This week’s WWE Smackdown Live was held at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
With the bruises still fresh on the RAW roster from the beat down given to them by the Smackdown Live superstars, Shane McMahon was on high alert for some retaliation. Would the flagship brand make their appearance felt tonight? For now, let’s see what was good, bad or ugly with this week’s show.
The Good
The New Day vs. Gable & Benjamin
I’ve said this ever since “American Alpha 2.0” was formed, this team is going to be a serious threat to whoever holds the tag championships. This match just proved my point. Gable and Benjamin easily kept up with the speed combination of Woods and Kingston.
The Usos were at ringside adding to the announce team, and they did not disappoint. They seemed a bit light-hearted this week and it made for some great commentary. With the way Gable and Benjamin have been acting over the last few weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Usos face turn in the near future. Either way, their upcoming match will undoubtedly be…..the ISH.
The Fashion Files
Come on. Of course.
Dolph Ziggler vs Bobby Roode
The announcement that there will be a third match between these two amazing superstars was cause enough for me to be happy. The fact that it will be a two out of three falls match made me ecstatic. If these two bring it like it was on a PPV, it could easily be a contender for match of the year.
Randy Orton vs Sami Zayn
With these two veterans there was no doubt that this was going to be a crisp and clean match. Tonight was a bit different though, and the reason was the fact that it had real STAKES.
The winner of this match would be the first member of Team Smackdown Live. Any other night if these two were facing each other I really wouldn’t have cared. It probably would have been a throwaway match. Used as a bridge to have someone who was feuding with either one come down and interfere.
The match began as a slow burn, but once Randy took a few chops from Sami, it was officially go time for the Viper. The crowd was super into it due to the fact that both men were laying it in. Even though Kevin Owens tried to help his friend, Orton was able to get some “low blow revenge” to pick up the win.
The Bad
AJ Styles vs Sunil Singh
I mean……come on. What’s even worse, we know have to watch AJ compete against Samir next week to avenge his brother AND Jinder. I can barely contain my excitement.
Baron Corbin vs Sin Cara
This stuff with Baron Corbin looking weak, especially now that he is a CHAMPION has to stop. I don’t know why they chose Sin Cara to feud with Baron, but it makes zero sense and I feel like the crowd feels the same.
Even though Baron got DQ’d for beating Sin Cara senseless and hit the End of Days after the match, he still came out of this match looking nothing like a champion.
The Ugly
The No Payoff Tease
You know it and I know it. There was no chance that RAW was going to show up tonight. However, the WWE likes to think that all of us are suckers and would be fooled by the shameless teases of “will they show up?”. Come on WWE creative, you can do better.
Women’s Fatal Five Way
This was an absolute debacle. A match for the honor of being the captain of the women’s Team Smackdown Live should have been better. Charlotte of course was the exception but even she looked stiff in there dealing with Tamina and Carmella. Speaking of Tamina….
Would someone in the WWE management please release her. I counted more than a few times that she could have really injured one of the other women in the ring. We all enjoy a “you can’t wrestle” chant, but these are people’s lives you are dealing with.
I was happy to see Becky win the match and get the chance to really be a captain this year. That was not enough to unsee the sloppy ring work and missed spots.
