By Jake Barnett

The purpose of this editorial is to rundown the latest edition of WWE Smackdown by highlighting the top angles on the show, list where I think they succeeded and where they failed, and give it a final letter grade in the traditional grade school format. I will also give the overall show a letter grade. The following Report Card pertains to the June 3rd edition of Smackdown.

Angle 1: Randy Orton vs. The World

This Week’s Successes:

• Christian and Mark Henry delivered a short but passable match to open the show. It had some good near falls and good drama. It set the tone for the rest of the show by allowing the stipulation for the main event to be set and allowed Christian to put in motion the changes to his character that would become the story of this broadcast.


• Randy Orton continues to deliver in the ring every week, and he and Sheamus gave us another great TV Main Event that could have been a PPV match if it had a clean finish.


• Christian striking Orton with the belt was great. He sold the character change all night by overplaying the altruistic elements of his babyface persona, and in the end it gave the belt strike that extra impact that it needed to silence the crowd and change perceptions about him.


• The backstage promo segments by everyone involved in this feud were all well done. Christian and Sheamus’s interaction backstage showed just how comfortable both guys are in their characters, and did a great job of selling the Main Event.

• The finish to the Mark Henry and Christian match was not good. Hitting the Killswitch on a guy as large as Mark Henry just exacerbates the issue of leverage in the setup for that move. The faster Christian transitions into using the spear, the better it will be for him in the long haul

• A very solid match from Dibiase and Bryan. It wasn’t as good as the match we saw on Raw a few months ago, but it was a respectable effort with the time that was given and the fact that the commercial break fell mid match. The finish was a great reversal into a submission that the crowd anticipated and reacted to.


• Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan got a great reaction while standing tall after the run in that finished the match. I can see these guys clicking as a mid-card duo.

• Cody Rhodes needs to quit running the same material. The paper bag thing was cute the first few times, but fans have never really reacted to it in a big way, and instead react when he does more traditional heel microphone work. He should focus on that and lose the gimmicks.


• We need to see more talking from Daniel Bryan. The crowd is behind him in the ring, but he’s not going to progress much further without some kind of emotional connection to the fans.

• Jinder Mahal and Khali and being sold as a duo of monsters. I can dig Khali and Jinder’s bodyguard and enforcer, as it will allow him to do what he does best, which is look imposing.


• We might finally get to see the mercy killing of the Corre. These guys all need a break. Hopefully they come out of this with a direction.

• The Women’s division on Smackdown is completely lifeless. You could hear the crowd audibly sighing on the ring mic during parts of that match. Put the women who can wrestle in the ring and let them deliver. These new girls are still green as it gets and the girls they are putting them in the ring with are not experienced enough to be put in a position to carry them.


• Booker T was absolutely brutal tonight. It’s hard to put into words what runs through my head when I listen to him on commentary. I remember reading about how Booker used to bust people’s chops backstage by commenting on matches on a monitor, and people used to crack up over it. Were they laughing with him or at him?

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