ThunderStruck: WWE Main Event And Smackdown Analysis 04/12/13

*Note: I’ve had a rough week personally and have been dealing with some things(hence this column coming a day late), but I’m doing what I can to make sure I keep up with the writing. I want to thank Jee-S for his help with reviewing Main Event during his busy schedule! Thanks again, bro!

WWE Main Event Review 04/10/13 By Jee-S

The Shield beats Kofi Kingston & Tons of Funk when Seth Rollins hits Kingston with a knee to the head from the top rope. After the match, The Shield beat up the opposite team and deliver the triple powerbomb to Tensai, then to Brodus Clay.

Thoughts: Obviously this doesn’t match up to the other encounters the trio have had since debuting in the WWE, but it wasn’t bad at all. I guess you have to expect a good match from The Shield with every outing they get but Tons of Funk are not the most talented or mobile athletes on the roster; it makes for a pretty average match. Always impressed with Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns in the ring and the fact that they were able to look good against such a weak opposition is outstanding. Kofi continues to job and I can’t help but think that the creative team is planning a repackage for his character(at least I hope). Making The Shield look strong can never hurt and I’m happy we got to see them on Main Event.

Big E Langston squashes Zack Ryder, beating him with the Big Ending.

Thoughts: I feel bad for Zack Ryder but like I keep saying, I’ve gotten used to it. Big E pulls off interesting maneuvers in the ring but I find he doesn’t have the ability to act seeing as he no-sells pretty much everything. It’s worth noting that he is the incarnation of the perfect wrestler in Vince McMahon’s eyes so he probably has a big role in the future plans of the company. I guess only time will tell if he will live up to the hype. Also, his interview before the bout was terrible as were all his previous interviews. Squash match; nothing special at all.

RAW Rebound: Ryback shellshocks Cena at the end of the show.

Thoughts: Was RAW crazy this week or what? It was awesome! I’m curious to see how this will all play out because the Cena-Ryback storyline seems pretty captivating. Not sure how the match will turn out but I like the heat here. It all remains to be seen and I’m happy to sit back and enjoy the ride with all these new post-Mania storylines.

Jack Swagger defeats Yoshi Tatsu with the Patriot Lock. Zeb Colter cut a heel promo before the match, ripping into Yoshi Tatsu and the city of Boston.

Thoughts: Slow paced match, yet effective. This encounter was most likely planned to make Swagger look strong after two straight losses and that’s fine. With the abundance of contenders for the top world titles in the company, I see Swagger helping out the messy midcard scene the WWE has right now; he could very well hold the U.S. or Intercontinental title by the end of this year. Not a bad match at all.

Overall, it was an average show. We had three matches, two of them were alright and one was a squash; I guess I can’t complain seeing as this is Main Event and not one of the major shows. Thanks for reading!

WWE Smackdown Analysis 04/12/13 by Joe Thunder

Big E. Langston comes out with a mic and introduces the new World Heavyweight Champion in a Ricardo Rodriguez-like voice, Dooooooooooooooooooolph Ziggler! Ziggler, Big E and AJ make their way down to the ring. Ziggler talks about being the best performer in the company, and that he is the future of WWE; he says the future is now. Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter interrupt Ziggler’s speech. Colter says the only good thing about Ziggler is that he’s an american, but he should be thanking Jack Swagger for allowing him to cash in. Ziggler says it was just his time. Colter tells Ziggler he should give Swagger a title shot, and that he won’t wait for long(they leave). Del Rio interrupts Ziggler next. Del Rio says it will be Ziggler complaining and crying when he gets his rematch. Del Rio leaves and Ziggler says the next person who interrupts him will realize why he’s the World Champion. Jericho’s music hits and he makes fun of Ziggler(calls his fans “Dolph-ans”) and calls AJ crazy(the crowd chants it). Jericho says Booker T has granted him a match tonight with Ziggler.

^Ziggler sounded like he had a cold here, but I enjoyed all the promo work. Ziggler cutting a promo to celebrate his championship win was the perfect way to start the show, and booking him in a match with Jericho means we have an excellent main event ahead!

