wrestling / TV Reports

Tremendous Tirades 3.22.13: WWE Friday Night Smackdown

March 22, 2013 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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Introduction
It’s the road to WrestleMania, and with that being the case, I have dusted off the old Tremendous Tirades name for new alternate recap to the main shows that will air each week (Raw, Impact and Smackdown). This will now be a recap, but instead be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; uncensored and as the ideas flow.

I felt that last week’s show was a much better show for Smackdown than usual, because it actually felt like shit was happening, instead of running through the motions. Swagger gets a huge win, we have motion on the undercard with the seeds planted for the tag title match and the six-man with the Shield. Also, things are in motion for the Divas title match, Ryback vs. Henry and a possible eight-person match. Smackdown felt like a show I had to watch this week, which is a really rare feeling these days. On top of that, it felt like an easy show to watch. Maybe a few too many Raw recaps, and of course the stupid comedy bullshit, but I liked the show overall.

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You can listen to the live (Friday night at 10:30PM ET) or the archive version of Business as Usual with Steve Cook, independent wrestler Tony Sly and myself at this link!

  • We get highlights from Raw.

    Opening Promo: MIZ TV With Sheamus, Show and Orton: Miz TV kicked off the show, with Randy Orton and Sheamus as the guests. When asked who their partner should be, Orton said Big Show because of what he did Monday, while Sheamus wasn’t as accepting. He admitted that Show helped them, but he doesn’t trust Show. Orton agreed with the lack of trust, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to in order to survive. Orton speaks logical here, saying he wants the big bad giant on his side in this fight. Show then came out. Miz tried to stir shit by reminding everyone that Show KO’d him to end their tag team, but Show blew him off. He said he did something no one else could, KO’d a member of the Shield, and if they work together, no one can stop them. Sheamus put over his feud with Sheamus, and his toughness, but was worried that Show would bail on them at WM. Orton played peace maker, Miz was annoying and they argued until Booker T made his appearance. He needed to know if they could work together, and booked them in a six-man tag match later tonight. Typical Smackdown opening segment, it was perfectly fine, but also the same shit you see almost every week.

    Rating (1-10): 6.0

  • Highlights of Mark Henry killing Ryback last week.
  • JBL is back at the announce position.

    Mark Henry vs. Zack Ryder: Zack Ryder, with his jobber’s entrance, got destroyed by Henry. I think Henry’s intro and the video hype for his match with Ryback was longer then the match itself. Mark Henry has a Wm match, so he should kill job guys, so that was perfectly fine. Henry brutalized Ryder a bit more, as the crowd chanted, “feed me more,” which led to Ryback hitting the ring. They had a stand off, Henry charged Ryback and ate the clothesline. Henry bailed and Ryback led his chant in the ring as Henry stared him down. Nice follow up to last week, as Ryback got in something, but shouldn’t get the ultimate revenge until WrestleMania.

    Rating (1-10): 8.0

  • Booker T was watching the monitor backstage, and Teddy Long came in and said he worked with Vickie to make the Ryback vs. Henry match. Booker didn’t appreciate how he did business, because Long works for Booker and not Teddy. Teddy got offended, thinking he worked WITH Booker. Well, you’re fucking wrong Teddy!
  • We get the Booker T hall of fame video package. Again, I can see him going in, but I would have waited, this year is already a stacked one. But that’s just my opinion.

    Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston… Again: Yes, yes we did watch this match on Monday. AJ was on commentary this time, sitting up on the announce table so JBL could fondle her ass for the next seven minutes. I’m not judging. They had a longer match than on Raw, it was their usual good match and Ziggler won with some distraction from Big E. Langston. Langston also killed Kofi after the match with his move with no name. Quality wrestling and a Ziggler win are good things, but it is slightly annoying seeing this after we saw essentially the same thing on Raw. It’s been all down hill for Kofi since he got those back tattoos.

    Rating (1-10): 6.5

  • We see Chris Jericho’s meeting with Fandango on Raw.
  • We get highlights from Raw, where CM Punk pretended he was a Harlem Globetrotter and played with the urn. Someone needs to take the video of that and add in some Sweet Georgia Brown over it.
  • Show and Sheamus argue backstage about their match tonight. Randy Orton, again, is the voice of reason. Yeah, Orton is bailing on the team at Mania.

    Jack Swagger vs. Chris Jericho: Swagger ad Dirty Dutch hit the ring and cut their customary promo about jack Swagger’s America, and the fact that guys like Jericho are dirty boarder jumpers (from New York). Once again I felt that they had a good match, and I also feel that it needs to be said again that matches like this only help Swagger in his main event push. Fandango would appear, dance a bit and distract Jericho. Jericho was able to come back, but then Fandango got involved and nailed Jericho with a kick to the face, allowing Swagger to win again over Jericho. After the match he laid the boots to Jericho, yelling “WHAT’S MY NAME BITCH?” Ok, he didn’t say bitch, but he was thinking it. He then went up top and hit the Alabama Jam (SHADES OF BOBBY EATON) and said his name to Jericho. Yes Swagger won and that is good. They are building to Jericho vs. Fandango, and personally I don’t like it. I don’t like the Fandango deal, and I feel that it is a waste of Jericho, especially when you consider the US CHAMPION (that Antonio Cesaro guy) doesn’t even have a match on the biggest show of the year.

