After 3 days at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Smackdown Live! traveled to The Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut this week. From the word go, the show was explosive, and action packed.
We must admit that we were entertained for the duration of the 2 hours. Overall, it was definitely a better show than Monday Night Raw. So much so, that we’re hard pressed to find negatives to mention here. But all the same here’s the good and the bad from tonight’s Smackdown Live.
THE GOOD: Here’s what we liked on today’s show
#1 Titles for the Women and Tag Teams
After a month of pointless feuds, the women and tag teams on Smackdown finally have something to fight for. Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan unveiled the Smackdown Women’s and Tag Team Championships today, and they look great.
It also helped that when the Women’s Championship was being spoken about, the crowd unanimously started chanting for Becky Lynch. If anyone deserves to be the face of this division, it is her. We look forward to see how the tag team tournament plays out too. The next few weeks should be interesting.
#2 The Quality of Matches
Every single match delivered, and how. Even the jobbers looked like legitimate competitors throughout. Be it Breezango taking American Alpha to the limit, or The Ascension putting on quite a performance against American Alpha, or even Alexa Bliss going all out against Becky Lynch, every match showcased the amazing talent that Smackdown has in their roster. Every single competitor looked like they had a point to prove.
#3 The Main Event
While Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns had a pretty good match, A.J. Styles and Dolph Ziggler even outshone them. In the limited time that they were given, they told a story of passion, of wanting to be the top guy, of laying it all on the line.
And yes, Ambrose was pretty good on commentary as well. It’s amazing how A.J. Styles can kick out at 2.999999, when the crowd almost thinks that the match is over.
#4 Heath Slater
We admit it. We weren’t the biggest fans of the Social Outcasts. However, Heath Slater in his latest free agent avatar is comedy gold. From the moment that he stepped into the arena, he made us laugh our guts out. Be it proclaiming that he’s not a woman, or asking the legendary Arn Anderson to team up with him;
Heath was in fine form throughout. Truth be told, we want the Slater-Rhyno team to win the tournament. We also think Raw missed a trick or two by not having Heath Slater on their show.
#5 Seeds of Future Feuds
Be it the spine-chilling confrontation between ‘The Viper’ Randy Orton and ‘The Eater of Worlds’ Bray Wyatt, or the unresolved dispute between Nikki Bella and Carmella heading into their 6 pack challenge, or even the slow mental disintegration and anguish of Dolph Ziggler who seems to be ticking like a time bomb; we are curious to see how these stories develop.
Unlike the plots on Raw, each of these feuds seem to have meaning. And can make us tune in next week to see how they progress.
#6 The Crowd
After 3 days of enduring a smarky crowd in Brooklyn, this crowd was a breath of fresh air. They were excited to see the superstars and cheered for the babyfaces while booing the heels. Smarter crowds usually look at getting themselves over, and in the process, ruin the show.
THE BAD
#7 The Break Up of the Wyatts
The only time we saw Erick on the show, was at the very beginning when he was chatting with his friend Baron Corbin, in his sheep mask. Why? Because that’s what friends do. But, he did not come out with Bray, who looks like he will have a singles run now.
If it is true that they’re breaking up, the lack of storyline here is disturbing. What does Rowan do on the roster then? Will he be repackaged?
#8 Predictable outcomes
Except for the main event, in every single match we could pretty much guess who the winner would be. While this is a constant feature of TV matches, a little more unpredictability wouldn’t hurt, once in a while.
IN CONCLUSION: This show was a solid 8.5/10. Smackdown continues to be the better show, and unless Raw comes out all guns blazing next week; this won’t change.
