SMACKDOWN 04/10/2016 - No Mercy for Going Home Bad

Going into this show I was expecting something great, especially considering it was the go-home show leading into No Mercy this Sunday. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed with there only being two really great moments. I am going to be blatantly honest when I say this was a pretty crap show on a whole and I am going to be showing No Mercy in this review.

Bray Wyatt VS Kane
I think I speak for everyone when I say you never want to start any kind of show, whether normal or PPV, on a bad note and unfortunately that was the case right here. Not only was this match already seen at the Backlash PPV, but it was short, crap and Bray Wyatt lost by count out. I have mentioned it before, but I am pretty sure that the percentage of people actually invested in the rivalry between Bray and Randy Orton are very, very low. This match did not help matters at all and in fact did not need to even happen. WWE should rather have made Bray do a promo in the ring before Randy appeared on the titentron hoaxing Bray backstage.
Winner: Kane (via count out)
Rating: 2.5

Bray-Orton Backstage
I might as well just get this out of the way now as, very much like last week, we saw a whole lot of backstage segments, this time with Bray trying to find Randy. They were all really bad as Bray got locked in a crate by Randy. The only significant part of the backstage segments was the final one when Bray spoke out and asked Sister Abigail to take him away. That really is the only significant part of the whole thing and people are likely more interested in knowing who Abigail is than the feud between Bray and Orton.
Rating: 3.5

Nikki Bella VS Alexa Bliss
WWE what in the hell were you thinking when you decided to do this? So I don't have any problem at all with these two going head-to-head. What I do have a problem with is how the match went. Firstly, it was under 5 minutes and ended because of Carmella interfering in the match. We then saw Nikki getting beaten down and Becky Lynch coming down to save her. This would then transition into a tag team match.
Winner: Nikki Bella (via disqualification)
Rating: 3

Nikki Bella & Becky Lynch VS Alexa Bliss & Carmella
As I mentioned before, the previous match turned into a tag team match between the four women and it ended up being less than 5 minutes too. I hate to be so pissed off with this as I had been really enjoying seeing the Smackdown women before this. There was absolutely no need for this to happen. Like the best way to have played this if you wanted all four women to be featured before the PPV would have been to allow Nikki and Alexa to go a full 10 minutes or so before Carmella would get involved and then Becky could come out to make the save. This way all women still look strong heading the PPV. Instead what we get are two crappy women's matches and Becky Lynch looks weak heading into the PPV because she got pinned in the tag team match.
Winner: Alexa Bliss & Carmella
Rating: 3

The Hype Bros VS The Vaudevillians
So this match wasn't necessarily a bad one, but I think because of the way these teams have been featured over the last few weeks, it was just quite difficult to get behind them. Now this was actually a decent match and it looks like we could be seeing a feud between the Hype Bros and the Ascension which I am very hopeful will be able to show the Ascension as a team to be reckoned with like they were in NXT.
Winner: The Hype Bros
Rating: 7.5

Miz TV feat. a Dolphumentary
Very much like with Chris Jericho on RAW, every time I see Dolph Ziggler and the Miz together in a segment or match on Smackdown, I get excited because I know I am about to experience something great - this week was no exception! The Miz was very quick to call Dolph out and then showed a "trailer" for a WWE24 special featuring the failures of Dolph Ziggler's career. We then saw another emotional promo by Dolph which was great. This was followed by Miz calling out some old friends of Dolph's in the Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mitch). They would then spell out Dolph's name before Dolph would lose it with Miz and try and hit him. Unfortunately the Spirit Squad members stopped this from happening by attacking Dolph from behind. Dolph fought back and would ultimately look like he's heading into No Mercy with the momentum.
Rating: 9

Jason Jordan w/Chad Gable VS Jey USO w/Jimmy USO
I'm not going to talk too much about this match because it feels like they're just trying to beat a dead horse with a stick with this because it doesn't feel like they're really emphasising on the feud the USOs are meant to have with Heath Slater and Rhyno. This was an ok match that actually saw Jason Jordan get the victory. In what can be considered a repeat from a few weeks back, we would see the USOs attack American Alpha out of frustration after the match and would target Jordan's leg. They were about to do a splash onto Jordan's leg before Heath Slater's music hit and him and Rhyno ran out for the save. Unfortunately, if the USOs are going to get the win at No Mercy it doesn't feel like it will really mean anything because the story between the two teams have been pretty much non-existent.
Winner: Jason Jordan
Rating: 7