    Rating (1-10): 6.5

  • Big Show says that Randy Orton is right, and that they need to be on the same page because they have all been beat down by the Shield. He promises to do his best and prove that they can trust him.
  • We get a “special look” at Rock vs. Cena.
  • Hey the Rock will be on Raw this week.

    Rhodes Scholars w/The Bellas vs. Dance Dance Revolution: Not really a match as it broke down in less than two-minutes with the ladies getting involved. This again looks like they are building to the eight-person tag that had been rumored, either for the pre-show or for the actual WrestleMania show. It was fine, but nothing special. Cameron and Naomi’s outfits are outstanding. Dance Dance Revolution cleared the ring and stood tall.

    Rating (1-10): 6.0

  • Sheamus and Orton are now magically on the same page, with Sheamus saying that he trusts Orton. It’s too easy for Show to bail, and Sheamus is being way too over the top; while Orton is being uncharacteristically calm and collected. Yeah, Orton is bailing on the team at Mania.

    Non-Title Match: Antonio Cesaro © vs. The Miz: Wade Barrett is on commentary. So let me get this straight. Cesaro owns Miz in their feud. Miz then moves onto the other secondary title and is looking to get a match at WrestleMania. He then gets to beat Cesaso here in under three-minutes, and Cesaro has NOTHING lined up for WrestleMania. But Fandango has a match? It’s another example of the secondary champion always losing, always being booked like they do not matter and that leading to people not caring. In closing…

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    “FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKIN BULLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT”

    Rating (1-10): 1.0

  • Highlights of the Triple H contract signing from Raw.

    Show, Sheamus and Orton vs. 3MB: Well I see why they didn’t announce who their opponents were at the top of the show, no one would have stayed around. Sheamus ran wild to begin, and while show was supportive, Sheamus did Show’s “Shhhhhh chop” in the corner. Show then tagged in, and ran wild and then did Sheamus’ clubberin in the ropes deal in return. A little one-upsmanship between the former foes. 3MB got some heat on Orton for a bit, Orton tagged in Show, he cleaned house but was kicked into Sheamus, who came in on the blind tag and brogue kicked Mahal for the win. Show wasn’t impressed, feeling Sheamus stole his heat, and they argued. Orton tried to play peacemaker once again as the Shield made their entrance. Show and Sheamus argued, and stated to fight, which led to Orton getting hit and them all arguing. They eventually stopped their fighting to go back to back to back to stand ready for the Shield, who then bailed as they lost their advantage. I still think that Orton turns on the team at some point. This was a fine end to the show, but nothing particularly special. It is something for Mania, but it didn’t feel like a major angle.

    Rating (1-10): 6.5

    The Tirade

    And we’re back to being just a show. Yes, they did some WrestleMania related build, but none of it felt important. Thankfully it was better than Raw was this week. I don’t know, maybe it is just me, but I would think that the company would want both Raw and Smackdown firing on all cylinders as they head to the biggest show of the year. Instead we took a detour off of the road to WrestleMania, heading through the country for a scenic drive that takes too long to get t the destination. We see some cool things, big ball of twine, world’s largest cast iron skillet, but it is few and far in between. I know they have a long time frame to build the show, but this week felt extremely flat and killed a lot of the momentum in my opinion. But that’s just one man’s opinion.

    Show Rating: 6.0

    As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale…

    0 – 0.9: Torture
    1 – 1.9: Extremely Horrendous
    2 – 2.9: Very Bad
    3 – 3.9: Bad
    4 – 4.9: Poor
    5 – 5.9: Not So Good
    6 – 6.9: Average
    7 – 7.9: Good
    8 – 8.9:Very Good
    9 – 9.9: Amazing
    10: Virtually Perfect


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    Larry Csonka is a Pisces and enjoys rolling at jiu jitsu class with Hotty McBrownbelt, cooking, long walks on the beach, Slingo and the occasional trip to Jack in the Box. He is married to a soulless ginger and has two beautiful daughters who are thankfully not soulless gingers; and is legally allowed to marry people in 35 states. He has been a wrestling fan since 1982 and has been writing for 411 since May 24th, 2004; contributing over 3,000 columns, TV reports and video reviews to the site.

    Have you checked out the Csonka Podcasting Network? If you haven’t, you should We run anywhere from 15-20 shows a month, discussing pro wrestling, the world of MMA, the NBA, general sports, popular TV series of the past, bad movies, battle rap, interviews, MMA & Wrestling conference calls and more! Around 10 different personalities take part in the various shows, which all have a different feel; so you’ll likely find something you like. All of the broadcasts are free, so go ahead and give a show a try and share the link with your friends on the Twitter Machine and other social media outlets! Running since May of 2011, there are currently over 270 shows in the archive for you to listen to.

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