Week of May 18, 2013
Each week, Graham "GSM" Matthews breaks down the week in wrestling by analyzing the Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and WWE Main Event broadcasts as well as the monthly pay-per-view events for that respective show's highlights, low points and other noteworthy monumental moments. Also, an award is given to the show and Superstar that shined the brightest over the course of the week. Please note that WWE Superstars, NXT and Saturday Morning Slam are not included in this weekly review.
Match of the Week: Chris Jericho vs. Antonio Cesaro - Friday Night SmackDown, May 17th
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Chris Jericho been involved in many Match of the Week contenders since returning to WWE, which shouldn't come as any surprise. The man is an excellent performer who has must-see matches whoever he steps in the ring with. This week was different, as he went one-on-one with Antonio Cesaro on Friday Night SmackDown. Although Cesaro rarely wins matches nowadays, he was still made to look like a threat against Jericho during the course of the contest. The two traded blows and had an entertaining exchange that lasted roughly eleven minutes. In the end, Jericho forced the former United States Champion to tap out to patented Walls of Jericho for the valiant victory. Even after the match concluded, Cesaro was on the receiving end of a Codebreaker after Fandango attempted to ambush Y2J. It's a shame that Cesaro has been poorly booked as of late, as he and Jericho could have one hell of a feud. Don't believe me? Just watch their match from this past week.
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Superstar of the Week: The Miz
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After departing the WWE the night after WrestleMania 29 to film a Christmas-themed movie for ABC Family, The Miz made his shocking return to the ring this past week on Monday Night Raw. The beardless Miz went one-on-one with Heath Slater, whom he defeated within mere minutes with the legendary Figure Four Leg Lock. Miz resumed his announcing duties on Wednesday night's WWE Main Event program, scouting his Extreme Rules opponent Cody Rhodes. The roles were reversed on Friday Night SmackDown, as Miz soundly defeated Damien Sandow while Rhodes looked on from afar. Miz also made mention that he's looking to become World Champion sometime soon. Will 2013 be the year The Awesome One captures "the big one" once again?
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The Miz makes his return to WWE, defeating Heath Slater on Raw.
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Show of the Week: Friday Night SmackDown, May 17th
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By this point, it's become a foregone conclusion that Friday Night SmackDown is a much more entertaining program than Monday Night Raw. Similar to last week, this week's Raw wasn't tremendously terrible, but there wasn't nothing exciting occurred, either. I realize it was the go-home show and nothing noteworthy was supposed to happen, but I still feel that the flagship show failed to get me excited about the pending pay-per-view. SmackDown, however, was much more successful in giving my hope that Sunday's event could prove to be one not to miss. Maybe it's the fact that Raw is three hours and kills time by featuring filler, but I find that the SmackDown story-lines are also more intriguing than those that are on Raw. This has been the case since after WrestleMania, so I'm hoping that Raw can get back on the right track following Extreme Rules. If not, SmackDown will continue to be the A-show going forward.
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Other Notable Highlights and Low Points
This Week's Highlights
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This Week's Low Points
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