Smackdown always has recaps, right? Why did tonight seem even more unbearable in that department? The recaps were even clipped, so it wasn't like we got wholesale segment replays. Maybe it's because nothing really happened on Smackdown. Nothing ever happens Friday nights anymore, which is asinine given how many stories WWE is or at least should be prepping for WrestleMania. It's like after the opening segment, where Alberto del Rio tread the line between parody of Jack Swagger and the WWE babyface self-parody that everyone on the good side of the ledger seems to be on. I liked the idea of the the video mocking the We the People webseries, and I like even more that it was Ricardo Rodriguez playing the role of Zeb Colter. But del Rio was the one guy they had on the roster who was an honest, earnest good guy, not a mockery-slinging smartass like everyone else. I dunno, maybe I'm just cranky.
But the wrestling was good, even if the booking seemed to be curious. It all goes back to the argument - do you want to see pay-per-view quality matches every week, or do you want protection and guys to feel important? I don't think those two ideals are mutually exclusive. For example, there's no reason why Jinder Mahal had to just stand on the sidelines of the 3MB tag match, or that Justin Gabriel couldn't have been inserted into a longer match in lieu of a Dolph Ziggler or a Damien Sandow. But this is an argument I've beaten into the ground, among other people.
Maybe the reason why Ziggler and Sandow and Antonio Cesaro and RED BELLY are inserted into those roles. They are so good at making other guys look good, but not too good that it looks like a squash match. Sandow in particular shines in this role, as his offense is vicious and brutal. It even came out against Ryback, which is a feat given not many people of Sandow's stature are able to look credible beating the crap out of a jacked-to-the-gills feeding monster.
However, the match that I enjoyed most was the Big Show/Sheamus tilt, which to me felt better than their pay-per-view matches from last year. It's amazing how much the HOSS QUALITY has risen in WWE over the years. But the finish, the Shield coming out to interrupt, was maybe the biggest example of running in place on the show. Some combination of Show/Sheamus/Randy Orton is wrestling, the Shield attacks, the odd babyface comes in for the save, Big Show clears out the ring, finisher frenzy, and scene. It was the same story last week and the same story on RAW. Fandango refused to wrestle for the third show in a row. All the main segments on RAW were recapped. Even the absolutely gripping staredown between Ryback and Mark Henry was rehashed from RAW. I get that a quarter of the people who watch RAW watch Smackdown right now, but that doesn't mean you don't give them a reason to skip.
But the wrestling was good, even if the booking seemed to be curious. It all goes back to the argument - do you want to see pay-per-view quality matches every week, or do you want protection and guys to feel important? I don't think those two ideals are mutually exclusive. For example, there's no reason why Jinder Mahal had to just stand on the sidelines of the 3MB tag match, or that Justin Gabriel couldn't have been inserted into a longer match in lieu of a Dolph Ziggler or a Damien Sandow. But this is an argument I've beaten into the ground, among other people.
Maybe the reason why Ziggler and Sandow and Antonio Cesaro and RED BELLY are inserted into those roles. They are so good at making other guys look good, but not too good that it looks like a squash match. Sandow in particular shines in this role, as his offense is vicious and brutal. It even came out against Ryback, which is a feat given not many people of Sandow's stature are able to look credible beating the crap out of a jacked-to-the-gills feeding monster.
However, the match that I enjoyed most was the Big Show/Sheamus tilt, which to me felt better than their pay-per-view matches from last year. It's amazing how much the HOSS QUALITY has risen in WWE over the years. But the finish, the Shield coming out to interrupt, was maybe the biggest example of running in place on the show. Some combination of Show/Sheamus/Randy Orton is wrestling, the Shield attacks, the odd babyface comes in for the save, Big Show clears out the ring, finisher frenzy, and scene. It was the same story last week and the same story on RAW. Fandango refused to wrestle for the third show in a row. All the main segments on RAW were recapped. Even the absolutely gripping staredown between Ryback and Mark Henry was rehashed from RAW. I get that a quarter of the people who watch RAW watch Smackdown right now, but that doesn't mean you don't give them a reason to skip.