SmackDown Review: Did The Show Thwart Any Of Your SummerSlam Predictions?
This week's SmackDown episode was the go-home show to the 26th SummerSlam. It focused on more storyline building for the event, particularly the feuds of Kane/Bray Wyatt, Christian/Alberto Del Rio and RVD/Dean Ambrose.
The Kane/Bray Wyatt segment left me a bit disappointed. I do not think there is any question that Kane will put over Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam. It would seem as if the best option would be to make Kane intimidating to Wyatt as much as possible to make the win more meaningful. Instead, the Wyatt Family has gained the advantage over Kane almost every time, and even left Kane motionless on a few occasions.
Christian vs. Damien Sandow was a good match, and it was a good idea to have Christian win to further gain momentum for SummerSlam. As we saw from what happened post-match with ADR trying, but failing, to outwit Christian, it appears as if he will retain the title at SummerSlam. However, I have a strong feeling that he may even get the win at the PPV, seeing how ADR is an incredibly bland champion, coupled with it making more sense for Christian to have the title during the Sandow/Rhodes feud.
AJ/Layla vs. Kaitlyn/Natalya was nothing impressive, and it basically was a spot filler. Did it further the build for the mixed tag match? Not really, because neither Ziggler nor Big E. Langston were involved
RVD/Big Show/Mark Henry vs. The Shield was a good match, and a good way to further anticipate these feuds leading into SummerSlam. It also made sense for the babyface team to win, because it sets up for Big Show and Mark Henry to challenge The Shield for the titles. Rollins and Reigns going over the two behemoths would help their rather lackluster title reign.
Miz vs. Jack Swagger was needed to gain some kind of recognition for Miz being the host of SummerSlam. Other than that... not much here.
Curtis Axel vs. Zack Ryder further increases my ire towards both Axel and the treatment of the Intercontinental Championship. Both are barely relevant, and the best thing about them are that Paul Heyman is affiliated. Axel has been nothing more than a pawn in the Punk/Lesnar feud, and there seems to be no interest in giving him an opponent for the title.
In that case, he should have never won the title to begin with. Especially since after winning the title in May, he has only defended it four times, last against Chris Jericho over a month ago.
Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett was a decent match. Barrett being a filler for Daniel Bryan while Cena is resting the baseball lodged in his elbow is a good idea, and it still ties in to the feud. Moreover, this is the most relevant airtime Barrett has experienced in a significant amount of time, so I'm sure he is in favor of it. A rare SmackDown appearance by Vince also helped the overall interest of the match, as well as Triple H showing up in favor of Daniel Bryan.
It all seems a bit suspicious to me, though. We shall see if a swerve is pulled at SummerSlam.
What SummerSlam match are you looking forward to the most? Did SmackDown change your predictions at all? Sound off below.