WWE SmackDown 11/25/11 Minutiae: Review, Thoughts and Grade

WWE SmackDown was in Wilkes-Barre, PA on Nov. 25. Hit up Kaleb Kelchner's excellent blog for the rundown. 

The Blue Brand needed to deal with the repercussions of Henry blasting Big Show's "private spot" at Survivor Series. They also needed to advance their angles. New feuds needed their official kick-off and other feuds needed to end.

With that said, let's go.

The Good

Opening segment: Henry cut a nice promo to start the show and managed to get some heat that didn't feel canned. I wish he would have said crotch, junk or other such wording. Private spot?

Otherwise, good stuff for Henry. Big Show did all right in this segment with a nice vis-a-vis line, along with a great crap-eating grin. It was a little plodding in spots, but not to the point of boredom.

After the recap segment, Bryan returned to relevance on SmackDown. The Money In The Bank pay-per-view cash-in was a great tease and got a good pop. It was a good booking for the American Dragon, which helps to build a bit of emotional attachment for if and when he wins the big one. This did what it needed to do and was a fun segment.

"Enter The Dragon." It was nice to see Bryan finally getting some attention on the Blue Brand. It's a little past when I would have done it, but it's easy to play armchair booker. It was a great booking for him and entirely appropriate.

Hunico vs. Gabriel: This was an alright match. With that said, the former Sin Cara Negro displayed a well-rounded move set and got the clean victory. It's hard to say an enhancement match was good, but this had its moment and had enough time to do what it needed to do.

Beth and Natalya vs. AJ and Kaitlyn: This was a good performance by Natalya. It's nice to see AJ get some TV time outside of NXT. A bit of story telling (more than last week) helped to make the segment a good one for the time it was given.

Sheamus and Ryder vs. Ziggler and Swagger: There was an alright opening promo by Ziggler. He does have his confidence, which is 100 percent needed for the arrogance he portrays. This was a standard formula match with slight variation and blind tags by the faces.

The good bits of storytelling helped quite a bit. This was a fun match that switched gears as need while furthering the Ziggler vs. Ryder feud.

Fatal 4-Way: I liked the use of the existing storylines for the match. A couple of good spots helped the pacing, although the first commercial break was a little awkward. I liked Rhodes taking an opportunistic role in this match, which seems to suit his tweaked gimmick.

The ending was solid enough and demonstrated both the lethality and suddenness of the Lebell Lock. This was the match of the night.

The Meh

DiBiase vs. Slater and Mahal Promo: This was just a fair match, but the prospect of a Mahal vs. DiBiase feud has some intriguing possibilities. At worst, it gives Superstars some storyline possibilities. That said, the match was simply an enhancement for DiBiase.

The Bad

Nothing. Yup, I actually can't complain about anything. I'm sure if I tried, I could find something. But I'm simply going to reflect on a good week of TV from the WWE.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Wrong side dude. You are supposed to use the crutch on the other side.

"You act like I kicked you...in the private spot." Bad touch! Bad touch!

Hunico/Gabriel felt like a Superstars match. That is a good thing.

Alicia Fox reminds me of Molly Ringwold from The Breakfast Club.

"Stand up! Stand up!" "Sit down, Cole."

Stick a lampshade around Sheamus and he could light up a room.

How over is Ryder?

Cole was extra annoying tonight.

AJ and Bryan are damn cute together.

Ted Tebow?

Am I the only one that wouldn't mind seeing a Rhodes and Ziggler tag team?

I think Orton's thighs got wider.

Daniel Bryan channeled He Whom Shall Remain Nameless tonight.

Hope Kaleb doesn't mind me stealing his graphic.

Overall Grade:  B+/A-

Wow, this was a good week for both Raw and SmackDown. There really was little wrong with the show tonight. The main event of Sheamus and Ryder vs. Zig-Swag and the Fatal 4-Way were good matches. Bryan was used heavily and some angles were advanced that needed it.

The only reason the show didn't cross over into a full A- was the DiBiase vs. Slater match and a bit of plodding in the opening segment. Even then, the Mahal vs. DiBiase feud has very solid possibilities; the opening segment picked up its pace quickly after Big Show knocked out Henry.