The Smackers Thread

[I Bent My Wookie]

1 hour ago, Perry said:

Just heard about Zelina returning. Why did they let her go in the first place just to bring her back in a few months later? They're so fucking weird

 

I'd assume a less money contract? If they've released her and paid off her downside but nothing else (there is definitely people way more in the know on how WWE contracts work) and then signed her to a new deal with less cash, it'd probably work out better for them in the long term. Combine that with her having a decent popularity base online and them being pretty scarce on female talent on the main roster right now and it makes sense to bring someone back in with any name value at all.

 

Additionally, wasn't she let go because of the whole third party content issue that she decided to argue against? It's been months since that, maybe she's relented somewhat or they've allowed her to continue having control of her streaming etc?

Edited July 3, 2021 by Shy Dad

[Jazzy G]

The irony would be if they let Black go to try and free up the budget to hire her back. 

[Supremo]

In what I originally thought was a joke announcement, but it turns out to be true, the Money in the Bank qualifiers for next week are these two new, fresh, exciting match ups.

Seth vs. Cesaro

Nakamura vs. Corbin

Christ. This show doesn’t deserve the praise some give it.

[DavidB6937]

44 minutes ago, Supremo said:

This show doesn’t deserve the praise some give it.

Or maybe some people just genuinely enjoy it?

I get it. It's WWE. WWE is shit etc etc. But hey I enjoy AEW. I enjoy SmackDown. I enjoy NXT. I enjoy dipping in and out of NJPW or ROH etc. Just because there's some bad things it really doesn't mean that there isn't anything for people to enjoy or some good stuff there.

So whether you personally think it 'deserves' the praise or not, perhaps it's just not something you enjoy but others do? I think that's probably allowed. Sure, the endless rematches are one of the worst things about the show, but they still manage to pull together a solid show most weeks.

I get that a lot of people on here have fallen out of love with WWE in recent times and it's really not for them anymore, but it does get a bit OTT sometimes. It's very much an automatic 'WWE = bad' mentality a lot of the time.

[The King Of Swing]

4 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

The highlight of the whole show, and probably year so far

Took me a while to notice that he's parked his arse on top of Michael Cole. 

Tremendous. 

[tiger_rick]

Vince is David's real Dad.

[I Bent My Wookie]

If anyone enjoys watching Corbin Vs Nakamura for the hundredth time they need to be studied for levels of masochism.

This does somewhat make me think Cena and Lynch appearing as suprise people in the MITB matches seems unlikely now.

[Supremo]

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

Or maybe some people just genuinely enjoy it?

I get it. It's WWE. WWE is shit etc etc. But hey I enjoy AEW. I enjoy SmackDown. I enjoy NXT. I enjoy dipping in and out of NJPW or ROH etc. Just because there's some bad things it really doesn't mean that there isn't anything for people to enjoy or some good stuff there.

So whether you personally think it 'deserves' the praise or not, perhaps it's just not something you enjoy but others do? I think that's probably allowed. Sure, the endless rematches are one of the worst things about the show, but they still manage to pull together a solid show most weeks.

I get that a lot of people on here have fallen out of love with WWE in recent times and it's really not for them anymore, but it does get a bit OTT sometimes. It's very much an automatic 'WWE = bad' mentality a lot of the time.

…Bruce?

I don’t know what to tell you if you’re going to get so defensive. “Returning character probably shouldn’t be losing literally minutes after reappearing,” and, “same guys wrestling every week is a bit boring,” are hardly, “OTT,” or, “automatic WWE = bad,” criticisms. I couldn’t be stretching less.

Look, if Smackdown puts a smile on your face every week then good for you. It’s still wildly overrated though. People always banging on about, “yeah, but Smackdown’s good.” It’s not. I swear more than half of the praise it gets is just because it’s not as bad as Raw.

Even the best thing on the show - Roman - their handling of him is still guilty of all the usual tropes. Fucking Groundhog Day. I could show you a backstage segment of him mumbling backstage with his cousins and it could’ve been from this week’s show, three week’s ago or three month’s ago. And whenever that segment was from, you can bet your bollocks the rest of the show would’ve featured some combination of Nakamura vs. Corbin, Zayn vs. Owens, Big E vs. Apollo and Seth vs. Cesaro.

[Guest]

I enjoyed fast 9 but it’s proper shit. This feels a similar situation 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Was it boring though? There's shit, then there's boring. All I get reading Smackdown results is boredom. I swear I've been reading the exact same recap for three months straight.

[Supremo]

To be fair, it’s hard to be bored when you’re having a fucking seizure.

 

[DavidB6937]

25 minutes ago, Mr Butternut Squash said:

Was it boring though? There's shit, then there's boring. All I get reading Smackdown results is boredom. I swear I've been reading the exact same recap for three months straight.

I don't really find reading results for any show that interesting really but that's just me. The matches in general, despite often being rematches of some form or another, are usually pretty decent in the end. And the 2 hour run time means it's usually a fairly tight ship overall. I know people say a change to 2 hours wouldn't fix Raw but it'd definitely help.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

I don't really find reading results for any show that interesting really but that's just me. The matches in general, despite often being rematches of some form or another, are usually pretty decent in the end. And the 2 hour run time means it's usually a fairly tight ship overall. I know people say a change to 2 hours wouldn't fix Raw but it'd definitely help.

It’s a fairly tight ship because they use the same 12 people every episode

[Jazzy G]

15 hours ago, Supremo said:

To be fair, it’s hard to be bored when you’re having a fucking seizure.

 

I dread to think what this would have looked like on the Paramount daytime highlights, if it even found its way into the show. They've moved it from Saturday to Sunday. I had to pretend to be disappointed but I'm relieved. 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Even Cole sounds momentarily caught off-guard by how frantic those camera cuts are.