Unlike Raw, which has plummeted in quality after getting it right with the first episode following the brand split; Smackdown has been consistently putting on strong shows. There is better character development, fresher segments, and the build to Summerslam has been far stronger.
Be it the writing or the wrestling, Smackdown feels like the show to watch. The 16th August edition from Austin, Texas was no different; which kept the viewers entertained from the word go. We found more things that we enjoyed than things we didn’t. We present the best and worst of WWE Smackdown, this week.
THE GOOD
Greater intensity than Raw
Unlike Raw last night, where a lot of the intensity seemed ‘manufactured’, the superstars on Smackdown Live seemed genuinely pissed off. Be it Ziggler Superkicking Ambrose from out of nowhere, or Cena destroying A.J. Styles at the end of the show; everyone on the card looked liked they were out to prove a point.
When you’re part of a physical sport, however, make-believe it may be, if the intensity is lacking, the whole segment can fall flat. Case in point...Monday Night Raw.
Unresolved storylines
Except for the Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins match for the Universal Championship on Raw, every other storyline seems predictable and done to death. In comparison, there are many unresolved stories on Smackdown that we don’t have the answers to, that keep us hooked from week to week.
When will a Tag Team Title be introduced? And what about a Women’s Championship? Will the Wyatt Family split up? Is Bray gearing for a feud with Randy Orton? We look forward to tuning into the show, and finding out the answer, every single week.
Humor executed to perfection
Heath Slater and Eva Marie simply stole the show tonight with their comedic segments, and while they deserve most of the credit, the writers need to be lauded as well. The case of Heath Slater confusing one pair of authority figures for another, and Eva Marie’s traffic problems, were brilliantly written in, and they played out amazingly through the course of the show.
Compare this to the humor on Raw. Do we really need Roman Reigns to be cracking jokes when he could be a legitimate bad ass? ‘All Red Everything’ is the best heel in the company right now because the audience can’t wait to see her get beaten up by a legit wrestler.
Better progression of the Orton vs Lesnar feud
Unlike Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton does give a ****. During his match with Heath Slater, he mocked The Beast by emulating his move set. Not only did he take Slater to Suplex City, he also hopped around like Lesnar does.
An actual match between the Viper and Slater was a better progression of the rivalry right before Summerslam than Paul Heyman cutting the same promo, over and over and over again.
THE BAD
Thankfully, there was very little we actually disliked about the show. He’s a brief rundown.
A.J. Styles on commentary
They say all men are created equal. Nobody embodies this trait more than The Phenomenal One. Considering that A.J. Styles is probably the best wrestler in the WWE, it is but natural then that he makes up for this in terms of his mic skills.
A.J. was so painful on commentary during the John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio encounter that even their botches seemed pleasant in comparison. He was so painful calling the match, that he made JBL look like Jim Ross. And the fact that this match went on forever, did not help matters.
While many think Cena may come out on top in this feud, Styles could very well walk away with a win here. What would make things better is a clean win for the Phenomenal on.
Advertisements
How many ad breaks did we go into during the John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio match? Every time we seemed to get into the action, an advertisement would come along to distract us. We understand that this is a major source of revenue for the WWE, but when there are more ads than actual wrestling, it is a problem.
Lack of Intercontinental Championship build
Continuing our grievance against commercial breaks, the only build-up for the IC title happened during an advertisement. The Miz did not even further the story line for his own title match on Miz TV but focused on the Ambrose vs Ziggler feud. Like it or not, the IC title is the second most important championship in the company and we would have liked to see some semblance of progress in this department.
Conclusion: To wrap things up, we just want to say that Smackdown was the superior show this week and unless things change drastically for Raw, things will remain so. We cannot wait for Summerslam this weekend as it is set to be an epic PPV offering.
