Well his mic work hasn't impressed me one bit. But there was pretty good heat when he came out for his first television appearance.
Smackdown's crowds are edited man, even Del Rio gets major heat on smackdown. Not saying Sandow didn't get a reaction but its really hard to tell what kind of reaction a wrestler really gets on smackdown.
He is the perfect heel to give Ryback his first loss. It will be "Brute" vs "Intellectual". Almost similar to Piper vs Snuka, or Perfect vs Warrior. Except I could see Sandow working this his own way, but still delivering the goods to make himself the over heel that he should become after humiliating Ryback in the ring.