Smackdown specific PPV thread

Pre-show:

First off I’ll say I wasn’t really looking forward to the PPV based on some of the really poor build up and screwed momentum. Although the matches themselves, at least some of them have enough merit on their own to be potentially good matches.

So the pre show kicks off with the usual video packages and round table and then interviews.
First was John Cena, doing his regular thing. I tuned out the audio out of habit when it's a USA vs the world rivalry, but the match itself should be a showcase of talent, teamed with hard hitting moments and hammy acting as Cena crawls, grasping for a flag as if it's a fallen brother in a trench warfare D-Movie (probably called BATTLEGROUND 5, the Fallen)

Then we get another interview with the Phenomenal one where he cuts down KO for being less of a man than him whilst also showing his pride in holding the United States championship. The interesting part is what followed, Owens was stood in his locker room watching, and was instantly approached for reaction. And his reaction was different than you would expect, as if to say in this moment his character evolved, he is no longer going to waste his time telling people how good he is, like he says AJ himself does, because by now people know the truth, know how good he is, and he is now laser focused on proving it by regaining the title. He looked every bit the superstar he should look, and moving on from this feud I’m sure he is going to really establish himself as a top draw for WWE. This little segment has really peaked my interest in what will no doubt be match of the night anyway, and I’m hoping we see some translation of his words into the match itself.

Carmella. All I’ll say is, she drew amazing heat from the crowd who were settling in to their seats in the raucous Philli, and showed exactly why WWE chose her as Miss MITB. A great improvised little moment. It’s a shame the rest of the division hasn’t been able to grow their characters at all really since the draft.

Maria and Mike. There is literally nothing they do that I don’t like. And on the pre show they kept up the solid vomit inducing lovey dovey work they do, but further showed how impeccable their timing is. To end on the question “will luck be a factor in your match tonight?” and answer straight faced with “you don’t need luck when you’ve got love” ... “The power of love” it showed how ready they are for big things in WWE. They are television stars through and through.


Pre show action: Aiden English vs The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger.

Aiden English is a good character. He gets mere flecks of television time, but he always seems like he could handle more. His latest appearance was as a suspected ghoul in the fashion files (I really enjoyed typing that) and he was first out in the ring. The usual sing to wind up the audience followed, and this stuff always makes me laugh. The hate someone can generate from a fight crowd by doing things other than fighting is, and should always be a firm staple of WWE. It’s embarrassing if this is the part of wrestling a first timer sees, and explaining it is never easy, but he is there to be a giant cringe and wind up the red blooded male audience. And damn, I just like how easy it is to wind up a crowd by playing an annoying character straight to the audience.

Tye Dillinger gets his pop, he is over everywhere, but it all started in Philli the commentators remind us. So you can probably guess what is coming... The match starts and there is some back and two, some ten ten ten, spots, but just when you think it’s going to be a normal pre show affair they broke out into what I’d describe as a 5 minute (I didn’t actually time it) sequence to end the match. It was really well done, almost surprisingly so, so much so that you'd even question if they were actually working it on the fly or had choreographed the whole thing. When something like that happens, you have to say well played. For the time they had, for the non existent build, they put on a very interestingly shaped match. As if it were indeed crafted by an artiste. And of course, Aiden English got the win in Phillidelphia.


Hindi announce team interview Jinder Mahal. At least the worldwide company's, world wide broadcast looks the part tonight. Unfortunately, as this will follow a flag match, and on the weekly shows Jinder can't help but go for cheap anti US heat, it could easily devolve into the standard rivalry feeling again, but from right now this main event is being presented as it should be, two guys who really don't like each other right now, in a heated rivalry as much about family honour as it is about proving you deserve a spot at the very top, and in no way about India vs the US, if you can ignore the show logo, anyway.

So there we have it, my pre event apathy has been transformed in to mild excitement. I won’t now question why Smackdown itself couldn’t get the build up feeling right, but the pre show did an adequate job of that.

I may continue to write about the BATTLEGROUND event, but I'll save to watch it and see first

Battleground is one of the worst shows I've sat through in some years. the opening tag match was great, if you've not watched the whole show - my advice would be to watch that match, then go and do something else with your life for the next couple of years. Whatever you do wil be more rewarding and fun than watching the rest of that.

Khali's return - I don't need to say anything other than that. Just terrible.

Yeah. Apart from the tag match which stole the show, the best thing was the fashion files. If that match and that segment were on SD (an almost back to normal quality show) that would resemble what a PPV should be. The rest of this comment features spoilers if you haven't watched SD, and as it was a whole lot better than BATTLEGROUND overall, watching that could be a partial remedy for anyone who watched BG.

