Smackdown Reax - 9/13/16

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown.

- Styles/Cena/Ambrose/Shane segment:
I can't say I would have predicted AJ being WWE Champion one day. I wouldn't have ruled out him joining the company, but I would have thought he would have plateaued as an IC-level guy.

I'm liking AJ bragging.

Champ that runs the camp is cheesy enough to work. I'm getting flashbacks to one of AJ's heel runs in TNA.

I'm pleasantly surprised Cena's back now. I wouldn't have been surprised if he just went off and filmed more American Grit. Maybe that's not happening until after No Mercy.

AJ giving Cena back his armband had me DYING. I like some dry humor here and there,

Hard to believe Cena might actually be 16 (or more) time World Champion. Having a WWE and World Title back in the day really helped in that regard. Now, he can be a Universal Champion, too!

I wonder why Ambrose waited for Cena to interrupt Styles before doing it himself.

I like fired up Ambrose. He's not joking around now.

Uhhhhh.... a balls joke. Thanks WWE writing team.

I wouldn't call Cena lazy, but I like Ambrose playing up the part-timer angle. It's a big boast to imply Cena went part-time rather than face Ambrose.

I'm glad Shane is pretty much just showing up to make a match instead of starting the show and THEN the wrestlers show up. Authority figures should be secondary to the people fighting for titles.

Sssssoooo... Ambrose will get a one-on-one rematch AND the triple threat match? That works.

Interesting idea for the main event. AJ picking Curt Hawkins as his partner would be hilarious.

- Usos vs. H. Bros:
Nice continuity with working on the leg.

Mojo makes the most of his background. He knows he's not going to be Cesaro out there.

That was pretty good overall.

- Hawkins promo:
I'm actually fine with Curt getting something of a push. Smackdown needs some more believable talents. Backlash was pretty bare.

- Miz/Ziggler/Bryan promo:
I'm all for WWE running with Miz as a heel. I like the idea of Bryan calling up either Joe or Itami to kick Miz's head in at WM33. If they can hold off that long, that is.

Ummm... Miz was WWE Champion for 160 days. He headlined Wrestlemania. Ziggler's combined World Title reigns aren't even half that. But it's OK, because Dolph yelled more and did more big bumps.

Miz BURYING Dolph's career.

Funny to reference the stunt double angle.

I hope the next title match between Miz and Dolph is the last time they face off for a while. There's only so much to do between them.

Based Miz taking his ball and walking.

- Styles/Corbin promo:
That was OK. As much as I like Corbin, I think this makes more sense than him being champion and AJ having to put him over. Don't act like WWE wouldn't have done something like that at some point.

- Corbin vs. Crews:
Corbin just gives NO fucks. I like it.

- Swagger arrives:
AWESOME!! This is someone who NEEDED a reboot. I'm glad he's getting a chance to break out again. I wouldn't assume he's going to be WWE Champion within a year or anything. Even being IC level is a step up. If he's going to be a face, I really want to see the Swagger Soaring Eagle back. That dance they did was great.

- Becky promo:
That was pretty good! She's pretty inherently likeable.

- Women's No. 1 Contender's Match:
Natalya's fired up! She's quite the talent when she gets to choose it.

I hope Carmella's continuing to train to get better in the ring. She can only get so far without that.

This is pretty wild. I like it.

I love Alexa trying to sneak the victory.

"Everyone hit a big move on someone" is pretty played out, but effective.

That was mostly good. The ending was a bit anti-climactic. Becky vs. Alexa should be pretty good, though, if they play to both ladies' strengths. It would be good to really showcase Alexa with promos and vignettes of her as a prima donna.

- AJ/Kane promo:
AJ and Kane could probably be a pretty fun team in a similar vein as Team Hell No.

- Slater contract signing:
I'm SO glad Slater's getting a spotlight now.

Fine Ascension promo. I'd like to see them get something of a reboot since they've been kicked SO far down the card.

- Slater/Rhyno vs. Ascension:
This is a fine brawl with the more powerful guys doing that thing.

Funny stuff with Slater trying to beat the larger Konnor.

Nice for what it was. It established Slater and Rhyno can beat a team that hasn't already had a match earlier in the night in order to retain the title.

- AJ/Bryan/Ellsworth segment:
Nice continuity. I assume Bray will team with AJ, but who knows?

- Orton/Bray promo:
Fine work from Orton.

They're definitely going to need a big gimmick match after that promo from Bray.

Good use of Rowan.

At least we got an RKO out of Randy.

- Miz attacks Ellsworth:
That works! Good to see Miz and his title in a big role.

- AJ/Miz vs. Ambrose/Cena:
Good action so far.

Good work between the somewhat eclectic styles here.

I kind of missed the Five Moves of Doom, honestly.

Wow. Clean win over the IC Champ.

NICE post-match. I'm excited for No Mercy's main event.

More wrestling coming up.