SMACKDOWN 23/08/2016 - All New Everything

Finally! Last week I mentioned how over the last few weeks Smackdown has very slowly, but surely been getting better each week, well it looks like Smackdown has finally hit the nail on the head as this has to be considered the best Smackdown since the drafts in July. Not only was there a brand new set (a type of set I originally envisioned the show having) but the stories were good and the wrestling was just all there. So let me go and layeth the most glorious Smackdown on this week's review.


New Championships
Before the show aired, Daniel Bryan announced via Twitter that they would be revealing the brand new tag team and women's championships. I didn't quite know what to originally expect and actually feared that the belts would look like their respective counterparts - which they actually did, but I'm not mad about. While these new championships' designs are the same, the colours are different (Tag Team is now silver and Women's is blue) and they actually look tons better than their counterparts - I almost feel like the RAW titles are the titles that need a new look. Anyway, the show kicked off revealing the new championships and the ring was filled with the entire Smackdown tag team division as well as the entire Smackdown women's division. After the reveal, it was announced that all six women would be competing at Backlash in the first ever women's six pack challenge, and the winner would become the first ever Smackdown Women's Champion. As for the tag team division: They would be competing in a tournament that will culminate at Backlash. At this point Heath Slater would come out and say he's had his contract taken away from him the last two weeks and deserves to be on the roster fighting for a title. This would lead to Daniel saying if Heath can find a partner by the end of the night he can join the tournament. Shane would then expand on this and say he would be able to join the tournament but to be on the roster full time, he has to win until the end. Heath would agree and would go backstage. AJ Styles would then come out and start to complain about the backstage altercation with Dolph Ziggler, but would shortly be attacked again by Ziggler which was very quickly broken up. This was all done really well and it was a good start to the show.
Rating: 8.5

Becky Lynch VS Alexa Bliss
I can't really say much about this match as it wasn't very long and not much really happened. What I can say, though, is that I really enjoyed seeing these two in the ring together. I mentioned this in the RAW review, but I feel it is necessary to mention it again: the Smackdown women are being treated absolutely superbly! I don't really feel like any specific one of them are being shown as a top star as they are all being shown as top stars and we are always getting different matches. I can't wait to see the six pack challenge at Backlash.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: 7.5

The USOs VS the Ascension 
I had some pretty good feels going into this match and I was really expecting some really cool stuff to be shown. This match in itself was actually pretty good - I enjoyed watching it - and I think the only really big complaint I have about it is the fact that the USOs won. You have the USOs who really haven't done all that much in the years they've been in the company and who have gotten really stale the last little while. Then you have the Ascension, a top team that was brought up from NXT early last year, who have been massively under-utilised since their debut. They were the longest reigning tag team champions in NXT and were a force to be reckoned with, and as soon as they made their main roster debut they were treated as jokes and have ultimately been glorified jobbers. This was the opportunity for WWE to reinvent them, allow them to bring back the great tag team known as the Ascension, but then they decided to drop the ball. Instead of allowing the Ascension to win and making us, the customers, the viewers, happy, they decide to bullshit us and let the USOs win. I'm a very unhappy man because of this.
Winner: the USOs
Rating: 8

Phenomenal Promo

AJ Styles would come to the ring for the second time on the show and he would deliver a really great promo about how he beat John Cena and how he's now the guy to beat and no one can beat him. He would say Dolph Ziggler is a loser and couldn't lace up his (Styles) boots. Dolph would come out which would almost result in the two brawling. Daniel Bryan would come out before anything could happen and mention that Styles is correct in saying he is number one contender for Dean Ambrose's WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and also mentioned that Dolph came that close to winning the title at Summerslam. Daniel would then propose that the two face off in the main event and if Ziggler wins, he gets added to the championship match at Backlash and it will be a triple threat match.
Rating: 8

