SMACKDOWN 20/09/2016 - Building Up the Smack Down

This is the second episode of Smackdown to air since Backlash and it seems as if they are more focused on looking forward to No Mercy than looking back constantly at Backlash - which is a huge up in my book. As of this writing I have really big mixed feelings towards this show and you will see why when I get there. I know a lot of people are saying that Smackdown are much better than RAW in regards with their storytelling and consistencies, and this is true from that aspect, but as far as the show then and there is concerned, I honestly feel like RAW has been beating Smackdown.

Women's contract signing

This marks another Smackdown where the women are opening the show and not only did they open it, but it was a contract signing! They honestly should be pushing contract signings more often between the women as it makes their matchup feel a lot more legit. I really enjoyed this segment and it made the story between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss feel a lot more real. When Alexa hit Becky in the face and then upturned the table onto her that was awesome too. When Becky went after her afterwards it was also really really great! Every bit of it was really well done and I have nothing bad to say about it.
Rating: 9

The USOs VS American Alpha
This might have been just a rehash of their match two weeks prior, but it was certainly a lot longer and a lot better. The USOs have captured their role as heels superbly and  have really been running with it. I didn't realise that this was a number one contendership match for the tag titles until it was mentioned by commentary though. On a whole it was a decent match and you would have to think that with the USOs getting the victory that they are bound to capture the tag titles a second time around - if not then it's really pointless to have them go after the titles again. It would unfortunately mean that Slater and Rhyno would have to drop the titles, but I personally feel like the USOs need to keep their momentum going forward. Plus Slater is so over that he would still be cheered tremendously if Creative doesn't drop the ball on him.
Winner: The USOs
Rating: 7.5

Baron Corbin VS Apollo Crews
Let me talk about Crews for a moment: you've heard me say all I need to say about him before, about how he's great in the ring but has zero character. What WWE seem to tend to do is whenever he gets beat up like he was last week, they seem to make him look a lot more serious for like a week and then turn him back to his happy-go-lucky-no-personality self. I hope this time around it is not the case as I feel like him looking a lot more serious every week and not smiling during his entrance is great and gives him a lot more character then when he's smiling and waving at the fans. WWE, keep Crews serious! In fact, let's get a trend going to WWE: #KeepCrewsSerious. Now this match wasn't bad, it was really good to see my guy Baron Corbin get the victory and I wonder if Crews was kicked into the ring post harder than he was expecting because he cussed quite blatantly. It seems as if a rivalry is brewing between Jack Swagger and Corbin, in which case I am really hoping Corbin wins - he needs it way more than Swagger!
Winner: Baron Corbin
Rating: 7.5

The Miz (C) w/Maryse VS Dolph Ziggler (Intercontinental Championship)
Dolph Ziggler came into this match looking to "win the whole damn thing" but was unsuccessful. What he did manage to do though, was steal the whole damn show along with the Miz. When first hearing of this rematch, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I thought it was going to be a disappointment after their tremendous match at Backlash because of it just being a normal Smackdown match...I am happy to say that I was absolutely wrong! Wow these guys did a spectacular job! Is it possible that they did an even better job on Smackdown than at Backlash? Both were so good that it is tough to say. Regardless of which guy was on the offence and which was on the defence, both did a fantastic job and I could not be happier! Considering how the next three matches went, I honestly wish that this match could have been in the main event and really, both RAW and Smackdown should consider putting their US and IC champions in the main event more often to show just how prestigious these titles actually are! While I am very happy with the Miz getting the victory, my biggest concern is that with him cheating to win again, that they have one more match at No Mercy and that this will be when WWE decide to put the title on Dolph Ziggler. It is my biggest concern because while they would likely put on another spectacular match and while Ziggler could make a great champ, I just feel like the Miz's reign should continue for a lot longer and that he should be facing more opponents. I would like to see the Miz get in a feud with Heath Slater! Regardless, if you aren't excited for the Miz as champion, then you should probably get your head examined.
Winner: the Miz