Spoiler:

Aye, I don't like the thought of Cena getting the world title record off Flair at Summerslam, something that momentous has 'Wrestlemania!' written all over it.

If it were up to me, I'd have Nakamura win the title at SS, Corbin try to cash in and fail. Then have Shinsuke vs AJ for the next few PPVs, with AJ winning the title towards the end of the year, Raw guy wins the Rumble, Cena wins the Elimination Chamber to be named No 1 contender for Mania, then let AJ and Cena tear it up at Mania for him to beat Flair's record.

Enough time has passed since the travesty that was BATTLEGROUND, so I'll bump this thread back up.

Why does the build to the Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon match feel like it's telling a story of a son's struggle to a triumphant revenge? Every instinct says Owens has to win, but the way they had Smackdown go it feels more like it's setting up a big babyface win for Shane. It's almost like there has to be that big pay off victory over the evil KO. Owens even called his shot. Hopefully they still deliver, but they made it seem even less likely Shane can stand up to him, which is weird if KO does win because it's now expected even more so. Fuelled by bitter vengeance Shane only managed to land a few shots on Owens. Will KO simply keep beating on Shane while he shows guts to keep standing up? It doesn't seem a fair fight going in at the moment, but WWE still showed Shane doing his legit MMA training in the video like it was supposed to be seen as even. Pro wrestler and dickhead, vs a son with some experience but who is fuelled by rage making it an even contest. Thats what it was until the events of SD Live, right? Now, less clear and less exciting as a contest? It could still deliver, but I see run ins and overbooking for this one, unless Shane gets a big win for no real reason.

Because that's Shane O'Mac's thing, he's not a chunky executive whos living off Daddy, he's a toughh as heel streetfighter that blah blah blah. This is the guy who went move-for-move with AJ at Mania, despite not having wrestled in months. This is the guy who put himself on Team Smackdown at Survivor Series, rather than give a Baron Corbin or someone a shot. Shane's got the ego of his father - at least Steph will occasionally look weak (like going through the table vs Rollins at Mania), but Shane never, ever does, even going back to when he took on Legacy single-handed or Kurt putting him through the glass.

My vote is Shane loses, but only after taking some kind of insane bump, like at Mania vs Taker. And then KO will end up back on Raw, and lost in the midcard with Dean Ambrose.

I just dont get what they were trying to achieve having KO beat him up on SD Live. If he's going to destroy him on Sunday, have Shane land a couple of shots on SD to give the impression that revenge will bring him up to KO's level of brutality, or keep them apart. Now it's perfectly set up for a Shane win against the odds, which would be crap. I've predicted KO wins, he has to, but now i'd not be surprised to see a heel getting his comeuppance wasted on Shane.

Going in the story is KO can destroy Shane, and he wants to destroy him, and has proven he can leave him dazed and helpless without a big cell locking them in. So it's Shane that's locked in with the dangerous man, not the other way round with KO being locked in with a desperate man seeking revenge. Only one man has something to prove, which is worrying for the story unless it's just a completely insane match disregarding that.

That's exactly it, Shane is now the underdog, fighting against all the odds. Except, of course, he'll match KO move-for-move until KO lobs him off the cell and pins him at ringside.

Of all the matches tonight, I'm really looking to the Usos vs New Day. That's the one match on the card that belongs in the Cell.

Only criticism is the lack of Sami Zayn on the card... again...

Ah I suppose so yeah. It just gave me the sinking feeling that Shane will win this time and they'll carry it on for no reason because it is KO who is supposed to be being built, not Shane. Suppose HHH can come in at some point and challenge Owens to try that shit on him. Basic progression, but good if he goes over HHH the same.

Much prefer KO holding the world title after this though.

I still have faith Sami is being held down so people feel he is being held down, so when he breaks to the top he'll get more of a Bryan reaction. If he'd won a US title or intercontinental, then a world he might just be a bit of a Dolph. The match on SD he had a lot of impact, and did his bit to further an unrelated story to his own path.

Next brand split just stick all the big ol' WWE creations (Jinder, Corbin, Mojo) together on the Raw mid card to learn and leave SD to the Sami's and Nakamura's, that would be a big help to WWE and the talent. Even Balor, unless he gets the big push he would be better on SD than trying to fit in to the big bad guy main event scene. Level the playing field a little bit.


The Uso's could be the classic Cell match too. They claim they have the division on lockdown, New Day challenged that idea to see if they are as mean as they are saying in an actual lockdown situation. This one should stay in the cell and keep that vision alive that this is two opponents locked down with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nothing but pain and misery. Not one where you just burst through and render the cell as just a bit of a weapon to throw people into or off of. A helpless kofi or whoever is left out watching his friends suffer, before whatever else happens between the four guys in there.

