Live Smackdowns always seem to be a mixed bag, don't they? On one hand we had the brilliance of Miz kowtowing to Daniel Bryan in the opening segment in an awesome callback full of smarminess and a puffed out Vegan chest as well as an EPIC main event that had two restarts and a double pin but didn't feel overbooked in the least because holy shit, who is going to complain getting more of Bryan vs. CM Punk. On the other, either WWE is about to book a Chris Brown-related angle or they're trying to leech off his name, prodding him in his Twitter feud with Punk.
Of course, given that they didn't think anything of their misogynistic treatment of Eve Torres the night before, it would make total sense that they'd try to latch on to a remorseless spouse abuser like Brown. Yes, I'm the same guy who loves Mike Tyson in the Hall of Fame, but there's a huge, HUGE difference between Tyson and Brown. Tyson went to jail and has since showed remorse for his transgressions. Brown keeps referring to anyone who calls him out on his lack of rehabilitation "haters". It's definitely different here. All I have to say is, if they work with Brown, I'll have serious doubts as to whether I would continue to support them through viewership. Very serious doubts.
But onto the good stuff, mainly the main event match. Holy crap, I could watch Punk and Bryan wrestle every night for the next year and it wouldn't get old. Hell, throw Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus and Alberto del Rio in there for variety at least, and that's a main event slate of matches that would give WWE a strong in-ring year as any they've ever had. It was a great integration of a great match with a story that could've used those two guys putting in the blood, sweat and tears to hammer home their rivalry more than David Otunga beating Ezekiel Jackson every week.
But I also don't think people should be sleeping on Miz/Sheamus either at the top of the show. The opening segment was fantastic, with Miz crawling back to the guy he couldn't jettison fast enough in NXT season 1, and Bryan just having that shit-eating grin on his face the whole time. The match that followed was pretty good too. Miz doesn't get enough credit for improving his in-ring game, and even though it comes and goes at times, tonight, it was on point.
That being said, I could've done without all the recaps and the Chris Brown shit. I also could've done without seeing R-Truth and Kofi Kingston lose the night after they beat the Tag Champions, as well as Big Show shrug off being distracted by Cody Rhodes only to KTFO Mark Henry. Too bad, because the matches involved were pretty good. Ugh. Total mixed bag.
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