WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Smackdown Review 1/20/12 (Sin City Smackdown)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown on 1/20/12. How did Sin City Smackdown turn out? Well, let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with Daniel Bryan. He basically says the same thing that he said on Raw this past week. He talks about how Big Show tackled AJ on purpose because of his short WHC reign. He talks about how much he cares about AJ and what Show did is unforgivable. He finally talks about the match with Mark Henry tonight and how he isn't afraid of the giant. A very basic opening to the show. There really isn't a whole lot to talk about. What an exciting start to this review. Backstage scene where we find out that Smackdown will be like Raw Roulette, where the wheel determines the type of match. Cody Rhodes spins the wheel and lands on Player's Choice. This means he gets to chose his opponent. Cody picks Hornswoggle, in what will be a very short. 

Cody is getting ready to face off against his most terrifying opponent yet, a rabid leprechaun. He…….pretty much pushes him to the ground. Justin Gabriel arrives for the save. Gabriel says Cody should pick on an opponent bigger than him, like himself. Cody decides to accept the match. 

Match #1: Cody Rhodes vs Justin Gabriel

This was a short match, but it was decent to watch. The finish comes when Cody hits the Cross Rhodes for the victory. I thought at first this might have been a start of a Cody/Gabriel rivalry, but I really think they are setting something up between Cody and Goldust since they keep bringing it up. I like how Gabriel is getting more screen time. Hopefully it means they will try something with him. So much talent in this company, just so little time. 

Winner via pinfall: Cody Rhodes

Backstage where Mark Henry tells Teddy Long that Sin City Smackdown is the worst concept ever. Really? How about Eugene? Anyway, Teddy spins the wheel and it lands on Lumberjack match. This means the WHC match will be a Lumberjack match, which opens the door for more shenanigans. 

Match #2: Primo and Epico vs Usos; Tornado Tag Match

The rules to a Tornado tag are simple. Both tag teams are competing at the same time and there is no tagging in and out, so it's kinda a free for all. You probably see these tag team matches at least once a month in TNA since I swear they never tag in and out of matches. I don't recall if they actually showed the wheel spin for this match. I did watch this online and not on TV for various reasons, so not sure this was shown on screen or not. Then again, who really cares about some pointless wheel spin? This match was decent, but not a whole lot to talk about since it was short. The finish comes when Rosa Mendes distracts one of the Usos, which allows for the Puerto Rican Express to take care of the Uso. In the mean time, it seemed like the other Uso was ready to finish the match, but Primo is back in the ring and hits the Backstabber for the victory. With the way things were set up, it didn't make the Usos look bad. In fact, it looks like they had the match, but were outsmarted by the new tag champs. I hope this means the Usos will begin a program with Primo and Epico. I think it could be interesting if done right. 

Winner via pinfall: Primo and Epico

Backstage where Sheamus interrupts the potential underpants party of Teddy and Aksana. Time to spin the wheel, which lands on Tables Match. So the Sheamus/Wade Barrett match will be a Tables match. How informative. 

Time for the comedy segment of the night. Or as I like to call it, stuff the IWC will complain about tomorrow morning. We have a dance off between Brodus Clay and Vickie Guerrero. Vickie does her dance. It was the robot…..on crack. Brodus does his normal dance. Brodus' dancers join along. One thing I haven't mentioned is the name of Brodus' dancers. One of them is Naomi, which you might remember from NXT Season 3. The other one is Cameron, who was on Tough Enough. Hooray for pointless information. The fans are clearly pulling for Brodus. Vickie is crying that she lost. That's right, she just lost the game. William Regal shows up and says it isn't right for Vickie to get booed. Brodus tells him to throwdown….a dance down. Geez, I'm just making up all sorts of things tonight. Regal starts to dance. It was actually pretty good. Time for Brodus to Funk It. The scene ends with Brodus saying "my bad". They are really pushing this whole Brodus deal. So far, it seems to be working since the audience seems to love him, no matter how ridiculous it is. 

Match #3: Wade Barrett vs Sheamus; Tables Match

This wasn't a bad little match. It got interesting towards the end. The finish comes when Sheamus has a table propped up against a corner and is about to send Wade through it. Jinder Mahal shows up to distract Sheamus, which allows Wade to get Sheamus and send him through a table, thus winning the match. It's a cheap way of getting Wade the victory and not making Sheamus look weak, but it's effective. After the match, Jinder is about to send Sheamus through another table, but the Irishman is back up and hits the Brogue Kick. Sheamus picks up Jinder and sends him through the table. This Jinder guy is really going places….like the unemployment line. 

