Smackdown Live Review 06/06/2017

Hello Misfits. Its time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. This week’s Smackdown Live came from Rochester, NY. Last week the first ever Women’s MITB match was announced, the New Day returned and Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was announced for this episode. A lot happened last week that made you want to tune in this week. I was also hoping we’d see the likes of Harper, Rowen, Dillinger and American Alpha back on TV. There are only a couple weeks until Money in the Bank, so lets get on with this review to see what actually took place this week at the land of opportunity Smackdown Live.

Smackdown comes to us live from Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.

– Smackdown kicked off with a video package of last weeks announcement about the first ever Women’s MITB match.

Shane McMahon/Women’s Segment
Shane McMahon welcomes us to Smackdown Live, and is joined by all five women competing in the first ever women’s Money in the Bank match at this month’s pay-per-view. He introduces all five of them individually, before revealing a brand new white MITB briefcase that will hang above the ring. James Ellsworth cuts off Shane and tells him to stop “mansplaining” to all the women how this match works. Carmella tries to speak but is cut off by the Queen. They all go around in circles talking about why they’re all going to win; Natalya says Charlotte is ripping off her dad, Becky Lynch says Natalya is ripping off her uncle Brett – pretty much business as usual. Tamina Snuka tells them all they talk too much, and she’s going to enjoy shutting them up by winning.
Smackdown Women’s Champion Naomi cuts them all off and gets her full entrance. Naomi talks about how big of an opportunity this is for all of them, and wishes she could participate in the first ever women’s MITB ladder match because it’s going to be “lit”. But wait… The Ravishing Russian is here! Lana makes her way to the ring in a bright blue sequence dress, looking ridiculously good, and the crowd greats her with a loud “Lana” chant. Shane McMahon says Smackdown is the land of opportunity, but he’s just not feeling this yet. Lana tells him if it works for her, she can make it work for him, and Naomi starts laughing hysterically. She tells Lana she’s never beaten anyone, and hasn’t even had a singles match yet. Shane tells her she needs to earn her spot, and the Ravishing one storms off in a fit as the crowd boos and chants “we want Lana!”
Opinion
The opening segments of Smackdown the last couple of weeks have been pretty similar so this was a nice change opening up with the women. It was quite lengthy but quite a bit happen. Once again each woman got a word in and some of the insults towards each other were actually pretty funny. I could have done without Ellsworth speaking though. It was also nice to see Naomi back in the mix as well. The real highlight of this segment was that the Ravishing Russian Lana…dancing Lana finally made her return under her new gimmick. Lana was really over with the live crowd and its great to her finally involved in the mix rather than just vignettes every week. I’m just very curious to see what she can do in the ring. The new briefcase looked sweet.

Carmella, Tamina & Natalya def. Naomi, Charlotte & Becky Lynch
This was a solid television match between the two teams that came to a finish when the Dancing Lana knocked Naomi off the apron while the ref was dealing with the anarchy in the ring, allowing Tamina to pick up the win.
Opinion
This was your basic TV match where the heels worked on Becky to keep the heat until the hot tag. I felt like Charlotte would play a bigger role in this match but she didn’t do much more than anyone else did. They all stood out equally besides Lana and Naomi. It’s weird because when Charlotte was on Raw it felt like the division revolved around here but on Smackdown Live, she’s apart of the Smackdown Women’s Division team. If anything, I think this match was just so the women involved in the ladder match could compete while really kicking of this short feud between Naomi and Lana.

– Backstage Shane McMahon finds the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal statue just standing there. Mojo Rawley comes up to him and vents his frustrations about being benched for the last two months. He says winning at WrestleMania was the greatest moment of his life, but he’s the only person that’s beaten Jinder Mahal since he came to Smackdown Live. He says he deserves to be used, and if not he’ll find someone who’ll use him. Shane agrees and puts him in a match against Jinder tonight, and if he can beat the champion, he’ll be added to the MITB ladder match.

