Hello! Yep, it's another Review- and we're back on the blue side of the divide this time around. I'll say right now, Smackdown to the surprise of absolutely nobody did in fact "beat" RAW this week. With that said, Smackdown last night wasn't exactly an amazing show- which you could perhaps expect given the fact they've got Backlash on Sunday. However, I still expected more than what we ended up getting. Anyway, there's quite a few things to talk about from last night's show- so I'm just going to get started.
Daniel Bryan, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi, Nikki Bella Opening Segment
I won't say this segment was bad, but it wasn't good. The initial part of the segment where it was just Becky Lynch and Daniel Bryan was fine, Becky's great, and unlike Sasha she seems comfortable in the role they've got her in when it comes to mic work. Then it all fell apart when Natalya's music hit. Apart from maybe Great Khali, I can't think of someone who's less of a natural on the mic that Natalya in the last 5 years. Natalya has genuine "change the channel" heat with me when she talks, the problem being that it was approximately 1:10am when she was talking and there was fuck all else to change the channel to.
Then this segment got really weird, I don't know if they were short on time or what- but they just abandoned playing entrance themes for the rest of the segment. Bliss and Carmella in particular came out from completely "outta nowhere", and I genuinely thought they were just hiding under the ring at one point it was just so weird. The segment did its job, given said job was to set up the 6 Woman Tag later on in the night- so I can't really fault it. But it wasn't the blow away start I was hoping we'd get just to highlight how bad RAW was the night before.
Dean Ambrose Backstage Skit
I have literally no idea what the point of this was. While the lines may have been blurred with the Ambrose/Ziggler feud, Ambrose is without a doubt the babyface in this feud with AJ. So why they showed him being a complete dick to a backstage guy and putting a ridiculous amount of sugar in said backstage guy's coffee is beyond me.
The Miz v Apollo Crews
Even though he lost, this match was by far the best Apollo Crews has looked probably since he joined WWE in my opinion. He actually came out to a pretty good crowd reaction which caught me off guard and he was really "on" last night. The one thing I will say is that I think Apollo needs a gimmick for this entrance. It does fit him I will say, but his entrance is just so bland. Just give him pyro or even just a jacket or really just anything to make his entrance stand out a bit. Especially when he's contrasted with The Miz it's night and day.
The actual match was pretty good. I was surprised Apollo lost actually, because with Dolph being on commentary I thought they could give him a distraction win to start getting some momentum going- but it wasn't to be.
The stuff with Maryse getting the Title back after the match was great, after having a whole angle with Bryan and how he's not a coward he then goes on to get his wife to get the Title back last night. Because Miz is an actual heel. He wants to be booed.
AJ Styles Backstage Interview
AJ did his best with what he actually had to work with the previous week, which was the angle with AJ crotching the ropes- but it was a pretty shit angle to base it all on wasn't it? I said as much last week.
Bray Wyatt Promo
I actually thought this was a really good promo from Bray. Because of how Bray's been booked, I think quite a few people just tune out Bray's promos- but if you actually listened to this one especially it was really good. It was Bray doing Bray, but in his own unique way he actually did a really good job of building the match on Sunday.
Carmella, Natalya & Alexa Bliss v Nikki Bella, Naomi & Becky Lynch
This was pretty much what you'd expect from a 6 Woman Tag. It was about as good as it really could've been in my opinion. The one problem I had with this match was the finish, more specifically what the finish means for Sunday's finish. Especially when they announced it was an Elimination Match in the opening segment, I thought that was their "out" for not putting the Title on Nikki this Sunday.
What I thought would happen is Nikki eliminates Carmella quite early on, and then Carmella would come back later on and cost Nikki the Title and have someone like Bliss eliminate her. Instead, Carmella made Nikki tap tonight, which to me makes Nikki winning the Title an almost certainty. I hope I'm wrong, and I'll talk about the options in my Predictions on Sunday- but after last night Nikki winning is all but a guarantee to me.
American Alpha v The Usos- Tag Tournament Semi-Final
This match was exactly what I want(ed) from one of the Cesaro/Sheamus matches. Just something really quick, mainly to keep the fans on their toes when they were watching the matches. This was over before it began and American Alpha had progressed to the Final. Or so we thought.
Imagine predicting even a couple of months ago that The Usos would have turned before Roman. I'll say right now I'm a fan of The Usos turning. It's the same reason people want(ed) Cena to turn, and the same reason people want Roman to turn- they were just so fucking stale as babyfaces there really wasn't much to lose for The Usos by turning heel. Especially once New Day stole all of the kids and the merch money that comes with the kids by turning babyface.
