Smackdown Live Review 05/09/2017

Its time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. Smackdown is coming to us from across the pond in the UK, specifically London, England, meaning it was taped earlier than it was aired here in North America. I did come across some spoilers but it didn’t take my intrigue to watch it away. I was intrigued to see the London crowds reaction to Shinsuke Nakamura. Randy Orton wasn’t on Smackdown Live last week and I was looking forward to see the progression in the Orton/Mahal rivalry. Kevin Owens is officially done with Chris Jericho for now and I was looking forward to see how his rivalry with AJ Styles moves forward. Those were just a few things I was looking forward to see but Smackdown is always a breeze to watch whether its a great episode or not.

Smackdown comes to us live from O2 Arena in London, England.

– Smackdown intro featuring the new superstars post super shake up followed by pyro and ballyhoo.

Randy Orton Promo
Randall made his way to the ring and received a good reaction from the London crowd. He cut a short promo saying that he didn’t lose at WWE Payback because of Bray Wyatt, or because of “that damn refrigerator” – he lost because of Jinder Mahal. The number one contender Jinder Mahal quickly cut him off and made his way to the ramp, accompanied by the Bollywood Boys. Jinder sounded rough, like he’d almost completely lost his voice but it somewhat made his promo sound better. He claimed that he didn’t “steal” anything from Orton, but he rather took what he’d destined to win at WWE Backlash. Jinder then showed pictures of himself with the WWE Championship. The Maharaja talked about taking the title to India and celebrating with his people.
Before Jinder could cut a promo on Punjabi, he was cut off by United States Champion Kevin Owens. KO called them both idiots, and talked about ending the career of Chris Jericho. He said that nobody cares about India, just like nobody cares about England, and rubbed salt in the wound by saying there would be no more “drinking it in”, and no more “list of Jericho”. Owens bragged about ending Jericho’s career, and said he was going to do the same thing to AJ Styles later this month. He then cut the same promo in French, just to annoy the British crowd.
AJ Styles was next in line to come out and the crowd popped. He did his usual “house that AJ Styles built” shtick and continued to hype his match with Owens at Backlash. Baron Corbin then came out, back from his recent suspension after hitting a referee on Talking Smack, but before he could cut the fifth promo of the opening segment, Sami Zayn came out of nowhere and attacked him from behind. A brawl broke out between all six guys, ending with the babyfaces in the ring starring down the heels on the ramp. Orton almost dropped Jinder with a spike DDT, but the Singh Brothers dragged him from the ring at the last second.
Opinion
I’m usually not a fan of these opening segments where one guy comes out after another with no apparent reason other than to set up a tag match, but this worked here. I don’t know why, but it just worked. It also put the United States Championship and the WWE Championship in the same segment. It did set up a six man tag match for later but its cool seeing a lot of the top stars all interact with each other while progressing their own separate rivalries. It definitely got the London crowd excited.

– Carmella, Tamina, and Ellsworth are in the ring. Ellsworth makes fun of the crowd’s teeth, while Carmella calls herself a princess and introduces Natalya. Naomi then arrives, and introduces Becky Lynch. Charlotte then makes her way out, and says she needs no introduction but she’s here too I guess to just even the odds.

Natalya def. Becky Lynch
Natalya defeated Becky Lynch by pinfall. The finish came when Lynch hit an exploder suplex to finish things off, but Tamina got up on the apron to make the save. Naomi went after Tamina and the obligatory brawl broke out. Charlotte pulled Naomi off the heels, and the distraction was enough for Natalya to roll up Becky for the win
Opinion
It was a great way to showcase all the women. It continued to make the welcoming committee looking strong and get Charlotte, who’s still technically a heel to oppose them with evening the numbers with two babyfaces. The match was a great TV match and it accomplished what they wanted to accomplish. I think they could have come up with a more creative finish though rather than one we’ve seen a million times. I’m shocked everyone almost got entrances besides Carmella and Tamina.

– Lana is coming soon.

-Charlotte and Naomi argue backstage, Becky arrives to try and calm them down. Becky says the welcoming committee has a bond, and they need to get on the same page. Becky says they will settle things in a six-woman tag at Backlash. Charlotte needs some team building skills it seems, but reluctantly agrees.

– Its’s time for the Fashion Files. They find spilled paint backstage, which they figure belongs to the Ascension (the uggos). They then find the Ascension grunting and hyping themselves up. Funny stuff.

Erick Rowen def. Luke Harper
In a fun and competitive match between two big men, Erick Rowen defeated Luke Harper when he looked like he was going to hit him with his mask but the referee took it away and at the same time Rowen hit a thumb in the eye of Harper before hitting his finisher for a pinball victory.
Opinion
I actually enjoyed this match more than I thought I was going to. I’m big on Harper but don’t really care for Rowen but he was solid in this match. These two seem sort of lost with Bray on a different show but it looks as if this was to set up an angle between the two of them. I think Harper has all the potential in the world and I would love to see him booked more effectively. I think this rivalry has potential and really could help the Rowen character.

