WWE Smackdown Review (September 9, 2011)

Welcome to my first ever WWE Smackdown review. I’m not sure if I will be reviewing Smackdown every week. After I review this week’s Smackdown, I will decide if I will continue to review them. One thing I need to mention before I start is that I will be rating each match. However, I won’t be using a star rating. I like the idea of rating matches using a five-star scale but it can be too confusing. What’s the difference between a *** match and a *** ¼ match? A wise man once wrote that a match is good, great, or boring. I like that idea so I will use those words to rate the matches. I will also use “average”, “very boring”, and “amazing”. “Average” will be for matches that aren’t boring but also aren’t good, “very boring” will be rarely used and only used for matches I think are among the worst matches I have ever seen, and “amazing” will only be used for matches I consider to be all-time classics so don’t expect many “amazing” ratings. This way I can accurately rate the matches without anyone arguing that I should have given a good match more stars or a bad match less stars. Also I like this because if I did star ratings, I would refuse to give any match less than two stars. All professional wrestlers are very talented and in my opinion giving a match one star or calling it a “DUD” is very insulting to the professional wrestlers especially if the writer has no professional wrestling experience. 

Okay…it’s now time to start my Smackdown review! 

Smackdown starts with a promo video that focuses on Mark Henry. The video shows Mark Henry beating up and injuring several WWE Superstars like Big Show, Kane, and Vladimir Kozlov. Mark Henry is talking in the background. The video shows a message that reads, “Congratulations…you’ve been inducted…into the…Hall of Pain.” The video ends with Mark Henry standing over Randy Orton’s unconscious body and Henry is raising Orton’s World Heavyweight Championship. I like that the WWE is trying to make Mark Henry look like an unstoppable force but I’m not buying it. I expect Randy Orton to beat Mark Henry at Night of Champions. I would love to see Mark Henry win but a couple months of destruction doesn’t quite erase 15 years of mediocrity. I want to believe Mark Henry will destroy Randy Orton but I have seen Orton beat Henry so many times. 

After the opening promo video, the Smackdown theme song and official Smackdown music video plays. 

I think that “Know Your Enemy” song by Green Day is an awful theme song for Smackdown. The other Smackdown song is “Hangman” by Rev. Theory which is played during Smackdown and I think that song would better theme song for Smackdown. 

No pyro after the theme song and Mark Henry’s song starts playing. As Mark Henry walks to the ring, Michael Cole says that he believes Mark Henry is the next World Heavyweight Champion. Believe whatever you want Michael but I doubt Mark Henry is going to win. Mark Henry climbs in the ring and begins to cut a promo. There is water on Mark’s forehead…is he sweating already? Mark Henry says he is going to tell us about the Hall of Pain. I haven’t heard much of this Hall of Pain so I’m glad Henry is nice enough to explain it to me. Mark Henry says that a lot of people think that because he has been with the WWE for 15 years, his best years are behind him. I don’t know what Mark Henry is talking about. What best years? He hasn’t had much success during those 15 years. This is the best I have ever seen Mark Henry and I still don’t think he will beat Randy Orton. Not many WWE Superstars win their first WWE World Title after being with the company for 15 years. Christian is one exception and I can’t think of any other Superstars who have done it. Mark Henry says that if we think Henry is past his prime, we should ask Big Show and Kane. Are we supposed to be impressed that Mark Henry injured Big Show and Kane? There weren’t really World Heavyweight Champion contenders at the time. I’d be more impressed if he injured Sheamus or the Undertaker. Mark Henry says that Kane and Big Show are in the Hall of Pain and after Night of Champions, Randy Orton is going to get inducted. Yeah right…sorry Mark but that’s not going to happen. Mark Henry says, “They said that the beating that I gave Randy Orton last week in the cage was the worst he ever got.” What?! Are you serious Mark? Off the top of my head, I can recall Mick Foley giving Randy Orton a bigger beating at Backlash 2004 than the one Mark Henry gave Orton on Smackdown last week. Mark Henry says he’s more unpredictable, dangerous, and reckless than he’s ever been. Mark Henry says he will be the new World Heavyweight Champion. Mark has some more things to say but Zack Ryder’s music interrupts him. I hope Zack gets inducted into the Hall of Pain. Zack says that Mark is on a roll and they can be broskis. Zack gets in the ring and Mark says that Zack must have a death wish because he interrupted Mark Henry. Zack tells Mark that Orton and Mark will be in action tonight but in separate matches. Zack also says Teddy Long made a no contact rule and Mark and Orton cannot interfere in each other’s matches. Zack then tries to leave the ring but Mark tells Zack to stay in the ring. Instead of running away, Zack is dumb enough to actually listen to Mark and stay in the ring. Why was Zack in the ring when he was talking to Mark? He has a microphone so why couldn’t he just talk to Mark at the top of the entrance ramp and then leave? Zack Ryder is stupid. So now Zack is standing just a few feet away from Mark Henry and Mark says, “Thanks for the heads up.” That’s it? Zack starts to leave the ring again but Mark says, “Where you going? Let me ask you a question.” Once again Zack walks back to Mark. Maybe Zack thinks that if Mark was going to hurt Zack he would have done it already. I have no idea why Zack isn’t backstage right now. So Mark starts acting friendly with Zack. He puts his hand on Zack’s shoulder and asks Zack who he thinks is going to win at Night of Champions. Zack says that he can’t say that Orton is going to win because if he does, Mark is going to snort him up one nostril and shoot him out the other. Wow…Zack is an idiot. Just say that Mark Henry is going to win. Sure Orton might get mad but worry about that later. Zack tries to leave the ring for a third time and Mark grabs him before he leaves. Mark says that he understands he can’t put his hands on Orton but he needs to put his hands on somebody. Yes…Ryder is gonna enter the Hall of Pain! Zack then suddenly starts punching Mark Henry! What the hell!! He actually lands about four punches but then Mark Henry knocks Zack down with a Ric Flair chop. WOOOOOO! Mark Henry picks up Zack and hits him with the World’s Strongest Slam. Good…I hope Zack Ryder is now the newest member of the Hall of Pain. 

