It’s Wednesday again which means that wrestling fans are trying to shake off their weekly SmackDown hangover, which is almost always easier to rebound from than the other morning afters.
The Tuesday night blue brand might have lacked any ‘I can’t believe they’re giving that away for free’-type of matches, but what it did have was Becky Lynch in a full body luchadora suit. This isn’t even being pointed out as a negative of the night; it was actually a highlight of the show.
While Becky’s Mexican-inspired antics were all good and well, that doesn’t mean the rest of the show went off without any mishaps. Natalya’s entrance is proof of that, along with a phantom ref bump in one of the title matches, as well as a couple of struggles from the announcers.
All that and more lie ahead, so read on for some botchy goodness from SmackDown Live...
#5 Styles missed the table
After much delay, James Ellsworth finally got his WWE Championship opportunity against AJ Styles. Sadly for him, it wasn’t pretty. The match itself was over in under a minute, but the action continued after the pinfall.
Styles kept on fighting his chinless challenger and even catapulted him onto the steel frame that supports the ring. However, it’s this particular sidewalk slam onto the announce table was a tad off for AJ. If we’re correct in assuming that he was aiming for the table, he botched because he only had his opponent graze the edge of it.
Landing on the corner would probably be more painful anyways, so it is possible that was his intention all along.
#4 That ref sold absolutely nothing
The Miz capitalised on the referee’s extremely brief bit of pain and agony by poking Apollo Crews in the eye. Thus set up a winning Skull Crushing Finale for him, allowing Miz to retain his Intercontinental Championship. However, a closer look at this specific moment made it clear that the ref suffered from no strike whatsoever.
Seriously, The Miz didn’t do so much as graze him on this move and the licensed official turns his head away like he got popped. Of course, the lack of actual contact probably explains why he rebounded so quickly to get into position to count the pinfall.
Apollo Crews might want to take a second look at this footage because it appears that the ref might be in cahoots with his opponent.
#3 “And you waste”
As Natalya’s music hit and she began making her way to the ring, a very strange voice could be heard. It was only for a moment, but it was clearly audible. Was that a production snafu? Or maybe it was the ghost of wrestlers past who’ve been tormented in Stu Hart’s Dungeon? I know which answer I’m hoping to be true!
As cool as the Dungeon ghost story would’ve been, this was clearly a production issue. Baron Corbin used the words “and you waste” during his promo with Dolph Ziggler earlier in the night, and after listening back a few times, that was clearly where the sound was from.
I guess I can always hope that the spirit of a Canadian wrestler who’s no longer with us made Kevin Dunn do it
#2 Beauty and the man with two hands
Talk about an outrageous turn of events. James Ellsworth got destroyed in the opening contest and was aching to the point that all he could do was moan and grunt by the time this backstage interview was to take place.
Even more outrageous was that Carmella came to his aid, offering to “take care of him.” I don’t know if Carmella noticed, but James just left some medical personnel and clearly had already been treated by them. OH WAIT SHE MEANS SEX.
If Carmella has taken some actual romantic interest to Ellsworth like was suggested here, then that might be the most awkward pairing in WWE history. It might not be Mae Young and Mark Henry awkward, but it’s up there.
As strange as all this is, major props still need to be given to James Ellsworth if what’s going on isn’t a ruse. Even after that beating by Styles, he just might end up being the biggest winner from last night’s SmackDown after all.
#1 Announce table woes
First Mauro Ranallo referred to Curt Hawkins as Chad Hawkins again and now this. JBL tried to help out with this week’s attempt at pop culture cross promotion with Ryan Phillipe and couldn’t spit it out. The poor guy got terribly tongue-tied immediately after saying actor Ryan Phillipe’s name and had a moment of trouble getting himself back on track.
So between this, “Chad Hawkins”, and the entirety of whatever David Otunga thinks he’s doing, the announce team had a little bit of an off night.
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