PUTTIN’ THAT SMACKDOWN…What Happened Last (Tuesday) Night [Oct. 24th, 2014]

The name of the game is Hell in a Cell and the WWE is doing their job of getting us salivating for it.  I’m not really, but that’s just because it is what it is.  Yet, that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.  So far, I’m simply curious.  I like how some wrestlers are evolving and others are finding their niche.  Suddenly, our wrestlers seem to be manifesting into somewhat interesting characters, which is sorely needed.  Sure there was plenty to critique but, generally speaking, I think my previous conjecture of a happy medium being reached isn’t too far off.  We’re not always going to see eye-to-eye but, as it goes in business, the customer will get more or less what they want in the end else the business is lost.  I think it’s safe to say that we’re not fully satisfied but the lot of us aren’t walking away…as of yet.

We open SmackDown with Dean Ambrose setting the scene of what it’s like dans la vie d’Ambrose.  It’s a hard life.  It takes a physical toll but he also has that fire in his belly that keeps him coming back for more day in and day out.  And in a life like that, you don’t take betrayal lightly.  In a life like that, you have to be wary of your allegiances.  And in a life like that, you don’t let someone off the hook.  You seek revenge and that’s what’s Ambrose is gonna do, come Hell in a Cell against Seth Rollins.  Well Rollins, maintaining a distance naturally, appears on the big screen – half-naked for some reason – to counter.  All Ambrose has, apparently, is due to Rollins.  Rollins' ideas, his plans, his vision is what has Ambrose standing out there.  When the time’s right, Rollins will pull the proper strings, cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the Heavyweight Championship.  Ambrose’s retort is basically “whatever”.  All he knows is that at HIAC, he’s going to go fucking nuts and Rollins is a miserable SOB that’ll die alone in the end.  So, there you have it.

The first match of the night features The Miz with Damien “Mizdow” doing his “stunt double” duty along with being a tag-team partner against Los Matadores.  Sheamus sat in on commentary, as well.  This was a so-so match.  I haven’t seen too much of Los Matadores so I’m chocking it up to getting them some TV time along with just mixing things up.  Even the WWE knows they gotta keep it fresh and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were kind of boring themselves of late.  Nevertheless, Sheamus was quite funny on commentary and added some excitement seeing how the US Championship is on the line at HIAC and his opponent was in the ring.  After getting the win, The Miz also did his part in amping up anticipation for their match by goading Sheamus on.  They tease at getting into it right then and there, but no-no…they’ll wait.

Next up, was another match against Alicia “Amerie” Fox and AJ Lee.  I still have problems suspending my disbelief given AJ’s tiny stature.  Alicia did a good job of tossing AJ around and AJ took the hits but her offense I just don’t fully buy.  I think Creative should really consider having AJ get dirty to compensate.  As I usually say, if you’re going to have mis-matched wrestlers, and the underdog doesn’t have any sort of  “-Fu”, “-Do” or “-Tsu” at their disposal then it’s hard to take the whole thing seriously or at least invest any real interest in the match.  Whatever happens is what was made to.  True, this is always the case but, it’s just more transparent in these instances.  If she isn’t going to incorporate martial arts in the match, she should get creative and use instruments or more smarts.  Get out a kendo stick, one of those “steel” chairs and level the playing field.  Get all crafty and psych people out more.  That I could understand but just giving her the win on 20lbs and crazy is a bit of insult in my opinion…just saying.

We then have a pre-recorded spot with Big Show describing his relationship with our US troops and his unwavering support so that we better understand the severity of Rusev’s offence to him and you know, to get our patriotic hackles up. There’s also a Wyatt Family break-up promo and that commercial plugging WWE2K15 featuring a song with Wiz Khalifa and John Cena.  Now, I liken this to when someone like Paris Hilton goes off and decides to cut an album.  Just because Cena can get ghetto from time to time, doesn’t grant him any “skillz on the mic”, you know what I’m saying?  The Music Industry is already in a sorry state with talent being optional nowadays and tracks like this don’t help.  Might as well as get R-Truth on it too if this is what we’re doing.  I don’t disavow Cena being a marketing draw but I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say there’s no real desire to hear him on any tracks.  I have a hard enough time listening to the commercial.

Anyway, the next match puts the Intercontinental Championship on the line with Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro going at it one more time before HIAC.  I didn’t quite understand why they were doing this match now but seeing how it’s going to go again at HIAC I suppose this was more for the true fans not to mention, it gets both men some well-deserved TV time.   This was a great match and that’s something I haven’t been able to truthfully say too often.  Both guys came out swinging and punches were only slightly pulled, if at all.  It was amazing!  I’m really glad these guys are coming into their own.  It was hard to say who was gonna come out on top but after some formidable back and forth, Ziggler executes his signature move, the ZigZag, and gets the win.  Yet, this was definitely a big showing for them both.  They’re establishing themselves as solid wrestlers and I hope that their booking will reflect that from here on out.

The other Divas come out next to put on a 6-Woman Tag Team match with the Faces in Brie Bella, Naomi and Natalya against Heels Nikki Bella, Cameron and Summer Rae.  It was a whatever kind of match though I dug Cameron’s outfit but, I think what this really was all about was establishing Nikki’s Heel-itude.  She gets the win over her sister after performing her Rack Attack and then gets on the mic to illustrate how much of a baddie she is now and you gotta give it to her, she’s getting the hang of it.  I’m not sure how this all will evolve but we can’t say Nikki isn’t pulling her weight as far as manifesting a personality goes.

To follow, we have some more tag team action with The Usos and Mark Henry going up against Gold and StarDust and Bo Dallas.  This came off as a bit of a merry-go-round of a match that I feel was presented mainly to perhaps set the scene for Henry’s Heel turn since he ended up losing it for the Good Guys by inadvertently falling to Bo Dallas again.  This is another instance where it’s hard to suspend one’s disbelief but if they make the Heel turn interesting it may be worth it.  It all depends.

To conclude, we have Seth Rollins in the ring with a whole host of toys to play with.  We have some tables, some chairs, and whatever else they tend to have as standard weaponry.  He goes on to further explain how he didn’t so much sell out as buy in.  He’s no slouch and knows how to “win” at this game so he partnered up with the “winning” team and so on and so forth.  He actually could have made his point more succinctly but in any case, Ambrose eventually comes out to spice things up.  The real Authority Goons in Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury come out to remove the nuisance that is Ambrose but only show that their wrestling background serves some purpose as Ambrose lays them to waste in well-executed fashion.  Rollins bails out yet again but in some sort of show of readiness renders himself half-naked again to stare Ambrose down as we fade to black and the next show on SyFy.  I don’t doubt their showdown at HIAC will be entertaining but I’m more interested to see how Creative intends to keep their rivalry fresh.  Rollins is doing a great job of getting you to hate him and Ambrose is developing nicely as a character but, I’m not sure how engaging the same ol’gripe is going to go in the long run.  Hopefully, Rollins will start to add to his list of offences so the rivalry can deepen but I suppose only time will tell.

Enjoy HIAC & See You Monday,

-Nicole Alexis.