Rating: 9.5

Randy Orton VS Eric Rowan
I'm not gonna say much about this. It was a very short match, not very exciting and nothing changed from when we saw it a few weeks ago. The only interesting part about it was the new look given to Eric Rowan's mask. Speaking of Rowan, he has to break away from Bray Wyatt, for his own sake and Bray's. Bray isn't going to go anywhere while Creative are still pairing him with his "family". If Luke Harper comes back and teams with Rowan only, I will be fine with that, but Bray must really just go it his own now.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: 6

Nikki Bella & Naomi VS Natalya & Carmella
To put into perspective how short and crap this match was, Naomi's entrance was longer than anything that happened in this match. Basically Naomi got knocked down early, Natalya had Nikki in the sharpshooter, Carmella dragged Nikki out the ring for reasons unknown and threw her into the barricade and got disqualified. Why this segment even happened I have no idea. If it was so short because of the amount of time that Smackdown had then it really shouldn't have happened at all. Or at least a brawl should have happened before the match could start which would result in the match being called off, because I can assure you that people would much rather have seen no match than the crap we saw. It was completely worthless and should not have been done.
Winner: Nikki Bella & Naomi (via DQ)
Rating: 3.5

Dean Ambrose VS John Cena

And here we are at the main event! A match that was supposed to be really good turned out to be juts...meh. It was actually really crap! The false finishes from each other's finishers didn't feel special, like you just knew they were going to kick out and then a victory from Ambrose via rollup pin, it just wasn't anything great. To put this into perspective: the feeling you had when del Rio defeated Cena at Hell in a Cell for the US title felt pretty much like this. While it wasn't predictable as to who would win this match, it still didn't feel very exciting when Ambrose actually got the victory. In my opinion, the Miz VS Ziggler match should have been swapped around with this that way we would have ended on a much happier note.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: 6.5

Overall Show Rating: 7

Once again I have rated Smackdown lower than I did RAW. I have no problem with Smackdown, in fact I want Smackdown to be better than RAW, but I have just been feeling that RAW has been doing a better job than Smackdown and I have enjoyed watching the Red brand more than the Blue. With that being said, there's still a bit that Smackdown need to develop story-wise as they head into No Mercy in a few weeks time and I still look forward to seeing how they develop and if we will see any more matches like the Miz VS Ziggler.

SMACKDOWN 13/09/2016 - Aftermath and Setups

After Smackdown produced a spectacular PPV in Backlash there was no way you could not be excited going into this week's show. There was undoubtedly an aura of something special in the air. With brand new champions of Becky Lynch, Heath Slater and Rhyno, and AJ Styles, you knew something big was bound to occur - even with the Miz staying as champion! Just how good Smackdown was, however, you will have to keep on reading to find out. So let's put this review Down with a big Smack.

A new Champion

It was so good to see AJ Styles come out to open the show instead of an Authority figure. It actually made loads of sense too as this was a massive accomplishment. I really enjoyed how Styles was really shoving it in our face that he told us he would win it, like a true heel does. I thought he delivered a good promo which was unfortunately spoiled by John Cena. Cena would come out and say he wants to take back what is "his" (referring to the WWE world title despite not having held it since Brock Lesnar suplexed him to hell). Dean Ambrose would come out at this point and turn his attention straight away to Styles saying he is going to get payback on him and it won't be pretty. Cena would then turn Ambrose around and really get in his face saying that Ambrose has nothing to complain about and that Stone Cold was right in calling him out on the podcast. Ambrose would retaliate by saying he doesn't care what Cena says or thinks because Cena is just a lazy part timer. Shane McMahon would then come out and announce that at the next Smackdown PPV No Mercy, AJ Styles would be facing both Ambrose and Cena for the title in a triple threat match. Now to me this makes absolutely no sense. Ambrose sure deserves a match anyways because he has a rematch clause, but what makes Cena deserve a shot? Sure he is known as "the face of the company" but from a kayfabe point of view it makes no sense because last I checked Cena actually lost the last match he had. Not only did this match actually happen at a big show in Summerslam, but it was against the WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles. So someone please tell me how Cena deserves to be in this match. Quite simply he doesn't. They could have given him a chance by having him win a match for the spot, but by just putting him straight in there is more than just a bit ridiculous.
Rating: 7.5

