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From Roman Reigns giving Buddy Murphy his biggest match so far to Kevin Owens being fined $100,000 by Shane McMahon, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown Live (13th August 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments.
Majority of the blue brand's weekly episodes seem to be operating on autopilot at this point. The "Roman Reigns' attacker" angle keeps us hooked for next week's show, but apart from that, there are not a whole lot of noteworthy moments to care for. Still, there are no awful incidences that are likely to occur on SmackDown Live, and I guess that is a good thing.
Here are a few interesting observations from this week's edition of SmackDown Live:
#3 The Shane McMahon situation feels like a nagging problem
You can exactly map out the events that will follow on SmackDown Live when a 10-minute Shane McMahon altercation (approximately) opens the show.
As I pointed out last week, a match between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon at SummerSlam wasn't going to change a whole lot of things on the blue brand.
This is because Shane had nothing to lose going into that match, to begin with. As expected, Owens had to pay a heavy price (literally) on last night's show. It almost feels like The Prize Fighter is stuck in a powerless situation against Shane McMahon.
Unlike the late 90s, things have changed considerably to a point where you can't just stun your boss whenever you want to. Shane McMahon holds an advantage over the rest of the superstars nowadays, and it feels like a nagging problem because there is very little one can do about it until next week's show.
So basically, segments like these end up irritating fans instead of presenting Shane McMahon as a legitimate threat to look out for.
#2 Cliffhangers have elevated WWE TV in the recent few weeks
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from recent SmackDown Live episodes has been "The Curious Case of who attacked Roman Reigns".
The idea of throwing viewers into an intriguing loop by introducing plot twists when it comes the mysterious identity of Roman Reigns' attacker encourages fans to tune in for further episodes as well.
While this storyline is a different subject entirely, I feel that WWE has been relying on the cliffhanger formula for quite a while now, which is a good thing.
Even The Fiend's appearance is now a highly anticipated moment, and while Bray Wyatt did not appear on either show following SummerSlam this week, we completely understand the reason behind it as well.
Officials have realized that they have stumbled upon something huge when it comes to The Fiend, and protecting the aura of that character keeps fans on their toes at all times.
In a way, cliffhangers and plot twists (24/7 title scenario) are essential writing devices that WWE has embraced for the better.
#1 WWE has portrayed two different sides of Buddy Murphy so far
Buddy Murphy just wrestled Roman Reigns in a match that increased the former's stock in the eyes of many fans and critics alike.
Even though Murphy lost in a fighting battle against The Big Dog, he put up a tremendous match against one of the elite WWE stars on the main roster.
Buddy Murphy's ferocious nature in the ring is contrasted by another character trait of his that we have witnessed on the same night: Reigns, Bryan and Rowan have bossed him around in the men's locker room for two consecutive weeks now.
Surprisingly, Murphy doesn't even fight back in the latter scenario, where it almost seemed like Bryan and Rowan bullied him for the sake of their benefit in this situation.
That is why it comes off as weird when we see Murphy as a fiery athlete and then as a helpless star who was stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time on the same night.
What are your thoughts on Buddy Murphy's onscreen portrayal so far?
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Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