The Double Turn

This was originally meant to be a match between Nikki Bella and Carmella, but Rene Young thought that an interview in the ring before the match itself would be a good idea. Nikki was busy answering about how great it feels to be back and have the support of the WWE Universe, when the unthinkable happened: Carmella attack Nikki from behind and gave her a bonafide beat down. This was truly awesome to see as I highly doubt anyone in the arena or watching at home was expecting that to happen - and if you say you were, then you're probably a liar. It was really awesome to see and I look forward to seeing if something develops past Backlash.
Rating: 8.5

Orton-Wyatt Confrontation
I know that Brock Lesnar is called the beast and all, but I actually feel like Randy is more beast than Lesnar is just by the fact that Randy is still on Smackdown TWO DAYS after having his head sliced open! Even though this was just a promo, I give huge props to Randy for still showing up and doing something. Randy would do a short promo (about what, I will admit I can't remember) but this was then followed by Bray coming out and doing his own little promo. It looked as if the two were about to go into battle with each other when the lights went out and he was gone when they turned back on. I'm very interested and intrigued to see how this rivalry will develop, although I have my doubts that any match between them will occur at Backlash unless Randy gets his head fixed up by then.
Rating: 8.5

Breezango VS American Alpha
This would be the second match in the qualifying round to occur. I just want to mention that before the match, it showed Rhyno approaching Heath Slater and saying he will be his partner, which means we are going to see these two as a part of the tournament which means the tag team match at Backlash will be a fatal four way tag team match - I wonder which team will go against Slater and Rhyno next week though. Anyway, onto this match. We all know American Alpha are extremely talented and can put on great matches. Tyler Breeze, who has to be the most under-utilised superstar called up from NXT, proved why he should not only be a singles competitor, but deserves to be in high-profile matches - damn Breeze is great!
Winner: American Alpha
Rating: 8

AJ Styles VS Dolph Ziggler (Dean Ambrose on Commentary)
Wow! That is all I can say about this match because it was really just an awesome one! These two really gave each other their all. I will admit that I was hoping Dolph Ziggler would win because I think a triple threat match at Backlash for the title would be great, but at the same time I am perfectly happy having it be one-on-one with Ambrose and Styles. Could we be seeing a new world champion in AJ Styles? Where does Dolph Ziggler go from here?
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: 9

With only one match being rated below 8 out of 10, it is very clear to see just how great this episode of Smackdown really was. With this being the highest Smackdown has set their bar since the draft, will they be able to do it again and beat that bar? I sure can't wait to find out as Smackdown might just become my favourite show again, just like I've always wanted it to be. With there only being one more Smackdown show until Backlash, what's lies in store next? And what's in store for us after that PPV? There's only one way to find out.

SMACKDOWN 16/08/2016 - Laying the Smack down

As mentioned at the end of last week's review, Smackdown has been slowly but surely getting better and better by the week. While it might not have been quite as good as RAW, it certainly was one of the better Smackdown shows since the drafts. Now as sure as I am sitting here typing this review, I am about to breakdown just what happened.

Miz TV feat. Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose
This was just great. Much like Kane's pyro, this segment was hot as hell and it does a spectacular job getting you invested for the match between Ziggler and Ambrose at Summerslam. These two spoke amazingly well and has got me excited. There might be some people out there who viewed the super kick to Ambrose as a bit of a heel turn for Ziggler, but I don't actually see it that way. Quite honestly, I just saw it as Ziggler getting payback for the Dirty Deeds Ambrose hit on him the week before. I can not tell you how excited I am to see these two go at it for the title on Sunday. So while this segment was really spectacular, there is unfortunately a downside: the Miz. So I understand that this was a way to get the two in the ring at the same time to get this spot going, as well as to promote the intercontinental title match for Summerslam (which was done during the break), but if I'm honest, there was no need for him to be there. He served no purpose and if they wanted the two in the ring at the same time it could have been as simple as Dolph Ziggler calling Ambrose out because of last week. But otherwise, that's the only problem I had with this segment and it did not affect the rating.
Rating: 8.5