Ezekiel Jackson’s music starts playing and the bell rings. Ezekiel is Mark Henry’s opponent.

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Mark Henry

I’m not looking forward to this match. If Big Show vs. Mark Henry was a disappointing match, I doubt Ezekiel Jackson vs. Mark Henry will be better. The match starts with Mark and Ezekiel hold hands and trying overpower each other. Mark ends up back tossing Ezekiel. After Ezekiel gets up, the two lock up again and again Mark knocks Ezekiel to the ground. Ezekiel starts fighting back and Mark walks out of the ring. Ezekiel goes outside the ring too and Mark immediately kicks Ezekiel in the face. Mark picks Ezekiel up and slams him into the steel post. Both of them are back in the ring and Mark knocks Ezekiel down with a clothesline. With Ezekiel still on the ground, Mark bounces off the rope and splashes onto Ezekiel. Mark is dominating this match so far. Instead of going for a pin, Mark does another splash. Mark picks up Ezekiel and hits the World’s Strongest Slam. Mark pins Ezekiel for the three count. Fortunately it was a quick match. It was as bad as I thought it would be.

Winner: Mark Henry

Rating: Boring

After the match, Smackdown announces that tonight we will see Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes. They are promoting it as a “Champion vs. Champion” match. These two are former Legacy members and I think this might be a decent match. It can’t be any worse than the Mark Henry match I just watched.

Teddy Long is his office and he is on the phone. He is looking at a poster of the WWE ’12 video game cover and says on the phone that there isn’t a better choice for the cover than Randy Orton. I’m okay with Orton on the cover but I don’t agree that there’s no one who would have been a better choice for the cover. Teddy gets off the phone. Suddenly, music starts playing and Teddy’s lights turn purple. Wow Teddy needs to get those lights fixed if they are going to randomly change colors. Aksana appears and she is in a black leather dress. Based on the way she is dressed, it looks like she is about to sexually torture Teddy with a whip. However instead of a whip, she has a microphone in her hand. Hmm…I’m afraid to think about what she is going to do to Teddy with that microphone. The thoughts I am having aren’t PG so it’s best that I don’t write them here. Teddy says that Aksana is looking very beautiful tonight. Aksana’s accent is so strong and her English is so bad that I didn’t quite understand what she said but I think she said that she wants to be a ring announcer tonight. Teddy says that he can’t let Aksana be the special ring announcer every week because it wouldn’t be special anymore.  Aksana says that ring announcing isn’t the only special thing she can do with her mouth. WHAT?! Whoa! I wasn’t expecting her to say that! That’s going to be an awkward situation at home when Little Jimmy asks his dad what she meant by that. I’m getting non-PG thoughts again. Aksana says, “I can sing too!” Okay that was definitely not what my thoughts were and Big Jimmy just avoided an uncomfortable conversation with Little Jimmy. Teddy looks relieved for some reason. Was he afraid Aksana would say something inappropriate or was he scared of what Aksana was going to do with her mouth? I would have thought he would have been disappointed to hear that Aksana’s other talent with her mouth was singing. Aksana says she and Teddy can make beautiful music together and Teddy responds by saying that he needs to check on Zack Ryder. What the hell? I’m surprised that Teddy hasn’t thrown out the cameraman by now and locked his office door. Teddy leaves and we never find out what Aksana was intending to do with that microphone. I guess she was planning on using it to do ring announcing but what was the point of bringing it into Teddy’s office? Michael Cole is shocked that Teddy would rather check on Zack than hang out with Aksana. I’m shocked too but I don’t understand why Teddy is so attracted to Aksana. I think Kaitlyn is a much hotter Smackdown diva but Kaitlyn may not be attracted to Teddy. I don’t know if any of the other divas are attracted to Teddy so I guess Teddy can’t be picky. You gotta take whatever you can get I suppose.  

