Smackdown Discussion Thread

[Weezenal]

The camera angles and the dark blue lighting gave off some TNA vibes.

[ColinBollocks]

Randy Orton as the jokey, smiley babyface makes me a bit sad.

In fairness, it worked well on his first night back. They just shouldn't have done the same talk show thing right after it. Like most of Smackdown, it came across as a retread of something that worked much better a day or two before.

 

Orton is boring too. He fools you once and a while when a writer gives him something interesting to say every 10 months.

[Guest]

Yet again my main feeling after watching WWE TV is that I need to suck off Cena and Styles some more. What a phenomenal segment. A+ from both

 

Quite liked the Ziggler/Ambrose dynamic, especially Deans rips/criticisms of Ziggler had me very intrigued. Ambrose seemed heelish tonight, but Ziggler hinted too. Ziggler showed actual conviction in his words and wasn't his usual 'I'm a wrestler so THIS! IS THE BIT WHERE I RAISE MY VOICE..' like fuck, it was actually good. Randy and Ziggles both on form this week, just what in sweet fuck is going on

 

Thought the Eva thing was very clever.

 

Bryan saying Apollo Creed lol, was bound to happen some day. Crews is still gash. More offensively dull than Roman has ever been. Fans should be getting right on his back if the push keeps on going but he does a backflip so he won't. 

 

AA are golden, obvs.

 

Carmella is rubbish but on the plus side she does actually look like the type of lass who'd be up for a fight outside a nightclub at closing time. 

 

No need for Erick Rowan to exist, I'd be future endeavoring pretty soon if it was up to me

[Brock Goldberg]

A really enjoyable episode of SD.

 

Always enjoy storylines that run through the entire show. Thought the build for Ambrose/Ziggler was excellent.

 

Four women were featured and new feuds/storylines started without a single match but it worked.

 

American Alpha looked fantastic, they're being built up perfectly, already they look like super stars.

 

AJ/Cena continued and continue to impress, great sparring on the mic again.

 

Thought the triple threat was a nice little match.

 

The Slater segment was excellent once again, that gore, wow!

[tiger_rick]

Much better show this week. Still lost to Raw, for me, but enjoyed it.

 

The Good:

 

Ambrose/Ziggler opening seg. Ziggler with more fire than he's ever show. Ambrose brilliantly dismissive.

The Wyatt/Ziggler Main Event.

The Triple Threat for the IC Title and follow up. Great fluent work and some good spots.

Renee Young's brilliant looking interview set.

LESNAR!

The factfiles on the right hand side during entrances.

American Alpha.

Carmella/Natalya mini-feud.

That Gore.

 

The Bad:

 

Wyatt losing and the same old Wyatt family stuff afterwards. People desperately want to cheer him.

AJ/Cena seg. AJ's material was tosh and the Cena response was the same old. Did AJ nearly say Slamiversary?

Vaudevillains.

Daniel Bryan. Horrible.

 

The Ugly:

 

David Otunga and his key

[Guest]

Carmella/Natalya good and AJ/Cena bad? Is it opposite day?

Afaic, the Carmella Natalya match will be a triple threat, and the third competitor will be the dead-assed crowd, bored to tears. That's if we're lucky and they only have one match

 

Styles bit where he just decided to go 'fucking stupid kids!' was cracking. Cena's fire just >>>>>>> everything. Adored when he said he'll never be 'above' WWE despite mainstream cred, fucking adonis of a man. Thought both were genuinely applaud worthy, and I was indoors..by myself...looking like a twat

 

The factfiles are a nice touch, though I'm just waiting to see who strongly dislikes mustard...

[tiger_rick]

Carmella/Natalya good and AJ/Cena bad? Is it opposite day?

Afaic, the Carmella Natalya match will be a triple threat, and the third competitor will be the dead-assed crowd, bored to tears. That's if we're lucky and they only have one match

That's irrelevent. They didn't have a match, they had a good interview backstage and a cracking little angle before a match. Good.

 

AJ's material was shite. The sort of stuff you write for a Damien Sandow or something. I appreciate their problem because they've already done the "I'm a proper wrestler and you're not" stuff a million times but this was a shit alternative. AJ Styles should want to beat John Cena because he's the biggest name in the industry and AJ wants to be the man. Not this cheap heat shite. Cena's response was good but how many times have we seen that same schtick? Too many.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Noodles cutting a great promo and making me actually look forward to the main event has my head on a swivel. They've really managed to fashion a great story from what seemed a strange booking decision initially. Wasn't expecting that.

