The Smackers Thread

[RedTwoster]

5 hours ago, Supremo said:

Badly photoshopping himself into a Triple H pointing photo! Amazing! Kevin Owens is on fire right now. As much as I love the idea of Owens vs. Zayn at Wrestlemania, I’m starting to wonder if they stretch Kevin and Cody out and do the Unification Ladder Match at Wrestlemania instead. It’s not like Cody has anything better to do if The Rock isn’t wrestling on the show. This has quickly became my feud of the year. It makes sense to pay it off on the biggest stage possible. Four or five months of Kevin with the Winged Eagle sounds fucking great, too.

On the main roster, they’ve often rushed into Owens/Zayn matches - I think it’s about time they gave one a slow build, perhaps doing it at Summerslam, perhaps even at Wrestlemania in 2026. Whatever the case, when Sami finally does win the big one, I really, really hope Owens is the man he defeats. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Yeah they have to stop doing these pre-taped Smacksowns, they're always shite.

Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre aside, there was nothing here. Solo's promo was a real step back, especially letting wankers get their "what" chants in. Fast-forwarded through most of it, quite sure I didn't miss a sodding thing.

[The King of Old School]

Tonight is a pre taped Raw too so entirely missable.

Although you can understand it at this time of the year to give people a few more days off with family etc.

[air_raid]

19 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

Whatever the case, when Sami finally does win the big one, I really, really hope Owens is the man he defeats. 

I agree with this, and think it will, though it will be a real shame when it ends up being for Seth’s Silver Medal. Especially considering former U belt holder Kev would be having a well earned second run as “a champion” but again, and for Sami too, it won’t be the title.

[Captain SlackBladder]

I'm a little fatigued and full of cheese, but did I hear that Smackdown is going to be 3 hours? 

[The King of Old School]

Yeah, was announced a while ago to be fair.

[LaGoosh]

I also saw reports online that Summerslam might be going to two nights as well. I know WWE are hot at the moment, can seemingly do no wrong, but they need to be careful not to take that for granted and overload their audience.

[Supremo]

This was all I could think about for the first twenty minutes of this week’s episode. No wonder WWE and Netflix are a match made in heaven. There isn’t another TV show or film that’s more guilty of shouting the plot at you. Between the backstage interviewer, then Bianca, then Naomi, then the announcers, and then Nia Jax, it was genuinely comical how many times they recapped Jade’s attack and made it so obvious the culprit will eventually be revealed as either Naomi or Bayley. Hopefully they subvert expectations, but I doubt it. I said I doubt it. I’ll say I doubt it another six times in case you’ve just gone for a piss. I doubt it. I doubt it.

Them cutting to this clip when Nick Aldis was talking about the prestige and importance of the Winged Eagle was hilarious.

Fuck off, Paul! It’s not even the same belt! If he really wanted to find a clip of himself holding the Winged Eagle, I’m sure there are clips somewhere of him holding the belt for Shawn, back when he was bum licking his way to the top. If Netflix want extra WWE programming I’d love to see a documentary on how Hunter can be running the gaff, with business booming, and yet he’s still such a loser.

Speaking of losers, I don’t think it’s talked about anywhere near enough how shit Corey Graves is. It’s mad because normally I barely register he’s there, but whenever he’s commentating on Sami Zayn segments it’s suddenly really noticeable how rubbish he is. I don’t know if he has legitimate beef with Sami, or he’s just got zero instincts, but some of the shit he comes out with about Sami being a virtue signaller really grates on me. It’s always a million miles away from any story currently being told. It’s not even something a contrarian heel commentator might bring up. It just feels like meta, snide bollocks. Ultimately, I think the issue is that a successful heel commentator needs to have a bit of wit and charm about them. Even if they’re talking out of their arse, you smile at what a cheeky scamp they are. You can imagine everyone at the desk trying not to laugh. Nigel McGuinness being the perfect example. Graves is just a boring knobhead who you only notice when he’s at his worst. It’s really obvious that he came up during the Dark Days when Vince was still in charge. He’s exactly what Vince thought a heel commentator should be. Absolutely reeks of Go Away Heat. At one point, Graves mentioned he’d only like Sami Zayn to transfer to Smackdown if Graves himself was transferred to Raw. You and me both, Corey.