American Alpha, Hype Bros & the USOs VS Breezango, Ascension & Vaudevillians 

While this match really wasn't anything special and was a short one, it does kind of bring a story across. All the teams that were in this match are really all the tag teams on the Smackdown roster. Last week, I said there would likely be a Fatal Four Way Tag Team match at Smackdown's first brand-exlusive PPV Backlash to determine the first Smackdown Tag Team Champions. However, this week's Smackdown has made me change my mind. Because Smackdown has now established their full tag team division, there is a high chance that at Backlash we could be seeing a Tag Team Gauntlet match to determine the new champions. It will either be that or we could see a mini-tournament which would lead to a triple threat tag team match at Backlash.
Winner: American Alpha, Hype Bros & the USOs
Rating: 7.5

Naomi and Eva Marie
I want to talk about these two separately because I can. So first off with Naomi: wow! That is a really awesome entrance and despite her attire looking like pyjamas, I still have very high hopes that this reinvention of Naomi will mean something good for her. As it is, I am more excited about the Smackdown women's division than I am about RAW's because there is a much higher chance of us being able to see something new and different from them because they're all under-utilised and new talent and only Natalya has actually been champion. There are rumours that Nikki Bella could be coming to Smackdown, but my biggest fear is that she will be shown as being the top dog and will be put on that pedestal again. Now Eva Marie: She once again weaselled her way out of a match, this time by it being announced by her own personal ring announcer that she was stuck in traffic and so couldn't compete. I'm absolutely loving this. It's truly great. This segment as a whole was just great to watch.
Rating: 8

Randy Orton VS Heath Slater
While I'm not a fan of one-sided matches, I really enjoyed this match. Heath Slater got absolutely decimated and Randy got disqualified after the ref counted to three (did anyone else notice this?) and it was really fun to watch. And Slater told like a champ. This is another reason why I love Slater so much because regardless of what's being done to him, regardless who he goes against, he makes the absolute most of it. This is why I'm glad he is still not signed to any show of yet because I want to see what's going to happen next.
Winner: Heath Slater (by DQ)
Rating: 7.5

Dean Ambrose VS Erick Rowan w/Bray Wyatt
A pretty cool match here. Nothing great and nothing you wouldn't have expected, but still pretty good. I think the most significant part of this was after the match where Bray Wyatt looked at the sheep mask of Rowan's and just walked away. Could this mean the official end of the Wyatt Family? Will there be a feud between Rowan and Wyatt first? I hope for the latter because Bray Wyatt on his own will be able to do so much more and a feud between him and Rowan would be quite cool to see.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: 7.5

Becky Lynch & Carmella VS Natalya & Alexa Bliss
A match I was really looking forward to turned out to be not so great, not to the fault of the women in the ring of course. They were only given five minutes, one of those minutes which included Eva Marie making her appearance followed by Naomi, so it wasn't exactly stellar. There was so little that happened that I didn't even really have time to focus on what was happening in the ring. Probably the most significant thing was probably the fact that the entire Smackdown women's was out there which you have to assume, much like the tag team division, will result in a multi-person match at Backlash for the first Smackdown Women's Championship.
Winner: Becky Lynch & Carmella
Rating: 6.5

John Cena VS Alberto del Rio

This match as a whole was ok at best and I think the only reason being that I am finding it extremely difficult to get behind del Rio. this is mostly because of how del Rio has been booked since he returned last year. I mentioned last week that if WWE don't do something significant with him after Summerslam, he really should just leave the company. Del Rio is an amazing talent and I refuse to see him go down the same road as Cody Rhodes and Sheamus where they're just put into pointless matches that goes nowhere. Del Rio deserved the absolute best treatment because he is that damn good. After this match we would see Styles deliver a Phenomenal Forearm. Cena would then hit the Attitude Adjustment when he would try beat him up some more. This was then followed by Styles getting AA'd through a table. I'm quite looking forward to their match at Summerslam and hope that Styles gets the victory.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: 7.5

And there you have it. As can be seen, there were some things that I didn't quite agree with or didn't fully like, but overall it was actually a very good show. It also had more matches than just talking which is always great. With Smackdown getting better and better, just how much better can it get in the weeks to come, especially in the lead up to their first PPV in Backlash? I don't know about you, but I can't wait to find out.

