ThunderStruck: WWE Smackdown Analysis 05/16/14

The Usos take on Cody Rhodes and Goldust in our opening match. The Usos get the win when one of the brothers superkicks Cody and gets the pin after the big splash. Cody storms away after the match before Goldust can talk to him.

^Solid opening contest. They definitely are still leaning towards a split of the Brotherhood. With that factor included, the Usos were made to look dominant as champions in this matchup. I’m genuinely surprised it took WWE so long to put the Usos where they belong – at the top. Solid start to this edition of Friday Night Smackdown.

John Cena talks. The Last Man Standing match with Bray Wyatt for Payback is on. Bray interrupts on the tron after Cena challenges one of the Wyatts tonight.

^Cena’s promo work and pearl song was funny. Bray’s words were good but all over the place as usual. Last man standing should work nicely for these two as Cena’s other last man standing matches were exceptional.

El Torito defeats Heath Slater.

^The WeeLC Match was fun. This wasn’t so much fun. Time filler.

Natalya takes on Nikki Bella with Eva Marie as the special guest referee. Nikki wins a short but competitive match. Natalya argues with Eva Marie after the match.

^Some decent wrestling in here by Natti, but beyond that this was just silly and not that interesting.

Dolph Ziggler is interviewed by Renee Young about his tweet to Batista. Ziggler says Batista thought he was going to come back as a Superstar that he once was and he didn’t really evolve.

^It almost sounded like Ziggler wanted to join Evolution with how he talked about Batista. I don’t think that was supposed to be the intent.

Dolph Ziggler defeats Batista by DQ. Batista low blows Ziggler to lose the match. Batista beats Dolph down after the match.

^That was boring. These two could’ve at least tried to give us something decent, but instead they just went through the motions and almost put me to sleep.

Titus O’Neil takes on Sheamus. O’Neil cuts a promo before the match. Sheamus brogue kicks O’Neil at the bell and gets the three count.

^What’s worse than a drawn out match with hardly any wrestling? The answer is a thirty second squash match.

Byron Saxton interviews Adam Rose out back. They put a clown wig on Byron and he dances with them. End of scene.

^Silly stuff, but it adds to the intrigue of Adam Rose.

Santino accepts Damien Sandow’s open challenge and Emma is in his corner. Santino wins a short match. Sandow cuts another “pipebomb” Punk-style promo after the match until his mic gets cut off.

^So Sandow is mocking CM Punk now. Not sure how I feel about it. I’d say it’s wrong but Sandow is playing the role so perfectly that I just can’t criticize him.

R-Truth faces Antonio Cesaro with Paul Heyman. Heyman cuts a promo before the match. Cesaro wins another short match on this card.

^Not sure why we’re getting all these shorter than short matches back to back, but I’m fairly disappointed with the overall direction of this Smackdown. Cesaro winning here was the only choice.

John Cena w/the Usos takes on Erick Rowan with the Wyatt Family. Cena wins with an AA as the Usos take care of the Wyatts on the outside.

^Could the Usos taking Rowan and Harper be something we see at Payback? I could definitely see Rowan and Harper having a run with those Tag Team Titles. Cena and Rowan just were not all that entertaining here; Cena just can’t carry any limited wrestlers in a non-gimmick match and that’s why this was somewhat of a snooze for a main event.

The opening match was entertaining and well put together. The John Cena/Bray Wyatt segment was intriguing. The entire show after that BOMBED out big time. Quick squash matches back to back to back with little storyline intrigue or relation is just pointless.

This episode of Smackdown gets a 2 out of 10. Twenty percent of the show(the first match and segment) were the only things worth seeing. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

facebook.com/thunderstruck11 – add me!