Something I genuinely could not have predicted. Oh my god ha ha. Genius.

Spoiler:

That moment at the end was brilliantly done; the gasp from the crowd when they realised was worth it completely.

As for the rest of the show, the New Day / Usos match was blinding, match of the night. Some great spots, both teams looked vicious and nasty, and a great match to wrap up the feud. The Usos would give AJ a run for being superstars of the year, they've been amazing all year long.

Then it fell of a massive cliff, although I did like the US title match and am hoping to all that's holy that AJ now goes up against Mahal.

Favourite thing seen online about it: Is Jinder Mahal's run with the title Vince's revenge for everyone booing Reigns?

Nakamura vs Mahal just wasn't very good at all. Charlotte vs Natalya was a bit of a cop-out and I managed to skip most of the main event until the last ten minutes when I knew Shane would be going off the top.

Thought HIAC was a 7/10. New Day v Uso's match of the night imo. Only gripe was Kofi not being involved (did I hear correct he's injured?). Some of the spots he could of don't would of been great.

The US title match was made a bit obvious AJ was loosing when Tye got added but still a good match.

I loved Dolph Zigglers entrance. A simple walk down without any music was great. A good match too. I wasn't fused on who won that one.

Mahal and Nakamara are just not suited together. As bad as Mahal as champion is, I think the right guy against him could of worked. It feels like Mahal is doing all the work. I don't even mind the singh Brothers that much. I hope that's the end of that fued and someone like AJ or Roode to step up.

The main event was quite good too. I feel they must of re-enforced the top of the cell with the amount of spots and time actually spent on top of it. A huge bum of the cage by Owens was good then Shane going for the elbow of the top - and missing was great. Didn't See the Sani Zayn save coming at all. Nice little twist at the end there has made me want to watch smackdown this week for the right reasons.

Yeah, in a way I'm glad Nakamura didn't win. It's not the right moment or rival for him. I kind of liked the idea of the match this time, execution was slow and fumbled at times though, and no one really cares about Jinder enough. But having a different ending was badly needed and it was done well considering it's always been exactly the same before then.

My favourite parts about the match of the night tag match was that they stayed inside the cell, and on many occasions it broke down into a prison yard fight feel. It really was visceral and raw, but still with moments of extreme technique and beauty thrown in haha. If you saw two rival gangs fighting in prison though, a lot of the stuff they did is what you'd see so that was the most pleasing thing. They nailed the whole concept.

I was thinking it's only really the women that have wrestling matches these days too haha. It wasn't their best, but it had the elements that will make it a good 3 PPV series or 3 title match series anyway. Nattie went after the leg and in the end decided to further punish Charlotte instead of take the win, knowing Flair will get a rematch, but knowing she has a target set up to beat her in it.

Pulp Fashion is reason enough to tune in to SD Live, but there's a lot of stuff from the PPV that can carry on without bring forced. It should be good, especially the why Sami why explanation, which will take great care and detail to get right. The fact it will have shocked 99% is a huge credit to WWE. I was sure he'd get fucked up by KO and come back on a proper face push, but this just adds something new and exciting for him to get stuck into.

Looking back I think hell in a cell was better than we are giving it credit.

The main event was weird because in matches like that you know it's all going down in the last minute, but apart from the crowd being quiet it was done really well. They did quite a bit before getting on the cell too. Then the ending was so tense and then so shocking it made it a real moment, even with a similar spot to taker. It was so well timed too.

The Jinder match was his best so far probably, certainly in terms of the finish.

The women had a real wrestling match but with a cheap ending getting heat on Nattie. But they had Charlotte tap on SD which was a bigger deal. Could have been done the other way round to still have heat on nattie, making her tap on PPV due to an injury from a chair attack in the week.

The tag match was outstanding we've said that enough.

The Roode debut was a smart ending, Roode has heel tendencies, but it was Dolph trying to cheat twice before he outsmarted him. And Ziggler is getting heat now

And the US title match did everything it could and had Baron win without ruining AJ.


Leading to... AJ actually mentioning patriotism on SD, not sure if Jinder was on the show, so that could very well be next up Grecian.

I respectfully disagree. When the standout match of the night is the first match on the card, it's pretty much downhill from there. Orton vs Rusev was a massive disappointment, the US title became predictable as soon as Dillinger was added (decent match, though), I'm sick to the back teeth of Ziggler by now and entrance aside, Mahal is simply not good enough to be a world champion and hasn't clicked with Nakamura at all, the women's match was just a building block for another match (fair enough, I don't have a problem with that) and once I clocked the main event was going for 45 minutes or so, skipped to the last ten minutes of it.

