"Making it personal." Lewis' WWE SmackDown, 30/8/13 Recap

The Miz brought out his latest 'Miz TV' guests, Big Show and Dolph Ziggler and brought up the fact that they and many other wrestlers had to witness the beat down of Daniel Bryan at the hands of the COO, The Shield and Orton on this Monday's Raw. But when asked to comment on it Show and Ziggler struggled in fear of their punishment from management, so as Miz was about to discuss it Triple H interrupted him.

 

'The Game' once again questioned why the situation with Bryan was being taken so personally, and claimed that making Orton the face of the company was better for business and therefore better for them. He then booked Miz against Orton and Ziggler in a Handicap Match versus The Shield. But when it came to Show he ordered the clearly infuriated giant to sit at ringside for the night. As usual Trips was stellar on the mic, but he's been even better and convincing as of late back in the heel role.

 

Randy Orton pinned The Miz in a decent effort. There were some fairly drab periods but it was a watchable encounter on the whole. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) made their way out midway in the match and stood at the front of the ring. After the champ pinned Miz with an RKO he had the trio join him in beating on Miz until Daniel Bryan raced down and chased them off with a steel chair in hand. 

 

An upset Vickie Guerrero (who's now suddenly turned heel again over the last couple of weeks for some unexplained reason) accused Bryan of being a bully and as punishment booked him against Ryback. 

 

Rob Van Dam defeated Damien Sandow in a short but entertaining outing. RVD hit some fine form again with his trademark lively offence after a shaky match against Del Rio last Monday. The only downfall here was yet another clean pinfall on the Money in the Bank holder Sandow, for me he still needs work in the ring and some serious building up if he's going to hold the World Title. Alberto Del Rio came out afterwards and after calling Ricardo Rodriguez a traitor claimed that while RVD had his rolling thunder he was going to rain on his parade at Night of Champions.

 

The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) beat Dolph Ziggler in a solid Handicap Match. It wasn't as exciting as the last three on one bout these four had but the action was stellar and there were no dull moments to be had. The trio further assaulted 'The Show Off' after and finally triple powerbombed him to tease Big Show.

 

Paul Heyman explained that his beating on CM Punk on this past Raw was a result of being forced into a corner by the fans online vote putting him in the ring with his former client. He also went on to admit that he was afraid regarding his and Curtis Axel's match at Night of Champions versus Punk because it guaranteed that he'll have to face his adversary in the ring like a man. But he also claimed that his actions against Punk have been a result of his Fatherly love, so imagine what he'll do against him when backed into a corner, finally adding that at NOC he and Axel "will own CM Punk."

 

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan bested Tons of Funk (Tensai and Brodus Clay) in an average tag bout. Fortunately it was kept short as the wrestling was pretty uninspiring from the get go. Bray Wyatt entered the ring after to hit Tensai with a Sister Abigail.

 

Daniel Bryan won via disqualification versus Ryback after Orton ran in while he had Ryback latched in a Yes Lock and was caught himself in the submission hold until Shield once again helped him out in clobbering the number on contender to the WWE Title. The match of the night itself had been an engaging one, with good displays from both men as they battled back and fourth.

 

Big Show finally had enough and entered the ring to Bryan's protection as the four men continued to beat on him. But an angry Triple H demanded him to leave, so he did. The show ended

with Orton spray painting 'No' on Bryan's chest as he had done on his car last Monday night. 

 

Overall it was a satisfying show, with the majority of it worth checking out. My highlights were RVD versus Sandow, the opening segment, The Shield versus Ziggler, Heyman's promo and the main event. Unfortunately outside of them it was quite forgettable and probably not worth your time.