SMACKDOWN 09/08/2016 - Better and better?

From Smackdown having a semi-good start two weeks ago, to it having a slightly better start last week, was it able to up the ante and do even better than the last two weeks? Were there more stories being told? Were the matches better? Was it ultimately worth the watch? Well much like a stripper, I'm just teasing you at this point because to find out you will have to read my breakdown of this week's show to see what I liked and didn't like and if it made it better or worse.

The Wyatt Segment

First I would like to address Eric Rowan and Bray Wyatt getting back together. For me it feels like they're doing this just because they don't know what to do with Rowan. Also, I'm not a fan of them getting back together because I feel like Bray really needs to go it alone. While he is attached to his Wyatt Family members I don't think he will go very far and I don't think he will win a singles title while still with them. That is me taking a shot more at creative though because they have really sucked at giving Wyatt a good singles story while with the Wyatts. The second thing I want to address is that Wyatt is still very much involved in the storyline with Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler. While he will not be fighting for the world title at Summerslam, he is still getting involved with these two. Whether this means that Wyatt will get involved in the said match or if it will just be ignored is yet to be seen. Onto this segment though, I quite enjoyed the promo by Wyatt (as I always do) and when Ambrose and Ziggler started fighting with the Wyatts that was really well done. That super kick to Ambrose's head looked hard as hell and then Wyatt getting the sister abigail on Ziggler was a good finish to that! Well done!
Rating: 8

American Alpha VS Enhancement Talent
There's no real need to talk about the match itself as it was obviously a bonafide squash match - although huge props to American Alpha for still making it look really good! Before the match we saw the Ascension, the Vaudevillians, and the Hype Bros come out to ringside. After the match we saw everyone enter the ring and start going at each other - which resulted in American Alpha being the last ones in the ring. This can only mean that Smackdown are looking to debut the new tag team championships soon (most likely at their first PPV Backlash) and it could feature all four of these teams in a fatal four way tag team match (could be elimination style). Much like when all the women came out on Smackdown two weeks ago, I'm excited to see exactly what they do with the tag team division as well as what new teams might be formed.
Winner: American Alpha
Rating: 7.5

Becky Lynch VS Alexa Bliss
Originally this was meant to be Becky Lynch VS Eva Marie, however because of a...wardrobe malfunction this match was called off. I can honestly say that I have never heard of a match being called off because of a wardrobe malfunction, but I will get into that in a bit. Pretty much Becky was not going to leave without a match and so Alexa Bliss decided she would take on the challenge. Both put on a pretty good match, although it was short. Due to the distraction of Eva Marie, who had come out again after getting her attire sorted, Alexa Bliss was able to get Becky down and hit her finisher which would end the match. I do have mixed feelings about this finish. In one hand, you have a new callup from NXT in Alexa getting a win in her debut. On the other hand, it makes Becky look a bit weak. On a whole different side of it though, whenever the women end up competing for the new women's title, we could very well end up seeing Eva Marie win the title. Think about it this way: if Eva keeps on putting off her matches until they fight for the title, it would be the first time we see her compete on the main roster since the draft and so you would think she would be unlikely to win. BUT...Then she does win. I understand that people hate her, and WWE are capitalising on this by making Eva a cowardly heel. Think about how much heat she would have if she won the women's championship. I still like Eva very much and wouldn't mind seeing this, however I still want to see Becky Lynch getting her chance at the top.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Rating: 7.5