Sin Cara’s music is now playing and we are going to see another match. We see a replay of the Sin Cara-Daniel Bryan match from last week and the replay shows Sin Cara kicking Daniel Bryan after the match. After a commercial break, Tyson Kidd is in the ring and he is Sin Cara’s opponent tonight.

Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd

This should be a decent match. This time I’ll try not to do a complete play-by-play of the match. The match starts with some technical wrestling. Sin Cara is working on Kidd’s arm so Kidd drags Sin Cara to the ropes and does a springboard flip to try to get Sin Cara off of him. When Kidd lands, he uses his momentum to give Sin Cara an arm drag. Wow…that was an impressive move. Sin Cara charges towards Kidd but Kidd leap frogs over Sin Cara. Sin Cara bounces off the ropes and Kidd drops to his back and tries to propel Sin Cara into the air with his feet. However Sin Cara is able to dive over Kidd’s extended legs. Both men quickly get up, Sin Cara ducks under a clothesline, does a springboard backflip over Tyson Kidd, and hits Kidd with a head scissors. Wow...good stuff so far. Kidd rolls out of the ring and Sin Cara immediately jumps off the top rope and hits Kidd with a crossbody. This match has not slowed down yet. Both of them go back in the ring and they start exchanging offensive attacks. This is an even match so far. After Kidd puts Sin Cara in a submission hold, Sin Cara reverses out of it and hits Kidd with an enzuigiri. Later in the match, Sin Cara hits Kidd with another off the top rope crossbody. This time the crossbody happened in the ring. Kidd starts fighting back but Sin Cara hits Kidd with a move that looks like the Angle Slam. With Kidd on the mat, Sin Cara does a springboard front flip onto Kidd and then hits Kidd with the Lionsault. Sin Cara pins Kidd and gets the win. That was an enjoyable, fast-paced match.

Winner: Sin Cara

Rating: Good

After the match, Josh Mathews interviews Sin Cara. This should be interesting. Josh says that he doesn’t know if Sin Cara can understand Josh because Sin Cara doesn’t speak English. Josh wants to know why Sin Cara is being more aggressive. Sin Cara says, “Josh, I am an intense competitor.” He says that in English! What?! Now Sin Cara is speaking in Spanish. Sin Cara then starts talking in English again. He switches back-and-forth using English and Spanish during the entire promo. Sin Cara said that he held back in the beginning out of respect for the other wrestlers but now we will see the real Sin Cara. Did he just say, “the real Sin Cara”? That’s interesting. Could that be some foreshadowing? 

After Sin Cara’s short promo, Daniel Bryan’s music plays. Daniel Bryan appears at the top of the entrance ramp and walks to the ring. Daniel Bryan climbs into the ring with a microphone. Daniel Bryan is amazed that Sin Cara speaks in English and he says he didn’t see that coming. I didn’t see that coming either. Daniel Bryan says that another thing he didn’t see coming was Sin Cara kicking Daniel Bryan in the head. Daniel Bryan says that it doesn't matter what language Sin Cara speaks because Sin Cara attacking Daniel Bryan last week spoke a universal language. Daniel Bryan says the attack means that Sin Cara doesn’t respect him. Daniel Bryan challenges Sin Cara to a rematch next week. Sin Cara then kicks Daniel Bryan and puts the LaBell Lock on Daniel Bryan. Wow…I guess Sin Cara is now officially heel. Good promo by Daniel Bryan. His mic skills are improving. 

Smackdown advertises Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett for tonight. That looks like a good match-up.