The Hype Bros VS The USOs
Despite this just being a rematch from Backlash, I didn't actually have a problem with it. I also didn't think it was really bad or anything like that. I enjoy seeing the USOs in action as heels and this match ultimately allowed for them to keep their momentum as a dominant heel team despite their loss at Backlash. I really look forward to seeing their feud with American Alpha when they return.
Winner: The USOs
Rating: 7.5

The Miz walks out

After retaining the Intercontinental Championship in great heel fashion at Backlash, you would expect another great promo to happen on this show, which it did. While I have always enjoyed Miz's promos and always said he is great on the mic, it hasn't been until the last few weeks that I have actually been excited to hear him speak. Miz basically said that he won by any means necessary before Dolph Ziggler would interrupt. Unfortunately you would have expected this feud to continue after what happened at the PPV. But still, Dolph also delivered a pretty good promo and said he wants one more shot at the gold, this time just him and Miz, no managers, valets, wives, etc. Miz would disagree and say Dolph doesn't deserve the shot. Daniel Bryan would come out and say that he did not like the way Miz went about retaining the title and said that Dolph would be getting a future title shot to which Miz said no and that he wanted his contract renewed and get a better deal and said he would do what he wanted until that happened. At this point he left the arena through the crowd. After a spectacular match at Backlash, you have to imagine if these two were to square up again at No Mercy it would surely be another great classic.
Rating: 8

Baron Corbin attacks

So there were two things that occurred in this segment and I shall rate them separately because I have two completely different feelings about them. So first off, Baron Corbin attacked Apollo Crews from behind just before their match and did a real number on him. I know a lot of people will say that him attacking people backstage and from behind has run its course by now, but I feel completely differently about it. Corbin is still one of my favourite guys on the roster and while he hasn't had any big feuds or a lot of chances to shine, I still have high hopes that he will be going somewhere and so I really enjoyed seeing him attack Crews, especially since I'm really not a fan of Crews. Here's to hopefully something big happen with Corbin soon.
Rating: 8

Jack Swagger promo
This is the second part of the above segment. After Corbin's attack, Jack Swagger's music would play and he get in the ring. Swagger and Corbin would stare at each other for a few seconds before Corbin decided to just leave the ring. Swagger would then deliver a promo and oh boy oh boy, how spectacularly bad it was! I can't remember what the first few words were that came out his mouth, but I honestly thought that was going to be a part of a new gimmick of his. I think there was only one part of his promo that stood out for me and that was when he said throw whatever you know about him out the window because we haven't seen anything yet. I don't know, but I find it difficult to get behind Swagger just from that promo - I do hope he proves me wrong though.
Rating: 3

Naomi VS Natalya VS Alexa Bliss VS Carmella VS Nikki Bella
(Fatal five way no.1 contender match for the Smackdown Women's title)
Even though this was just a rehash from Backlash's match, it actually made a lot of sense and I actually enjoyed it. I am absolutely loving the Smackdown women right now and they are yet to absolutely fail me. This match was really good and we saw the right woman walk out as the number one contender. I look forward to this feud.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Rating: 8

Heath Slater's contract signing
The day we have been waiting for for weeks now has finally happened! We finally saw Heath Slater sign his Smackdown contract. Not only is he a part of the roster now, but he is also one half of the Smackdown tag team champions. He delivered a good promo and even got a chant of "You deserve it" after signing the contract. He would say that he and Rhyno would fight anyone, any place, any time, to which the Ascension would answer the challenge.
Rating: 8

Heath Slater & Rhyno (C) VS the Ascension (Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
This would mark Slater and Rhyno's first title defence after winning the titles at Backlash. It was actually pretty decent, I honestly almost thought we could see them lose now that Slater has his contract, but thankfully it was not to be. They are still tag team champions, but you have to wonder for how long, and who will challenge them next?
Winner: Heath Slater & Rhyno
Rating: 7.5

Randy & Bray Promo
I'm not going to say very much about this, but I really wasn't a fan of it. I thought there was very little story put into it and the fact that Eric Rowan seems to be helping Bray Wyatt again is just stupid. We saw Bray leave Eric a few weeks back, what is the point of putting them back together? Hopefully this is just a one night thing and they actually go somewhere else with Eric. Eric has so much potential on his own - just let him run with it!
Rating: 5.5

