Memphis played host to this week’s edition of WWE Smackdown and it certainly outdid its Monday night compatriot. Armed with healthy storylines and a solid commissioner, Smackdown made for yet another interesting episode in the build-up to the Royal Rumble.
A big announcement pertaining to the elimination chamber, a twist in the Divas division and a Wyatt Family breakup, all dominated proceedings on a pumped up Tuesday night. But, the Cena – Styles rivalry was what kept the crowd busy as each Superstar proved his mettle in the build up their epic match at the Rumble.
Nevertheless, SmackDown crowds are always more proactive than their RAW counterparts and this week was no different. Let us now look at five crowd signs that the Memphis audience had in store for us.
#1 Face that runs the place? yeah right!
AJ Styles has been a phenomenon ever since he joined the WWE. He was quickly elevated to the highest level and is now your WWE Champion as well. The former TNA Superstar is one of SmackDown’s main attractions and calls himself the ‘face that runs the place’.
Despite having Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon for company, Styles prides himself as the boss of Smackdown. One fan decided to take him up on his claim and came up with a neat sign to take a dig at the champion. Credit to him for getting it to rhyme as well.
#3 There! Someone finally said it
This sign was easily the pick of the lot. The internet has been notorious for the decline of John Cena’s image and that is a fact that nobody can ever disagree with. Cena has been the butt of various jokes and memes on the internet and the Cenation leader has not taken to it too kindly in the past as well.
One Memphis attendant decided to take a pro-Cena stance and let the world know that he deserves nothing but respect. The amusing part was that Cena even pointed out to the signboard and said, ‘thank you for that’.
Let’s go, Cena!
#2 No more Mr Vanish
John Cena is, without a doubt, WWE’s most popular icon. With T-shirts and wristbands and ‘you can’t see me’ signs, Cena has always been represented faithfully by the WWE universe. But, the times have slowly changed and Cena’s magic is slowly on the decline.
The ‘mature’ sections of the crowd have not taken to Cena’s boring antics and are pretty vocal about what they feel about the 15 time WWE champion. One fan decided to diss Cena’s catch phrase that alludes to invisibility and held out a sign that the former champion would find rather amusing.
#4 The ball is now in Raw’s court
Ever since the brand split, SmackDown has been beating RAW left, right and centre. Shane O’ Mac and Daniel Bryan are turning around a brand that WWE almost considered defunct at one point of time.
With stars like Cena, Styles, Undertaker and Dean Ambrose doing what they do best, SD holds all the aces over its Monday night compatriot and WWE’s favourite child. So, even though writing is on the wall, one fan wanted to make sure Mick Foley and Stephanie got a nice close look at it.
#5 If only
The WWE enjoys a cult status today in the mind of millions of fans, owing to a particular period they termed as the ‘Attitude era’. The wrestling business has evolved since and the WWE has taken a PG14 stance to ensure it is suitable for family audiences.
But critics and fans will always say in unison that the attitude era was the best that the WWE ever offered to its fans. So, one fan decided to express what millions of us have always been doing on social media, urging WWE to bring back the ‘attitude’ to make the brand great again.
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