WWE Friday Night Smackdown Review: 7/27/2012

Here are my thoughts on this week's episode:

Match 1:: Intercontinental Championship match: The Miz(c) vs. Christian

Miz kicked off the show with a rant about how he is the new face of the IC championship, prompting Captain Charisma to interrupt and use his rematch clause to set up our first match.  This match was far better than their initial bout at RAW 1000.  Some very fast paced action and we now have another match to add to the list of good IC matchups from the past few months.  Christian is always consistent, but I was far more impressed with Miz here.  It seems that he's sharpened up his work a bit and with his unrivaled mic skills, unique charisma and great new look, only good can come out of his IC title reign.  A very good opener.


Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: The Miz

Match Rating: 3.5/5

It's safe to say that the IC Championship is relevant again

Match 2: Jinder Mahal vs. Ryback

By far the most interesting "match" Ryback has had thus far.  Mahal came out of this looking as good as ever, having been able to outwit Ryback and be the first one to survive his war path.  Hopefully we get a nice little feud out of this because I found Mahal to be a great foil to Ryback tonight and I got a good laugh out of him ducking Ryback's clothesline and causing him to fall flat on his face.  It was almost cartoon-like.  What won't be cartoon-like, is the maximum ownage Ryback is sure to dish out once he gets his hands on Mahal, but that's OK.  As long as this thing continues, count me in.


Winner by Countout: Ryback

Match Rating: 2.5/5

Shown: Ryback, still trying to wrap his head around what just happened

There was a fun little segment involving Sheamus and Daniel Bryan.  Sheamus gave Bryan a belated wedding gift.  It was a manual on "how to last longer than 18 seconds", with a picture of Sheamus hitting Bryan with the Brogue Kick at Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Match 3: World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes

I'm still not giving up on Cody Rhodes being the breakout star of the year, but he's got his work cut out for him with the amount of shit he's taken lately.  This match should help things a bit.  Not sure why these two were matched up to begin with, but the results were great.  Some very good heel psychology by Rhodes and he goes out of his way to make Sheamus look like a million dollars.  Now that I mention it, A LOT of guys have gone out of their way to make Sheamus look good.  Fuck....when's the last time Sheamus lost a match?  Hmmmmm....


Winner: Sheamus

Match Rating: 3.5/5



After the match, Dolph Ziggler teases a cash in of his MITB briefcase, but is interrupted by Chris Jericho.  Jericho (wearing Dolph's pink shirt) causes Ziggler to take what has to be his 1,000th Brogue Kick before hitting the apron with the most confused look I've ever seen

Is that **Glitter** on your trunks?  And I thought I was flashy

He then hits Dolph with a Codebreaker and proceeds to mock Ziggler and my mouth waters knowing that a big time Summerslam match is calling their names.

If there ever was a doubt in Dolph's mind about facing him, Jericho was convinced his imitation of sex with Vickie Guerrero, would surely give Ziggler the motivation he needs

Match 4: United States Champion Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro w/ Aksana

Just a quick squash.  Nice to see Cesaro get a bit of a rub by getting a win over Marella, who rarely loses as of late.  Cesaro did so by being one of the few men that found a counter to The Cobra.  Apparently all you have to do is duck.  Go figure.


Winner: Antonio Cesaro

Match Rating: N/A

Match 5: Damien Sandow vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Another squash, which is sad to see in both men's cases.  Tatsu I believe, has loads of potential and if given a real push, perhaps the US title, he could offer something truly unique to the current WWE scene.  That god-awful song doesn't help.  I just wish that his face painted KANJI gimmick from NXT could have been showcased on Smackdown.  As far as Sandow is concerned, he stands to benefit more from a real feud, especially after his great interaction with DX last Monday.  Solid squash, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. 


Winner: Damien Sandow

Match Rating: N/A



After the match, Sandow gets on the mic and rips the audience for taking pleasure in seeing him get destroyed by DX.  He says it's fine with him because as the savior of the masses, he is more than willing to become a martyr.  This wasn't a particularly long promo, but it was highly effective and serves only to prove that Sandow is too good for the position he is in now.  I think a run with the IC title is in his future, but until then, he'll have to be content being the next big thing. 

You'd have to be an ignoramus to not see the potential in Sandow

It's now time for our

MAIN EVENT

Match 6:: #1 Contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio

Just an awesome main event tonight with each superstar doing what they do best.  Del Rio being an arrogant prick, Kane dishing out powerful punishment, Bryan bringing his technical "A" game and Mysterio dazzling with his innovative offense.  It was exciting, it was fast paced and it was everything you'd want a Smackdown main event to be.  A very, very good match that saw Del Rio steal the victory from Rey Mysterio, securing himself another title shot most likely at Summerslam.


Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Match Rating: 3.75/5

Final Thoughts

A very good episode of Smackdown.  A real throwback to the days when the blue brand was the place to be for fast paced, exciting wrestling.  The WWE should continue to book TV this way.  While Raw could anchor most of the storylines, Smackdown would continue to have a lot of great action.  More episodes like this one will make this reviewer a very, very happy mark.


Overall episode rating: 7.5/10