NEW DAY’S CELEBRATION
KING BOOKER?!? Please allow me to mark out. FIVE TIME! FIVE TIME! FIVE TIME! FIVE TIME! FIVE TIME! This was everything I could ask for and more, complete with SPINNEROONIES! It’s rare that comedy segments are that good, but this was terrific.
Segment Rating: Ten This Is Your Lifes
TRIPLE THREAT TAG TEAM MATCH: THE BAR VS. THE CLUB VS. THE COLONS
I caught and ate of one the New Day’s pancakes at SmackDown last week. Seriously. I wasn’t a glutton, I shared it with the people around me. It took a little while for this match to finally devolve into complete triple threat chaos, but they finally had a really good closing flurry that ended with The Bar getting the win. The rest of the match wasn’t bad, but triple threat action is what everyone was waiting for. Graves’ and Saxton’s commentary was excellent, and the end made this a really good match.
Match Rating: Seven Gold Medals
I’m strangely a…..fan? of Rusev and Aiden English being a comedy tag team.
Jeff challenges Randy to a Hell in a Cell match. Oh hell yeah.
NAOMI VS. BILLIE KAY W/PEYTON ROYCE
Graves had one of his best lines ever when a poof of green came off of Naomi’s hair: “I guess that’s what was in Great Muta’s mouth all these years.” With some help from Peyton Royce, Billie Kay gets a win over Naomi. I suspect Naomi gets a tag partner to help her take them down in the coming weeks. Great job by the Iconics getting heat tonight.
Heat Rating: Six Rick Rudes
IN-RING SEGMENT: DANIEL BRYAN, (SIGH)… BRIE BELLA, ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS & ZELINA VEGA
Brie. Bell. a. is. the. most. ro. bo. tic. talk. er. ev. er. It was pretty awesome to see her punch Miz last week, but I guess it was only a matter of time until she did one thing well.
I guess the time isn’t right for a big push for Almas, because they lost to Rusev & Lana last week, and I don’t him beating Bryan, and I’m sure they’re going to force a moment where Brie takes out Zelina.
Segment Rating: One Katie Vick
DANIEL BRYAN W/BRIE BELLA VS. ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS W/ZELINA VEGA
These two put on an amazing match. Both have such intense offenses and it keeps the crowd excited and into the match. Almas is getting a ton of offense in but it’s not the normal formula where the heel controls the face in a rest hold for five minutes then we have a comeback. Both guys are getting in a ton of awesome moves. Speaking of “awesome”, Miz provides a distraction, and DB hits him with a suicide dive and a punches the shit out of him.
Almas takes advantage with some awesome moves including a reverse DDT from the top rope for a two count. A wild ending sees Brie and DB get taken out by Miz and Maryse. It was extremely satisfying to see Brie go face first into the ring post then get kneed in the face by Zelina. Really good heel work by Miz and Maryse, but fuck them too.
Match Rating: Eight Gold Medals
BACKSTAGE PROMO: CHARLOTTE FLAIR
Emotionally charged and really good promo about Becky Lynch.
Promo Rating: Seven Sensational Sherris
IN-RING PROMO: AJ STYLES & SAMOA JOE
This is an uncomfortably great feud. Joe has finally found a niche as a psychopathic, family-stalking heel, and AJ is playing right into it. Great work from both guys.
AJ Promo Rating: Three Stone Colds:
Samoa Joe Promo Rating: Nine Jake Roberts
SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: CARMELLA VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR (c)
I’m interested to see how WWE handles the smark crowd cheering Becky Lynch over Charlotte. If they want to stay the course, which I think they will, both women are talented enough to manipulate the crowd they way they want. Alexa Bliss certainly took care of the problem, I’m sure Becky Lynch can as well.
I know it’s an age-old formula, but I don’t like Carmella controlling most of the match. Charlotte wins with the Figure Eight, but it’s surprising how little offense she got in during the match. I guess they want to make Carmella look strong, which makes some sense. Of course Becky attacks after the match, and this is a good way to get Carmella out of the feud so that they can focus on Charlotte and Becky one-on-one.
Becky says she’s getting her title back at HIAC and ends her promo with “You BITCH!” It was so subtle but I got goosebumps and feel emotional over their feud. It’s what SmackDown does so well and Raw hasn’t done in a long time. Orton-Hardy, Styles-Samoa Joe, and Becky-Charlotte are all well-done, complex, emotionally charged feuds, and I can’t wait to see what happens with all of them at Hell in a Cell.
Match Rating: Three Gold Medals
End Of Match Booking Rating: Eight Dustys
Overall Show Rating: Eight Gold Medals
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