WWE SmackDown 09/16/11: The Good, the Bad and the Meh

WWE SmackDown came from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.   I'm assuming you've already watched the show, so I'll get to my thoughts on it.  

The Good:

+ Opening segment.   I miss Edge.  I won't mince words when I say I'm a Edge mark, so it was good to see him again.   Nice response for Orton and Henry when he mentioned he'll be doing "The Cutting Edge" tonight.   Also, a nice exchange with Rhodes as well and a nice quick setup with DiBiase for Night of Champions as well, though I wish they set it up a while ago.  DiBiase's punching out of Rhodes' bagman re-emphasized the fact of his frustrations boiling over.  A little formulaic, but it served its purpose.

+ Rhodes is really doing well with his gimmick, though I wonder if he shouldn't paint white on half of his face mask.  Rhodes got a nice rub from Edge tonight as well.  You can see the 'E doing subtle exposure with him, laying the groundwork for main event push in the future.  Here's hoping he gets the ball and runs with it.

+ Bryan/Cara.  Fun match.  Bryan is beginning to hit second gear with his intensity tweak on his character.  Booker was, unintentionally I'm sure, hilarious during the match.   Not sure I like the DQ ending, but it did re-emphasize Evil Cara to a degree.   I'd like to see a feud between Evil Cara and Bryan, I think, even if it's a one shot on a PPV down the road.  Ladder match, anyone?

+ Video segments.  Again, great stuff from the WWE's video editing department.   I really dug the promo video Punk/Trips at Night of Champions.  In truth, I could watch those videos all night.  It really does feel like they are stepping up their production values as of late, and nice continuity from the Money in the Bank build by using the Punk "Aftershock" logo winking out when they showed his microphone being cut out twice.  Really, really good stuff. 

+ Sheamus/Gabriel vs. Christian/Barrett.  Standard tag formula match but still fun.   Gabriel got a nice rub from teaming with Sheamus.  The crowd felt a little dead for the match.  There is something to be said for having a flyer on the team to put an emphasis and end the match on a fun note.  That 450 Splash looked sick. 

+ R-Truth.  Where do I buy that single?

+ End Segment.  Felt a little slow to begin with but picked up steam.  Orton came across a little more animated tonight, which is good for him.  Emotion is good for a guy who hears voices, right?  I liked how Edge played a "gatekeeper" role, asking penetrating questions, exposing both Henry and Orton to some needed character depth, particularly pointing out that Henry never won the big one.   Henry has officially found his groove on the microphone.  Great way to end the build as well.  Admittedly, I love Henry exploding out of the pile of men on him. 

+ Heavyweight Title build.  It was necessary to establish some vulnerability to Orton after his recent tear of being untouchable.  They've really done well to establish Henry as a legitimate threat to the title.  Great booking with this storyline. 

The Meh:

~ Which Cara is which?  The crowd seemed a little unsure how to react at first during the stare off, but popped as appropriate.   This came off a little flaky for me, but it does give them both something to do.  The sad part is it devolved into angry pointing a little too early.  I was hoping they'd save it for a contract signing.  

~ Beth/AJ.  Standard squash match that did what it needed to.  AJ is a cutie.  Doomfist is the new Brofist. 

~ Christian.   I am really disliking his needy, whiny gimmick.  In truth though, he did alright tonight with his interaction with Edge.  They really need to consider tweaking his gimmick and maybe getting a new Titantron for him.  No one doubts his ring ability, but he needs to be turned into a more "intelligent, skilled" heel then this chicken-crap, instant gratification seeking, "Gimme one more chance!" gimmick.

The Bad:

- Oksana.  I am really not digging her or her character.   Not in the slightest.   By the way, can she actually wrestle?

- Slater/Khali.  I've lost all interest in this angle with Khali and Mahal.  If they are going somewhere with it, they really need to get there quick.  More or less a pointless waste of time.

- Bourne/Truth.  This match needed to go longer then two minutes to do a better job of selling the tag match at Night of Champions.  What action there was in the ring was decent, but if felt almost throw away.  It didn't really detract from recent prestige they've put back into the titles, but it could have gone better.  On the upside, there seemed some chemistry between Truth and Bourne. 

- Intercontinental Title build.  This felt like an afterthought.  They really need to put over more prestige on the midcard straps by giving them, at least, two weeks out from the PPV to establish a proper build for the match.   Again, this is part of the underlying weakness in the WWE's midcard, but this isn't on the talent.  It's on the creative team for failing to figure this stuff out before the last minute.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

"You think you know me...."

One thing you always have to respect about Edge is his sincerity about his love of being in the ring.

"I was born with a 24-karat horseshoe up me arse."   Also, when did Sheamus learn to cut a limerick?

Khali still walks like he has a stick up his butt.  I'm also pretty convinced Mahal could pull off a pretty righteous Butthead impersonation if he tried.

"You suck! You suck! You suck! You suck!"

Overall Grade:  B.  They needed to recover some momentum that was lost after the rather weak Raw on Monday.   While they didn't succeed on all counts, they accomplished what they needed to do, and sold the hell out of the heavyweight title match on Sunday.   A good show otherwise.