This week’s WWE Smackdown Live was held at the Scope Arena in Norfolk VA.
Happy Halloween from Smackdown live! Was this week’s show a treat or absolute havoc? Let’s see who deserves candy.
The show opened with Shane O Mac explaining why Smackdown Live did what they did during #UnderSeige. He explained that Smackdown Live has always been looked at as the “B Show” and that it could never quite live up to big brother RAW. Shane actually did a great job selling that Smackdown Live was tired of being looked at as inferior, and that going to RAW was the best course of action.
He also brought up the assault on Daniel Bryan, and how he holds his sister and Kurt Angle responsible for letting it happen, and the subsequent treatment of Bryan after the attack. This attack caused the commissioner of Smackdown Live to officially enter the Survivor Series match as team captain. This is the only course of action that makes sense, since Angle has already announced that he will be leading his team into Survivor Seires.
The Good
Bobby Roode vs Dolph Ziggler
Any time Dolph Ziggler is in the ring, he makes his opponent look ten times better than they actually are. When he is in the ring with someone with above average talent, it’s gold. This two out of three falls match was fantastic. The first two falls came in rapid succession, with the third keeping everyone watching on their toes. Congrats to Bobby Roode for becoming the third member of Team Smackdown Live. It seems like this team is going to be mostly, if not all faces. This doesn’t bode well for Kevin Owens later on.
Fashion Files
Kevin Owens vs Shinsuke Nakamura
I was actually planning on placing this match in the “Bad” section at first. Shinsuke has become a wrestler that acts like a fighting game character that is spamming all special moves. He is much more exciting when he is performing as if he was in an actual fight. Special moves are fine sprinkled into the match, not every sequence has to have a high spot.
As the match wore on it became far better. Kevin Owens really ramped up the offense, but it just wasn’t enough. There was one particular part where he reversed a superplex attempt that was impressive. He even landed a frog splash after Sami Zayn came to the ring, distracting the King of Strong Style. Shinsuke kept kicking out though, causing Kevin Owens to have Sami Zayn clear off the announce table.
This was the end for Owens. Once Sami became directly involved in the match, Randy Orton’s music hit. While attention was turned to the front, Randy slithered in from behind Zayn and dropped him on the announce table. This caused enough of a distraction for Nakamura to pick up the win.
Sin Cara’s Mic Work
Sin Cara has given me a bit of hope for this program with Baron Corbin. Corbin trying to take off Sin Cara’s mask gave this feud some legitimacy.
The Bad
The New Day Feud with Rusev
I’m not sure where they are going with this. Maybe I’m just spoiled from their incredible feud with the Usos. Maybe Aiden English and Rusev together is just confusing. I’m not feeling this fledgling rivalry though. Rusev is a single competitor. He deserves a worth opponent. The New Day are a tag team, and deserve the same in the tag division. I did however love the New Day’s Halloween costumes.
The Ugly
Sorry Women’s Division, it’s your night.
Natalya’s Mic Work
For someone who grew up surrounded by legends, she sure hasn’t picked up much. Her cadence is terrible, her pauses are in the completely wrong place, and her awful inflection makes my brain malfunction.
Carmella’s Pet
This gimmick makes me cringe. Every time I see it I just shake my head.
I feel like this week could have been more Halloween oriented. The New Day and Fashion Files did it perfectly, there could have been a bit more of it and we wouldn’t have forgotten what the storylines were. It’s OK to have fun that doesn’t involve these two tag teams.