After a commercial break, we get a promo video for Cody Rhodes. The video shows Cody Rhodes talking about how people are freaks and that they need to hide their ugliness. The video also shows some in-ring highlights of Cody Rhodes while a cool sounding song plays in the background. There is also a lot of images of people wearing paper bags over their heads. Cody Rhodes is definitely different now than he was back in 2009 when he was a member of Legacy. We go into the locker room now and Matt Striker is interviewing Randy Orton. Randy says that Cody is a changed man but not for the better. Randy says Cody is unstable which can be dangerous. Randy starts talking about Mark Henry and says Mark is dangerous and has people wondering what can stop Mark Henry. Randy says the answer is an RKO. Short promo by Randy and it served little purpose other than possible material for the official Mark Henry-Randy Orton Night of Champions promo video. 

Kelly Kelly’s music is now playing and we are getting a divas match. I wish I could skip this but a Smackdown review needs to be complete. We find out that her opponent is Natalya. She is one of the better divas but that doesn’t make me more interested in this match. I’m hoping for a quick squash match but Kelly Kelly is the champ so this match might go a little bit longer than I would like. Kelly Kelly gets some early attacks on Natalya but eventually Natalya takes control of the match. Natalya puts Kelly Kelly in a submission hold, Kelly Kelly tries to fight out of it, and Natalya slams Kelly Kelly down to the mat. Ouch. Cover…could it be over? No…Kelly Kelly kicks out. Damn. Later in the match, Natalya tries to put Kelly Kelly into the Sharpshooter but Kelly Kelly reverses it into a small package pin. Kelly Kelly wins! That was a short match.

Winner: Kelly Kelly

Rating: Boring

Smackdown then announces that Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett is next. After a commercial break before the participants are introduced, Christian comes down to the ring. Christian starts complaining about his tag team match on RAW from last week. Christian says he was forced to compete in the main event and he was a victim of an illegal double-team that resulted in Sheamus brogue kicking Christian in the face and then getting an Attitude Adjustment from John Cena. Christian says he then had to compete in a cage match for Randy Orton just 24 hours later on Smackdown. Christian says that despite what happened on RAW, he almost defeated Orton. So Christian says that he deserves one more match. Wow…really? Stop it Christian. You had enough chances to beat Orton. You had six matches I think. Sheamus comes out and says that Christian needs to give it a rest and this is getting embarrassing. I agree. Then Sheamus tells a story about a puppy that was sick and Sheamus said that hot air came out of that puppy’s ass whenever he barked. Christian interrupts Sheamus and tells him to shut up. Sheamus says he wants to start his match, he says everybody knows Christian isn’t getting one more match, and he says Christian needs to get out of the ring. Christian starts walking to the ropes and does get out of the ring. Wow…he did exactly what Sheamus told him to do. Wade Barrett is now coming to the ring and we can finally start this match.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett

This match started slow. In the middle of the match, Barrett delivers an impressive big boot kick to Sheamus that knocks Sheamus out of the ring. It looks like Barrett has control of the match but Sheamus fights back. Sheamus body slams Barrett and now he is in control of the match. Sheamus goes to the top rope and hits what looks like a flying clothesline. Michael Cole calls it the flying battering ram. Before Sheamus can do anything else, Christian comes out of nowhere and attacks Sheamus. Barrett gets up and also starts attacking Sheamus. It’s a double team right now. Somehow Sheamus fights off both of them. Christian gets hit a couple times and immediately leaves the ring. Sheamus knocks down Barrett while Christian walks away from the ring. Barrett gets up but Sheamus hits him with the brogue kick. Sheamus turns around just in time to see Christian flying off the top rope. How did Christian climb to the top rope that fast? Sheamus kicks Christian before Christian lands and sets him up for the Celtic Cross. Right before Sheamus slams Christian to the mat, Christian is able to get down and gets out of the ring. 

Winner: Sheamus via DQ

Rating: Average

After a commercial break, Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston (Air Boom) makes their entrance. They will be in a tag team match against Jinder Mahal and The Great Khali.

