SmackTalk 23.03.12

The thing that stood out most about last night’s SmackDown was how much airtime Daniel Bryan received. He not only opened the show with a promo and closed it with a match, he also accompanied AJ to ringside for her bout with Brie Bella. It’s nice to see the company getting behind and feeling confident enough in him to feature him in so many segments. I suspect he’ll be dropping the title at WrestleMania. That would usually spell the end of a push but the AJ relationship stuff is a promising sign that Bryan will continue to be a prominent part of SmackDown. That’s good. The show desperately needs him.

I’m interested in what’s being done with Miz too. It seems as though a conscious decision has been made to keep him off of the WrestleMania card and turn it into a storyline. That’s a novel approach. I imagine Miz will perform a run-in or cut a promo at the show so that he appears, but the lack of a a match is a nice angle for the character he plays. He’s dropped down the card significantly in the last year and this could help him climb back up.

Part of the problem Miz has had has been the way he’s booked. He was treated like a jobber at Survivor Series and then found his run half of the entertaining Awesome Truth cut short when R-Truth got himself suspended for a month. With hindsight Miz would have benefited from a gradual face turn late last spring. He was getting quite a few cheers and fans were chanting along to his catchphrases. Now he’s just another guy in the middle of the card.

The match quality of this week’s show was very high. I particularly enjoyed the main event. The Bryan v Sheamus exchange given me a reason to care about the World Heavyweight title match we’ll see at WrestleMania. The Ziggler v Khali match was also far more enjoyable than it had any right being thanks to ‘The Heel’s’ bumping and the booking of Khali.

Promo segment featuring Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and AJ

Tweet 1: It’s SmackDown time!
Tweet 2: Jinder Mahal's on the SmackDown opening. That makes the opening less special somehow.
Tweet 3: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Tweet 4: Bryan making AJ get him a microphone shouldn't be as funny as it is.
Tweet 5: This abusive boyfriend gimmick needs to end with AJ tapping madly to Cattle Mutilation.
Tweet 6: SmackDown opening with a promo about Daniel Bryan's soft lips. I never thought I'd live to see this. This is tremendous.
Tweet 7: "Daniel Bryan is a great lover" – AJ
Tweet 8: Sheamus walks like he's been searching desperately for a toilet for half an hour and is running out of patience.
Tweet 9: Mark Henry v R-Truth?! That'll get people watching...
Tweet 10: Introducing "Danny" as a name Daniel Bryan dislikes was a nice idea. That was a pretty good opening segment. Bryan's a great heel.

Mark Henry v R-Truth

Tweet 11: #LittleJimmy

Tweet 12: I want Mark Henry to adopt eating a child as his signature taunt.
Tweet 13: R-Truth performed a cross body block. Booker claimed it would be spectacular. He was wrong on every possible level.
Tweet 14: "That could be you! You could be next!" - Mark Henry to a burger sitting in the audience

The Yokozuna Hall of Fame video

Tweet 15: "Take a look at the girth" - Vince McMahon on Yokozuna, sounding inadvertently filthy

Tweet 16: Yokozuna's a good choice for the Hall of Fame.
Tweet 17: Last year's Hall of Fame should've had the Horsemen and Ron Simmons. It was Atlanta for crying out loud!

Backstage skit featuring Team Teddy

Tweet 18: Khali sounds retarded.
Tweet 19: Fistbumping Khali is a dangerous thing to do. He's liable to think he's being attacked and start caving in heads.
Tweet 20: So Team Teddy currently consists of Kofi Kingston, Santino, Khali and Zack Ryder. He deserves to lose.

AJ v Brie Bella

Tweet 21: AJ in the ring. We were robbed of a Bryan entrance!
Tweet 22: The Bellas. Remember when they were throwing themselves at Bryan? Reckon that'll be referenced? Doubt it.
Tweet 23: AJ using the LeBell Lock. Bryan seems unimpressed.
Tweet 24: Uh-oh, we may be heading for a Bellas break-up!!
Tweet 25: Phew! The Bellas are still together, they just disagree about who'll win the Team Johnny v Team Teddy match.
Tweet 26: I assume each team will have a Bella at ringside. Just to get everyone on the card.

