WWE Friday Night SmackDown Preview: Sheamus and the Show's Top 5 Must-See Angles

With SummerSlam approaching this Sunday, the WWE has been hard at work in trying to develop feuds to ensure that they’re ready for the big stage in Los Angeles. Although there has been a severe lack of matches officially announced for the card, there are several entertaining angles that are currently playing out.

Despite the fact that SmackDown is generally considered to be the WWE’s “B-show,” it is currently producing some of the company’s most compelling storylines. SmackDown has been criticized by many fans for being too repetitive since the draft, but the writers have done a nice job of developing certain characters.

High marks have to be given to SmackDown’s creative team when you consider the fact that the show has been anchored by the same feud for months (Christian and Randy Orton), yet it still hasn’t gotten stale. Although I would consider RAW to be a better overall show at the moment, SmackDown is certainly holding its own.

Rather than predict what might happen on Friday, this article is going to focus on what to look out for when watching this week’s show. Here are the top five superstars, storylines or other happenings on SmackDown at the moment.

The Dynamic Between Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

Prior to being drafted to SmackDown, Ted DiBiase was toiling away on RAW as little more than a glorified jobber. He wasn’t even featured on the show most weeks, but when he was it was almost always in a losing effort. Although he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since coming to SmackDown, but he has won some matches and engaged in feuds with Daniel Bryan and Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson.

When DiBiase and Cody Rhodes were teaming as part of Legacy, many thought that DiBiase would eventually be the one to reach stardom in the singles ranks. Instead, it has been Rhodes who has become a fixture within SmackDown’s upper mid-card. Since dropping his “Dashing” gimmick and adopting one as a dark, disfigured person, Rhodes has revived his partnership with DiBiase.

The dynamic between DiBiase and Rhodes is particularly interesting since it seems like Rhodes is the dominant figure while DiBiase is his understudy. DiBiase has maintained that teaming with Rhodes is good for his career, but Rhodes seems to be quite controlling and has talked down upon DiBiase on more than one occasion.

It seems as though DiBiase will eventually get fed up with Rhodes and start a feud against him while turning face in the process. In the meantime, it will be extremely interesting to see how the DiBiase/Rhodes partnership plays out.

Daniel Bryan

Despite the fact that Daniel Bryan held the United States Championship for six months, he was beginning to get lost in the shuffle on RAW. Rather than focus on his superior in-ring skills, he was stuck in a stupid love triangle storyline with the Bella Twins. Dropping the title to Sheamus was the best thing that could have happened to him, though, as he was eventually drafted to SmackDown.

Since joining SmackDown, Bryan has essentially developed into the brand’s No. 2 face behind Randy Orton. He has been getting significantly more mic time than he did on RAW and he puts on great matches on a weekly basis against the likes of Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Sin Cara and even Tyson Kidd.

While it was quite apparent that Bryan was going to be a vital part of SmackDown from the get go, his place on the show and in the company was cemented when he won SmackDown’s Money in the Bank ladder match. While Bryan can challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at any point in the next year, he already made the announcement that he will be cashing in at WrestleMania XXVIII.

With that in mind, there are endless possibilities for what Bryan could do over the next year. It’s possible that he will in fact hold the briefcase until WrestleMania, but with Wade Barrett already after the contract, he could engage in any number of feuds over the briefcase.

There is also the possibility that Bryan could turn heel and choose to prey on a fallen champion instead. Whatever the case, Bryan is sure to be a focal point on SmackDown over the next year, and he’ll definitely put on some five-star matches in the process.

Zack Ryder as Teddy Long’s Assistant

Since creating his critically acclaimed YouTube web series Z! True Long Island Story in February, Zack Ryder has garnered a cult following among the WWE Universe. Despite his obviously growing fanbase, the WWE seemed reluctant to use him on either of its main shows. Instead, Ryder was a fixture on Superstars, oftentimes in a losing effort.

