WWE SmackDown 11/2: A Tag Team Main Event, MizTV, Catering and More

WWE SmackDown opened with a new edition of MizTV. After mentioning the recent scandals on Raw, the Miz introduced his guest, Sheamus. That eventually led to Kofi Kingston and the Big Show arriving due to the talk of championships, and that turned into a tag team main event between the four of them.

A tag team main event? I thought Teddy Long was no longer in charge? I guess Booker T has been taking too many pointers from him.

I thought that this was a good opening segment. The Miz gave a strong performance on the mic here and seems to really be thriving with MizTV. While his time on the microphone is great, I hope his luck turns around in the ring sooner rather than later.

Sheamus was Sheamus, while Kingston gave a pretty decent promo. The Big Show delivered a nice heel promo as well, and that capped off some good build for the Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Championship feuds.

Sin Cara vs. Darren Young

Darren Young would pick up the victory here in a match I ended up enjoying. I’ve never been too impressed with Young’s singles work, and Sin Cara is notorious for botching quite a bit, but I feel they delivered here.

Young has developed into a solid performer since coming to the main roster, and I think he could make quite the splash in the midcard if given the chance. To me, it doesn’t look like the Prime Time Players are going anywhere, so why not give him a shot?

Sin Cara has improved immensely since he started working with Rey Mysterio. I’ve come to like Sin Cara over the past month or so. I doubt he’ll ever reach the success that Mysterio has accomplished, but he could make a solid midcard wrestler once his team with Mysterio is finished.

Rey Mysterio vs. Titus O’Neil

After Titus just dominated Mysterio, the master of the 619 picked up the victory with the dreaded Roll-up of Doom. I think the roll-up may very well be the greatest finisher in professional wrestling today!

The match itself wasn’t anything too special. Titus beat up Mysterio, barked like a dog (or whatever that noise is supposed to be) and then got rolled up. It was a quick match, but it kept Mysterio and Sin Cara’s momentum in check after Cara’s loss to Young.

In turn, Young’s victory finally gave the Prime Time Players some momentum. The score is tied in terms of singles action and I’m guessing this will all end at Survivor Series in another tag team match.

Backstage, Teddy Long told Booker T that Raw is out of control. That brought in both Natalya and David Otunga, who wanted to be Booker’s assistant with Eve overseas. Instead, Otunga got booked in a match against the Great Khali and Natalya got coffee spit in her face.

The Great Khali is still around? How many times is this guy going to return? I understand keeping him as a special attraction like for the Royal Rumble, but Otunga’s opponent really should have been someone who doesn’t get much television time.

As for Natalya, what can I say? She’s been getting the same rotten treatment for a while now. With Beth Phoenix gone, she’s probably the most talented wrestler on the Divas roster now. I hope she actually starts wrestling on a regular basis, but I won’t get my hopes up.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

After being attacked by Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez, and a distraction later in the match, Orton would be defeated with the Roll-up of Doom. This match was disappointing.

They had a good match this past Monday on Raw, so I was expecting another good one here. Barrett looked great in this match as he beat down WWE’s Apex Predator, and Del Rio’s actions furthered his feud with Orton, but the match itself was nothing special.

It saw Barrett just beat down Orton until the former nine-time world champion got in the babyface five moves of doom, which itself was interrupted by a distraction.

In terms of storyline development, this match did its job very well.

Backstage, Del Rio declared that he was the new Apex Predator, and that resulted in a fight in the catering area. After Orton pummeled Del Rio, and Rodriguez got hot coffee and chili dumped on him, Del Rio ran off. To end it, Matt Striker got a face full of cake.

I haven’t seen a good catering brawl in a long time. While this wasn’t anything awesome, it was still a good one. Orton showed a lot of intensity and he had that crazy look in his eyes. That’s a look I haven’t seen from him in a while, either.

While I prefer Orton as a heel, I do enjoy his face character when he’s got a screw loose. It seems like Del Rio and Rodriguez costing him the match may have knocked it loose. The fight resulted in a falls count anywhere match being booked for next week’s Super SmackDown Live, so I’m very much looking forward to it.

As for food humor, well, seeing food dumped on someone or someone’s face slammed into a cake is always good for a laugh!

The Great Khali vs. David Otunga

This was the typical Great Khali match, where his opponent gets in a few bits of offense before ultimately getting his head knocked off by the Brain Chop.

I think David Otunga has a lot of potential, but he gets beat up more than anything. WWE should at least put him in somebody’s corner. Otunga can talk, so he could be the perfect mouth piece for someone with weak mic skills.

Get him over as a heel manager and then put him into the ring to see where the character takes him. At the very least, fans will get a heel manager that doesn’t scream “Excuse me!” every five seconds.

As for Khali, I just have no interest in anything he does. Backstage, Natalya bumped into him and thanked him for winning and was impressed by the size of his hands. Well, if this leads to anything, at least Natalya will be on television.

R-Truth vs. Justin Gabriel

After an entertaining match, R-Truth would defeat Justin Gabriel. This match had a quick pace to it, as they delivered some nice back-and-forth action. Both superstars worked well together here and it really added to the match.

I’d like to see both wrestlers get more of the spotlight, especially Gabriel. The South African superstar is incredibly talented in the ring and knows out to entertain a live audience. It’s too bad his feud over the United States Championship was a short one; I think he’d make a great champion.

Perhaps it’s not over, though. But with Antonio Cesaro not appearing on either Raw or SmackDown this week, it’s hard to tell what’s going on with that belt.

Sheamus and Kofi Kingston vs. Show-Miz

The brief reformation of former tag team champions Show-Miz proved successful, as the Big Show and the Miz were able to defeat their rivals in this match.

I thought the overall match was decent. It was the basic format WWE presents, which is the face team controlling before the commercial, the heel team controlling after the break and the hot tag occurring a few minutes toward the end.

Much like the Orton/Barrett match, this match did more for storyline purposes than it did for match quality. Both the Big Show/Sheamus and Kingston/Miz feuds were advanced nicely here, and things are looking up as we get closer to Survivor Series.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. There were a few good matches and storylines were built up leading to Survivor Series.

The 26th annual November event is looking good so far with Team Foley vs. Team Punk and the World Heavyweight Championship match set up while storylines are being built for other matches. If WWE keeps up the good work, Survivor Series could be quite the event!

Well, that’s it for me. Thanks for reading!

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