Team Hell No defeats the Prime Time Players in a very short match. Dbry forces O’Neil to tape out. The Shield show up on the tron after the match and talk about not being afraid of them just because they didn’t strike on Raw. They say the Shield never runs from a fight, and to believe in the Shield.

^Definitely more of a segment than a match, but I like that Kane and Dbry are going to be involved with putting over the Shield some more. All of them have tons of talent and can put on very entertaining matches. As for O’Neil and Young, it’s unfortunate that they aren’t being treated better, but at least they’re still on television.

Santino Marella goes one on one with Wade Barrett. Santino tries to bounce up twice during the match and fails. Santino gets some momentum and goes for the cobra, but Barrett dodges it and connects with the bullhammer elbow for the win.

^Quick squash. Barrett’s run with the IC Title should be good if he can get some better competition. Santino gets treated like a joke and we all know that it’s not going to change.

Sheamus interrupts Booker T and Teddy Long. Sheamus wants to know why Booker T overrode Vickie Guerrero’s decision to let Sheamus face Big Show. Orton comes in as well and is just as angry. Teddy says it was all Booker’s idea, but we all make mistakes. Booker T says Big Show was wrong and he is going to make it right. Booker puts them in a handicap match with Big Show tonight. Orton and Sheamus are both very pleased. Booker gives Teddy a dirty look when they leave.

^Teddy Long going heel on Booker? Not much to say about the promo work here, but the match should be excellent.

The Bellas and Tamina Snuka take on Cameron, Naomi, and Kaitlyn in a six diva tag match. One of the Bellas gets the pinfall on one of the Funkadactyls.

^Another short match. Nothing impressive, but generous of WWE to remember that the divas exist.

Triple H comes to the ring and says he told the world the ass kicker was back and that he was going to war with Brock Lesnar. The 3MB interrupt Triple H. Heath Slater says around here you apparently have to jump one of the big dogs to get noticed, and who is bigger than Triple H? They try to surround the ring, but the Shield’s music hits next. Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns surround the ring and then beat down the 3MB. They go after Triple H but Team Hell No comes running out for the save.

^I like Team Hell No rivaling with the Shield, but what I want to see more than anything else is some one on one matches for Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns. Good segment, but I want more wrestling from the trio.

Big Show complains to Booker T about being in a handicap match with Orton and Sheamus. Booker says it’s because he stuck his nose in the wrong business on Raw. Show accuses Booker of being bias and threatens to walk out because of his iron-clad contract. Booker tells Show to go ahead and walk but he’ll have his iron-clad contract held up in court until it’s rusted and worthless.

^Effective promo work from Booker T. I’d like to see him get in the ring one last time for maybe a match with the Big Show.

Sheamus and Orton defeat the Big Show when he walks away from the match after he gets brogue kicked out of the ring and counted out.

^And the rivalry continues. I was hoping to see a lot more wrestling from this one, but maybe down the road(Extreme Rules?) we’ll get a decent triple threat match.

Sheamus is interviewed backstage and says revenge tonight on Big Show was pretty sweet. Mark Henry comes up and knocks Sheamus over. Henry yells “that’s what I do!”

^And now we know Sheamus’ next rivalry. I guess the triple threat match that I wanted is now out of the question. I was hoping Henry would challenge for the WWE Title, but instead it looks like this 2011 Sheamus/Henry rivalry will be revisited.

Kofi Kingston pins Antonio Cesaro in non-title match after trouble in paradise.

^I hate seeing the US Champ lose clean in a non-title match. I’m sure Kofi will now get a title shot, but haven’t we seen this match a bunch of times already? Good wrestling, so I won’t complain about that, but I definitely wish the booking was better here.

Dolph Ziggler defeats Chris Jericho with the zig zag in the main event after getting help from Big E. Langston and Fandango. They beat down Jericho after the match and leave, but Fandango continues the assault on Y2J to close the show.

^Good match but not as good as some of their past encounters. I definitely enjoyed the ending and I’m pleasantly surprised with how well the Fandango character is getting over with the audience. Very good ending to a pretty good show.

This Smackdown had everything it needed to be successful(even with a small lack of wrestling). The show opened solid with good promo work and the main event delivered as it needed to. The wrestling and segments in between were well scripted and the show was very entertaining. I’ll be back with the Raw Analysis early Tuesday! Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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