The presence of Zack Ryder signs and chants clearly became too plentiful to ignore, though, as Ryder was given a lengthy winning streak on Superstars and began appearing regularly on RAW. Seeing as RAW already seems to have more mid-carders than it knows what to do with, there hasn’t been much time for Ryder to shine. In an obvious attempt to get him more exposure, Ryder was named the assistant to SmackDown general manager Teddy Long.

Ryder hasn’t seen much in-ring action on SmackDown, although he did recently lose to Ezekiel Jackson in a relative squash match. Instead, Ryder has been utilized in a more comedic role, which helps highlight his strengths as a performer. Ryder’s over-the-top personality may not be for everyone, but his constant undermining of Long has been a welcome change since Long has been incredibly boring for quite a while now.

Although Ryder is still technically a member of the RAW roster, hopefully there are plans to move him to SmackDown full time. Not only will he get to continue as Long’s assistant, but he will also be more likely to get significant wrestling time than he would on a jam-packed show like RAW.

Christian/Randy Orton Feud

For more than three months, the central focus of SmackDown has been the feud between the World Heavyweight Champion Christian and Randy Orton. It started when Christian lost the title to Orton just two nights after winning it at Extreme Rules. This prompted Christian to turn heel and turn his back on both Teddy Long’s authority and the fans.

This led to a series of matches both on SmackDown and at numerous pay-per-views in which Christian was unsuccessful in regaining the title. He finally got the better of Orton at Money in the Bank, however, as Orton was disqualified and lost the title to Christian per a special stipulation. They have yet another match scheduled for SummerSlam and there appears to be no end in sight to their rivalry.

Long-lasting feuds used to be commonplace in the WWE and wrestling in general, but most feuds today don’t last longer than a month or so. Although some fans will get antsy and demand the feud comes to an end, I quite like it since true rivalries are currently few in far between in wrestling. There is a decidedly old-school feel about what Christian and Orton are doing right now.

Prior to entering the feud with Christian, I think Orton was becoming quite bland. Rather than being the unpredictable psychopath like he was previously, Orton became too humanized and too soft. While he is still undeniably a face, he has acted like a tweener in many ways over the past couple weeks.

He seems as though he has snapped as he has continually RKOed his opponents onto the announce table. As long as Orton continues to be at least somewhat entertaining and Christian remains in the title picture, I think this feud should continue.

Sheamus

It wasn’t too long ago that Sheamus seemed like living proof of the perils of pushing somebody too fast and too soon in professional wrestling. In 2009, just a few months after his debut on WWE programming, Sheamus beat John Cena for the WWE Championship in a tables match at the TLC pay-per-view. It was obvious that Sheamus had an incredible amount of potential, but it certainly seemed like the WWE jumped the shark with him.

The main issue with Sheamus’ original title reign and his subsequent one was that he was made to look weak. With his imposing size and intensity, Sheamus honestly should have been booked as an indestructible heel. Instead, it seemed like the only way he could win was by a fluke. It completely ruined his character.

Then after winning King of the Ring, any credibility he had left was completely destroyed when the creative team booked him to go on a long losing streak, including defeats at the hands of guys like Evan Bourne and Santino. It seemed as though Sheamus was about to go by the wayside and never again reach main event status. Fortunately for Sheamus, however, he was drafted to SmackDown and was able to get away from the writers who, for whatever reason, had sabotaged him.

With a lack of established main eventers on the show, Sheamus soon became a vital part of SmackDown. With a non-title win over Randy Orton, Sheamus began to rebuild his reputation, but there was still something missing. It looks like Sheamus has finally come all the way back, though, as he has essentially turned face in order to feud with Mark Henry. Although Sheamus seems like more of a natural heel, he should make for an excellent tough-guy face.

Just because he’s face, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Sheamus will pander to the fans. If he develops into an unstoppable face who utilizes heel tactics at times, he should be a World Heavyweight Champion in no time.

He is incredible in the ring for a big man and even led The Great Khali through a watchable match recently. Sheamus’ development into a face may very well elevate him to the level of John Cena, Randy Orton and CM Punk in the near future.