Chelsea Green and Piper teasing a break up on the same show as Nia and Tiffy. I bet all Hunter wanted for Christmas was ANIMOSITY AND DISSENSION.

It was a mostly average show until the final few segments that blended together, which was fantastic. Sami giving Hayes a good match, wild Nitro-style beat down from The New Bloodline, Strowman doing the big face-off with Jacob Fatu, and then the tremendous closing interview and angle with Kevin and Cody.

They’ve really struck gold with this Kevin Owens thing. It’s easily the best thing Cody has done since Wrestlemania. I imagine they’ll have an amazing ladder match at the Rumble. Feels big time.

I saw reports over the last few days that The Rock is officially out of Wrestlemania, with Moana Live Action re-shoots scheduled, so the plan is to go with Roman vs. Punk and Cody vs. Cena. It’s not a bad plan, and I’d like to see both matches, but it just hammers home to me how Kevin needs to win the Ladder match. Cody vs. Cena is a mad dream match that they definitely should do, but is it a World Title match? A Wrestlemania headliner? Given Cena’s form when he last wrestled? I don’t think so. If Cody vs. Cena is a lock, I’d much rather see that as a semi-main event and have them pull the trigger on a Sami Zayn Royal Rumble win, with him beating Owens for the Title at Wrestlemania.

I still have my doubts about Cody vs. Cena though. Cody wasn’t exactly subtle in how he referenced Randy Orton in his promo. I’m still half expecting Randy to run in, push Cody’s ladder over and kickstart their feud leading to Wrestlemania. Works for me. As long as Kevin wins at the Rumble. That’s all that matters. He’s already the WWE Champion, anyway. We just need to erase any doubts.

Three fucking hours though?

Edited December 28, 2024 by Supremo

[TheScarlettChad]

2 minutes ago, Supremo said:

This was all I could think about for the first twenty minutes of this week’s episode. No wonder WWE and Netflix are a match made in heaven. There isn’t another TV show or film that’s more guilty of shouting the plot at you. Between the backstage interviewer, then Bianca, then Naomi, then the announcers, and then Nia Jax, it was genuinely comical how many times they recapped Jade’s attack and made it so obvious the culprit will eventually be revealed as either Naomi or Bayley. Hopefully they subvert expectations, but I doubt it. I said I doubt it. I’ll say I doubt it another six times in case you’ve just gone for a piss. I doubt it. I doubt it.

Them cutting this clip when Nick Aldis was talking about the prestige and importance of the Winged Eagle was hilarious.

Fuck off, Paul! It’s not even the same belt! If he really wanted to find a clip of himself holding the Winged Eagle, I’m sure there are clips somewhere of him holding the belt for Shawn, back when he was bum licking his way to the top. If Netflix want extra WWE programming I’d love to see a documentary on how Hunter can be running the gaff, with business booming, and yet he’s still such a loser.

Speaking of losers, I don’t think it’s talked about anywhere enough how shit Corey Graves is. It’s mad because normally I don’t even notice him, but whenever he’s commentating on Sami Zayn segments it’s suddenly really noticeable how rubbish he is. I don’t know if he has legitimate beef with Sami, or he’s just got zero instincts, but some of the shit he comes out with about Sami being a virtue signaller really grates on me. It’s always a million miles away from any story currently being told. It’s not even something a contrarian heel commentator might bring up. It just feels like meta, snide bollocks. Ultimately, I think the issue is that a successful heel commentator needs to have a bit of wit and charm about them. Even if they’re talking out of their arse, you smile at what a cheeky scamp they are. You can imagine everyone at the desk trying not to laugh. Nigel McGuinness being the perfect example. Graves is just a boring knobhead who you only notice when he’s at his worst. It’s really obvious that he came up during the Dark Days when Vince was still in charge. He’s exactly what Vince thought a heel commentator should be. Absolutely reeks of Go Away Heat. At one point, Graves mentioned he’d only like Sami Zayn to transfer to Smackdown if Graves himself was transferred to Raw. You are me both, Corey.