Air Boom vs. Jinder Mahal and The Great Khali

This is a non-title match. The match starts with some good fast-paced action. Then The Great Khali enters the ring and that fast-paced action ends right away. I hope the WWE never books a Mark Henry vs. The Great Khali match in the near future. Jinder and Kofi are now in the ring and the match is exciting again although it is Kofi doing all of the offense. Kofi jumps to the top rope and does a nice springboard crossbody onto Jinder.  Very nice move! The Great Khali gets in the ring, Kofi gets distracted, and Jinder takes control of the match. However, Jinder stops attacking Kofi to yell at Khali. Jinder seems to be mad at Khali for being in the ring. Wow Jinder should be thanking Khali because Khali’s presence in the ring distracted Kofi otherwise this match may be over already. Jinder slaps Khali and Khali shoves Jinder right towards Kofi which is a big mistake because Kofi hits Jinder immediately with his Trouble in Paradise finishing move. Kofi goes for the cover and Khali stands in the corner while Kofi gets the three count. This was a short match but it was enjoyable whenever Khali wasn’t in the ring. 

Winner: Air Boom

Rating: Good

We find out that Air Boom will be facing The Miz and R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions. I would love to see Miz and R-Truth win that match. Kofi and Evan are looking like a great tag team. I would love to see what they can do against The Miz and R-Truth. I’m sure it will be a fun match at Night of Champions.

Cody Rhodes’s music plays and it’s time for the main event. Cody Rhodes walks to the ring with his bag men and the match is announced as a Champion vs. Champion match. We see a replay of Rhodes attacking Ted DiBiase and putting a bag on Ted. Rhodes has a microphone and we are going to get a promo before the match. Rhodes says he is an inspiration. Rhodes says that people are jealous of Rhodes. He says he was trying to inspire Ted but Ted was happy being Ted. So Rhodes dropped Ted. Rhodes concludes his promo by saying Orton has inspired him to show Orton how unstable Rhodes can be. That was a boring promo. I’m not that impressed by Cody Rhodes’s masked gimmick but at least it is more interesting than whatever gimmick he had while he was in Legacy. Randy Orton is now being introduced and we are ready to start the match.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

This is a Champion vs. Champion match but neither Orton’s World Heavyweight Championship nor Rhodes’s Intercontinental Championship is on the line. I was a big fan of Legacy before they broke up in early 2010 so I’m expecting a good match. Slow start to the match. A lot of technical wrestling so far. Booker T thinks Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton could be a great rivalry for many years. Not too long ago I was expecting Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton to be a great rivalry for many years but Rhodes has accomplished a lot more since the end of Legacy than DiBiase has. Orton hits Rhodes with two dropkicks and this match starting to get exciting. Orton is dominating this match in the beginning. Rhodes has to headbutt Orton with his mask to stop Orton’s momentum. Ouch. Rhodes has now taken over control of the match. Orton gets revenge by kicking Rhodes in the gut and then headbutting Rhodes. Now Orton is in control. Orton goes for his patented knee drop but Christian rolls out of the way. Did I write "Christian"? I meant Rhodes. I'm so used to Orton always facing Christian. It looks like Orton has hurt his knee and Rhodes is back in control of this match. Wow…this is really back-and-forth so far. Orton recovers from his knee injury and tries to hit Rhodes with his patented rope-hung DDT but Rhodes escapes. Rhodes back tosses Orton over the ropes but Orton manages to stay on the ring apron. Rhodes climbs to the top rope, springboards off the rope, and kicks Orton in the head. Wow! This time Orton falls out of the ring. 

After a commercial break, Orton is back in the ring and Rhodes is still in control. Rhodes puts Orton in a submission hold. Can Orton reverse out of it? Rhodes breaks the hold and Orton is now weaker. Orton tries to fight back but Rhodes stops the comeback. Good match but they are following a classic wrestling match formula so far. It won’t be long till Orton takes control of the match. But right now, Rhodes is still doing great and he has looked impressive. This is a good match. Orton tries to fight back and again Rhodes stops the comeback. Rhodes hits Orton with the Alabama Slam. Whoa…cover…is this it? No…just a two count. I’m waiting for the Orton comeback but it’s not happening yet. Just as I type that, Rhodes goes for a bulldog but Orton counters it by shoving Rhodes to the mat. Rhodes’s momentum is over. Orton is now setting up for the finish. He hits Rhodes with two clotheslines and hits Rhodes with a scoop slam. Rhodes is in the corner and Orton charges towards him but Rhodes counters with what looks like a knee to Orton’s head. Orton gets back in control quickly but now Orton has lost some of his momentum. Orton goes for the rope-hung DDT and this time he hits it. Orton starts pounding the mat and it looks like the end is near. Orton teases the RKO but before he can do anything, Rhodes slides out of the ring. Orton chases Rhodes back in the ring and tries to slam Rhodes but Rhodes reverses it. Now Rhodes is trying to hit the Cross Rhodes but Orton counters. Rhodes tries to hit another springboard kick like he did earlier but this time Orton gets out of the way. Orton then hits an RKO out of nowhere! Orton pins Rhodes and gets the win. Wow! This match got really exciting towards the end. 

