WWE SmackDown! 10/29/10

1. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler - 6
2. Kaval vs. Jack Swagger - 5
3. Kelly Kelly, Bella Twins, and Melina vs. Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Layla, and Michelle McCool - 1
4. Big Show and Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre - 5
5. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - 7

The opener was just great, the third in their terrific series together (for the record, I rated it above their Raw bout, but slightly beneath their initial PPV match), and had a real sense of urgency about it that lent to a feeling of legitimacy. I got pulled into it and relished the intensity. Seeing Kaval was like an early Halloween treat, although his performance didn't leave me with the empty feeling a belly full of candy does. This match really followed in the footsteps of the one that proceeded it and really goes a long way in showing how different SmackDown! feels from Raw as this also came of like an authentic athletic competition. The clash of styles, unorthodox striker versus amateur wrestling dynamo, felt lifted right out of MMA (i.e. Hatsu Hioki vs Masanori Kanehara from Sengoku 9). Kaval's Rolling Koppou Kick landed devastatingly, Jack ate it right in the kisser, which sprung to mind Lyger's sole MMA fight, where he awkwardly tried to use the same kick only to find himself mounted and smashed in Pancrase.

The women's match saw all the females decked out in Halloween outfits, some of them surprisingly cool, I was preferable to Melina's Spider-Woman (the '79 cartoon is transcendent but rare) and McCool's Lady Gaga was impressive. This was sloppier than Kristi Myst after filming a scene. I felt like Mendes was selling in the vein of Buck Zumhofe but maybe that's just a reflection of myself and watching far too much AWA on ESPN Classic over the last couple years. I'm intrigued by the McIntyre/Rhodes team, they remind me of Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov, with Cody being Dmitri, but Drew not sullen enough to really pull off Ivan. Still, there's some interesting chemistry there, and it's neat watching them evolve as a team and looking at their collective work and culling the deeper layers of story therein. McIntyre sells with agonized facials I usually reserve for more fiery bowel movements. Show's an extremely hot or cold performer. Was it me or did Cody just rip a spot from his step-brother Dustin? The Dashing Ones (their new name -- I'm digging it) targeted Kofi's leg, reminding me again of Dostoevsky, this time his short story The Crocodile, and while Kofi wasn't swallowed whole a la Ivan Matveich, he was consumed hungrily by his opposition. Cody sold the chokeslam with the requisite lifelessness that helps protect one of the key finishers in the company.

The main event was a lot of fun, just great stuff, three-way matches tend to have major faults structurally and a good antidote to that is having great, believable nearfalls that the crowd really buys into which this had in droves. Rey's quickness was utilized in key moments, they clearly carefully laid out the bout beforehand, as it flowed seamlessly including some tricker segments. I didn't think WWE would be able to top the Primo vs. Chris Masters vs. Chavo Guerrero (Superstars 1/28) three-way from earlier this year but arguably this was better overall. The finish was clever plus it saves Mysterio from having to wrestle Kane at another PPV which is a fate even the best performer in the business has been unable to prevail in previously.