It was announced on Talking Smack that Gable was out for "2-4 weeks", which to me is pretty suspect. As of writing this there's not been an announcement of any kind on if Gable has a wellness violation, and they may not announce it given the potential mainstream bad publicity because Gable's an olympian. But if Gable's back after four weeks rather than two, then I think he may have had a violation. It's pure speculation on my part, but openly stating Gable's out for potentially 4 weeks is pretty suspect to me. Plus, I can't fathom why they wouldn't want American Alpha on the first Smackdown PPV.
In the absence of Gable, they're doing an Usos/Hype Bros match to set up who faces Heath and Rhyno for the Titles. To that I say, within kayfabe why would Bryan and Shane want to reward The Usos for causing the Gable injury? What logic is there in rewarding The Usos for injuring Gable and causing them to have the decision to make over what to do in the first place? It's a small thing, but it annoyed me nonetheless.
Randy Orton Backstage Promo
I quite liked this promo. Without a doubt, Randy looked like he was reading off a script the other side of the camera- and I wouldn't even be surprised if Randy had worked with Bray to script it. However, the way Randy read said script almost made it better to me. His delivery was really good in-terms of how it fit the feud- and it just generally carries on a feud between Randy and Bray where they mesh really well. I'll give you my prediction for the finish and how it comes about on Sunday, but I hope this turns into a proper feud between Randy and Bray- because they could really get the best out of each other if done right.
Fandango & Kane Segment
I have absolutely no clue what the point of this was. The stuff with Fandango trying to get that woman to dance was just odd. When the Woman started talking about how her hips were "the truth" I thought Golden Truth would be coming out, but then I remembered they were on RAW. Then I remembered that Kane was getting built up just as his pyro hit. It was a fine segment for what it was, and while it's not saying much- it was miles better than "that" New Day segment the night before.
I thought they would've built the Kane/Baron Corbin match up a bit (which I'm assuming is where they're going) but it would seem as though they're holding off on it until No Mercy in October.
AJ Styles Backstage Skit
See, I liked this segment with AJ being a dick BECAUSE HE'S THE HEEL! It fits with his character.
Curt Hawkins Vignette
I've ignored these vignettes in the Reviews, but seeing as he's showing up next week I thought I'd talk about it. The fact Hawkins has got vignettes suggests to me that he may get a few wins under his belt before he ends up as the Smackdown equivalent of Jinder Mahal jobbing on Main Event- but that's the only way I see this Hawkins return going. I suppose they could do something with Hawkins, Ryder and Mojo as well.
Rhyno & Heath Slater v The Hype Bros- Tag Tournament Semi-Final
The match wasn't really much. Heath and Rhyno won, and then Heath celebrated with his kids who took up the entire front row on one side of the arena. I love Heath Slater. It finally dawned on me what this angle reminded me of as well. The ECW Dudleys. Not just Bubba and D-Von, but when there was like 20 Dudleys. Heath's Kids are the new Dudleys. If/When Heath gets his contract I would love it if we got a "Heath's Kids" faction.
Dean Ambrose & AJ Styles Promo Segment
This is the second week in a row where they've done some wacky comedy in the segment to build the WWE Title match- which is coming up this Sunday. Last week it was the ropes stuff, and this week Ambrose gave him a Bowling Participation Trophy, which was a joke- because he probably didn't actually win it and even if he did he clearly didn't give a fuck about it. So when the segment broke down and AJ stood tall over Ambrose, why he felt the need to break the Trophy I don't know.
I did like the segment on the whole though. AJ's just phenomenal, and I hope to god he gets the Title on Sunday- because he's on a completely different level to where Ambrose is at the moment. Plus, to properly build Smackdown up in my opinion they need to have a Heel Champion like AJ who can properly carry a show, make everything he gets given work who will also put on good matches and elevate whomever he gets into the ring with.
It wasn't hard to beat RAW this week, the Gallows & Anderson/New Day segment saw to that. However, I still think the show was pretty solid on the whole- which headed into Backlash is good enough. That's really what this Smackdown was "good enough", especially when it just had to follow the RAW we had the previous night. I'm personally hoping there's a few big angles on Sunday, because next week is as good a chance as any for Smackdown to beat RAW in the ratings- but to do that they need to have a lot of genuine interest headed into Tuesday's show.
Thanks for reading as always, as I've made reference to a few times the Backlash Predictions will be up on Sunday- so keep an eye out for that. I'm actually quite looking forward to Backlash and I hope you are to. Before that we've got NXT and the CWC tonight, so hopefully you'll be tagging along with me on Twitter for that. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week- and remember, we are all Heath's Kids.
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