Winner: Wade Barrett

Match #4: Ted DiBiase vs Hunico; Flag match

In a flag match, the concept is to grab your flag before your opponent. Is that some type of innuendo? Anyway, this was a short match. Before the match, DiBiase cut a short video in not knowing what is Hunico's problem since the DiBiase Posse party is an open invitation. Thank you. That's exactly what I said last week. Oh well, we just need a reason for this rivalry to have a plot, even if it's silly. DiBiase was going for the USA flag while Hunico was going for the Mexico flag. The finish comes when DiBiase hits Dream Street and gets his flag. Well, at least the DiBiase/Hunico rivalry is even so far. Still, not a whole lot to go on here in terms of storyline. 

Winner: Ted DiBiase

Backstage where Teddy fires Drew McIntyre. Santino interrupts and says he wants to prove that his victory over Drew wasn't a fluke. He wants another match against Drew. Teddy makes it happen and adds that Drew won't get fired if he wins this match. Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn. Tell us how Drew will get embarrassed today. It will be…..a Blindfold match. Yeah, this isn't a recipe for disaster. 

Match #5: Drew McIntyre vs Santino; Blindfold match

Drew had an epic fail when he attacked the post. There was even a moment where Drew tired to cheat by sneaking a peak, but it didn't work. Drew just can't catch a break. Santino was able to locate Drew with the help of the audience. He hits the Cobra and wins the match. I honestly think they are trying for some type of character overhaul with Drew. I think he could be in for a face turn, but I have no idea at this very moment. I think we will wait and see what they have in store for Drew….if it's anything at all. 

Winner via pinfall: Santino

Match #6: Daniel Bryan vs Mark Henry; Lumberjack match for the WHC

I like how they set up the fact that Drew McIntyre is "fired", but he is one of the lumberjacks in this match. That makes perfect sense. Bryan was kinda provoking the lumberjacks. I understand what Bryan was trying to do here, but it really wasn't executed too well. After a while, the match just broke down. The lumberjacks actually jumped in the ring to attack Bryan. What was strange was how they all of the sudden attacked Henry. What, does Bryan smell? It really made no sense for the lumberjacks to completely change their focus to Henry. It might be the cheapest example of wrestling logic yet. Once the lumberjacks start attacking Henry, Bryan slithers away. Teddy runs into Bryan backstage and wants to know what the hell was that. Bryan says it isn't fair he had to defend his title against Big Show and Henry. Teddy says Bryan will defend his championship at the Royal Rumble. It will be Bryan vs Show vs Henry in a steel cage match. The scene wasn't written well since Bryan should've provoked the lumberjacks a little more (maybe he could've thrown something at them), but it does progress the storyline that Bryan has completely lost his mind. Bryan once again found a way to outsmart his opponent and retain his title. He once again has an uphill battle as he will be in a triple threat match. What I can strangely see happening is Show helping Bryan retain the title. Maybe Bryan plays the guilt trip card in order to get Big Show to help him win. It would really add more to Bryan's character since he is really becoming a jackass more and more each show. We will wait and see what they got planned for the Royal Rumble. 

No Contest

Overall Impression:

I really wasn't a big fan of SD tonight. It was okay for the most part, but I guess I was expecting a little more for this evening. None of the matches really stood out as a great wrestling match. Most of the matches are tolerable, but nothing really stands out from most of the matches…..except for maybe the tables match. It was more or less an average episode of SD. There was lots of filler tonight. In fact, there was so much that I really didn't want to review this show since there wasn't a lot to talk about. Strangely enough, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than TNA. Then again, I don't think that is saying much. They finally made a decision with the WHC title match at the Rumble, which doesn't really come as a surprise since it seemed it was heading down this direction. I still like this storyline since it makes Daniel Bryan stand out, but I am waiting for something big to happen in regards to Bryan. I think something will end up happening at the Royal Rumble. Time to rank the shows. In terms of wrestling quality, the shows can go either way. For the most part, none of the shows really stood out in this department. What stood out this week was the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling. In terms of promos/segments, I rank it Raw, SD, and Impact. The highlight of the week had to be the ending to Raw, in which we saw CM Punk deliver one of his pipe bombs and seeing John Laurinaitis finally snap and show some emotion. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Not one of my better articles, but that's what happens when I am pressed for time. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.