Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
-- Smackdown:
- Orton/Jinder/Singhs/Owens/AJ/Corbin/Sami:
"Randy Orton jobbed to a refrigerator" is going to be mocked for months, if not years. Ugh.
I hope Jinder does well going forward.
I get this weird feeling WWE's new Middle Eastern show is going to portray Jinder as the big babyface in all this.
I like Jinder getting a push. Nice to hear someone new cutting promos.
I really don't like the "no one cares about X" line. It buries the work done to make things important.
Jericho has to have the record for most intermittent WWE runs.Yes, there are some people who pop in for a match or two at big shows, but not like what we see from Chris. I'm usually glad to have him around, though. He's good at elevating other performers.
Man, Kevin. That's mean. Though I guess he can be champion forever if he ends everyone else's career.
I am glad to see Owens and the U.S. Title elevated so much.
Ha. Both men throwing Jericho under a bus.
Glad to see Zayn having some guts.
Good to see the Singhs helping Jinder out.
- Women's division/Ellsworth:
I'm liking Carmellsworth. Good for James to have a regular role.
- Natalya vs. Becky:
These two match up pretty well.
Natalya makes a pretty fun heel. I'm glad she's stayed around so long.
Solid action.
I'm liking this action.
Not bad!
- Charlotte/Naomi/Becky:
Remember the awkward time when WWE randomly made trios of female wrestlers so Stephanie could get a big PR moment?
Fine setup for Backlash. I'm curious where the title will go from there.
- Breezango/Ascension:
These two play off each other pretty well.
Konnor and Viktor just hanging in there. They might as well do their Southpaw characters at this point.
- Harper vs. Rowan:
These two are destined to work together FOREVER.
I'm liking this being more of a fight. I mean, these two lived in the Wyatt compound for years. I don't expect either to work like Sami Zayn or AJ Styles.
I wonder what each man's ceiling is. Harper could go either way, but I could see Erick Rowan more or less being the Kane or Mark Henry who's usually the big monster to beat but doesn't often get the big one.
I'm liking this.
Well that was fittingly weird!
Not bad to set up another bout at Backlash. Hopefully they stay apart for a while afterward.
- Ziggler/Nakamura:
Dolph has now hit the point where I don't even want to cheer or boo him. I just don't care about him enough to do either. I'd like to see him pull a Cody or Drew Galloway.
Blah blah blah blah blah.
Hahahah WHAT?
Dolph confirming most people don't care about him was funny. It's a shame. He was just on the verge of being someone who could be a top guy, but could never go from being a good hand to being someone who could cut it as a WWE Title level guy. He seems more content to be a really hard worker than the face of the company, and it's doomed his progress.
I'm ready for Shinsuke to send Dolph back to working with Sin Cara.
Uuugggghhhhhhhhhhh that was lame.
I'm ready for this to wrap up.
- Sami/Orton/AJ:
I'm not sure if they're trying to make Sami the goofball or ribbing him for allegedly taking himself so seriously.
- New Day promo:
That was pretty cool. I hope we something fresh and new from them on Smackdown.
- Ascension vs. Breezango:
Maybe Konnor and Viktor can finally get a win since they're in the UK.
Fandango's an underrated worker.
Heck, Viktor's not a bad worker himself.
That wasn't bad to build momentum. The loss streak continues for the longest-reigning NXT Tag Team Champions.
- Usos promo:
I'm glad the tag team division is getting some more love.
These two are enjoyable heels.
- Kendrick promo:
I hope this is the last bout between Kendrick and Tozawa. The feud has really been going on a long time.
- Mojo promo:
This is a pretty cool babyface moment for Rawley.
I liked that.
- Rusev promo:
Don't go home to Bulgaria!!
I assume Rusev will get a shot at the U.S. Title or something.
- Jinder/Owens/Corbin vs. Orton/AJ/Sami:
Good to see AJ work as a face. He can be pretty enjoyable in that role.
Nice start overall.
I like the RKO being teased and sold as so important.
Hahahah Corbin not wasting much time with the test of strength before going with what brought him to the dance.
AJ's got some impressive technique.
This is solid so far.
Owens and Sami always work together well.
I'd be OK with them trying out Corbin as the top heel on Smackdown. It would make more sense for it to be Owens, but Baron can be in the running, too.
Nice work from KO.
Zayn is the quintessential face in peril.
AJ's got a lot of fire.
I'm enjoying all the action here.
Mahal doesn't have a lot of offense to pull out, but he's doing well enough, I suppose. One doesn't need 500 moves to be a good worker.
Pretty solid work.
Man, the Singhs are really helping Jinder out, huh? It's telling they haven't been in action yet, though. WWE's probably not too confident in them yet.
Orton makes a fine top champion.
That was all good! Jinder looks like a threat to the title.
-- 205 Live:
- Gallagher/Aries/Neville/TJP:
You've GOT to start a UK edition of 205 Live with either Jack or Neville.
Crazy to think a former Impact and ROH World Champion is only on 205 Live.
I like Jack's gimmick. It's a nice change of pace. It also makes me miss Santino.
This is fun enough. I like the incredibly healthy Aries.
Hahahha Jack's having a ball here.
Neville doesn't do toasts it looks like.
Neville heeling his home country like a BOSSSSSSSS.
This is pretty fun.
Ahhh I like devious Neville.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
I hope the main event tag match is more of a fight than a showcase of cool moves. The latter trend is embarrassing.
I'm excited for more from these four.
- Noam/Alicia/Swann:
Swann should have remembered Alicia messing up Edge and Vickie's wedding. And leaving DJ Gabriel. And the whole "crazy" thing.
Alicia's just going to play everyone on this show!
- Nese vs. Mustafa:
The same guys having the same matches. Ugggghhhh. There's only so much WWE can do to make that interesting.
Mustafa really turning up the FLIPS.
Hahaha Gulak is not impressed.
WHOA. Impressive positioning by Nese and Ali on that spot.
Both men trying pretty hard. They're definitely putting some serious effort in to make this matter.
Nese has everything you could want in a competitor his size.
They're making the most of this opportunity.
NICE rana off the apron.
I'm enjoying this a lot.
A slap is just downright disrespectful.
Nice ending!
- Daivari/Tozawa:
Ariya could join whatever they're calling Jinder's group if they wanted to go that route.
I guess they're going to feud next. Good by me!
- Cedric video:
What if Alicia was playing Noam and Swann and goes right back to Alicia? You know someone in Creative pitched it.
- Kendrick vs. Tozawa:
I hope this ends the feud. I think they can have a stellar sendoff here.
Good work from both men so far.
Tozawa goes all out. I can appreciate that.
NICE Sliced Bread No. 2 from the steps.
I'm liking the reinvention of the former Spanky. Good to see him add a good chapter to his WWE tenure. His last Impact run wasn't much to talk positively about.
This is a nice clash of in-ring strengths.
Akira's pretty fired up.
Tozawa's not someone you want to try to outstrike.
Tozawa's going all out here. He's got a lot of energy and skill.
This is shifting into a pretty high gear. Good work.
I'm loving the story here. Great physical chess.
Kendrick's trying his damnedest to win with the Captain's Hook.
That was a great ending. I hope that wraps everything up between them.
- Post-match:
Oh, Brian's not too happy about losing to his protege.
MAN. Tozawa's paying for that win!
Pretty big ending to things. Glad to see these guys get screen time.
More wrestling coming up.
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