WWE Smackdown Review (October 7, 2011)

Welcome to my Smackdown review. I might try to get a new introductory line because I'm getting tired of writing "welcome to my Smackdown review" every week. I'm feeling a little bit lazy this week but not lazy enough to not write a review. However, this review will only feature matches. This week, I will do something different with my match ratings. I will finally use star ratings using a five star scale.

So there is little confusion, I will explain how my star ratings system will work. First, here is how to interpret each rating:

* is Poor
** is Fair
*** is Good
**** is Great
***** is Excellent

Another thing is that my match ratings will be based on how much I enjoyed the match and not how well the match was executed. I'm not going to add stars if the match tells a story and I'm not going to deduct stars if there are botches...I just want to be entertained. So if I give a match one star, it's only because I thought it was boring. If I was rating matches based on the skills of the Superstars, I would give every match five stars because those Superstars are great athletes and take huge risks that most people aren't willing to take. I am also not going to put a huge emphasis on the match time. If a match is too short, I'll give it a "No Rating" but I'm not going to say I enjoyed a match and then give it only two stars just because the match was only five minutes long. The last thing I want to mention is that no match will get a "DUD" rating. It seems so wrong for a writer with no experience in a wrestling ring to label any match as a dud no matter how boring or bad the match is. The lowest I will go is one-quarter of a star.

I would like to share a few articles I found. A website called Fair to Flair did a three-part series of articles about the issue of determining quality wrestling performances. The writer of the series believes that the contemporary way wrestling journalists grade wrestling matches is broken, antiquated, and never really worked in the first place. I didn't read them yet but they look interesting. If I agree with what the writer is saying, I might use whatever rating system that the writer is suggesting.

The theory of quality wrestling
The ratings system is broken
A better ratings system

That's all I wanted to say so now it's time to review each match from this week's Smackdown!

Real Sin Cara vs. Alberto Del Rio

I was disappointed in this match. This is a match that I think we were supposed to see during the live Tuesday Night Smackdown episode not too long ago but Alberto Del Rio was having a visa issue that prevented him from entering the United States in time for the match. So that long-awaited match finally happened this week and this match was featuring the REAL Sin Cara and not the fake one that would have faced Del Rio if he didn't have his visa issue. I felt that this match wasn't worth the wait. It wasn't a bad match but the match looked more like a Alberto Del Rio match than a Sin Cara match. Sin Cara didn't really get to do many of his signature moves and Del Rio won the match with his arm-breaker submission hold.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Rating: **1/2

Air Boom vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

This match was okay but it was basically a handicap match after Swagger and Ziggler attacked Evan Bourne before the match. I would have liked this match better if it was a two-on-two match. Bourne did return to the match before it was over but he was too hurt and he was pinned by Swagger.

Winners: Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Rating: **1/4

Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox

So is Alicia Fox a face now? I know she's been a face for several weeks but I'm not exactly sure how that happened. As for the match, it was really quick and Beth Phoenix won in under one minute.

Winner: Beth Phoenix

Rating: No Rating

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jinder Mahal

It seems like every week on Smackdown, there is a match-up between two Superstars that I don't really like. This week's match was Jackson vs. Mahal. It's really hard to say which guy I dislike more. Unfortunately, this match was not under a minute like the previous match but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Jackson dominated during most of the match. Jackson is probably not going to have many or any great matches and I think his main purpose is to look dominant against jobbers (like Jinder) so he can make young heels (like Cody Rhodes) look good when they beat him.

Winner: Ezekiel Jackson

Rating: **

Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes and Christian

This match was good I guess but it wasn't a main event quality match. There weren't any enjoyable matches on Smackdown tonight and this match wasn't really enjoyable either. The problem with this match was that there was very little build-up before this match and it didn't really seem to matter which team won the match. Matches are always more interesting when you are interested in seeing who wins the match. Randy Orton and Sheamus won and I have no idea how that win will help Orton or Sheamus. It was a little bit better than the Del Rio-Sin Cara match but not by much. It was getting a little bit interesting towards the end but the match abruptly ended when Orton hit Rhodes with an RKO out of nowhere.

Winners: Randy Orton and Sheamus

Rating: **3/4

Best Match: Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes and Christian

It was the best match of the night but it wasn't a match I would watch again. With Big Show feuding with Mark Henry again, it looks like we will finally see a Orton vs. Rhodes Pay Per View feud and I'm excited about that. Orton and Rhodes were both in this match so I'm guessing that Rhodes is Orton's next PPV opponent. I doubt Orton will be going after the Intercontinental Title so this could be the best non-title feud of the year.

Worst Match: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jinder Mahal

The Phoenix vs. Fox match was so short that I'm just going to pretend it never happened just like how Chris Jericho never defeated Triple H for the WWF Championship on RAW. I hope I never see Jackson and Mahal never face each other again.

Best Promo: Big Show

Yeah I'm still giving out Promo Awards even though I didn't mention them during my review. I like the Big Show and he delivered a very good emotional promo so this was an easy choice.

Worst Promo: Matt Striker

It wasn't really a promo but Matt Striker said that many people think Randy Orton should get another rematch against Mark Henry. First of all, who are these "many people" Striker referred to and why should Orton get another match against Mark Henry? Orton was cleanly defeated by Mark Henry twice. Orton said that he won't be like Christian and demand another match. That's good. I want to see Orton face Cody Rhodes and Orton doesn't deserve another match against Mark Henry. He got his rematch and he lost. No more rematches. The Orton-Mark Henry feud was okay but I'm glad the feud is over.