Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
-- Smackdown:
- Women's MITB segment:
It is pretty cool to see the women get this kind of stage.
This is being positioned as a pretty big deal.
God, imagine Carmella winning MITB.
Same old, same old from everyone.
I did like Natalya's blatant hypocrisy.
Fine work overall.
I would have been OK with Naomi being involved with the idea that she could cash in on someone else should she lose the title.
Well hey look who's back!
I wonder if we'll see Lana work with MaryKate as she did on NXT live events.
I do like the idea of Lana having to earn a title match. She can't just John Cena her way into things.
- Natalya/Tamina/Carmella vs. Charlotte/Becky/Naomi:
Good start between the workers with famous family members.
Natalya makes a good heel.
I hope Becky wins. Not that she needs it to be women's champion material.
Becky wrestling circles around Carmella. Holy shit.
Carmella doing the few moves she does.
Good to see Tamina in action again. There was speculation she'd retire after her injuries.
This is fine enough.
I'm enjoying most of this. Becky's someone worth watching.
It is a shame Naomi can't be in MITB. I think she'd be perfect for that environment.
This is pretty solid.
Lana's eager to get to action, huh?
- Shane/Mojo:
It definitely doesn't feel like they had a plan for Mojo as Andre battle royal winner.
At least Mojo recognizes he needs to keep momentum ip.
Shane pushing for some new faces in the mix is good.
- Styles vs. Ziggler:
Impressive in the early going.
Talk about two guys who are really at a high level with their ring work.
Glad Dolph didn't get the dirty win. I can't get behind pushing him again.
This has some solid strategy to it.
Good counter-wrestling.
Nice ending!!
- Fashion Files: This is silly, but fun.
Haha. I love the dry humor here.
HAHAHAHAH this is goofy.
I'm liking the interaction here.
That was a lot of fun.
- Cena promotion:
WWE really wants that holiday Smackdown rating to be as strong as it can be.
- Jinder introduction:
When are we going to see the Singhs in action? They're not working live events for Smackdown nor NXT.
- Jinder vs. Mojo:
I hope the new champ can beat this guy. But what if Gronk is here???
Fine action to start.
Mojo does have a lot of energy. He's certainly not going down from a lack of trying.
The Singhs have been pretty helpful to Jinder, no?
Mahal isn't the most versatile wrestler, but he uses his foundation well.
Mojo gets by with what he can do as well.
Not a bad ending at all!
- Jinder promo:
I'm fine with them getting everything they can out of Mahal as champ. I'm getting JBL vibes so far, though, with a midcarder suddenly getting a big title run.
I like this guy alright.
Fine enough.
- Orton promo:
That was a pretty good face statement without being all golly gee whillickers.
- S. Stars vs. Big E/Xavier:
Glad to see New Day back in action.
Good work so far from the longest-reigning champs and their tackling dummies.
Hahaha good musical action.
Good teamwork from the former champs.
This is going well enough to re-establish New Day.
I like the combination of Big E and Xavier. They balance each other out.
Imagine that rollup on Big E winning it. That would have thrown everyone for a loop.
That was a good ending sequence! Good to see them working together again.
- Usos promo:
Ehhhhh.
Not what I was hoping for.
- Sami/Corbin:
I liked them putting Shinsuke over like that. He's definitely good.
Corbin's the classic bully heel.
Sami just gets destroyed by EVERYBODY. He keeps coming back, though.
I liked that. Baron came across well.
- Shane/Naomi:
Wow. Naomi going all in with this Lana thing.
Are we in for a big surprise upset in the women's title picture? I hope Lana has her working boots on.
- Owens vs. Shinsuke:
Good start. This one's special.
Slow burn. I'm sure these two could tear it up on PPV (they faced off at War of the Worlds a few years back).
This is solid.
Really cool to see these two in a big match headlining Smackdown.
Glad Nakamura's finally working Smackdown. He was ready to move on from NXT.
Nice pop-up powerbomb counter.
That was solid! I'm surprised they had him win clean, though. Is a U.S. Title match coming as a result?
- Post-match:
Yeah, don't forget about this guy. He just might get it done at MITB.
-- 205 Live:
- Noam promo:
Poor Dar. Everyone's trying to break him and Alicia up!!
I like Noam's smarm.
Haha. I hope Cedric does move on.
- Noam vs. Cedric:
Fine work early. Glad to see Cedric back in action.
I like feeling out processes, but apparently the target audience just wants nonstop MOVES from bell to bell.
Nice moonsault.
Noam always the master strategist.
I'm liking the back and forth.
This is pretty solid.
That was a good match, but I can see where critics want more dives.
- Post-match:
I'm OK with Cedric doing new things, although I wonder what that could mean.
- TJP interview:
I'm glad he didn't go 180 to fan-loving babyface. Nice change of pace.
This should be good.
- Mustafa vs. Valle:
I'm glad to see the fundamentals employed, but others want their smaller wrestlers to FLY.
Both men bringing strikes here.
This isn't bad!
Ha. Drew Gulak has impeccable timing.
Nice rollup win.
- Post-match:
Ha. I like Gulak wanting to take Ali under his wing.
I guess this is another potential Kendrick/Tozawa kind of thing.
There. There's your cool dive.
- Swann/Tozawa/Titus:
I'm glad to see other faces on this show. Hopefully it morphs into featuring more than the regular 205 Live people. It's not like the target audience will ever be happy; WWE might as well make the most of the show and include other people who aren't getting much TV time.
Crews and Tozawa would make a pretty fun tag team. I'd absolutely like to see Crews in action more.
- Neville interview:
I'm a little disappointed with Neville retaining because his character's pretty much hit a peak.
- Neville vs. TJP:
Nice aggression early.
Fine work here.
I like the oneupsmanship here. Two really talented guys.
Solid technique on display.
NICE use of TJP's hair.
Two heels heeling each other Maggle I love it!
Good to see submissions in a cruiser match.
I always pop for the Tarantula.
I like Neville's aggression. I guess you've got to bring some fight when you're that small.
This has been good so far.
That Neville Level's going to be tough to top.
NICE corkscrew pescado.
I'm enjoying what these two bring to the table.
Both men really excelling here.
Neville's just straight up evil sometimes.
Really good kneebar spot.
I'm LOVING the submissions and counters.
That was a really good ending. TJP put up a hell of a fight before giving it up.
More wrestling coming up.
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