 

Also, what the fuck was that with Eva Marie?

 

And, I agree with Rick on a lot of things, but I bloody loved the Styles/Cena segment. I particularly liked how Styles carried so much of the workload, despite the fact that he's not meant to be that great a promo. My only problem with it is that it's basically the same riff they play every time Cena has a feud. It's a great riff. I still enjoy it. But it's essentially the same riff. Only with added 'new era? You're old' thrown in.

 

I've got an unashamed stonker for angry Cena, especially when he talks about how much he loves what he does. He oozes passion.

 

Also, I like that they're using action shots for the 'later tonight' graphics as opposed to awkward, stock, posed photos. Don't know why. Just looks better.

[ColinBollocks]

Yeah, I agree with tiger rick. Their delivery was very good and they were trying their hardest to make it work (and Cena very nearly did with his comeback), but it's an issue I really could not even begin to care about. Never mind that the hypocrite angle is proper flimsy anyway - it just doesn't work for a character like Cena, who always does good. Out of everything they could have picked as an issue for the pair to fight over, it was one of the least exciting. Shame, because both men are genuinely excellent, but deserve better.

 

Surprisingly half decent show, this week.

 

I agree Ziggler pulled a semi-good promo out of his arse this week, even if Triple H had to dip into his old catchphrase bin. The Wyatt side angle also adds a nice twist to things. You wonder if Bray sneaks into the match and pins Ziggler for the title.

[tiger_rick]

Style's promo work is remarkably good. I never thought for a million years that he could cut promos with this level of confidence in WWE. And to go toe to toe with John Cena is remarkable. I just don't like this angle.

 

They've tried to add a personal issue to a feud that doesn't need one. That promo needed Cena to point out that AJ's on his todd now and needs the club and for AJ to respond by adding motivation to his heel character - telling everyone that he doesn't need the club because he's willing to do whatever it takes to be the best. The fans might not like it but he's more than phenomenal moves and death defying risks, he's got more bottle than anyone else in the business and he doesn't give a damn who he has to step on to make it to the top.

[Sexy Dad]

A very good episode this week I thought.

 

Dolph's story is easy to get in to as it's clear - anyone viewer from the most hardcore fan to a casual fan knows that he his career has been on a downturn over the past couple of years. Addressing it and using it as a way to add some fire to his character and rethink his tactics in a match (using the exposed buckle) is the type of story we don't really get to see in the main event. On paper it's a pretty basic story really but both Ziggler and Ambrose were very good throughout the night which really established the story.

 

American Alpha delivered. The roof would have come off the place in a 'smart' city but I think the reaction that they did get in Nashville was a testament to how good they are.

 

We got to see two separate women's angles commence without the need to do a lot. Eva being unable to compete and Natalya feeling disrespected were both easy things to start which can flow over in to the coming weeks. So much better than a throwaway match.

 

I can't help but feel a bit sad seeing AJ without The Club. I have convinced myself that Gallows and Anderson will win the Tag belts at Summerslam and be signed to Smackdown on the same night in an underhanded move by Shane and Bryan. Then AJ can have his buds and American Alpha can set their sights on the championships in due course.

 

Anyway, considering what AJ was actually saying - he did a great job. Cena is great at that kind of promo too and seeing his vignette presenting at that Awards show by default makes the show feel a bit more hot. I'm excited for another one on one match between these two.

 

I didn't expect Brock to show up - even with the security measures in place. Nice little continuation.

 

Smackdown was the better show this week. More defined Championship rivalry, a hot debut and a good exchange between Cena and AJ. Very watchable at only 2 hours too!

[neil is brill]

So are WWE just going to ignore the fact that Ziggler used the exposed turnbuckle right in front of the referee? Surely that's a DQ win and the #1 Contendership awarded to Wyatt?

 

I know they like to bend their rules whenever they feel like it, but it's difficult to suspend my disbelief when things like that happen.

[The King of Old School]

Don't think I have ever seen a DQ for a exposed turnbuckle., It's like throwing someone into the ring steps.

 

Non issue in my book.

[PunkStep]

Then why do they only uncover it when the referee isn't looking? One of the great wrestling mysteries.

[Benno]

While acknowledging how good the Ziggler/Ambrose segment was in dragging some interest out of a Ziggler push, I still really couldn't be arsed with that Ziggler/Wyatt main event. It's just all a bit Smackdown. The kind of B-level stuff they'd have main event the blue show pre-draft.

 

If they stick to their guns hopefully they'll successfully rehab them, but this is the problem when you're forced to make main eventers out of people you've spent years beating constantly.