SmackDown Review: The Quest For Damien Sandow Swimming Lessons

This episode of SmackDown hailed from Corpus Christi, TX, and presented further development in the feud between World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank winner Damien Sandow and his former best friend, Cody Rhodes. It also continued the build of the Dolph Ziggler/AJ Lee/Big E. Langston saga, as well as the first televised match involving the Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.

Randy Orton vs. Damien Sandow was a good match, but I feel it could have been built up a bit more. In fact, to show that both briefcases are of equal value, it should have been the main event for a Raw or SmackDown. Instead, we get another Sandow loss, which looks good for Orton, but bad for Sandow. Cody Rhodes' involvement did take some of the blame, but a countout finish would have been better to gain some kind of momentum for Sandow.

The CM Punk promo just put more interest in his feud with Brock Lesnar, which is definitely shaping up to be quite the match. Fandago appearing just to get a GTS by Punk? Could have been omitted, but I suppose it was done to show the aggression of Punk heading to SummerSlam. Too bad for Fandango, though. His ship is sinking?fast.

Mark Henry/Usos vs. Wade Barrett/Prime Time Players was a decent match, purposed to get the babyface team over heading to their match on Raw vs. The Shield. Speaking of that match, that was fairly bad news to hear that the match is happening on Raw instead of SummerSlam. It appears as if the plans for Henry and the Big Show to team up vs. the Shield at SummerSlam may very well happen, which is such a bad idea.

Alberto Del Rio vs. RVD suited its purpose, which was to give ADR a rogue victory an build some momentum for SummerSlam. This was definitely needed after losing clean against Randy Orton in a non-title match. It will also be interesting to see who ADR chooses to be his opponent at SummerSlam. It certainly may be RVD, which would be a good decision.

The segment involving Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee was a bit overboard, but at least it furthered the storyline. Admittedly, this is one of the best builds that the WWE has at this moment, and it is making the potential match between Ziggler and Big E. more interesting.

Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. Tons of Funk did not do much to impress me. Hopefully they will not fall victim to faulty booking. The focus on Kane at least provides a fair enough reason to do what they are doing, but the payoff better be worth the investment.

Christian vs. Jack Swagger was exactly what Christian needs to build momentum. Finally, he is being booked properly, similar to how he revived the Intercontinental Title scene early last year. Wrestling a load of midcard talent not only shows the talent that Christian has, but it garners fan support along the way.

The final segment of the night involving Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow was fantastic. It really showed that the WWE has high hopes for both men, giving them the final spot of the night in a non-wrestling role. With both of their potentials, it is undoubtedly a good move to take the risk and give them top-billing on SmackDown. It may backfire, but I don't think it will.

Are you in favor of Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow being the top feud of SmackDown? Sound off below.

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