Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 5/16/17

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.

- Smackdown:
- Highlight Reel:
I LOVE Owens stealing Jericho's show. I assume Chris will be back as soon as Fozzy wraps their tour up.

I liked the injured list line. I hope Owens gets to have a career as successful as Jericho.

Hahahahah good line about beating AJ better than Jericho did.

Ehhhhh. The USA thing gets old. Styles ,from a small town in Georgia, is a pretty good fit for it, though.

All this heeling of America. Always a good time.

I'm excited to see how Jinder does at Backlash.

AJ could kill Mahal's momentum in their match if WWE's not careful with the booking. AJ's one of the top wrestlers in the world, and they don't want him to lose to a guy who used to be part of 3MB.

- Jinder vs. AJ:
I expected a STRAIGHT UP TAG TEAM MATCH, but maybe they're saving that for the main event.

I'm thinking they should have the Singh brothers beat some jobbers on the Kickoff show so we know they're a threat. They could use the experience...

Wow. Jinder's power level has really grown. Did he go to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber or something?

Styles is a professional with a lot of tools to pull from.

This is good so far. AJ knows what he's doing.

How does Jinder know these guys anyway?

Jinder can do the basics pretty effectively.

AJ the ring general.

If Jinder wasn't being pushed, I would have been OK with AJ winning with the Ushigoroshi. Like I said, Jinder's toughness has suddenly grown a lot.

Dropkicking someone through the ropes is pretty impressive.

Hahahah Owens with the assist.

That was a good match. AJ can survive IF he gets his heat back on KO.

- Lana video:
I hope they explain how Lana did a 180 personality wise.

- Breezango segment:
Goofy, but I like it.

I've missed this silly kind of stuff. Now everything's I'M THE BEST WRESTLER GRRRRR.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT ENDING.

- Orton interview:
Simple, but pretty effective.

- Breezango vs. S. Stars:
So much for Primo and Epico getting a push, huh? Fine by me.

Lots of near falls here.

Very basic action, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Not bad to establish the contenders.

- Usos promo:
This is good. They're much better as characters now.

Jey and Jimmy could really make a statement on their less-than-serious opponents.

- Contract signing:
I'm glad Smackdown's authority figures aren't all over the TV as much as Angle. Granted, Raw has more time to fill.

I'm pleasantly surprised Charlotte isn't going right into a title match on PPV.

I can't say I expected Natalya to have greatly outlasted Tyson Kidd and D.H. Smith in WWE. Kidd is still under contract, but is unlikely to return to the ring for WWE.

I think I could never hear a reference to Natalya's family again and be OK. We get it. She's a Hart.

I can't wait to see a 30-person Andre battle royal contract signing.

OH MY GOD A Baby-Sitters Club reference in 2017???? Becky, Carmella, and Naomi weren't even alive when the first BSC book came out, and the last one was printed when WCW was still on the air.

I love James adding some levity here.

Ah I love James Ellsworth.

- Carmella vs. Naomi:
I hope Carmella has been training.

I enjoy Carmellsworth a good deal.

Naomi has come a long way from developmental.

Ellsworth making the save from Rear View.

Carmella's not a great wrestler, but she makes the most of what she does do.

I wouldn't have blamed Carmella for bailing!

Imagine losing to the Bronco buster.

I like Naomi's agility.

Ha. At this rate, no one's going to be left at ringside!

Everyone fighting everyone!!!

Fine ending to continue things for Sunday. Sometimes matches are just there to move the story to the next plot point.

- New Day video:
Being off TV for a while has been the best thing to happen to the team in quite a while. They'll be more fresh when they come back.

- Ziggler segment:
Dolph "Pin me. Pay me." Ziggler.

Hahahahahah Dolph has never been WWE Champion tho (and he probably never will be).

- Zayn/Corbin:
Sami does a great job of getting people to kick his ass.

Sami's ring gear might as well have targets on it.

- Orton vs. Corbin:
Corbin actually reminds me of Orton.

Talk about a mirror match!

Orton's like screw this I'm going to hit the RKO and get out of here.

The fact Randy Orton made the Garvin Stomp a thing in modern wrestling is a big accomplishment in of itself.

I'm liking this so far, but they are pretty similar in their offense.

Both men doing good work without resorting to FLIPS.

I think Corbin could follow in Orton's footsteps.

The veteran Orton showing why he's a 13-time champion.

The whole "RKO outta nowhere" thing is kind of diminished when he does the taunting.

Pretty good. I think Baron will continue to progress in the months and years to come. Future WWE Champion doesn't sound unlikely at all.

- Post-match:
Man, Orton can't catch a break!

The Singhs are the new Edgeheads I guess.

That was good enough. I hope Jinder takes this chance and RUNS with it.

- 205 Live:
- Aries interview:
Ha. Austin doesn't even need an interviewer!

Poor TJP has to shine Neville's shoes.

I feel like having no knees wouldn't go well at all.

- Naom vs. Metalik:
FILLER MATCH.

I'm glad Alicia and Noam are on the same page (for now).

The human shield thing always pops me.  

More fine work.

Metalik making all those moves look easy.

Gran is covered if the match ends soon; he got a lot of cool moves in.

I know I say it every week, but Noam's such a great strategist.

Gran's glad to be in WWE doing all these cool moves. Good for him.

Noam working on the arm AND the leg!

Nice work.

- Next week's main event:
OH MY GOD IT KEEPS ON GOING. Hopefully the gimmick match ends it.

- Kendrick interview:
I'm curious how Akira will fit into the street fight environment.

I'm liking Brian's sense of having this all planned out only for it to mostly blow up in his face. BUT he's ready to "fix" things.

Haha, it's all the FANS' fault!

- Nese/Mustafa/Gulak:
BAH GAWD DREW GULAK!!!

Man, Drew really doesn't like this guy, huh?

Hahahahahahah Nese adding to it. I mean, he was ready to have a match!

- Swann/Ariya/Gallagher:
I'd like to see an additional woman on this show. Nothing against Alicia, but maybe they could use someone else to vie for.

Who delivers something in the middle of an interview??

Wait.... is it Ariya's package or not?

Well that was something.

- TJP vs. Aries:
Oh come on TJ! That's not very sportsmanlike!

Yeah gotta be careful with those flippy moves TJ.

Nice work so far.

Uh-oh. Knee problems.

Austin trying to win quick before that knee gives out.

I'm glad there are punches here. This should be more of a fight.

Oh man. That was devious using the ropes.

TJP out to injure Austin for Papa Neville.

I'm liking the submissions.

Aries is in amazing shape.

Good work from both men. Two of the best wrestlers of their size.

TJP turning up his viciousness here.

That was pretty good while it lasted. Aries got a surprise submission win considering he's the one who was worked on for most of the match. Austin could use a pinfall finisher.

- Post-match:
OH MY HOW WILL A DOUBLE OVERCOME THE ODDS AT WWE PAYBACK ON THE AAWRD-WINNING WWE NETWORK????

Neville knows what he's doing here. Targeted attack on the former world champ.

Well at least Austin has one friend on this show.

More wrestling coming up.