Chelsea Green and Piper teasing a break up on the same show as Nia and Tiffy. I bet all Hunter wanted for Christmas was ANIMOSITY AND DISSENSION.

It was a mostly average show until the final few segments that blended together, which was fantastic. Sami giving Hayes a good match, Strowman doing the big face-off with Jacob Fatu, and then the tremendous closing interview and angle with Kevin and Cody.

They’ve really struck gold with this Kevin Owens thing. It’s easily the best thing Cody has done since Wrestlemania. I imagine they’ll have an amazing ladder match at the Rumble. Feels big time.

I saw reports over the last few days that The Rock is officially out of Wrestlemania, with Moana Live Action re-shoots scheduled, so the plan is to go with Roman vs. Punk and Cody vs. Cena. It’s not a bad plan, and I’d like to see both matches, but it just hammers home to me how Kevin needs to win the Ladder match. Cody vs. Cena is a mad dream match that they definitely should do, but is it a World Title match? A Wrestlemania headliner? Given Cena’s form when he last wrestled? I don’t think so. If Cody vs. Cena is a lock, I’d much rather see that as a semi-main event and have them pull the trigger on Sami Zayn Royal Rumble win, with him beating Owens for the Title at Wrestlemania.

I still have my doubts about Cody vs. Cena though. Cody wasn’t exactly subtle in how he referenced Randy Orton in his promo. I’m still half expecting Randy to run in, push Cody’s ladder over and kickstart their feud leading to Wrestlemania. Works for me. As long as Kevin wins at the Rumble. He’s already the WWE Champion, anyway. We just need to erase any doubts.

Why would Orton betray Cody and not attack the guy who tried to end his career? 

[Supremo]

Voices in his head.

[RedTwoster]

19 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Why would Orton betray Cody and not attack the guy who tried to end his career? 

I don’t think he will - I reckon we’re probably going to get Owens vs Orton at Wrestlemania - but if he does, he would probably say he needed the sense beaten into him and that Owens was right. That would also push Owens further into thinking his actions were righteous and justified, pushing him into attacking others.

[LaGoosh]

25 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Speaking of losers, I don’t think it’s talked about anywhere enough how shit Corey Graves is

It was probably the main thing I noticed from the 2 episodes and half a PLE I watched this year. Possibly one of the worst commentators in wrestling history.

[Supremo]

Wasn’t Randy Orton’s injury that kept him out of action for 18 months attributed to Roman and The Bloodline? It wouldn’t be hard to write an explanation.

Cody teamed with Roman, who originally put Randy on the shelf. Randy tried to be the bigger man by ignoring it and defending still Cody against Kevin, but that just got him Piledrove (still funny to use as the past tense). So ultimately, everything is Cody’s fault. And Kevin is right. Push that ladder over, Randy! 

[TheScarlettChad]

I'm all for it but Orton could want to beat Cody himself for the belt. So screw Kevin for piledriving him and then betray Cody. And use your explanation and he could say he wants to be champion again 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think it might be time to give up on the idea of Owens walking into Mania as Champion.

I could see both Orton/Cody and Cody/Cena, but if they go with the latter I'd love it if the ending was KO appearing from out of nowhere, with no context, and costing Cody the title. 

He's right, and he doesn't let beef die.

Cody/Cena is, and will be, massive. It'd probably actually be their lead feud for Mania if they do it. Reigns/Punk will feel bigger if you're an actual fan, but Cody/Cena is what they'd be selling to the mainstream media and putting on the late night shows.

I think Smackdown was quite poor, but proof positive that if you're going to have a babyface champion you need a couple of Kevin Owens' lined up to face them. A babyface is only as strong as their opponent, and Cody has struggled a bit since Mania at times. With KO though, he's been part of something absolutely brilliant and suddenly he looks like the champion they want again.

Which, circling back, leaves them with an interesting quandary if they do go the Cody/Cena route. For me, you have to start teasing Cody as a heel for that to work.