Perhaps if the card had been jigged around a bit it may have worked better. Lead off with Ziggler vs Roode, then Orton and the women, Mahal vs nakamura, then tag HIAC, US title and finishing with KO vs Shane. For me, it peaked too soon and I was bored by the main event.

AJ vs Mahal might be worth watching. If anyone can drag Mahal to a passable match, it'll be AJ.

I get where you're coming from, it did peak with the first match, but I suppose because I knew it would I was happy to settle down to the less exciting stuff. It's a bit like going on nemisis then settling in to some tea cups, water rides and a haunted house before heading on to Oblivion with Shane going off the cell. Rusev vs Orton I suppose would be the dissapointing meal in earshot of some fat kid being sick.

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

Rusev vs Orton I suppose would be the dissapointing meal in earshot of some fat kid being sick.

Best. Metaphor. Ever.

I will say one thing for Orton vs Rusev. Handsome Rusev takes the RKO better than most guys I've seen, he seems to really jar his head and neck on the canvas and makes it look great.

Clash of Champions:

I don't know what it is with recent PPVs, but more often than not, it seems the opening match is the best match on the show. The opening triple threat was pretty decent, followed by a good tag match (Gable in particular looked great, those suplexes at the end, and I did think that for a moment he'd paralysed Aiden English), then it kinda went a bit dull.

The tag match - it was always going to go one of two ways, either a double pin-fall or Shane trying to screw KO and Zayn. It got a bit scrappy in places (the mini bump Bryan took when KO pushed him was a bit shit, he'll never get cleared taking a small bump like that), but at least builds us towards Mania and whatever the pay-off is going to be. I did love how the promo editors changed the outcome of Survivor Series, making it look like KO and Zayn interfering cost team SD, and not Triple H turning on Kurt.

Hoping that's the end of Jinder in the main event for a while. I wouldn't mind him in the US title picture for a couple of months, just so the past six months aren't a complete waste, but I'm now hoping for AJ vs Orton at the Rumble, and then a Rumble win for either Nakamura or Balor to challenge Styles at Mania. That'd do me.

The Usos also need to switch to Raw in the next draft thingy. They need new opponents, and seeing them vs Hardys, Revival, The Bar, Shield... that would be awesome.

One final note - Aiden English and Rusev. There is so much face potential in those two. English actually has a decent singing voice, and Rusev just gets better everytime I see him. As always, if WWE use him right...

Yeah, I was going in to the main event happy to see any outcome because for a moment it felt like it could grow into a classic feud if they nailed the match, but even with a story being told throughout was way too sloppy for the main event. As for the facials Mahal still comes across as a goofy bastard even during the matches. He kept shouting "bworrrre!" When he was stuck for filler too.

Smackdown champions right now are all pretty damn good wrestlers. It feels like it's an active effort to put on some really great title matches in the next few months.

Randy turning heel on AJ would be my next move, if KO and Zayn are keeping relevant away from the titles.  KO and Sami vs the Uso's? Seems unlikely with the amount of teams that were made to look good at the PPV, but I wouldn't mind them wanting to solidify their team with the titles to piss of Shane some more. Shane is openly friends with the Uso's too, on various talking smacks they mentioned how they do bbq's and gatherings and seem to have a good rapport.  It would be interesting to see them target them from that aspect.

Shinsuke may as well not have been in the tag match, but that's probably a good sign. Him and Balor are clearly being kept quiet. I can imagine them being made big in the Rumble match. One can survive for the longest time, one will win. Balor "not over" stuff on Twitter is a red flag for me. No one can get him over... the top rope lol.

The Shane story tag match was pretty throw away until the important spots came in, and from then i liked what they did and the way they kept Bryan doing what is right, even though he got pissed and fast counted, the match from his perspective was already won when Shane stopped the count. Shane's paranoia that Bryan would screw him and suspecting he'd actually jump on him to stop his count on purpose is the seed that will grow into Shane eventually losing it and maybe even striking Daniel Bryan. Technically he bumped in that match, it's probably a meme by now lol

I predicted Ziggler would win, but I kind of like that coming from nowhere element it had. It must be his last chance and he is hopefully going to give it everything. Hopefully he can just bump and sell and win in lots of shady ways. I kind of wouldn't mind seeing him declare himself as the 3rd nature boy. That would annoy people.

Probably the worst women's match those two have had. Way too many distractions. It's a shame because they can have classics.

Squash match was expected.

Rusev is so over now. And he got so much offense in that match. They could just use English as his manager, and sometime partner. Big E vs Rusev (and Jack Swagger) was an old rivalry that had potential. So I'd not be against more New Day vs Rusev Day, or a singles rivalry with E at some point. Or Rusev vs Ziggler for the US title.