The fight now stands at AJ Styles’ front door. What potentially damning accusation did Aiden English make on Smackdown Live?
After weeks of foreshadowing, has AJ Styles heeded the warnings from Samoa Joe about his family? Also, Rusev and Lana encounter a vague yet at the same time intriguing allegation that could jeopardize the duo.
Smackdown Live comes to us from Denver, Colorado this 25th of September, 2018.
Truth TV: Episode One
The normal Miz TV opening segment is replaced by a show described by Daniel Bryan as “infinitely better”. R-Truth and Carmella host the first episode of Truth TV with Bryan as their inaugural guest. The show is an instant success with dance breaks and a forthcoming live animal segment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo3QY9DddfM]
As the Superstars rip on how much better this show is The Miz cannot help but interrupt. The Miz trashes the new show despite the support of the fans and vows to foil Daniel Bryan’s plan to win their match at WWE Super Showdown. The winner of that match goes on to challenge for the WWE Championship and The Miz states he will force Bryan to cheat and tarnish his name. With endless heel tactics at his disposal The Miz suggests the only way to beat him is to play his games.
R-Truth chimes in and bans the A-Lister from his show. Outraged, The Miz questions the legitimacy of the segment that Truth stole from him. Truth then challenges The Miz to fight him for ownership of the show and Paige makes this match official.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1LLnJpJmIQ]
On paper it seems as though both Truth’s show and his new partnership with Carmella would be uneventful but the crowd is enchanted with both of these ideas. Let’s hope the WWE does not mess this up.
Unfortunately with a huge match coming up it is no shock that The Miz prevails. Once more Daniel Bryan’s flying knee was borrowed to put away R-Truth. The Miz gloats before and after executing the move which enrages Bryan. The Bearded One leaves his commentary position and chases The Miz out of the ring after the match.
Had there been more time before WWE Super Showdown it would have been interesting to see an angle play out where R-Truth knocked off The Miz with help from Bryan. Of course this would further the animosity between he and The Miz but would also catapult R-Truth further into relevancy.
#saysomethingnicechallenge
The ever positive New Day decide to challenge themselves to say nice things about The Bar. They fail miserably which enrages both Ceasaro and Sheamus. The Celtic Warrior will take on Big E in singles competition tonight.
Odd that prior to what could be a stellar Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship match at Super Showdown these teams have primarily been involved in singles matches.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jryTaGH9b2Y]
After a quick and hard fought battle Sheamus utilizes an opening to hit his Brogue Kick for the win. This rivalry and subsequent singles matches are uninspiring. All members of these teams are amazing wrestlers but the feud is stale. The New Day have held back on their comedy routine and The Bar have only recently emerged from obscurity. These teams are in an uphill battle with some of the other amazing angles playing out right now.
Recommendations include The Bar breaking up to live up to their insane potential as singles competitors while The New Day finding a way to turn heel.
The Real National Scandal
Seeking answers, Rusev along with Lana take to the ring to ask why Aiden English betrayed Rusev on the previous Smackdown Live. English blindsided Rusev immediately following a match, attacking the Bulgarian Brute with a microphone.
After being called out English appears and makes a case that this has more to do with Lana than anything. English coined the Rusev Day theme and made the WWE Universe care about the unappreciated Rusev. Although Lana is loyal to her husband, English argues that her jealousy came between he and Rusev.
In quite possibly the most explosive pipe bomb since the days of CM Punk, English asks Lana if she has told Rusev about “that night in Milwaukee”.
Before elaborating further English simply drops the mic and walks backstage leaving Lana and the WWE Universe utterly stunned. It is not clear what this means but certainly points to innuendo. This could be a ploy to divide Rusev and Lana, possibly overstating a minute incident neither can remember that will ultimately be inconsequential.
This ride will be juicy and English promises to offer video evidence of alleged wrongdoings on next week’s Smackdown Live.
This is everything pro wrestling is meant to be. Betrayal, infidelity and animosity combined with great story telling have made this one of the most compelling angles in WWE today.
Orton Chooses His Next Victim
Shinsuke Nakamura faces Tye Dillinger in a potential throw away match. The tragic path of Dillinger is not uncommon to NXT call ups and can be attributed to a saturated roster rather than a lack of talent. Dillinger does surprisingly well against The United States Champion.
However this promising effort is cut short when Randy Orton attacks Dillinger out of nowhere, ending the match. Orton delivers a suspended DDT on the outside and leaves without saying a word. To add insult to injury, Nakamura delivers a Kinshasa to a downed Dillinger before leaving as well.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUXFiLoB1Jc]
This is potentially Orton’s second “victim’ in what will most likely be a series of targeted attacks. What is interesting is that both of his victims at this point have been opponents of Nakamura which leads us to believe that there must be some sort of connection.
Could Nakamura have taken out an insurance policy in the form of The Viper? Or is Orton protecting The United States Championship in hopes of an epic showdown in the future?
Daddy’s Home
Paige and AJ Styles await Samoa Joe in the ring for a contract signing ahead of the WWE Championship match at Super Showdown. When Joe fails to show, Styles begins talking smack about the challenger for his title. Styles recants how Joe stoops to terrorizing his family instead of facing him like a man.
Styles has no idea of the truth his words will bear tonight.
Joe’s face appears on the big screen. He begins to speak cryptically about traveling in the wrestling business. It soon becomes apparent that Joe is not in the arena but rather at the Styles residence. Sitting on the front door step, Joe delivers a truly evil promo about the theft of his title opportunity due to a missed call by the referee in their previous match.
The consequences of these events will be visited not only upon Styles but his family as well according to Joe. In a moment of true horror Styles sheds his confident persona and pleads with Joe to stop and leave his property. Just before Smackdown Live goes off the air Joe rings the door bell, turns to the camera and says “daddy’s home”.
This segment is simply thrilling and hearkens back to Attitude Era tactics of classic heels. The suspense built perfectly throughout the segment and ended at exactly the right time. The cliff hanger is more than enough to tune in to WWE Super Showdown to see how Styles will overcome the mind games of Samoa Joe.