Jack Swagger v Zack Ryder

Tweet 27: Vickie Guerrero. You know what that means...
Tweet 28: Oh. Apparently it means Jack Swagger. How disappointing.
Tweet 29: I'm beginning to think Booker may join Team Teddy.
Tweet 30: A menopausal woman being accosted by a midget. "Anything can happen in the WWE!"
Tweet 31: A televised win for Ryder. Shame it wasn't clean.

Zack Ryder on his way to a victory over Jack swagger in an enjoyable match

Cody Rhodes backstage interview, supposedly from earlier in the day

Tweet 32: Matt Striker has borrowed Randy Orton's beard.

Tweet 33: Cody Rhodes currently has custody of the lisp he shares with Jack Swagger.
Tweet 34: Rhodes had a plane to catch at one in the afternoon. Why did he go to the arena at all? That line made NO SENSE.
Tweet 35: Cody Rhodes has held onto the Intercontinental title for so long primarily because he never defends the thing.

Big Show v Kane

Tweet 36: Big Show v Kane. Before they got written off TV last year these two were tag champions and friends.
Tweet 37: The dissolution of that friendship has not been addressed on-screen.
Tweet 38: Sloppy double clothesline spot there...
Tweet 39: "We got a fight just broke out here, man" - Booker T on a match that had been in progress for several minutes
Tweet 40: What was the point of Cody not having a shirt on for that run-in?
Tweet 41: I couldn't care less about Orton v Kane as a feud. Brodus Clay appearing to squash a random jobber, on the other hand...

Brodus Clay v Heath Slater

Tweet 42: Funkasaurus time. It actually does not get better than this.

Tweet 43: I love the way Brodus NEVER syncs the pyro with either stamping his foot or throwing his trousers down.
Tweet 44: WHAT? Heath Slater is looking competitive against Brodus Clay? What witchcraft is this?!
Tweet 45: Brodus got the win via a "three seconds of hang time" splash according to Booker T.

From the Vault and others thoughts

Tweet 46: CM Punk v Triple H on From the Vault. It's odd to see this given the storyline the two had last year.

Tweet 47: "Triple H is basically the father of this industry right now" - Matt Striker, talking utter nonsense
Tweet 48: I am astounded Striker didn't instantly reference Arn Anderson when 'The Game' hit that spinebuster.
Tweet 49: Luke Gallows makes a spirited henchman.
Tweet 50: From the Vault goes straight to a break. Weird. Anyway... that was a good match.
Tweet 51: Eve Torres walks like one of the Thunderbirds.
Tweet 52: A video for Lord Tensai. Here's a blog to go with it!

The Great Khali v Dolph Ziggler

Tweet 53: Great Khali is an embarrassment. At least they're not showing his legs on camera so you can't see his comedic walk.
Tweet 54: Ziggler's his opponent. This may be watchable after all.
Tweet 55: This is as good as Khali is going to look. Ziggler's willing to take big bumps for him and all he's being booked to do is chop.
Tweet 56: Christian was good on commentary there too. He;s good at everything though.
Tweet 57: Random restart. #Dustybooking

Sheamus and CM Punk v Miz and Daniel Bryan

Tweet 58: How much longer is Punk going to have Cult of Personality as his entrance music? I'm guessing it'll be gone soon.
Tweet 59: New music at WrestleMania maybe?
Tweet 60: Yes! Yes! Yes! Daniel Bryan! YES!!
Tweet 61: Bryan 'Soft Lips' Danielson.
Tweet 62: Jericho doesn’t like working Tuesdays.
Tweet 63: Miz will do the job in this match, that much is obvious.
Tweet 64: Punk v Bryan. It feels as though they're going to make this a long running feud that's introduced gradually. I like that.
Tweet 65: That brief exchange between Bryan and Sheamus has made me think their 'Mania match will be pretty good even if it's short.
Tweet 66: Oh, Miz did the job. What a surprise.