The Good, the Great and the Awesome from SmackDown 11/22/13

The final SmackDown before Survivor Series has come and gone, and WWE was in full hype mode ahead of Sunday's big pay-per-view broadcast.

Gone were the crappy, second-rate country band and musical chairs, and in their place were exceptional wrestling, angle advancement and solid hype for one of the company's most prestigious events.

Just two days from a huge tag team elimination match, Cody Rhodes and Goldust defended their WWE Tag Team Championships against The Real Americans Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro.

The other six men involved in that elimination bout did battle elsewhere on the show, as The Usos teamed with Rey Mysterio to take on The Shield.

Divas champion AJ Lee faced the wrath of SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero, whom she defeated on this past Monday's Raw. What would Vickie have in store for AJ just days from a Divas elimination tag match?

The main event of the evening pitted Daniel Bryan against Luke Harper in a rematch from last week's show. Would Harper be able to avenge his loss to Bryan and give the Wyatt Family momentum heading into what is unarguably the biggest match of Harper and Erick Rowan's career?

All of this, and more, went down on Friday's show.

Here's a look back at the good, the great and the awesome from this week's program.

The Good

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Ryback vs. The Great Khali

Don't look now, but Ryback is getting over by lifting giants over his head and dropping them with Shellshocked.

For months, the company has tried to get the self-proclaimed "big guy" over by having him bully crew members in backstage vignettes or aligning himself with Paul Heyman when all they really had to let him do was tear through competition and be the destructive, dominant force he has been in the past.

Despite reports indicating that he has heat with management, Ryback took No. 1 contender The Big Show to the limit in a hard-fought match on Raw, during which he delivered his finisher to the giant. Now on SmackDown, he was allowed to look very strong by physically manhandling Great Khali in the same manner.

At a time when the company is trying to manufacture as much star power as possible, it would be well served to focus more attention on Ryback.

Writer note: Trust me, I never thought I would write that line either.

The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee: Vickie's Revenge

On Monday's Raw, Vickie Guerrero was forced into a match with AJ, which ended promptly when AJ applied the Black Widow submission hold for the tapout win.

Four days later, the SmackDown GM got a measure of revenge when she booked the Divas champion in a handicap match against The Funkadactyls.

Tamina accompanied AJ to ringside and managed to get involved, as she nearly choked out Cameron and tossed her aside, essentially creating a one-on-one match.

That match would end when Naomi stunned AJ with the Rear View and picked up the pinfall victory.

It was a big win for Naomi, who has been criminally underused in 2013 despite being a member of the Total Divas reality show, whose success WWE loves to tout in press releases.

Hopefully it leads to a title program for Naomi, who can get over based on her dynamic, unorthodox offense alone.

Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston vs. Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow

Four days after capturing his first WWE title, Big E Langston reunited his team with Dolph Ziggler to take on former champion Curtis Axel and the man Ziggler defeated on Raw, Damien Sandow.

A fast-paced tag bout saw Langston pick up another big victory, pinning Sandow following the Big Ending.

This Sunday night, Langston will take on Axel in a rematch from Raw. Keeping them apart for the finish of the match was smart because it allows Axel to save face prior to his pay-per-view bout.

Sandow eating the pin was disappointing, but at this very moment, Langston is a hotter star and needed to maintain his momentum heading into his first title defense.

The Great

Photo Credit: WWE.com

The Big Show taunts The Viper

After months of being tormented, humiliated and manipulated by The Authority, Big Show proved that turnabout is fair play when he poked and prodded at WWE champion Randy Orton 48 hours before their huge Survivor Series main event.

Big Show had clips played on the Titan Tron recapping Orton's frustrating few weeks, including the announcement by Triple H that there would be no help for The Viper this Sunday when he defends his title against Show.

The No. 1 contender equated Orton's actions to that of a "petulant child" and seemed elated to be able to irritate his upcoming opponent.

Orton tried to reassure himself that he could beat Show by telling him so, but the giant responded by airing footage from two weeks ago on Raw when he chokeslammed Orton through the announce table.

It was a simple, yet outstanding, promo that further planted seeds in Orton's head as to whether he can actually successfully defend his title without help.

What started as a story centering on Big Show has suddenly become one about Orton and whether he has the support of management as the face of WWE. More importantly, how has worrying about it affected his confidence?

A much better story than Big Show's climb back to the WWE Championship.

Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper

The main event once again spotlighted talented big man Luke Harper as he clashed with Daniel Bryan for the second straight week.

Harper dominated the majority of the match, using his power advantage to keep the faster, more explosive Bryan grounded.

Unfortunately for Harper and the Wyatt Family, the arrival of CM Punk provided a distraction just long enough for Bryan to roll his opponent up and score a fluke victory.

The Wyatt Family would get a measure of revenge, however, by leaving both Punk and Bryan laying to close out the show.

The match and the angle that followed it were both very strong and added to the intrigue surrounding the match this Sunday night. 

Punk and Bryan are two of WWE's top stars, and as such, it would seem as though they would be the heavy favorites to leave Boston with a win.

Harper and Rowan are competing in their first pay-per-view match and have probably lost more than they should have to this point.

It should be interesting to see what direction the feud takes at Survivor Series. One thing is for certain, and that is if Harper and Rowan bring their A-games against two of the most talented workers in the sport today, the high-profile tag match could steal the show.

The Awesome

Photo Credit: WWE.com

WWE Tag Team Championship Match

The opening contest of the evening, which saw WWE Tag Team champions Goldust and Cody Rhodes defend their titles against Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger, got the night off to a hot start.

The match continued the streak of exceptional performances from the champions. 

Since partnering back on October 6 at the Battleground pay-per-view, Cody and Goldust have been the hottest act in professional wrestling from an in-ring standpoint. Everything they have been part of has been phenomenal. Their title defenses are, more times than not, the best on any given show.

Swagger and Cesaro, on the other hand, have grown exponentially as a team and have had very, very good matches against the Usos, Prime Time Players and the tag champions in recent weeks.

Goldust specifically was on fire Friday night, as everything he did in the ring was crisp and clean and kept the crowd hot throughout. His pinfall on Swagger secured the successful defense for him and Cody and kept them riding the largest wave of momentum of their careers heading into Survivor Series.

Kudos to Cesaro as well, as his giant swing on Cody was incredible.

Go out of your way to see this in its entirety.

Six-Man Tag Team Action

Rey Mysterio returned to the ring for the first time on SmackDown since last February, teaming with the Usos to take on The Shield in a preview of Sunday night's huge traditional tag team elimination match.

The Shield and the Usos have been part of several show-stealing matches in recent weeks, so it was interesting to see what Rey Mysterio, one of the best workers of the modern era, would bring to the equation.

Despite reports that indicated he may have been rushed back to the ring before he was ready, Mysterio exploded into the squared circle and looked like the former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion who has thrilled fans throughout his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

He pinned Dean Ambrose following the 619 and top-rope splash combo, perhaps setting up a United States Championship feud in the very near future.