Randy Orton VS Alberto del Rio
Remember how excited we were when del Rio returned at the Hell in a Cell PPV last year? Remember how we were expecting this huge heel run for him? Remember when that happened? Well, it happened when he first joined the company, but since his return last year there is no doubting that he has been treated like sheer and utter crap! First off: whosever idea it was for him to start using that corner stomp as a finisher should get shot, because that is honestly the worst finisher in the world! Second, he has been way too under-utilised! When he joined forces with Sheamus, Rusev and Bad News Barrett, I was expecting those four to become this great heel faction that beat up superstars every week...this didn't happen! Apparently del Rio does have an escape clause in his contract which allows him to walk away by November if he is not happy, and quite honestly I can see this happening if WWE don't start using him the way he deserves. This match with Orton was just ok, nothing more and nothing less. I'm still looking forward to seeing Orton go against Lesnar at Summerslam, although they're really beating a dead horse with those replays from RAW and Smackdown last week. But I really, really want to see del Rio being used to his full potential, and soon!
Winner: Randy Orton (by DQ)
Rating: 6.5

A Tweet said it best: RKO outta somewhere
Because everyone saw this one coming

Heath Slater VS Rhyno
With Heath Slater having 2...4? (16 by the end of it according to David Otunga or JBL)...kids, you would think that there was a chance for Slater to win. I didn't rule it out, but I knew Rhyno would win. WWE are going to continue the Free Agent gimmick a bit longer and I for one am looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Winner: Rhyno
Rating: 7

Carmella VS Natalya
This was another short match, which saw another NXT callup in Carmella get the victory. Much like earlier, this was another short match, but I see a possible feud between these two in the near future and when they get a chance on PPV, I have huge faith that they will be able to put on a spectacular match.
Winner: Carmella
Rating: 7

The Wyatts VS Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler

This was a pretty good match. Much like pretty much all the other matches on the show, it was a short one, but these guys really gave their all in it. Dolph Ziggler is very much being shown as the underdog going into Summerslam which furthers my belief that he will end up being the one who walks out of the PPV as champion. With Ziggler getting the win over the Wyatts in this match, you have to believe that Wyatt will no longer be playing a role in this feud, or could he? As I mentioned earlier, there is a chance that Wyatt could get himself involved in the match at Summerslam or...he will just move on as if nothing has happened. Regardless, it is interesting to see what will happen next.
Winner: Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler
Rating: 8

With that being the end of Smackdown, the suspense is now over and this is my verdict: Smackdown is indeed getting better. I think that they are slowly but surely building themselves up as the better brand. I think in due time, Smackdown could very well neck and neck with RAW and people could very well have to decide whether they're team blue or red. While I very much want to be a part of team blue, I have to say that team red has been doing much better than I initially thought they would and have been doing better than team blue, so that's where I'm at right now. But because I love all you adorable viewers of mine, and also because I won't know unless I watch the damn shows, I will keep on watching both RAW and Smackdown. What does Smackdown have in store for us next?

SMACKDOWN 02/08/2016 - Dejavu?

Just off the bat, the title of this week's Smackdown review is more related to certain things that happens in the show than the overall show itself. This week was possibly better than last week's Smackdown, and only slightly better than this week's RAW. Much like a pimple, let's pop this bad boy open.

Getting Personal

This segment was between Dolph Ziggler (challenger) and Dean Ambrose (champion) and I felt like they really tried to one-up what RAW did between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. Unfortunately, I didn't feel it was as good, but there were certain parts that I did enjoy. I enjoyed the shouting match between Ambrose and Ziggler and it had a real personal feel to it, I just didn't quite understand why it happened because quite honestly it felt a bit out of nowhere. I don't know if it was meant to be Ambrose trying to motivate Ziggler, or if they're showing Ambrose as being like a bit of a dick by saying Ziggler never gets the job done, quite honestly I couldn't quite understand the motive behind this, at least at this point. A bit later I realised exactly what WWE are doing, but we will get to that. Ambrose would leave the ring after which the lights would go out and when turned on Bray Wyatt would execute the sister abigail. At this point Wyatt would challenge Ziggler to a match and whoever wins would go on to be the official number one contender for Ambrose's title. This match was accepted. Overall, it was decent. As I said, some parts were confusing, but it was actually done pretty well.

