WWE Smackdown Live was held in Brooklyn NY at the Barclays Center
Show Open
Smackdown opened with a recap of the Owens vs Styles match at Summerslam. AJ Styles came out afterwards to an electric Brooklyn crowd. After boasting that he was the work horse of the WWE he once again reinstated the US Title open challenge. Of course the first person to accept would be KO, not feeling as if things were settled at SummerSlam.
Kevin Owens stated his case, and said that it was just another McMahon screwing over a legendary Canadian. Owens couldn’t get much more than that out before Shane McMahon came out to ringside to defend himself.
Shane said that he did exactly what he said he would and called the match right down the middle. Owens responded with a really great promo on Shane. Citing that he couldn’t believe the man that survived a helicopter “crash” and dove off Hell in a Cell, couldn’t regain his composure after getting grazed by a 450 splash to count when KO hit AJ with a powerbomb.
Owen’s real gripe was that even though Shane counted to three at one point, he took it back. AJ heard enough and begged Shane to give Owens the rematch, which Shane agreed to. Shane even agreed to let Owens pick his own referee since Owens was so paranoid about getting screwed again. However, if Owens couldn’t win tonight, this would be the last chance he could have at the title as long as AJ is champion.
Backstage
Daniel Bryan met with Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers. Even though Jinder praised Bryan for being progressive enough to realize Jinder’s worth, Bryan was not impressed. He told Jinder that all he saw in Jinder was a champion who couldn’t win without help. Furthermore he awarded Shinsuke as match with both Singhs as a bit of retribution
Kevin Owens in his attempt to find a fair referee went to his former friend Sami Zayn. It was actually quite heartfelt until the end when Owens told Sami that he knew he had time to do it since he hasn’t really been doing anything on Smackdown Live.
Aiden English vs ???
The Good
GLORIOUS!!!! Bobby Roode has made it to the main show. As English sang to the crowd the lights went out and as soon as the crowd heard Bobby’s music they went into full singalong mode. Roode being here is both great and scary. He is getting older and I hope they give him a good run and not bury him in the midcard.
The Bad
Don’t you DARE go to commercial break while the GLORIOUS one is in the ring.
The Ugly
Not with Bobby in the ring. Nothing ugly there.
Backstage
Daniel Bryan spoke with Chad Gable about his situation at Smackdown Live and the departure of Jason Jordan. Chad seemed disappointed that this would be another conversation about Jason. Daniel assured him it was nothing of the sort and introduced him to his new tag team partner. Mrs Benjamin’s baby boy Shelton Benjamin is back on Smackdown!! Chad was very excited and will get to know his new partner better in their first match next week.
Kevin Owens once again found Sami Zayn backstage, this time with a referee shirt in his possession. He asked Sami if he had thought about his offer. Sami said that he did, and after remembering all the underhanded things Owens had done to him in the past, declined the offer.
Usos vs Hype Bros – Winners: The Usos
The Good
There wasn’t much to write home about with this match. It was a throwaway. There is no story line progression here as the Hype Bros aren’t even in the title picture. The Usos did a good job in ring but I kept thinking if Mojo saw me as I watched the match, he would scream “HE AIN’T HYPED!”.
The Bad
I just don’t see why the Hype Bros are still a thing. I think the worst part about it is that Zack Ryder isn’t in the singles. It’s a shame.
The Ugly
The fact that I had to hear “BRO” so many times during their entrance. It’s truly cringeworthy.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs The Singh Brothers – Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
The Good
To make Nakamura perform in this match is an insult. The only good thing about it was him hitting the Kinshasa on Mahal after the match to show the crowd what they should have seen at SummerSlam. That would be Mahal unconscious in the ring.
The Bad
See above.
The Ugly
If Nakamura is going to perform that horrible Good Vibrations move, at least have the decency to start shaking after he starts the move and not BEFORE…..
Backstage
An agitated Kevin Owens was still in search of a referee for his match. He ran into Breezango who offered their services since they had the week off. Even though they made the point that they would make “sexy zebras” Owens freaked out and told them no. After they walked away it seemed that Owens was about to change his mind, this was when Baron Corbin came to say he would accept the job. The only catch was that he would get the first shot at Owens after he won the title. Kevin agreed and we have our ref.
Natalya/Carmella vs Becky Lynch/Naomi- Winners: Becky/Naomi
The Good
Carmella played this match exactly how she should have. Let Natty wrestle the whole match and after she got beat up, cash in her MITB contract and win the title. Unfortunately Natalya would finally get Carmella in the ring which would lead to her losing the match for her team. It was an interesting dynamic to have the champ and MITB contract holder on the same team. It made for a good story during the match.
The Bad
The crowd obviously wasn’t into this match at all. They even resorted to doing “The Wave”. I can’t remember seeing that during a RAW or Smackdown Live. I know that the Brooklyn crowd can be rowdy and energetic but this was something else.
The Ugly
I swear if Natalya says her uncle’s catch phrase one more time I’m going to puke. I know, I know…..I’ll go get my bucket.
Backstage
Dolph Ziggler returned to Smackdown Live and immediately went into shoot mode. He took issue with the fact that his returned was backstage, and told the WWE “way to roll out the red carpet”. After that he said that he knew what it took to be star in the WWE and then proceeded to mockingly reference A LOT of gimmicks used by current roster superstars. It was reminiscent of CM Punk.
Lana and Tamina had a visualization exercise that was exceedingly boring. The best part of it was hearing someone in the crowd yell “You’re not even Russian!”.
AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens – Winner: AJ Styles
The Good
As much as I enjoy watching these two superstars compete against each other I’m glad that it will be the last one for a while. Having Baron be the ref was also a good move. He needs to be in some sort of title picture. I know some of you might disagree but I’m still on his side and think he can be really great. Even though he quit before the match was over, I think he and AJ got into it enough that we will see Corbin answer the open challenge next week.
The Bad
When Corbin quit Shane McMahon took his place and I’m sure in Owen’s eyes, screwed him over again and cost him “his” title. We all know that this is probably leading to a slow burn to have Shane and Owens face off at Wrestlemania. I think it takes away from super talented guys on the roster to face Shane on the biggest stage of them all.