AJ Styles & The Miz VS John Cena & Dean Ambrose

Earlier in the night Shane McMahon said Styles would have to find him a partner to team against Cena and Ambrose. Styles couldn't find one, but luckily the Miz decided to step in...or most unluckily it seems. This match as a whole wasn't all that great. There were some parts that were ok, but really not that great. The crappiest part of this match has to be the ending where the Miz got pinned. All the momentum that the Miz had built up to that point was thrown out the window. I understand that they were wanting that ending after the match where Ambrose hit his finisher on Cena and might possibly be turning heel in the weeks to come, but honestly that could have easily been developed during the match itself where Cena maybe accidentally bumps into or hits Ambrose which results in Ambrose hitting his finisher on Cena DURING the match and then the Miz getting the pinfall victory. This allows for tensions to rise over the coming weeks with still potential of turning Ambrose heel if that's what they want, plus the Miz would still have had tons of momentum. A win for the Miz would have made his argument for a new contract even stronger, but instead he is now left in a pile of shit the size of a tall building. I was very unhappy with this ending for Smackdown.
Winner: John Cena & Dean Ambrose
Rating: 7

Overall show rating: 7

As can be seen, Smackdown didn't do as well as RAW this week. Keep in mind that this is purely from my point of view and my opinions will more likely than not differ from everyone else. The things some people hate I might actually love and vice versa. But even comparing from last week's show, this week was definitely a weaker one. This week certainly did build up some good feuds, but overall I just wasn't quite feeling it. I do hope to be giving a higher rating for Smackdown in the weeks to come, but we will have to find out and see what happens.

SMACKDOWN 06/09/2016 - Final Destination

Can you believe that this Sunday we are going into our first brand-exclusive PPV since the draft - and I think the very first one since 2008 or 2009 (whenever they first started doing inter-brand PPVs). Regardless of how you feel about the buildup to the PPV, there is no denying that you should be excited going into it because you don't know what to expect. But speaking of the buildup, just how well did Smackdown do in their go-home show going into Backlash? Did they do a really spectacular, backflipping-off-a-trapeze-while-holding-a-sword-in-your-mouth type of show? Or did they just flop to the floor? This is why I break down everything that happens on the show - so you can see just how good (or bad) they actually did.

Women Opening
Anyone who is a constant reader of my reviews (and I thank you if you are) will know that when I'm passionate about a certain fact, I tend to mention it over and over again. I am going to do that right here with this segment. The Smackdown women are being represented way better than the RAW women. On RAW, you can tell WWE are only looking at Sasha Banks, Bayley and Charlotte as their top stars. On Smackdown, WWE are emphasising that every single one of their women (although there are only six) are important and can be viewed as a top star. Every single week so far we have seen all the women being featured on the show, whether on commentary or in a match. They did this once again this week by having all six women in the ring at the same time. I thought this was done really well. It started as a very comedic segment (which is absolutely fine because it was done really well) and then turned a little more serious at Natalya, Carmella and Alexa Bliss turned their attention to Becky Lynch and was looking to get the jump on her. Backup would come quick though as we would see Naomi and Nikki Bella join her side to help her get rid of the heel women. I am very happy with this and am really excited for their six-pack challenge (which will be elimination style) at Backlash.
Rating: 8

The Miz w/Maryse VS Apollo Crews

Despite me giving Apollo Crews a lot of hassle last week or the week before about having no character, there truly is no denying he has great in-ring talent. He proved just that this week as he and the Miz put on a really great match. Now if we can add some character to Crews as well, that would be great. I was really happy that the Miz still got the win despite the distraction as he deserves to have that huge momentum going into Backlash. The post-match part where Dolph Ziggler laid the Miz's Intercontinental Championship in the ring daring Miz to come in and get it only for Miz to get Maryse to get it for him, was really really great! It builds the Miz up as a true heel and I seriously hope we see him retain at Backlash because the Miz's run at the moment is absolutely spectacular and I want to see way more of him.
Winner: the Miz
Rating: 8.5

Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton segments
While these were both shown at different times, I thought it would just be better to combine the two into one - makes more sense too. Let's start with Bray Wyatt's vignette: I still feel like he is one of the greatest talkers on the current roster and I always enjoy his vignettes. I would really enjoy seeing more vignettes where he is just doing voiceover work with images playing on the screen, much rather than him just talking in a dark, smokey room. The point is, I wasn't all that into his promo this week. It was still really good, no doubt about that, but I just wasn't all there. I'm also just really worried about what the outcome will be at Backlash. Now onto Randy Orton: his promo - the story he told about the snake - was just brilliant! I thought the way he told it was really awesome, the way he told it very slow, drew the story out a bit more, was really great. Overall, I think the build-up to their match is pretty good, albeit very random.
Rating: 8

Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch & Naomi VS Alexa Bliss, Carmella & Natalya
Well done! This match proved exactly what women wrestlers can do if given enough time. They were given ten full minutes to do their stuff and they did it really well. The ending was also done really really well where Carmella would do her submission finisher to Nikki Bella which would affect the neck considering she had neck surgery. I am really excited for this match on Sunday and look forward to seeing exactly who wins that title.
Winner: Alexa Bliss, Carmella & Natalya
Rating: 8.5

The USO VS American Alpha (Semi-finals tag team tournament)
This match was a shocker to watch. First off, as soon as the bell rang the USOs attacked American Alpha, but the tag team would fight back really quick and ended up defeating the USOs in 30 seconds - 30 SECONDS! After the match we would see the USOs go to shake American Alpha's hands and we thought that the attack beforehand was going to mean nothing...but apparently not! The USOs would lay the Smackdown on American Alpha's candy asses, thus officially confirming the USOs to be turned heel. Now this is great! This is what we have been wanting to see from the USOs for a very long time! It's something different from them and I personally believe they can do a fantastic job as a heel team. They already proved how much better they can be as heels after the match when backstage they would say they were tired of being disrespected by the WWE Universe despite working so hard to earn respect. They were mad that they were constantly being booed and suddenly a new team like American Alpha comes on the scene and gets so much love. Pretty much, the USOs owned that short promo segment and I really look forward to seeing what they bring moving forward. Now while they were attacking American Alpha after the match, they specifically targeted Chad Gable's leg and did a splash onto the leg too resulting in Gable becoming "injured" and so American Alpha are not going to be able to compete in the finals. During "Talking Smack" it was announced that the two runner-up teams in the semi-finals would compete against each other at Backlash, and the winner of that match would go on to face Heath Slater and Rhyno in the finals on the same night.
Winner: American Alpha
Rating: 8.5

Hype Bros VS Heath Slater & Rhyno

While this wasn't exactly the best match on the card, it certainly was one of the better feeling ones. A lot of people are currently behind Heath Slater and are really loving his current gimmick. I think a lot of people are really hoping to see him win on Sunday, but I think they would also partially like to see him lose to see what else he brings out for his free agent gimmick. It was great to have "Heath Slater's Kids" at ringside for this match as it enhances his character.
Winner: Heath Slater & Rhyno
Rating: 7.5

Champion VS Challenger segment
I am very 50/50 about this segment. There were parts of it that was funny and some parts that were done quite well, but overall I don't think it was really all that great. The worst part had to be that it ended the show of all things. And not only did it end the show, but the segment itself ended with AJ Styles kicking Dean Ambrose in the balls. I mean, I get it because it's payback for the week before, but it was just a very weird way to end off the go-home show, especially when you had such a great card beforehand. I would have loved to see the women close the show. Now I thought that AJ Styles actually played his part really well in this segment. He is playing his character to a t. So I don't have a problem with the way he played his part. It was just the overall feel of it that I didn't enjoy so much.
Rating: 7

As is very clear from this review, the overall show was actually really good despite the ending. My overall show rating ended up being 8. I don't know about you, but I am looking really forward to seeing Backlash on Sunday and then how Smackdown develops its stories moving forward. It's bound to be epic.

SMACKDOWN 30/08/2016 - Greatness Continued

Last week's Smackdown proved that the blue brand can indeed put on great shows and while last week was the greatest show they had so far, the bar was not put so high that it seems impossible to beat. Smackdown is a show that I want to love and a show I want to get behind more than RAW and if it keeps on setting the same type of standard as last week, it could very well just be my favourite show to watch. But with this week's show having passed us by, how exactly did it fare to last week?