Jack Swagger VS Baron Corbin

If you think about it, this was actually the main event match of the night, which I think is great because it features my guy Baron Corbin. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very stellar match. I really hate to say that especially because I am such a fan of Corbin, Thankfully we haven't seen Corbin in a meaningless role yet which means WWE could still have some big plans for him looking forward. This was a very weird end to the match as we saw Corbin hit his wrist on the ground while trying to reach the ropes which the ref somehow saw as a tap-out - how you can make that mistake I have no idea. It's obviously just a work though, as I see the match has been added to the No Mercy card.
Winner: Jack Swagger
Rating: 7.5

Face to Face to Face

I admit that I was originally not so keen on this segment and honestly thought it would be a total flop, but thankfully they proved me wrong. We saw no talking from John Cena as we first saw AJ Styles talk over Cena saying what he was gonna say and all that. Cena was then about to say something else when Dean Ambrose cut him off saying what else Cena was going to say and even said that he (Dean) was real life while Cena just played a character on TV. Cena was finally able to say something as he said "talk is cheap" and took down Dean Ambrose. We saw him also take down AJ Styles and then deliver an AA to Ambrose. Cena would hold the world title above his head before Styles would deliver a phenomenal forearm to him. Styles then got out the ring with his title and also held it up, but not before Ambrose took him down and delivered his own finisher and then proceeded to hold the title above his own head. Now this was a really good segment because it allowed for all superstars to look strong heading into No Mercy and makes you unsure exactly who will walk out champion.
Rating: 8.5

Overall Show Rating: 6

As you can see, I really, really, really did not enjoy this week's show, although apparently some people actually did. I am very disappointed and hope that Smackdown will be able to pull of a spectacular show.

SMACKDOWN 27/09/2016 - Minimal Effort

I think it's safe to say that RAW had a pretty bad show this week and with that, you would think that Smackdown would at least put on a half-decent show and be able to beat RAW quite easily, unfortunately from my side I just wasn't feeling it this week. I felt like everything with the exception of one segment (we will get there) was given minimal effort. The matches weren't all that strong and overall I just have quite a negative feeling to it. Considering how much I'm giving away in just the intro, I think you can see how bad it was in my eyes. So let's just Smack the bottom Down and see why this show was the way it was.

Hide-and-seek segments

This title is basically how I saw the segments between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. It started with me feeling ok with the beginning promo, and I thought there was something there with the backstage stuff, but otherwise the segments weren't really all that great. The worst part is that we should actually be invested in this rivalry because these two really are great, unfortunately they have been subjected to poor story writing and quite honestly each segment was just a rehash of a segment that has happened before. The whole going to find Bray Wyatt backstage has been done before by a few superstars, the first coming to mind being Roman Reigns last year. The part where Randy comes behind Bray in a sheep mask and attacks him has also been done before by John Cena. Now I'm not saying that the match between these two will be bad, quite the contrary actually, but quite frankly they have been mistreated in the storytelling aspect resulting in the build-up feeling weak and getting very few people invested.
Rating: 7

American Alpha & Heath Slater & Rhyno VS the USOs & the Ascension
First off, how whack was the entrance order for this match? So the Ascension were already in the ring along with American Alpha and Slater and Rhyno, but Slater and Rhyno's music had been playing meaning they had just come out. Then you see the USOs do their entrance. So I understand you want to show the USOs with their new music (we will get to that) but come on! You should have had the Ascension's music playing as they came back from commercial. Anyway, speaking of the USOs, since their heel turn, each week we have seen something new from the USOs. First it was the way they performed in the ring along with them no longer wearing face paint and colourful clothing. Then there was the change in their titantron movie and now there is a change in their theme song - it's really great and I have truly enjoyed seeing their heel run so far. Now unfortunately Smackdown made the same mistake that RAW did the other day by putting a bunch of guys in a multi-team tag team match just for the sake of featuring them and having a match. This match was a real bust and was difficult to get behind. Probably the most significant part of this match had to be the USOs winning the match, thus keeping their momentum going forward.
Winner: the USOs
Rating: 7

