SmackDown Just Tries to be Effective. No Plan Necessary.

Good Evening, Enthusiasts!

How’s this week going for you so far?  I’m just grateful the Gods didn’t interrupt my West Coast feed so no complaints from me. Let's hope the trend continues.  So, RAW came through and did its thing and I have to say, they set a good tone for being about 2 weeks out from WrestleMania.  The action was high energy and engaging.  It even brought me to wonder a bit.  Personally, I would say a high point was seeing Beth Phoenix in action.  I wasn’t watching during her heyday but it was nice to see her get her footing back and just be big and bad-ass!  Like I said on the Twitters, need more gals like that on the roster.  I feel like I can pick a lot of the ladies up by the scruff.  The more to ‘em, the easier it all is to believe unless they got mad skills in which case, that’s what they have going on.

I also found the main event intriguing.  Some people didn’t care for the placement and tone because it had Drew McIntyre stand triumphant over Dean Ambrose again after once again trying to defend Roman Reigns’ honor but what I found interesting is the chemistry that developed between McIntyre and Ambrose.  It’s clear Ambrose has a little Mick Foley in him and doesn’t mind taking some hits with foreign objects and drawing some blood.  He’s down for a “dirty match” and with general social sentiments leaning more towards peaceful interactions, not everyone is particularly sold on that kind of match but in McIntyre, he may have found an admirable playmate.  The rough play didn’t cause me to wince and it was believable without being over the top or too needlessly violent.  McIntyre proceeded to kick Ambrose’s ass and it’s not like Ambrose didn’t get his hits in too but the point is that it was a believable throw down perhaps more to their particular liking.  I find it promising because should Ambrose’s departure prove to be a work or not exactly set in stone, the potential for a true blue rivalry may lie in this pairing.  I hope they find a way to utilize this effectively.

In any case, SmackDown should feel pleased that it has to keep the buzz but at the same time set it down with a hint of anticipation.  The key here is to get us wanting.  A lot of talk on the Twitters is about how people aren’t really feeling excited for WrestleMania as they’ve been in recent years.  I have to say I’m about the same.  Yet, I do feel this year may have more potential than in recent times, though.  I don’t know if I should get jazzed about it just yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if this WrestleMania turned out to be one of the better ones they’ve had in past years.  There appears to be more of a focus on just putting on a good show then throwing anything out there so, we may just enjoy the hours upon hours of wrestling content.  I’m looking forward to it.  I’m curious but I’m not antsy…not sure I ever will be and that has nothing to do with anything.  It just takes a lot to get me going nowadays but hey, if they get us going they get us going.  That’s the goal.  We’ll see how close they get. 

As for tonight’s action, what’s going around is that Kurt Angle will continue his Farewell Tour and show up to take on AJ Styles.  There’s also supposed to be a Fatal-4-Way to determine who Asuka gets to play with at WrestleMania.  Also, we’ll probably get to see the continuation of the Kofi Kingston saga.  Word has it that there’s promotional material going around announcing the match between Kingston and Daniel Bryan so, there’s a possible spoiler but it should head in that direction anyway.  To dangle this just to revoke it in the end without due process just comes off like Management dicking everyone around.  That can work in context but not necessarily in marketing.  Just let the build-up be entertaining.  If we don’t feel our time is wasted, that should be a good enough start.  Anyway, you know the drill.  Funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, continue to be stingy.  These people have got to earn it if they really want us to care.

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis. (^_~)