Smackdown definitely felt a little bit sweeter this week. Maybe it was just because they were from Chocolate City USA, but it seems to have much more at its center. Let's begin with the opening as we play storytime with The Rock and hear about his plight of a fifteen-year-old in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania craving a Whatchamacallit. I'll give them this much. It was entertaining hearing Dwayne discuss taking a candy bar from an old lady was cute but it felt like a lot of filler considering the segment we got on Monday. And then came John Laurinaitis from the back, who now works backstage as the head road agent that's why he was there.
The interplay between the two was okay, nothing spectacular, but everybody knew where this was going Rock was going to attack Johnny Ace after dispersing the advances of people power in fighting John Cena at Wrestlemania 29. Moving ahead, we get to the first match as Wade Barrett battles Chris Jericho and a solid match with the Miz at ringside, causes a distraction leading to Jericho defeating the Barrett barrage. Then Y2J gets on the mic and this week notices that Fandango's elaborate entrance is on the ramp That is some improvement last week as Jericho attempts to say his name, and much like Beetlejuice or the candyman, Fandango appears only to back away from the Fozzy frontman after being challenged to face him one-on-one proving it takes two to tango as he dances back of the ramp. I have to give WWE major credit because they really maximized their time this week trying to get as many storylines packed into the episode as TV time is getting rather scarce heading into Wrestlemania.. Then we get an awesome segment as Paul Heyman does an interview with Josh Matthews (and his sausage neck) as the mastermind of extreme showed why he is so great as he made even the most mundane stipulation seem like the most soul crushing heart wrenching, mind game that Lesnar and he could play on Hunter. Add to that the really great video package that WWE production did on the whole history between the two. As previously advertised, Mike Henry and Ryback had a weightlifting challenge directly off the NFL combine and it was really old-school kind of booking which they been doing a lot with the storyline. This showed off that both men are strong, but Ryback is a little bit stronger and Henry is intimidated by it using the weightlifting bar with 225 on it to choke out the man with the appetite for competition. Really good stuff Like I said before It should be interesting to see what those two put together At MetLife Stadium next Sunday. Dolph and AJ get defeated by Kaitlyn and Daniel Bryan as all hell breaks loose on the outside with Kane and Big E on the outside. There was a lot going on in this match as I think the in ring action got overshadowed the little bit but the women should be applauded because they did a lot of great stuff in this match. But if they're not leading to Kaitlyn versus AJ on the card by this Monday I'll be very surprised. Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter are thwarted in their to attempts to take out the Great Khali and Hornswoggle by Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto del Rio as they stop the patriot lock with a distraction by Rodriguez and an attack by the World Heavyweight Champion on his challenger. It really surprised me that Ricardo hit the founding father Zeb with one of his crutch. I didn't think they would get physical with the sixty-year-old founding father. That really surprised me that man is a trooper. The only thing that really bug me here was how week, they made Swagger look all throughout that match. As they booked him in a situation where he was going to look week in comparison and then be dispatched by del Rio at the end of the segment. I wonder what the post Wrestlemania cards have for Jack Swagger it looks like they're really trying to deemphasize the character maybe I'm just reading way too much into this. And I probably am. But it's weird that Jack looks so weak in comparison, especially since the babyface has already got the better of the Real American. We hear from the hounds of injustice The Shield as they are sniffing down the Wrestlemania trail and gave a really great promo from all involved about the next chapter of the Shield being written at Wrestlemania. I wonder if that means a new member or after Mania they will go their separate ways which I hope is not the case as they really starting to pick up serious momentum. Then we hear from their opponents as they are interviewed by René Young about how Big Show, Sheamus and Randy Orton are cohesive as a unit with Orton playing mediator between the Celtic Warrior and the World Largest Athlete who uses his singlet like an old man uses suspenders all throughout the interview, which is kind of distracting. This leads to the main event which sees the the Super Friends (Orton, Sheamus and Big Show) and a trio that are going to call Foreign intelligence (Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and Antonio Césaro). And my worst fears are realized as the United States champion's affinity for yodeling which began this past Wednesday on the Main Event apparently is going to be a thing So sorry Claudio, but at least you getting a nice paycheck. The match itself was really nothing special which is unfortunate. It was a storytelling mechanism that show the solidarity of the group. Slater, McIntyre and Jinder got more offense in the match last week. Then the higher ranking talents did this week. The baby faces quickly destroy all the opponents with their finishers with a little tandem offense with the Giants and the Viper while Cody Rhodes feels the Brogue of Sheamus. This led to a failed attempt by the Shield to attack but the babyfaces are the aggressors heading to the crowd and battling up in the upper decks of the arena off the air. Again I don't like the fact that the heels are getting theirs so close to Wrestlemania but it was a good brawl to in the episode with.. All in all, a good episode of Friday Night Smackdown with some really great segments that are worth a look if you want to check them out on Hulu Plus or YouTube.