens, yet they still pop.
After that, Alberto Del Rio fought The Great Khali in a match booked by Vickie Guerrero because he was disrespectful to her as well as John Cena in the aforementioned promo. The match was what you would expect from Khali. Not much action, a lot of chops and elbow smashes in the corner, and then he gets his knee clipped. After that the heel picks up the win. The announcers tried really hard to put over how they felt Del Rio was in a lot of trouble when Khali’s name was announced, but at this point, every time I hear Khali’s name, I can’t help but cringe. To me, it’s like they march a cripple out there every week to fulfill whatever contract obligations he has. He can barely walk and work. What’s the point anymore?
Daniel Bryan fought Luke Harper in a decent little brawl. I like hard-hitting brawls, and these two definitely seem to like to go all out when they fight. Harper dominated a good majority of the match before Bryan made his comeback. Erick Rowan interfered before Bryan could beat Harper, so that brought out CM Punk to even the odds. Bryan and Punk cleaned house before Bray Wyatt backed away. I like what they have going on with the Wyatts and Punk and Bryan. Everyone keeps buzzing over who the Devil is that is making Wyatt do what he does. My guess is either The Authority or Paul Heyman. Perhaps both? I think that would be an interesting matchup for The Authority stable.
The main event between John Cena and Ryback was the only match I feel is worth watching from this show. It was a fun little back and forth match. I found it interesting that they were really calling out how similar the styles are of Ryback and Bill Goldberg. Ryback even pulled out a spear and a jackhammer. I’m actually on board with seeing a Ryback/Goldberg match at WrestleMania. They’re certainly teasing it enough to where I believe it is definitely in the works. Going back to the match, Cena won with the AA and was attacked by Del Rio after it finished up. For a brief moment, Del Rio attacked the wrong arm before realizing his mistake. That ended a fairly mediocre show. The episodes of Smackdown before they head out for a European trip are usually like this. I’m sure their offering will be much better next week as they emanate from Manchester, England.
Bump of the Night: Tamina Snuka clotheslining Naomi at ringside
Match of the Night: John Cena vs. Ryback **
Final Rating: ** 1/4
E-Mail – MikeyT817@gmail.com
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Thanks for reading!
Mike Tedesco is the official recapper of WWE Smackdown for Wrestleview.com.