Nikki Bella & Naomi VS Carmella & Natalya
From one tag team match to another, this one was at least slightly better, but only slightly. It felt like WWE were just trying to make up for the way this match turned out last week (lasting less than 30 seconds) and I personally feel like they should rather have not had these women on the show last week. I understand how people would react if they weren't on the show, but you have to understand that Smackdown literally only has 7 women and by having all of them featured each week is really overexposing them. I also think it helps a lot if there is a clear story being developed like the one between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. There is supposed to be a story between Carmella and Nikki, and it is sort of there, but by adding Naomi and Natalya to the mix they're basically just adding them there for the sake of them being there. I want to touch on Carmella in this match quick though. I don't know what it was, but something didn't feel right about the way she was executing her moves and the way she was performing. She is very talented in the ring and so it was strange to watch - I hope we see better performance in the future.
Winner: Carmella & Natalya
Rating: 7.5

The Miz's homecoming

This by far was the best part of the night as the Miz continues on his road of excellence! Miz came out to celebrate his homecoming, but completely denounced the crowed and basically called all of them idiots except his parents who were front row. The Miz delivered a great and passionate promo before Dolph Ziggler came out (keep in mind it's his hometown too) and delivered an even more passionate promo. Miz said that there are no more chances for Ziggler at his Intercontinental Title because Ziggler had nothing to offer him and said Ziggler would have to offer his career if he wanted another shot. Ziggler then kept the passion up by saying how much wrestling means to him and how he has been doing it forever and he is nothing without it, and so he accepted to put up his career for the title. The Miz then clarified that it meant that there is no going to another show like RAW and it truly meant the end of Ziggler's career, Ziggler would not be able to compete again. The match was then set for Smackdown's next PPV, No Mercy. Now I have read online that Ziggler actually has a multi-year contract with WWE since last year, so there are high doubts that this will be the end, but could we actually still see Ziggler lose? Because WWE could look to use him in a backstage scene, or create a story revolving around his "retirement", basically I'm saying it's not necessarily obvious that Ziggler will win the title at the PPV, but it seems there is a very high chance of it. Regardless, based on their last two matches, this match is bound to be another spectacular one.
Rating: 9.5

Becky Lynch attacked

The Smackdown announced that the next match would involve Becky Lynch, but did not say who her opponent would be, but considering the other women were already involved earlier in the night, it seems pretty obvious it had to have been meant to be against Alexa Bliss. Regardless, a match did not happen as we would see Alexa attack Becky from behind during her entrance. Now it seems like attacks before matches have become the norm on Smackdown, and for some it might be a bit much, but I personally feel it is a great way to tell a story. I have really been enjoying the story told between these two women and hopefully we will see a great match out of them at No Mercy.
Rating: 8

AJ Styles (C) VS Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Announcing a match like this a week prior really allows for WWE to get more viewers for a show and it likely did (I'm actually unsure if it did), but I felt like this match wasn't worth the promotion. Very much like the match Dean had with John Cena a week or two ago, this match was ok at best and I really hate to say that because AJ Styles is really really good in the ring. Maybe it just had to do with the mood I was in while watching it, but I didn't feel anything for the match and there was nothing that made me jump out of my seat saying "Oh my Goodness!". While being given 20 minutes, it just felt like another match to me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should go all out and beat the absolute crap out of each other and do all these silly spots, but even from just a wrestling point of view it was very average for me. That's just me though and I know a whole lot of others will likely have  a completely different view on this.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: 7.5

Overall Show Rating: 7.5

So it turns out that Smackdown only just beat RAW in my ratings this week, but there's no denying that this is just because of Smackdown's saving segment in Miz and Ziggler - these two have been going above and beyond the last few weeks and quite honestly deserve the main event slot of No Mercy. While I understand it might devalue the world title, I actually believe that the "minor" titles should be given opportunities at the main event too, especially considering the stipulation we now have in Ziggler and Miz's match. I do hope that Smackdown will produce better content over the next few weeks,  but especially leading into No Mercy.