Rating: 8

Baron Corbin VS Kalisto VS Apollo Crews (No.1 Contender match for IC Title)

I was so looking forward to this match. While I wasn't expecting it to be a massively great match, I was expecting it to be really good. I was almost correct as they were really getting into it and starting to do some really cool stuff before...well it ended. It was a very short match and a lot more could have been done. Unfortunately it seemed quite obvious that Crews was going to win as (from the drafts) there was an indication that Kalisto would get into a rivalry with Corbin, which ultimately started after this match was over and Corbin attacked Kalisto. I might just add that I'm not a massive fan of Apollo Crews. He has all the in-ring talent in the world and is actually pretty decent on the microphone, but he honestly has no character. I would like someone to please tell me exactly what his gimmick is because I sure as hell don't know.

Winner: Apollo Crews

Rating: 7

Becky Lynch VS Eva Marie

So I'm pretty sure what happened here is really legit. Eva Marie was on the second rope during her entrance and just plopped herself down on her feet and seemed to have pulled something. She started limping and when the ref asked the two women if they were ready, Eva said no and so the ref got the doctor to check it out. The match was thus called off. It was very strange and like I said, I'm pretty sure it was legit. I'm just really disappointed because I honestly think we could have seen a nice match happen between her and Becky. I can't give this a rating because nothing actually happened.

The Vaudevillians VS American Alpha

If you're not a fan of American Alpha then I think it's about time you got your head examined. This tag team has to be the best tag team I have seen in a very long time. They are absolutely amazing in the ring and have real chemistry as a team. No matter how often I see them, they just keep on impressing me. This was a really great debut for them and I can't wait to see even more of them.

Winner: American Alpha

Rating: 8

The Confrontation

What an awesome segment this was between John Cena and AJ Styles! I can not give enough credit to both of these guys! They did a spectacular job making their rivalry feel real and personal and they did a spectacular job in getting all the viewers invested. After this segment, you know you not only have to tune into Smackdown next week, but also to Summerslam to see what exactly happens between these two. I'm excited and you should be too.

Rating: 9

Randy Orton VS Fandango w/Tyler Breeze

As you would have expected, this match wasn't very interesting and was short. The only interesting part of this was when Brock Lesnar stormed the ring and gave an F5 to Orton. It will be interesting to see if there are more invasions between these two competitors leading into Summerslam. 

Rating: 7.5

Carmella gets ambushed

Keeping this one short and sweet: Carmella was supposed to go one-on-one with Natalya, but Natalya attacked her from behind before the match even began and ultimately we had no match. While this is nothing we haven't seen before, I'm still interested to see how things progress over the weeks to come.

Rating: 7

Dejavu angle 

So this is the part that felt  most like dejavu to me. What happened was that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan came to Dolph Ziggler backstage and tried to talk him out of having his match with Bray Wyatt, saying that Dolph has everything to lose in this match. Dolph would then say that he gets it and that he sees that nobody, including Bryan and Shane, believe in him and believe that he can win. For those who don't know, this is the exact same angle used for Daniel Bryan leading into his WWE title match at Summerslam against John Cena. Could we very well be seeing a repeat? Could Dolph Ziggler actually win the WWE Title at Summerslam and be given a good run with it? If he does, I will actually be truly happy for him.

Rating: 7.5

Dolph Ziggler VS Bray Wyatt

I have to give big props to both Bray and Dolph for putting on such a good match to end Smackdown. They did a really good job together and there were moments when you actually thought either superstar could win. Ultimately, the victory went to Dolph which is a really good thing - imagine the reaction if Dolph lost! The only weird thing about it was that Dolph won by using the exposed turnbuckle and then a super kick. Could we see a heel turn for Dolph in the near future? After the match Dolph got beaten down by Erick Rowan and Dean Ambrose got the same treatment when he tried to help out. 

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Rating: 8

So as can be seen, while Smackdown was actually better than last week's show, it really only just beat RAW this week. I hope the women are able to be shown more and hopefully they will grow in numbers too. You have to be excited to see what's going to happen next week.