WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Smackdown Review 4/20/12

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown 4/20/12. How does the blue brand fair in the UK? Let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with Daniel Bryan….

He talks about being embarrassed of his 18 second match at WM, but claims Sheamus is a coward for doing the sneak attack. For being a "submission specialist", you would think he would have better knowledge of when the bell rings. He claims that at Extreme Rules, he will win the WHC because he wants to shock the world in Chicago for a second time. Bryan ask the audience if he will out-wrestle Sheamus. He answers his own question with what you would expect………NO. Yep, that's what he said. Anyway, AJ interrupts the orgy chant. Bryan isn't interested in her, but she still wants to work out the relationship problems. Bryan wishes that AJ was never born and he will never take her back. AJ has her heart broken in the middle of the ring while Bryan is laughing. Well, I'd say Bryan is adjusting very well to being the next major asshole in WWE….

I liked Bryan's delivery with the promo, but AJ needs to work on this department. I haven't really brought this up, but AJ's acting skills are pretty bad. You're probably saying, "Oh, you silly Nerd. It can't be THAT bad, right?". Well……keep watching. 

Match #1: AJ vs Natalya

AJ is still in the ring and is heartbroken over Bryan's words. Natalya tries to be the nice person and console her. As soon as the bell rings, AJ snaps. She keeps swatting at Natalya in the corner while the referee is having a difficult time restraining her. Doesn't AJ weigh about 95 pounds? You would think the ref would have the advantage here, but here's AJ making Natalya and the referee look like her bitch. Yeah, I know it's wrestling logic. Since AJ isn't listening to the ref, we get a DQ. After the match, AJ starts to regain herself and seems ashamed of what she just did. I think it was an interesting move to have AJ snap. She's completely unstable at the moment since she lost her kayfabe boyfriend. Maybe she will continue this since she could have the mindset that Bryan wants a new AJ.  That would mean her embracing this psycho character in order to get Bryan back. That's a bit of a stretch, but it's a thought. As I mentioned before, AJ's acting really needs work. She was all over the place with her emotions here. To be fair, the idea that AJ is unstable does fit with someone who is all over the place, personality-wise. Still, the Napoleon Dynamite moment at the end was a little weird……IDIOT!!!

Winner via DQ: Natalya

Another Damien Sandow video. He talks about ignorance and how people like to watch garbage television. Hmm, garbage television? 

Hey, it's just a joke. Oh, the TNA fans are really gonna hate me now, despite me giving TNA a positive review this week. Well, what are you gonna do?

Match #2: Hunico vs Brodus Clay

Brodus brings out his brother to dance along with him and the girls. It turns out to be Hornswoggle. Yeah, cuz everyone wanted to see Hornswoggle dance away on a Tuesday afternoon. This was a really short match. Brodus hits Funk It and it's over. After the match, Hornswoggle hits the Tadpole Splash on Hunico. Remember when Hunico played Sin Cara Black? I don't either. 

Winner via pinfall: Brodus Clay

Teddy Long is backstage and is searching for Aksana. Titus O'Neil and Darren Young show up and start to mock Teddy for not signing them to SD and how Teddy lost power. Most people are harsh on Titus, but I think Darren is the least charismatic out of the two. At least Titus is having a little fun, but Darren is just as bland as his Nexus days. That's at least what I see at the moment. John Laurinaitis arrives and gives Teddy a bearskin hat. It appears that Johnny is forcing Teddy to be his guard for the rest of the night. Well, it isn't like the rest of the night can get any worse for Teddy, am I right? Eh…..EH…..whatever. Randy Orton had a backstage interview. We found out that it will be Kane vs Randy in a Falls Count Anywhere match at ER. Seems appropriate. Randy's promos are about as slow as his entrance walk. 

Match #3: Usos vs Titus O'Neil and Darren Young

There isn't a whole lot to talk about with this match. I'm sorry I don't have much to say about Titus and Darren at the moment. I don't watch NXT and I have no idea what their story is over there. It's clear they are going for the cocky heels. The finish comes when Darren and Titus hit a combo finish. Hang on a second. Doesn't that finisher look a bit familiar? 

As far as Titus and Darren's debut, it was right about average. Nothing amazing, but nothing terrible at the same time. Then again, that probably has to do with Titus' over-the-top acting. At least he's trying. 

