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.