Smackdown Live Review 08/08/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. Last week we found out that Shinsuke Nakamura will be the one facing Jinder Mahal at Summerslam for the WWE Championship after defeating John Cena. Also, we found out that Shane McMahon will be the special referee for the United States Championship match between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles at Summerslam. This week we’ll find out the fate of other Smackdown members as it goes for Summerslam. This weeks episode of Smackdown Live is coming from Toronto, Canada which means the crowd will be loud and involved in the show. Lets see how it went.

Smackdown comes to us live from Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON Canada.

– The opening video package had us relive the John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura dream match from last week. Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and JBL are on commentary.

John Cena Speaks
Cena does the robot on the ramp before running to the ring. Cena points out how split the crowd is tonight. Cena says the WWE ring provides us moments. Last week there was a moment. A trip to the SummerSlam title match was on the line. “Super” Cena squared off with the “King of Strong Style” Shinsuke Nakamura. Cena says he found out last week Nakamura isn’t scared of anything. The crowd chants “Nakamura”. Cena says for a long time he wonders why the crowd chanted that. Now Cena knows it’s because Nakamura hits hard. Really hard. Last week Cena was in the ring doing his thing. He knew he was going to go on to face Jinder Mahal. Then all of the sudden the referee was raising Nakamura’s hand. Then Cena realized he lost. No shenanigans, or anything, he just lost. Cena did the only thing he could do: he dusted himself off and shook the hand of the man who is on the path to become a champion.
Baron Corbin’s music hits and Corbin comes out on the stage. Corbin says no one cares about Cena or the handshake from last week. Corbin is Mr. Money in the Bank which means he can do whatever he wants. Cena needs to respect Corbin, not Nakamura. Corbin says he is going to make Cena the past… whatever that means. Cena says he is gonna tell it like it is. Cena calls Corbin a Skinny-fat, loud mouth, overrated dumpster fire, just like the sign in the crowd says. Cena says if Corbin wants to dance he can come to the ring. If Corbin does, Cena may just put Corbin through another table. Corbin says why would he do that when he has the MITB contract? Corbin says Cena has nothing he needs. Cena can take his respect and shove it. All Corbin wants is the WWE championship. Cena just isn’t worth his time. Corbin tries to leave but Daniel Bryan comes out on the stage. Bryan tells Corbin that he will face Cena at SummerSlam.
Opinion
This segment was good but I find myself over Cena promos. It also came off as if Cena was perfectly okay with his loss last week. There were no hard feelings and he admitted it doesn’t happen to him often. It really put things in perspective when Cena mentioned how he lost cleanly with no shenanigans how big a clean win over Cena is. There were times where the promo felt choppy but overall it was good for what it was. Baron Corbin got a change in theme music. Quite frankly its too early to tell if I hate it but I can definitely say I don’t like it as much as his old music. The old music was badass and one of the few things I really liked about Corbin. This segment was to book Cena a match for Summerslam and I wonder if he’ll put Corbin over too since in the past few years we’ve seen him do it with Punk, Bryan, Owens, Styles and Nakamura. Daniel Bryan was also over as fuck in Toronto.

The Usos def. Sami Zayn & Tye Dillinger
In a quick match When Zayn had English grounded on the mat, English rolled on top of him and covered for the win. Maria and Mike Kanellis came out and they said they loved each other and they loved that Zayn lost.
Opinion

– Backstage, Renee Young asks Randy Orton if he is ready for his match. Orton says tonight without the Singh Brothers Mahal won’t be able to get away.

– Tyler Breeze is talking to the Ascension. Breeze tells Konnor and Viktor about his dream last week. Breeze turns around and Konnor and Viktor are trying to leave with Breeze’s pie. Konnor says they just came for the pie. Breeze stands up and asks a photo of Fandango where is he. Fandango appears behind Breeze. Breeze asks Fandango where he was and who kidnapped him. Fandango says it was aliens and he could have left whenever he wanted. Breeze asks Fandango why he didn’t leave. Fandango says bc of anal probes… wardrobes. The aliens gifted Fandango with the ability to tell the future. Fandango says the next person to walk into the room is the person who destroyed Tully the horse. Arn Anderson walks in and Breeze asks him if he destroyed Tully the horse. Anderson leans in and says you’re damn right he did. They should have named the horse Arn. Everyone knows he was the real horse of the group. Anderson steals two donuts and leaves. GOLD.

Charlotte Flair def. Lana
It a quick match Charlotte Flair defeated Lana after a big boot and making her tap out to the figure eight leg lock.
Opinion
Charlotte didn’t take Lana as serious competition from the get-go. Charlotte took it easy on her and Lana tried, but it was all over after Lana slapped Charlotte. Lana was over in Canada. Regardless though she hasn’t had enough time to really find her groove and its noticeable. I feel like she’s got the basics down but so far she hasn’t won a single match, not even by fluke so it’s not really looking good for her. Im hoping it’ll all pay off with this angle she has going on with Tamina.

