Raw wasn’t a sum of its parts- the parts that were actually good. Of course, Jericho and Owens were fun addressing Tom Phillips with different names and Lesnar and Slater had an epic interaction but Heath Slater was even more entertaining on Smackdown. Yes, he lived another day after that relentless attack on Monday by the man he addressed as Mr. Beast.
But Smackdown turned into a better show heading over to Summerslam in a big, big way. No matter what you want to build the Universal title into or Demon Balor into, the program between Ziggler and Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship turned out to be much more compelling.
WWE also dropped hints on a possible outcome of a massive SummerSlam match which would be addressed in the coming slides.
Here are the 5 points to note from this week's show.
5: Show-off
Dolph Ziggler has every right to show off. Because he is that darn good! There has been speculation that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship will slowly play second fiddle to the Universal championship but Ziggler is making sure that this does not happen. So much so that you want to see him win this Sunday against a man many find endearing- Dean Ambrose. Both men are providing us with a compelling story. Ziggler is on a road to redemption, his career looks like it is on the move again.
Ambrose looks, walks and talks like a champion, whose confidence is trying to engulf and eat Ziggler away. But as is the story with his whole career, he’s used to this and this has only made The Show-off stronger than ever. That Superkick OUTTA NOWHERE after that exhilarating promo was the stuff of legend. This is what makes a feud move to the next level. This is the best feud moving into Summerslam. Hands down!
4: Hottest Free Agent
Heath Slater is playing his character so well that his gimmick might finally become the truth. Big E had a pretty darn funny but logical point on his twitter than Heath Slater is getting mauled because he looks like Connor McGregor, the man who’s worked the WWE Universe with his tweets. But Slater is playing the character of his career right now. He’s come to Smackdown asking for a contract and this time he has a match with Orton.
If him being alive after his interaction with Lesnar wasn’t enough, he was trampled and decimated by Orton wherein the Viper got disqualified after unleashing an unsurmountable amount of rage. Slater, for his courage, was finally offered a contract by Shane O’Mac only to be rejected after he accidently referred to Shane as Stephanie.
3: The Excuse
Eva Marie is being built into THE heel and they’re getting it right with her character. Two weeks in a row, she found some reason or the other to not compete against Becky Lynch. This week she was set to face Naomi but traffic prevented that match from happening.
The women’s division on Smackdown may have seemed like being dismal in the beginning but the characters are coming to the fore and before the new title shows up, they are defining each and every woman on their own. At least that what they should do- define different characters.
For now, Eva Marie and Becky Lynch take the prize for being two polar opposites and essential to the division’s character demarcations.
2: Smackdown being Smackdown
What is Smackdown without Teddy Long’s habit of making tag-team matches out of the blue. This week almost every tag team on the roster was put in a 12 man tag team match.
The icing on the cake was that American Alpha were the ones who took the win for the team. Arguably, the most exciting team on the roster, Alpha is sure to bring on a tag team revolution and when the new tag team titles make their way, you know which team is going to revolutionize it and make those titles worth fighting for- the ones who’re ready, fighting and GABLE!
1: Standing Tall
AJ Styles and John Cena had another typical interaction where Styles again emphasized on the fact that Cena’s time is over and his time is now. Speculation also points towards Styles winning their Summerslam encounter and moving straight to the main title picture.
So, in typical fashion, Cena stood tall putting Styles through a table with an AA. Normally, the one who stands tall to end the go-home show is usually the one taking the loss on Sunday. Cena made quite a statement. He quite easily dominated Styles here in this segment.
Could this really be Styles’ time?