The Miz

I don't know if the Miz has ever started a Smackdown show before, but if he has it pales in comparison to the way he started this one. Wow! This is the only word I can use to describe just how amazing his promo was! It didn't feel anything like a script, it felt like he was just given the mic and told to say exactly how he felt. Considering that it was based on some real stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if that truly was the case. While I thought that Darren Young should have won the Intercontinental Championship at Battleground, I'm now happy that he didn't because it has given us the opportunity to finally see a great side of the Miz. Now don't get me wrong, the Miz has always been really good on the mic, but I feel as if he is now being given the opportunity to just break out of his shell and be the real him. He was absolutely superb and if he had continued this promo for another thirty minutes I would still be very very happy. The fact that the promo itself had me so invested was great, but the fact that even more fuel was added to the flames when Dolph Ziggler came out was truly great. The way Miz's manhood was basically brought into the equation was great as we got to see a Miz that actually wanted to fight. I loved it and I truly, truly want to see so much more of this in the weeks to come.
Rating: 9.5

The Hype Bros VS the Vaudevillians
Before I get into the match I would like to say what a shame it is that the Vaudevillians have been treated the way they have. Much like the Ascension, since making their main roster debut the Vaudevillians have been treated like trash and have basically just become bonafide jobbers. I was really hoping that they would win this match, but it looks like WWE are taking the safe route and just putting all babyface teams in the tournament, which is a shame because nobody wants to see the USOs in the semi-finals of this tournament. In my most honest opinion, the finals should actually be American Alpha VS the Ascension, but American Alpha VS Heath Slater & Rhyno could be good too. Now this match was given very little time and they didn't do too badly, but I felt like they could have done a lot more if given enough time.
Winner: The Hype Brose
Rating: 7

AJ Styles gets interrupted
Much like the Miz, I could listen to AJ Styles cutting a promo for a very long time. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, Styles was literally only given two minutes on the mic before being interrupted by Apollo Crews who, I might add, absolutely sucked! There was no emotion behind his promo and he STILL HAS NO CHARACTER! He has been on the main roster since the night after Wrestlemania and has shown nothing for it in regards with character development. People are very soon going to start giving Crews the Roman Reigns treatment if WWE don't give him a character soon as well as if WWE keep on shoving Crews down our throats. Unfortunately it was all because of Crews that my rating for this was segment was dropped.
Rating: 6.5

Apollo Crews VS AJ Styles
Despite his bad mic skills and having no character, there is no denying that Crews is really good in the ring. With Crews and Styles being so great in the ring, you can be sure this will get a higher rating than the segment beforehand. While the wrestling was quite good, it still felt like it was just there to fill the time and in my opinion didn't really need to happen. Styles didn't actually need to be in a match and could have done so much better if just given more time on the mic. Even the tag team match beforehand could have gone on a bit longer if this match didn't happen.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: 7.5

Heath Slater's home

Straight off the bat, I think this was really great. This was basically a look at Slater's kayfabe home and his kayfabe wife. A lot of people are starting to get behind Slater's free agent gimmick, although I will admit I have been behind him before this as I have always known him to be a great worker. This segment gives fans more reason to get behind Heath Slater as we could get closer to seeing Slater getting signed to the blue brand - but will we?
Rating: 8.5

Bray Wyatt match setup

Ever since he made his debut in NXT a few years back I have always been a massive fan of Bray Wyatt. If I'm honest, his vignettes in the swamps in NXT had to be the best vignettes he did and I would love to see more of his promos done like this. Regardless, Bray is still one of the greatest talkers in WWE right now and really gets his character across. Unfortunately, Bray has to also be the most underused superstar on the roster as he is still yet to win a singles title - a feat he should have accomplished a very long time ago. This segment was basically setting up the match at Backlash between him and Randy Orton which brings the question as to who will win. After his TKO loss at Summerslam, a loss to Bray at Backlash might make Randy look weak. On the other hand, Bray needs this win more than anyone else in order to establish himself as a dominant superstar. Randy can always recover from his loss, but I almost feel like there's no going back for a Bray loss. Bray needs to start being built up now already and then sometime in the near future needs to win the world title - I'm pretty confident that when Bray does win it he will get a "you deserve it" chant which he definitely more than deserves.
Rating: 7.5