Shane McMahon/AJ Styles/Kevin Owens
Shane says last weeks United States Championship match ended in controversy. Because of that, Shane will be the referee of the rematch at SummerSlam. Shane introduces Kevin Owens and U.S. Champ AJ Styles. Shane asks them to come out to clear the air. Shane brings up that last week Owens screamed that he doesn’t think Shane can be impartial. Owens apologizes. What he did was in the heat of the moment. Owens says he isn’t worried about Shane screwing him since we have already had a McMahon screw another legendary Canadian. The crowd goes nuts. Owens goes on to say That Canadian deserved it. Owens says he doesn’t. It would be terrible PR for Shane to do that to another legendary Canadian. Owens says he is worried about Styles. How can Shane trust someone who has attacked him? Owens plays a video of Styles throwing Shane head first into a car window. Styles says he will be the first to admit he wasn’t glad when Bryan made Shane the referee. Styles says if Shane screws him, he will have to face the same repercussions WrestleManiaWreslteMania. Styles tells Shane not to be offended. Styles doesn’t trust anyone… especially a McMahon.
Shane says Styles is confusing him with other McMahons. Owens says this could happen to Styles. Owens puts up video of Shane screwing Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series in ’98. Owens says you could create a collection on the WWE Network of Shane screwing wrestlers while refereeing. Shane says he will call it down the middle. He will only get involved if they force him to. Styles says why don’t they get rid of Shane and have the match right now. Owens says he rather in the U.S. title in the U.S. In a city that actually matters. Styles says this is the closest Owens is going to get to the U.S. title. Styles puts the belt in Owens’ face. Owens pushes Styles. They tussle. Owens pushes Shane into a Pelé kick from Styles. Owens leaves the ring and takes a bow.
Opinion
This had to be one of the highlights of the show for me. Where Shane McMahon and AJ Styles did their parts to sell the drama surrounding this match, Kevin Owens stood out the most. Not only did he tremendously sell the drama surrounding the match but he also plugged the WWE Network. I loved the throwback videos of Shane McMahon’s shady past when he was younger. I also loved the reference to the Montreal Screwjob since they were in Canada. Quality segment with three of my favourite people. The match between Styles and Owens the week before was great and I hope they get to have a solid match at Summerslam without too much over booking due to the special referee stipulation. I still think this will all still lead to Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens down the road.

–  Backstage, Tamina makes fun of Lana for losing to Charlotte tonight. Tamina tells Lana that she will never be a wrestler like her. Lana says Tamina will never be as ravishing as she is. Tamina says ability isn’t what got Lana three title matches in a row Lana is going to help Tamina finally get hers.

Carmella def. Naomi
In a decent television match Carmella defeated Naomi when James Ellsworth made his return pushing Naomi off the top rope allowing Carmella to retaliate with a super kick for the win.
Opinion
It was great seeing Carmella yet again defeat the Women’s Champion Naomi. If I’m correct this is like the third or fourth time she’s pinned the champion in the past 3 months. You either like Ellsworth or you don’t. I personally don’t and think Carmella doesn’t really need him but it still does work. This makes us think when Carmella does decide to cash in that with Ellsworth on her side, it makes it even more likely that she’ll walk out Womens Champion.

– Backstage, Natalya warns Carmella and James Ellsworth to stay out of her business. If Natalya sees either of them she is going to give Carmella a chin like Ellsworth’s. Carmella holds up the MITB briefcase and says she has no idea why Natalya would be so worried. Ellsworth and Carmella snicker and walk away. It felt like they perfectly followed the script.

– Renee Young is with Shinsuke Nakamura. Young asks Nakamura what it was like for him to debut on Smackdown Live. Nakamura says he wanted to come here for his whole career. Young asks Nakamura how he has felt about the competition he has faced so far. Nakamura puts over Cena. Nakamura says he is going to be the WWE Champion. At SummerSlam, the Nakamura Dynasty begins

Final Thoughts
This episode of Smackdown Live was solid. There wasn’t any mind-blowing must watch matches like we had last week. As per usual certain talent was missing such as Chad Gable, The Kanellis’s, Eric Rowen and Luke Harper. There was a lot of angle advancement on this show and hype work done for Summerslam. I’d definitely check out the Styles/Owens/McMahon segment. I wouldn’t pass over this episode but I also wouldnt rush to watch it, but its definitely worth checking out. Dig It!?
Rating – 7/10

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