WWE Smackdown Results: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

WWE Smackdown was a highly enjoyable show Friday night. Raw was a top-notch show, and the Blue Brand came through as well. If I had to grade the program, I'd fall in the B range.

The Good

First, I must mention the tribute for Chief Jay Strongbow. It was very classy of the company to give his passing the proper attention. Rest in peace Strongbow.

As for the opening, I liked it. The general mangers do need to stay out of the ring, but this was a nice start to the "People Power" era. As expected, John Laurinaitis will keep Teddy Long employed, which won't end well for anybody.

Mark Henry and David Otunga defeated R-Truth in a short match. It made sense for the heels to get an easy match, and all three men worked hard. Nice ending with Otunga getting the pin!

WWE aired a commercial hyping up a few legends appearing on SmackDown next week. Mick Foley will be there, and Tony Atlas will surely be on hand to have a laugh or two. It is always nice to see them on television, so I am looking forward to next week.

Randy Orton defeated Kane in a very entertaining no-disqualifications match. It makes you wonder why WWE didn't just have this exact segment fill in at Mania with these two.

It feels like their match on Sunday is already forgotten about, but this one was certainly much better. More importantly, Mr. RKO picked up the victory. Why exactly did Kane win on Sunday?

As always, the face should go over the heel in the end. It will be interesting to see if this battle continues. If they want one more fight, go ahead—in the end, it shouldn't matter. Orton will stand tall, just as he should.

The debut of Ryback was fine. The added touch of the locker-room watching was nice. Of course, my "it" girl Alicia Fox stood out the most. It made the arrival of Ryback feel important.

He looked great and easily defeated his opponent. Face or heel, I am intrigued by his future on the Blue Brand.

The promo segment by Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee was excellent work. WWE (rightfully) made the crowd chants seem as if they were mocking him, instead of cheering him. That tells me a face turn is not going to happen right now.

He screamed about his 18-second loss. He yelled about the fans. He even blamed it all on AJ. Deny it all you want, but Sheamus should have defeated Bryan in less than a minute. A week later, it is looking more and more like the correct decision.

Bryan seemed to break up with AJ, but you never know. Their relationship has been fun to watch, so it will be interesting to see if it continues or not. Right now, Bryan is still a heel, and the crowd won't change that.

I loved Big Show destroying Heath Slater. That could happen every show, and I would be happy. Cody Rhodes was ringside, but I doubt the feud with Show goes much longer.

Damien Sandow also debuted Friday night. He spoke in a vignette, and the commentary team seemed to tease something about Booker T. That could be fun.

This video did remind me of Sean O'Haire speaking about life back on SmackDown a decade ago. Also, his closing line of "You're welcome" made me miss Perry Saturn and Moppy.

WWE aired two nice promos. The first one put over Brock Lesnar being back in WWE. The other was about the Three Stooges being on Raw. Both will be huge come Monday night!

The main event between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio was pretty good. It wasn't anything amazing, but it did its job. It gave Del Rio a screwy victory in his return, yet kept the new World Champion strong moving forward.

It seems like Bryan, Sheamus and Del Rio may be headed for a triple threat title match. That would be okay in my book.

The Bad

It seems as if the Bella Twins are back together. They were at odds before Mania, and everything looks to be fine again. Great!

Why even waste time picking sides in "Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny" then? It was clear they wouldn't be separated, so there was no reason for the past few weeks with the Bellas.

Beth Phoenix lost to Nikki. Thanks to a distraction from Kelly Kelly, the twin picked up a non-title victory over Beth. Face? Heel? Kelly vs. Beth coming up? Huh? Why? What is going on here?

The Ugly

Once again, SmackDown will be live next Tuesday night. Honestly, I just don't understand why WWE continues to do these specials. Let's recap all the reasons why!

1. Ratings decrease on Tuesdays for WWE. Yes, even when they are live. I do not guarantee things often, but just watch. The ratings for Friday night's taped show will be higher than the live show Tuesday.
2. It costs more to produce a live show. Thus, WWE is losing on this deal. Again, ratings go down when they run Tuesday specials, not up! The company running SmackDown live is not worth it.
3. The WWE week is over with on Tuesday; the rest of the wrestling week is then over. That isn't very fun to think about then, huh?

In the end, WWE will run SmackDown specials on Tuesday, ratings will be lower than normal, and it will not do anything positive. Numbers do not lie folks.

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