Dolph Ziggler/Shinsuke Nakamura
The Show-Off came out and said that it’s been eight long years since he’s been coming out and doing this. I’m not sure where he’s getting the math on that, because the Spirit Squad (a group they used last year, so it’s not like they’re trying to rewrite history) made their debut on TV in 2006, and Ziggler was on TV as Chavo Guerrero’s caddy several months before that. He complained that he never needed any of the fans, and didn’t care what they thought because they cheered for a guy that’s never even had a match on Smackdown Live. He basically called them sheep, saying they would chant along and sing his entrance song on command – which they did. Shinsuke Nakamura cut him off, and the crowd did indeed sing along with his song. Ziggler told him it’s time to “put up or–” and Nakamura took the microphone away from him, and told him to “shut up”. Shinsuke said that if Dolph really wanted to see what he’s capable of, to bring out a referee and he’ll show them all right now. A referee ran out and Nakamura took off his jacket, but Ziggler just said “nope” and bailed.
Opinion
Great segment. I loved the London crowd singing a long with Nakamura’s music. He really is the real mother elfin’ deal. I’m glad the match is officially made. My only concern here is that Ziggler is just going to lose and thats it as far as it goes for him. I would love for them to put on a classic where both guys leave Backlash over because the quality of the match. The perfect example would be Zayn/Nakamura from NXT Takeover Dallas a year ago. Ziggler’s been great with his promos and as Shinsuke’s first rival on the main roster, I’d hate for it not to contribute to him at all.

– Manic Sami meets with Styles and Orton. Sami rambled on for a while, and Orton and Styles walked out on him. I love these backstage segments when Sami Zayn is about to be involved in a multi-man tag match and he acts like this. It reminds me of myself when I have too much caffeine.

– A video aired about The New Day trio, who are coming to Smackdown Live soon. That return will be whenever Kofi Kingston is ready after ankle surgery. I really liked the creative arcade video game video graphics for this vignette.

Breezango def. The Ascension
In a quick match Breezango defeated The Ascension when Fandango hit his top leg drop for the victory.
Opinion
The London crowd still loves dancing or I should say Fandangoing to Fandango’s music. He’s still really over in the UK. I’m glad they’re picking up these wins and starting to look like serious contenders against the Uso’s. I hate that it was over the likes of the Ascension who I honestly don’t think will ever regain the dominance they had on NXT. Its sad to be honest. I’m a big fan of both Breeze and Fandango so I hope they go over.

– The Usos arrive to run down their challengers, promising in 12-days to beat down their opponents. I was glad to see them on Smackdown this week and their promo was intriguing. They’ve really grown on me ever since turning heel after the brand split.

– Mojo Rawley gives some young fans a backstage tour, and tells then a story about Andre the Giant and turns it into a lesson on bullying. Mojo then shows off his Andre the Giant trophy. Uh..what?

– Rusev will be on Smackdown next week, looking for answers from Shane McMahon regarding his request for a title shot. Woohoo! It’ll be great to see Rusev back.

Six-Man Tag Match
Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers, Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin def. Randy Orton, AJ Styles & Sami Zayn
This was a fast paced and exciting match that saw the heels pick up the victory after a melee of big moves when Jinder Mahal pinned Randy Orton after a cobra clutch slam.
Opinion
This match was given a lot of time and was really entertaining throughout the entire thing. It helped progress all three rivalries as well as putting certain bad guys in the ring with good guys they may not even be feuding with. I loved the fast pace action and the final stretch. I also liked how Jinder pinned the champion in the end showing that with the extra distraction from the Singh Brothers, Mahal really could overcome The Viper just like he did in this match. I’d recommend anyone who skipped over Smackdown this week to watch this because it was better than most six man tag matches.

Final Thoughts
A lot of people consider the London shows to be throwaway shows but I thought Smackdown did really well with progressing feuds and storylines. The show was good and there wasn’t really a dull moment. I didn’t realize until watching this episode just how stacked the Smackdown roster still is after the superstar shake up. They even built new top-mid card stars like Jinder Mahal to add more depth to the roster. Consider the fact that John Cena is still technically apart of this roster and its mind blowing. I think this show did great on kicking off the Orton/Mahal feud into a higher gear. It did great with setting up the women’s match and the Ziggler/Nak match for Backlash. The Uso’s even hyped up their match. I have one question though…where in the blue hell is American Alpha? Other than that, this was a great show. I’d highly recommend watching the entire thing and if you don’t have the time, make sure you at least watch the Ziggler/Nakamura promo and the main event.
Rating – 7/10

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