MAN what a great show! The whole Ziggler/Vicky thing was masterful... I was riveted. I laughed in astonishment when she came out and added him to the #1 Contenders Match... and then he came out looking like a wet beat-up dog, but with a steely set to his jaw...

I even enjoyed the Edge/Kane match, much more than their PPV bouts. Mysterio/Del Rio I am sick of... onwards & upwards please.

2011 *IS* looking great, though...

And that's what I call...... X FACTOR!

My comments was that their was a fatal four way it started out with big show beating everybody up knocking Drew Mcintyre out of the ring and keep doing that okay then fianlly dolph ziggler says to cody rhodes take down the big show and he hits cody rhodes with the zig zag alright and steals the win it's dum but it's also smart and crafty so he doesn't have to deal with big show anymore.

BEST MATCH IN A LONG TIME!
= that fatal 4 way.

big show's performance was soo amazing.
seeing him with that powerful force in the ring, and strong crowd energy, makes it just silly that he doesnt get a world title run.
but then you realise his one on one matches are pretty boring when headlining ppvs

i loved the barret suprise. if him and big show fude, i think it is only fair to have big show come out on top in the end.

let's get ready for ziggler.
i hope they make amp up his character into the direction of his antics on the NXT episode last week.

wwe great job so far in 2011!

This Friday Night Smackdown was hot!!! good show and the crowd really got into it...
Im glad someone new is facing Edge for the World Heavyweight Title like Dolph Ziggler but when the match changed to a fatal 4 way for the #1 Contender Slot...
I would prefer Jack Swagger because he wasn't used in this show at all and also last year in 2010 Jack Swagger and Edge had some good matchs during weekly shows and PPVS and it would an entertaining storyline

A very eventful and great episode of smackdown following up from a equally good episode of raw if only wwe could put this amout of creative into every episode people wouldn't moan much then! I see thinks going back to normal next week, But still credit where it's do they pulled out all the stops to get 2011 off to a bang and shows they can produce good t.v when they put their minds to it!

I am shocked that you liked this show. First, how could they call the Del Rio/Mysterio match the main event when there was a championship, last man standing match on the card. Next, as soon as Ziggler lost the IC belt, I said he would be included in and win the #1 contender's match. The real question here is why wasn't Teddy Long at the first show of the year, and why does Vicki always get to change things to benefit her "guy." How convienent! I will say this, I was very impressed with Kane in his match. We know how great of a performer Edge is but, I thought Kane was fantastic in this match and, although he's a veteran with a long history, I would like to see him get back to main event status.

Maybe I'm just too old school, but "back in the day" title changes were exciting and rare. Now there are just too many belts and too many title changes. The whole thing is just like, "so what - everyone is champion at some point". Can't guys be given a push without a belt and if they lose them quickly what good has it really done?

Glad to see i was wrong about Ziggler not being in the title picture this year hopefully McIntyre will be at some point.

Kevin,

I'd say that Vicki drew more heat in all of that than Ziggler himself. Dolph looks the part, performs well in the ring, but there is just something missing with him and it seems to be a personality. I also thing it makes Dolph look pretty weak that in almost every case that he wins, it is because he had help with Vicki physically in the ring, or setting up situations that are favorable for Dolph to win. The big match he won last night, a fatal four way instead of a bona fide 1 on 1 match.

Do we know for sure that Barrett is going to Smackdown? That seems like a very odd way to go about things considering there is still John Cena to deal with, CM Punk, and all of Nexus. If he isn't joining SmackDown then it makes sense that in order to prove just how tough he is, he took out the biggest dog out there.

Wouldn't be the first time the WWE did things that made us scratch our heads.

Married to Tiffany, and in a storyline with Kelly! Some guys get all the luck.

"Maybe I'm just too old school, but "back in the day" title changes were exciting and rare. Now there are just too many belts and too many title changes. The whole thing is just like, "so what - everyone is champion at some point". Can't guys be given a push without a belt and if they lose them quickly what good has it really done?"

Too many belts and too many title changes? There are 2 belts on each show, a tag title, and a divas title. How are there too many titles? Back in the day, they had the World title, IC title, Euro title, Tag title, Hardcore title, Womens title, and Cruiserweight (Light-heavyweight) title. Also, I don't think titles are changing hands too quickly except for the tag titles. Yes, every title except for the US title just recently changed hands, but the previous champ (with the exception of the tag champs) had held the title for a long time and their reigns were becoming kind of boring. In response to your Tiffany comment, she said in an interview that she was originally supposed to have this role, but it obviously didn't work out. She said that she knows that it's just a storyline and that Drew is just doing his job.

It makes plenty of sense for Barrett to attack Big Show. Remember C.M. Punk came out on the losing end of that fued with Show unmasking the bald Punk. In fact, that clip was shown repeatedly during 2010 recaps.

Barrett is showing that he can take out Punks's nemesis rather easily.

Tiffany has said that the Kelly Kelly story line was originally her idea to do with Drew when she was with the company. But WWE has now decided to use it with Kelly Kelly. Tiffany said it is weird to see, but part of acting. So it doesn't bother her too much.

"I thought Kane was fantastic in this match and, although he's a veteran with a long history, I would like to see him get back to main event status."

What do you call feuding with Taker and now Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship? Mid-card?

"I’m enjoying the McIntyre-Kelly Kelly story line, but I doubt Taryn “Tiffany” Terrell is too thrilled with it. "

Tiffany stated on the Monday Night Mayhem internet radio show that she and Drew originally pitched that story line for the two of them. It wasn't given the go ahead until she was released with Kelly taking her spot in the story.

Good for Ziggler. This may not be his time (yet) but he will prove that he deserves to be in the upper card.

Hmmm...whilst I appreciate the push Ziggler is being given, a couple of things irk me...

1 - Kingston can surely lay claim to being above Ziggler in the pecking order having beaten him clean twice in the same night

2 - Ziggler was only in the match because of Guerrero. Whilst that gains heat, it does not, at least to me, portray him strongly - particulary as you rightly point out - Del Rio and Mysterio were not there, who clearly are bigger stars than Ziggler. Still I guess they are going for a 'loaded' Rumble, which suits me fine.

Paul -

Just to clarify, when I first started watching in the early '80's, there were only the Heavyweight, Inter-Continental and Tag Team Belts and when they changed hands, it was a major happening - as a young fan you could hardly believe it.

Kevin - don't you remember how amazing it was when the towel was thrown in costing Backlund the Title, when the Hulk escaped the camel clutch! Or Albano crushing a chair over the Samoans head costing them the Titles to Atlas & Johnson. Valentine losing the IC belt in the cage to Tito. In those times, you could recall virtually every title change, not hardly any more.

Could we possibly be witnessing the turning of Ziggler to Babyface... I can see Vicky cheating on him with Edge which will make him turn face and go out for Edge but I wonder if Ziggler is ready for such a solid storyline...