Smackdown Live Review 01/03/2017

First episode of the year! Last week, we had one hell of an episode, American Alpha are the new tag team champs and John Cena announced himself as the new number one contender for the World title? What do we have in store for tonight? The contract signing for AJ Styles vs. John Cena III at the Royal Rumble, Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship and yet another Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin match. Will Ambrose become a two-time Intercontinental champ? Will we get new participants for the Royal Rumble Match? Let’s find out!

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WWE brings Smackdown Live to you from the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena at Jacksonville, Florida.

The show opens up with The Miz and Maryse making their way to the ring. Footage was shown from two weeks ago where Renee Young slapped The Miz and last week where Dean Ambrose assaulted The Miz. The Miz talked about that in this new year, he felt more forgiving so he demanded an apology from someone who knew exactly who she was. No one came out so he complained about Dean Ambrose’s title match tonight and said Renee Young sacrificed her integrity to have Dirty Deeds with Dean Ambrose.
Dean Ambrose’s music hit and went straight to The Miz but Maryse stood in front of him. Ambrose tried to get around her to get to The Miz but Maryse slapped Ambrose. As Maryse and The Miz went up the ramp, Ambrose picked up the mic and said Maryse hits way harder than him.
Opinion: Solid enough to start off the show and a good way to get people invested in their championship match later on. This feud seems a bit forced so far which is a shame considering how talented both Miz and Ambrose are.

Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler make their respective entrances.

1) Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin.
In a surprisingly long and good match, Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler by pinfall with an End of Days in 17 minutes.
After the match, Corbin grabbed a chair and came back into the ring, he was about to hit Ziggler with the chair but Kalisto’s music hit and he ran down to make the save. He kicked the chair out of Corbin’s hand and made Corbin retreat. Kalisto helped Ziggler back to his feet and Ziggler then blasted Kalisto with a Superkick and then screamed at him that he never needed anyone.
Opinion: The match was basically the same match we’ve seen some times now but it wasn’t bad considering the length it got. Also, I can’t believe they are finally pulling the trigger again with heel Ziggler. If we get a fraction of 2012’s Ziggler, Smackdown is definitely about to get a bit more exciting.

James Ellsworth is backstage walking up to Carmella. He could barely talk out of nervousness and gave Carmella the shirt e was wearung with Ellsworth’s face on it and Carmella pretended she liked it. Then Carmella asked Ellsworth to come to the ring with her.

In a locker room where Rhyno, Mojo Rawley and Apollo Crews are hanging out, Dolph Ziggler shows up and starts throwing stuff around until Apollo tells him what he did to Kalisto was completely uncalled for. Ziggler replied it as none of his business and Crews said Kalisto was his friend so it was his business now. Ziggler then started assaulting Crews but Rhyno and Raley pulled them apart.

2) La Luchadora vs. Becky Lynch.
Should we even consider this a match? Ok. Becky Lynch defeated La Luchadora in 4 minutes after the Luchadora that started the match went under the ring, and another one came under the ring and ultimately got beat.
After the match, Becky Lynch unmasked her and revealed the second Luchadora to be Alexa Bliss. After this, Alexa and La Luchadora assaulted Becky with Alexa hitting a DDT on Becky and both leaving Becky on the match.
Opinion: It is pretty much unofficially confirmed that La Luchadora is Deona Purazzo which storyline wise makes absolutely no sense but I don’t think she’ll be called up, I think the whole “La Luchadora” thing will slowly fade away after their next title match.

Daniel Bryan makes his entrance with a specially big “Yes” chant. He welcomes everyone and introduces both John Cena and AJ Styles for their contract signing.
This segment had way too much to talk about to try and summarize it. AJ questioned Cena’s passion for the business, called him the luckiest man on the planet, mentioned Daniel Bryan being basically his brother in law, called Cena a ‘Has Been’ and even brought up how Smackdown won in the ratings with him as champ. He also said he will never be as good as The Rock in Hollywood or as AJ Styles in this ring.
John Cena called Styles a little bitch, said he lost all respect for him and said Styles just made the biggest mistake of his life by upsetting John Cena. He went on into all the reasons why he in fact is passionate about wrestling and how he is not leaving. He wrapped up by telling Styles to bring his A-Game to the Rumble and he’ll still kick his ass because he is John Cena. Recognize. He signed the contract and Baron Corbin’s music hit. Corbin said he won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal so he was announcing himself as the first Smackdown superstar in the Royal Rumble Match and he is winning it. Cena got in his face and said he wanted to pick a fight, Corbin said he would knock his teeth down his throat when Styles hit Cena with an Enziguiri from behind.
Opinion: Holy shit! Awesome segment! Pretty much a flawless segment! Styles was incredible on the mic and Cena also was great. This feud just seems so personal and so intense, it’s impossible to not get behind it, specially after this segment. Cena looks far more aggressive, passionate and focused which is a great fit, it does wonders and this feud is quickly becoming one of my favorite feuds in probably the last 10 years.

3) Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth) vs. Aliyah.
Carmella defeated Aliyah in 3 minutes by submission with a Code of Silence after James Ellsworth knocked Aliyah down from the second rope.
Opinion: I don’t really get this Carmellsworth storyline but I feel strangely intrigued by it. I mean, I love Carmella so I’m curious on what this leads to.

Breezango made their entrance followed by American Alpha.

4) American Alpha vs. Breezango.
American Alpha defeated Breezango in 20 seconds after hitting Grand Amplitude.
On the titantron, Bray Wyatt told Jordan and Gable that they might think they broke the family but next week they are coming to get what’s rightfully theirs. Randy Orton said “Run” and Luke Harper gave him a dirty look.
Opinion: Alpha vs. Wyatt is going to be awesome next week! I wonder if they are leading to Orton vs. Wyatt or Orton vs. Harper for Wrestlemania.

Nikki Bella and Natalya stand in the ring about to begin their verbal encounter. Nikki starts off by saying she doesn’t despise Natalya but she feels bad for her. She starts talking about the Hart Family and how Natalya is the absolute worst in her family and how she used her family name and her family’s moves to get where she is. Natalya showed a tweet where Bret hart mentioned Nikki Bella and made a sexual implication about it. She said she is better than Bret ever was. She wrapped up by saying she got here by her beauty and when that beauty fades, John Cena will leave her and she’ll die alone. Nikki then hits Natalya with a forearm to the face to end up the segment.
Opinion: Probably their best exchange to date, I still feel like Nikki will clearly win the feud but hopefully Natalya can make herself look strong from time to time. Also, I felt a little distracted by her ring gear.

Dean Ambrose is interviewed by Dasha Fuentes backstage about his Intercontinental Title Match. This woman can’t say Intercontinental. He says he would take away the thing that’s most dear to The Miz, his IC Championship. He then makes his entrance.

5) Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz.
In a really well structured, nicely paced match, Dean Ambrose defeated The Miz by pinfall after hitting Dirty Deeds in 15 minutes. Dean Ambrose wins the WWE Intercontinental Championship. During the match, Maryse slapped Ambrose and Ambrose stopped the ref from DQ’ing The Miz and instead sent Maryse to the back.
Opinion: Again, really good match as you would expect from these two. Shocking to see Ambrose win the title but the more I think about it, I think next week the title will be given back to The Miz after the ref didn’t DQ him.

Final Thoughts:
That’s Smackdown Live! Awesome way to start off the year! One of the best contract signings I’ve seen, a dominant showing from American Alpha, a great main event, a high profile heel turn in Dolph Ziggler and nice progression in the Alexa-Becky feud.
Final Rating: 9.1 out of 10.

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