WWE Smackdown Review (November 29, 2011)

Smackdown was LIVE on Tuesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina this week. After this week, I will no longer review Smackdown matches. I will still post a review every week with match photos and match ratings but there will be no match review. I might write a short review for the best match and worst match. Next week, I will begin a new weekly column in which I will review a random WWE/WCW/ECW match from my DVD collection.

Divas Mistletoe Match

This was a very quick match. It was unofficially 53 seconds long. I can't say it was boring because 53 seconds is not enough time to make me bored but it wasn't an enjoyable match at all. There's not much you can do in 53 seconds.

Winner: Brie Bella

Rating: No rating

Justin Gabriel vs. Jinder Mahal

I'm not a fan of Jinder Mahal's gimmick but he is a decent in-ring performer. Jinder was dominating almost all of this match until Ted DiBiase came down to the ringside area which distracted Jinder. After that, Justin took control of the match and was able to get the win. I don't care much about Jinder and I don't know why anyone should care about Jinder if he is going to lose so often. Jinder needs to get a few wins because I really don't see anything impressive about him. I hope the WWE doesn't have high hopes for him because I think they will be disappointed.

Winner: Justin Gabriel

Rating: *1/2

Kofi Kingston vs. Tyson Kidd

This was an enjoyable match. Kidd and Kofi are both fun to watch and there were several good spots in this match. Kofi won after hitting an off the top rope crossbody. It is rare to see someone win after hitting a crossbody but Kofi's crossbodies are really good.

Winner: Kofi Kingston

Rating: **1/2

Randy Orton vs. David Otunga (Miracle on 34th Street Fight)

It was nice to see David Otunga in a match. I still think he can be a future star in the WWE. He's got good mic skills and a good body (PAUSE) so there's not much stopping him from being very successful. I liked this match. I enjoy watching street fights. This wasn't a very violent street fight but it was an enjoyable and entertaining match. I loved seeing Randy Orton using a Christmas wreath, cookie tray, gift box, and Christmas tree as weapons. Orton destroyed Otunga in this match. It wasn't a great match but Orton and Otunga did a great job making it fun to watch.

Winner: Randy Orton

Rating: ***1/4

All I Want For Christmas Battle Royal

Darren Young was eliminated 10 seconds after this match started. I guess that's all I need to see to know how the WWE feels about him. His brief involvement with Nexus will be the only thing people will remember about him in 20 years. I'm not a big fan of battle royals. I don't hate them but I don't really like them either. It's just too hard to follow all of the action in the first few minutes of the match and it's not very interesting if nothing important is on the line. The winner of this match would get their wish granted by Santa. I guess the winner could have wished for a World Championship match but we will never know because Hornswoggle won this match and he wished for the ability to talk. Hornswoggle's win was predictable. He spent most of the time under the ring which is legal as long as Hornswoggle doesn't go over the top rope. Hornswoggle was probably waiting until only one superstar was left but the last four heels in the match ruined those plans by forcing him into the ring. They could have eliminated him right away but instead they took turns attacking him. Sheamus was still in the match and he stopped their attacks by eliminating all of them by himself. That left Sheamus and Hornswoggle as the last two Superstars in the battle royal. Sheamus tried to eliminate Hornswoggle but Hornswoggle wouldn't let go of the ropes. Hornswoggle then asked for a hug from Sheamus and when Sheamus tried to hug him, Hornswoggle pushed him out the ring. It's hard to explain how Hornswoggle was able to eliminate Sheamus so you should watch how it happened if you haven't seen it yet. I didn't enjoy this match very much and seeing Sheamus get out-smarted by Hornswoggle made me dislike this match more. When Hornswoggle and Sheamus were the last two superstars, it was obvious that Hornswoggle would win. I don't like it when the WWE is predictable.

Winner: Hornswoggle

Rating: *3/4

Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry (Steel Cage Match for the World Heavyweight Championship)

This match was a little bit disappointing. One month ago, I wrote that Daniel Bryan should face Mark Henry at WrestleMania. I still think it should happen but I'm not sure it will be a great match. I thought this match was going to be a great match but it wasn't. It was a slow match and although Daniel Bryan got in a lot of offense, there wasn't many times in this match when I thought Daniel Bryan could win. Daniel Bryan was somewhat competitive in this match but Mark Henry had another impressive win. Mark won after hitting the World's Strongest Slam off the top rope. It's good to see Daniel Bryan be able to get Mark Henry off his feet but Mark Henry looked more impressive than Daniel Bryan did. The WWE needs to make Daniel Bryan look a little bit more stronger. Maybe the WWE is trying to make Daniel Bryan look like a huge underdog. I didn't think Daniel Bryan would win the World Heavyweight Championship in this match but I thought he would come close to pulling off the upset. Mark Henry didn't completely dominate the match but he did a very good job considering that he wasn't 100% healthy.

Winner: Mark Henry

Rating: **3/4

Best Match: Randy Orton vs. David Otunga

This was a match I wouldn't mind watching again. It wasn't a great street fight but I enjoyed watching it. I liked Orton's heel gimmick better than his face gimmick but he has had several solid matches in 2011. If I was the GM of Smackdown for one night only and I needed to make a solid main event, I would probably have Randy Orton be one of the participants in the match. Most of his matches are enjoyable.

Worst Match: Divas Mistletoe Match

I don't have many good things to say about a Divas battle royal that is only 53 seconds long. If you are going to have a battle royal, it has to get more than a minute. It seemed like the only reason this match happened was to get the Divas on TV.