Becky Lynch & Naomi VS Natalya & Alexa Bliss

I hate to start this on a bad note, but is anyone else feeling, based on her commentary, that Nikki Bella isn't going to be such a great face? I mean in the ring she will be fine and I think the fans will still be behind her, but it really didn't sound too great on the commentary side. Now I don't know if this is just because they aren't given a script for commentary or if this is really how she is going to sound in her promos, but for now I'm really not feeling it. Anyway, I was really happy with the match. Just seeing all those women in the ring at the same time made me happy. As I've mentioned before, Smackdown are doing a much better job with their women than RAW are. All the Smackdown women feel like possible top stars.
Winner: Natalya & Alexa Bliss
Rating: 8

Heath Slater & Rhyno VS the Headbangers
Oh my goodness! For the first time in 16 years, the Headbangers are back in the WWE! Who are the Headbangers you ask? Well let me tell you, they are...they were...they had...Actually, I don't know them too much myself if I'm honest. All I know is they were apparently a tag team that were apparently a part of the Attitude Era apparently. Apparently I like to say the word apparently, and apparently we could very well see Slater and Rhyno head to the finals (my own prediction). So this match: It was ok I suppose. It was nothing special and I think the most significant part was when Rhyno somehow got busted open above his eye. The only conclusion I can make of that is that one of the members of the Headbangers decided it would be really fun to knock the hell out of Rhyno for real, which explains why the big man looked furious when hitting the massive gore. As to my speculation of Rhyno and Slater going all the way to the finals, I think that they will make it all the way there so fans can wonder if their father (because we now have a Heath Slater's kids section) is finally going to get the contract he has been grasping at for weeks now. I don't think it will happen just yet, but imagine how great it would be if it did.
Winner: Heath Slater & Rhyno
Rating: 7.5

The milk man gets sent to hell
Mill the Milkman, or whatever the hell his name is, came out, grabbed the mic and said he would not leave the ring until he got to have a match with someone. He would strip down to his plain white underpants before Kane's music would hit and he would get chokeslammed through the ring (not literally). My big question is: why in the hell did we actually have to see that? What in the world was WWE even thinking when deciding to do that? The only reason I can think of is the slight glance that Baron Corbin and Kane gave each other while Corbin made his entrance. Could we see a possible feud between Kane and Corbin? Or was this just a way to feature Kane because I believe he's the only one on the roster who hadn't had a match yet since the drafts. Regardless, this was shit and shouldn't have happened.
Rating: 2

Baron Corbin VS Dean Ambrose

I would like to point out that this is the very first time (that I know of) that Baron Corbin is main eventing a show. I think it's great and really gives him an opportunity to show that he can hang in that main event scene. It could even be an indication on future plans WWE have for Corbin, but only time will tell with that one. This match in itself was really good. I believe there are some people that feel differently about it, but I thought it was pretty good and really gave each superstar and opportunity to showcase themselves. Corbin is still one of my favourite guys on the roster and I really hope to see big plans for him in the near future. The ending to the show was actually really great. After the match was over, AJ Styles (who was on commentary) decided to try and get the jump on Ambrose by hitting a Phenomenal Forearm. Unfortunately, as Styles jumped on the top rope, Ambrose would sweep his leg making Styles land so that he would become sterile. It was really great and funny to watch Styles just sit there looking highly uncomfortable. You have to wonder though, since Ambrose has been getting the one-up on Styles since last week, will Styles be the one to win the World Title from Ambrose? It would be very interesting to see what develops if this does occur.
Winner: Baron Corbin (by DQ)
Rating: 8.5

So as can be seen, this Smackdown didn't quite meet the hight of last week's show, but that is in no way saying that it was a bad show. From a wrestling point of view it was actually pretty good. From a decision or story point of view, it was not quite as good. But I still have really high hopes that Smackdown will be the greatest show in WWE.