Winner via pinfall: Titus O'Neil and Darren Young

Match #4: Big Show vs Alberto Del Rio

Not a whole lot to say here. Del Rio is trying to chop down the giant to his knees, but Show has too much power to be taken down. Considering the size difference, it's a least a tolerable match. The finish comes when Ricardo Rodriguez distracts the referee. Out from behind, Cody Rhodes gets in the ring and hits Beautiful Disaster on Show. The ref turns around, Del Rio pins Show, and the match is over. I didn't think it was possible, but I think Del Rio has become even more boring now than before. The guy can wrestle, but his character is boring. By the way, Show tried to kick out of the final pinfall. I guess somebody forgot the choreography since it can look a little weird. After the match, Cody takes a couple more shots at Show, but the giant is up. Cody retreats through the audience as Show is angry. Well, at least there's no embarrassing moment for this week. 

Winner via pinfall: Alberto Del *yawn* Rio

Match #5: Ryback vs yet another random guy

I think I just figured out Ryback's character. He's the character who constantly breaks the fourth wall. Every week, you have random people watching Ryback's matches. Every time they talk about Ryback, they talk about how this will be a squash match and how this twig has no chance of defeating Ryback. It's breaking the fourth wall since the wrestlers aren't supposed to talk like this. In case you're still wondering, I am indeed crazy. This time around, it was Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater watching Ryback's match. I bet Drew is happy to appear on SD for two straight weeks. Ryback hits the Muscle Buster and wins the match. I was disappointed with the jobber name. The person went by the name, Danny Lerman. I demand we get an even goofier name for these local jobbers. How else can we laugh at the randomness? 

Winner via pinfall: Ryback

Teddy is now a silent soldier based on the earlier scene. He's guarding Johnny's office until William Regal shows up. REGAL!!! REGAL!!! REGAL!!! Hey, I have to do it. Regal tries to get Teddy to laugh, but it doesn't work. Once he gives up, Aksana arrives with her friend, Antonio Cesaro. To Indy fans, he's best remembered for competing under his real name, Claudio Castagnoli. Well, this should definitely be interesting. Anyway, Aksana and Antonio go into Johnny's office while Teddy can't do a thing. Once they are behind closed doors, Johnny ask Teddy how nice it was to meet Aksana's friend. What a dick. He adds insult to injury and Teddy isn't even allowed to talk back? Teddy's not having a good week. 

Match #6: Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, and Mark Henry vs Sheamus, Big Show, and Randy Orton

Great Khali was originally scheduled to compete, but Cody attacked him in the knee and he went down. I guess that's the secret for killing Khali, take out his knees. Amazing how anyone who lost to Khali never thought to do this. Show volunteers to replace Khali since he has a bone to pick with Cody. This was by far the longest match of the night. Up to this point, we have probably had about 7 minutes of action, but this match ate up the last 25-30 minutes of the show. Then again, you have to take in the consideration of commercial breaks, so it probably ate up 10-13 minutes. I enjoyed the main event. Just about everyone got a decent amount of time to showcase their skills. The finish comes when the match breaks down and chaos is going about. Henry is the only one left in the ring. Sheamus his Henry with the Brogue Kick. Henry ended up falling near the ropes, only to be greeted to the Big Show imitation Falcon Punch. While the punch was occurring, Randy was tagged in. Henry stumbles towards the middle of the ring, only for Randy to hit the RKO. Damn!!! Three finishers on one guy? Did you kill him yet? The show ends with the good guys playing towards the live audience. As I said in the top of the review, the show was in the UK. The audience was energetic and awesome, but not quite as epic as the UK audience for Raw this past week. Still, this was a great crowd. 

Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show

Overall Impression:

Comparing this show to last week's show is not even fair. You have to consider that last week was a tribute show while this show was WWE getting back to business as usual…….For the most part. I thought this was a pretty fun show. The crowd once again makes the show come alive and gets you pumped up for some wrestling. While the action portion of the show wasn't amazing (until the main event), there was a lot of interesting things to witness. Bryan continues to be an asshole while AJ breaks down in front of the world. We have a new character debut in Antonio Cesaro. It wasn't a groundbreaking show, but it was pretty fun at times. I can see why people didn't like this show. It really feels like an average show, but I found this to be one of the more entertaining average episodes. There wasn't a lot of build-up with the ER PPV. We only have one more week until the PPV and there's only four matches on the card. Of course, stuff like Cody/Show will probably be added to the show, but a couple more match announcements would've been nice. Then again, they can take care of that next week and now I'm just trying to be nit picky……STOP IT!!! This show isn't for everyone, but you can be in for some entertainment if you're willing to turn off your brain. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, 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.