Winner: Randy Orton

Rating: Great

After the match, Mark Henry’s music starts playing. Mark Henry walks into the ring. In the beginning of the show Zack Ryder said that Mark can’t touch Orton so I wonder what is going to happen. Right now they are just staring at each other. Then Orton starts punching Mark! What the hell?! Mark stops Orton’s attack and hits him with two World’s Strongest Slams! What is going on?! I thought they couldn’t make contact with each other. I guess that rule only applied to DURING their matches. I don’t think Zack said anything about AFTER the matches. Wow…I guess Mark found a loophole! He’s a lot smarter than I thought he was. Perhaps Zack was supposed to announce that the no contact rule was in effect for the entire night but forgot because he was too intimidated by Mark Henry. Teddy and Zack might regret that they didn’t do a better job preventing Mark from attacking Orton because now it looks like Mark is going to injure Orton before Night of Champions. Mark brings a chair in the ring and sits on it. The problem is that part of the chair is right above Orton’s neck and it appears that Mark is choking Orton by sitting on the chair. Mark tells Orton without a microphone that he could have broken Orton’s leg but that is not his objective. Mark says the only reason Mark won’t break Orton’s leg is because he wants Orton’s World Heavyweight Championship and they can’t have a match if Mark breaks Orton’s leg. Mark stops talking to Orton while still sitting on the chair and Smackdown ends.  

Best Match: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

Going into the main event, I was prepared to name Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd as the best match of the night but Orton and Rhodes had a fantastic match. The match followed a standard match formula. The steps for that formula is: heel/face establishment, face getting over on the heel, heel cuts off the face’s momentum, heel gets heat from the crowd by beating down the face, faces goes for a comeback but gets cut-off by the heel, face starts to power-up, near-falls, and the finisher. That is called the eight points of a story and this match followed that almost exactly so it made the match somewhat predictable but Orton and Rhodes executed it very well. I thought Cody Rhodes had a terrific match and Orton did a good job too. I wasn’t expecting Orton’s RKO and I love how his finisher is so unpredictable many times. I was thinking of rating this as a “good” match but this match was better than “good”. It wasn’t one of the best matches I have seen this year but I thought it deserved a higher rating than the Sin Cara match and the Air Boom match. This match was about 11 minutes long and they kept me interested for most of the match. It is harder to have an interesting 11 minute match than it is to have an interesting five minute match so Orton and Rhodes did a very good job. Booker T was right. This could be a very good rivalry for many years. I would love to see Orton start a feud with Rhodes after his feud with Mark Henry is over. 

Worst Match: Kelly Kelly vs. Natalya

Kelly Kelly vs. Natalya wasn’t a horrible match but it wasn’t a good match either. Kelly Kelly looked good against Natalya even though Natalya is a better performer so that impressed me. Other than that, it was a match that I don’t plan on watching again. 

Best Promo: Daniel Bryan

It’s great to see that Daniel Bryan is doing a good job on the mic in addition to his great in-ring wrestling. If he continues to have good promos, he will be a future WWE World Champion and he will be more likely to have a successful Money in the Bank briefcase cash-in. I like how Daniel Bryan made the comment about Sin Cara speaking English and not seeing it coming and then saying how he didn’t see Sin Cara’s kick to the head coming either. That was a very good transition. Daniel Bryan delivered his promo very well and I hope he starts getting promo time every week. 

Worst Promo: Randy Orton

Randy Orton didn’t have a terrible promo but it wasn't good. In my opinion, the purpose of his promo was to get me excited about the Smackdown main event and Orton’s match at Night of Champions. After hearing Orton’s promo, I wasn’t more excited about either match so I didn’t like the promo. Orton didn’t really get much time to cut a solid promo so part of it isn’t his fault but Orton’s promo felt meaningless and I think the WWE could have cut it out of the show if they wanted to.

Before I end this post, I just want to say that I am happy that Mark Henry is feuding with Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. On May 14, 2011, I published a column here about how I would book a feud involving Mark Henry and Randy Orton for Orton's World Heavyweight Championship. Nearly four months later, my imaginary feud is now reality.

Here is the link for that column: http://howiwouldbookit.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-i-would-book-it-mark-henrys-world.html

I hope you enjoyed my first ever Smackdown review. I will decide by next Friday if I will make this a weekly column.