WWE SmackDown Review: March 25, 2011

Hey there, bleachers! Sorry it's a day late but my regular SmackDown review is finally here!

After my rant on Tuesday about this week’s Raw episode I was more than looking forward to SmackDown. Despite not having the star power Raw possesses, it boasts a much more entertaining show, in my opinion, and actually shows us what the Superstars can do in the ring. It has cemented its place as the A-show in my eyes.

Edge was shown shouting at Teddy Long backstage before the titles, saying he was showing favouritism to Del Rio. Teddy said he was doing what is in the best interest of the brand, and it was revealed that if either Edge or Del Rio lay a hand on one another before WrestleMania, they will be banned. I thought this was a nice little segment to set the tone of the show.

Josh Matthews introduced the show and I’ve got to say I think his voice is completely right for the company in a J.R-esque way. Now, in no way am I saying he is even close to J.R in terms of ability but I would be quite happy if he was the main commentator for a long time to come.

Rey Mysterio faced CM Punk in his second WrestleMania rewind match of the week. It was a fairly decent match with a few good spots including a high risk move by Punk that didn’t pay off, as Rey greeted him with a dropkick.

I noticed that Cole almost slips back to normality when commentating for SmackDown—he wasn’t trying to be heel, and it was pleasant to hear this happen during this match.

Cody interfered and assaulted Rey with his mask. He pulled his trouser leg up to reveal a knee brace, echoing his own fate, and rammed it into Mysterio’s face. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—Cody is a brilliant character.

Christian talked to Edge backstage and explained that he thought it was too much of a risk for him to face Drew McIntyre with his damaged arm. Edge was defiant and said he would face McIntyre and be in Christian’s corner for the main event.

This match was up next and this week Edge’s pyro went off! Hurrah for modern pyrotechnic technology. The crowd this week sounded like it had been added in post production. I don’t know about you, but it sounded a little weird in places, and because I had heard of WWE doing this when there is a quiet crowd, I thought it was a possibility. If not then they were really loud this week!

I thought it would be cool if Drew got the win over Edge but alas, it wasn’t to be. Drew focused on the arm and at one point Edge failed the Edgecution due to his weakened limb. Edge won after an astounding match. He made Drew tap out to the Edgecator. The match was engaging and showed good intensity, and also added strength to the growing opinion that SmackDown is better than Raw. Edge speared Drew after the match supposedly to send a message to Del Rio.

From the vault was next: John Cena vs. Big Show. I don’t know what that’s all about—showing some match from the past—but it was good to hear J.R again. It made me realise that commentary used to focus on the action, using outside stories as an afterthought. We are lucky if the commentators mention two moves in the match these days as they are all talking about the main storylines, even through the mid-card matches.

Kelly Kelly and Rosa Mendes took on LayCool next. LayCool came out as Snooki and it was actually pretty funny. Layla even looked like her!

The match was O.K but sloppy in places. Michelle hit the barrier like she’d just been shot but Kelly Kelly didn’t even push her! A horrendous botch in all fairness, but I had to rewind to really notice it. If you were watching first time round and weren’t really paying attention (which is fairly likely for most people watching a Divas match nowadays) you probably didn’t even notice it.

Layla won with a neckbreaker. Is that her finisher? Anticlimactic if you ask me, but LayCool then cut a promo. It was a little cringe-worthy but fun all the same.

Wade Barrett came to the ring accompanied by The Corre for his shot at the Intercontinental championship against Kofi Kingston. Due to them already holding the tag team championship, I didn’t think Wade had much of a chance.

Kofi was showing off some acrobatic moves. It looked like Wade kicked Kofi in the gonads—are they allowed to do that anymore? I’ve not seen it happen for ages.

Kofi went to kick out of a submission but completely missed Barrett—the second funny botch of the night. Despite this the match was ridiculously entertaining, and Heath Slater ate a Trouble in Paradise as he distracted the ref. Kofi then went to hit Barrett with the same move but was caught and subsequently Wastelanded. New Intercontinental champion. Poor Ezekial.

It was Alberto’s turn to have a go at Teddy Long but Teddy just reiterated what he told Edge and laid down the threat of a WrestleMania ban.

The Undertaker came to address Triple H. If you read my weekly reviews of Raw and SmackDown you will know how I feel about these. He said he couldn’t wait to say what he just said, face to face with Triple H. Well then why didn’t you just wait until Monday Deadman? Now you’re going to have to repeat yourself aren’t you? How fun that will be on Raw. The best part of this segment was hearing Johnny Cash’s music.

Swagger faced R-Truth next and naturally this made Cole into an excitable little puppy although he did make me laugh when he quipped: “You don’t even know what town we’re in, Truth!” Nice one, Cole.

R-Truth did a little Road Dogg crotch shake which was extremely funny but then he botched his aerial offence! Unlucky. There were a few botches on SmackDown this week. What’s Up? R-Truth then tapped to the ankle lock as Cole shouted at him. Is there anything more demeaning?

The final event of the night was a bout between Christian and Alberto Del Rio. I didn’t think this match was as exciting as the others, but Christian did a huge cross body off the top and it picked up in excitement towards the end.

Edge speared Brodus Clay on the outside, then brutalised him with a chair (payback for last week) while Christian won with the killswitch. Edge was gearing up to attack Del Rio with a chair but Christian snatched it, whacked Del Rio and saved Edge’s place at WrestleMania.

SmackDown maintained the good quality it has displayed over the past few weeks; nevertheless, it seemed to lack something, but I can’t put my finger on what. It was definitely 1,000 times better than Raw.

Please leave comments in the comments section below! I do my best to reply to all comments that warrant it. Thanks for reading.

Also if you missed my Raw review this week, please head over and check it out!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/642254-wwe-raw-review-march-21-2011