Match Ratings For WWE Smackdown 12/13/19 From Sean Ross Sapp
Opening segment
- King Corbin is out for a congratulatory segment because he…..put dog food on a guy?
- Dolph Ziggler is totally his lackey here. Corbin says he’ll be the sole leader of the locker room and Ziggler just nods along.
- Ziggler is very 1991 WWF managerish in this promo.
- They’re interrupted by New Day, who get some cheap pops.
- Big E calls Corbin a trick. Corbin asks Kofi to show him the trick where he loses to Brock Lesnar in 7 seconds.
- Kofi makes sure everyone knows it was 8 seconds. Corbin goes at Kofi verbally and gets slapped. Cool.
Bliss Cross Applesauce defeated Fire & Desire
5/10 (SHORT)
- The separate drafting of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross continues to make little sense, as they’re back together in a promo in Gorilla.
- Mandy and Sonya run back and attack them, which was kind of cool to hear.
- Sonya’s strikes are good, but Nikki quickly wins the match.
The Revival defeated Ali G
6/10
- AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA Dash Wilder popped Ali and Chad Gable with that fall. Amazing
- It’s not much of a surprise that this match rules.
- Shorty G hits a belly to belly suplex mid air on Dawson while on Dash’s shoulders.
- We come back to see double dives on Revival.
- Scott Dawson channeling his hero Ahmed Johnson with a Pearl River Plunge.
- Shatter Machine wins it. This was GREAT.
- The match with New Day on Sunday is now a ladder match.
Bayley defeated Dana Brooke
5.25/10
- Bayley talks about the lazy women’s division. She’s champion and Sasha Banks is making a rap album. She goes off on Elias for interrupting her. He has her in secret santa this year and has a song for her. It’s about him rejecting a threesome with her and Sasha and saying she looks like a dude.
- Dana Brooke gets a match with Bayley.
- I love that Dana Brooke changed her handspring attack in mid-air when it didn’t look like she was going to make it. It ended up looking great.
- Dana hits a nice powerbomb, but gets pulled into the ropes.
- Bayley wins with the Rose Plant.
- I enjoyed Bayley vs. Dana Brooke for what it was, and I continue to want to see more of Dana Brooke.
Backstage Crappenings
- Another Sheamus vignette.
RENEE AND MIZ
- Renee Young is with The Miz at his home.
- The Miz doesn’t know where Daniel Bryan is. I’m not sure why he would.
- Miz says he doesn’t like Daniel Bryan, but he respects Daniel.
- Maryse is shouting from another room. The rabbit was in their baby’s crib.
- Bray Wyatt appears on Firefly Funhouse. He talks about how great The Marine 5 is.
The Artists (w/ Sami Zayn) defeated Heavy Machinery
5.5/10
- Otis got Sami Zayn a Christmas ham for Secret Santa, but Sami isn’t happy with it.
- Admittedly, I’m paying more attention to Maria Manic on ROH, but this match is good.
- Heavy Machinery have just gotten so good, so fast.
- Tucker ate a nasty Kinshasa.
- Is everyone on this show in a tag team now?
New Day vs. Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler
5/10
- Throughout the night, Ziggler and Corbin find people laid out all the time.
- Corbin and Kofi work a pretty good, standard match through the commercial break.
- Back from it, Corbin catches Kofi with a big punch.
- This breaks down into a DQ, and of course it’s a tag team match.
- The Revival come out and hit a Shatter Machine outside.
- They’re about to DOG FOOD New Day, but Roman Reigns is out to make the save.
- He beats up jobber security and Revival.
- Ziggler cracks him with a superkick, but Reigns throws him off a ladder through an announce table.
- Neat ending to a primarily pointless show.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