AJ Styles def. Dolph Ziggler
In a very competitive match that was a bit shorter than their match last week, AJ Styles picked up the win after hitting the Styles Clash on Dolph Ziggler.
Opinion
This was a great match just like their match last week. The finishing stretch was creative and I loved the way Styles set up the Styles Clash. It seems fair since Ziggler beat Styles last week which means they’re tied 1-1 in recent bouts against each other. These two work great with each other and I would love to see a solid PPV match with the proper build up between one day.

– It’s another episode of the “Fashion Files” and this week it involves The New Day. Fandango tasted the cologne bottle for prints, but doesn’t think it is the Colon’s cologne. The pics on the bulletin board for the fashion offenders are amazing, this week included Billy Kidman and Michael Hayes. Then we see the New Day pushing their cart trying to find them, who go to meet them and they seamlessly transition from color to black and white. There was an underlying joke here about “black and white.” They have a case for the Fashion Police. The Fashion Police do the noir talk, so New Day can’t hear them. New Day has a romper, but this offends Fandango. He says they don’t take bribes, and won’t sell out, but Breeze puts on the romper and loves it. New Day wants intel on the Usos. The fashion police give then boxes of evidence, and after an awkward stare down, New Day leaves. I love these segments and I hope they continue.

If Mojo Rawley wins he’s in the MITB Match
Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers def. Mojo Rawley
In a fairly quick match Jinder Mahal picked up the victory over Mojo Rawley after the cobra clutch slam.
Following the match Jinder Mahal got on the mic reminded us that he’s the champion. He called Randy Orton sick and everyone who supports Randy Orton sick, thus referring to himself as the antidote and medicine. He gets the USA chants he was looking for and said the people have no choice but to accept the “Modern Day Maharaja.”
Opinion
Jinder Mahal’s entrance here was spectacular as they added more mannerisms and substance to it. I believe this was the first time we’ve seen Jinder compete since winning the championship and the first time Mojo has competed on Smackdown in a couple of weeks. I feel like this was the perfect way to shut up all the people who for weeks have been saying Jinder couldn’t even beat Mojo but won the WWE Championship. WWE being the scripted show that it is reminded fans of that by booking this match. Jinder looked great and the Singh Brothers barley got involved so it made Mahal look strong. It didn’t hurt Mojo too much either because he had a fury of shoulder blocks which allowed him to be in control briefly This segment served its purpose. The promo after the match by Jinder served its purpose and got the heat he was looking for.

-A quick video package aired about Shinsuke Nakamura with somebody drawing a picture of while also showing clips of him in action. This was pretty cool.

Randy Orton Interview
Randy Orton was interviewed and asked to respond to Jinder Mahal. Orton said this past week he was called by legends such as his father, Ric Flair and Harley Race and they gave him advice. He said that action speak louder than words and that at Money in the Bank in his hometown, his actions will speak louder than Jinder’s words. Jinder will hear him without him even having to say a word.
Opinion
Straight to the point and helped progress the storyline. It is what Orton should be because it works.

The New Day def. The Colons
In a quick back and forth match, The New Day pick up the victory after hitting the midnight hour on Epico.
Opinion
Solid TV match to put the New Day over. The Colons are basically on Smackdown as enhancement talent clearly.

– Following the match The Usos arrive. Jimmy and Jey aren’t impressed and claim New Day is old news, and that they have the tag division on Smackdown Live on lockdown. They then say they tell jokes too like the New Day. The Uso’s continue by  mocking Kofi’s hair and clothes. They then mock Big E’s large pecs saying his name really is symbolic to his bra size, before making fun of Wood’s shoes playing off of Wood’s YouTube channel “Up, Up, Dwn,Dwn.” The Uso’s finish off by saying at MITB there will be no jokes, because it will get real. It won’t be paranoia, it will just be the Usos. I love the Uso promos since they changed gimmicks.

– Backstage Sami Zayn was interviewed by Dasha Fuentes. Zayn said he’s been watching a lot of footage on his opponents to get ready. Zayn noted that the one guy he can’t figure out is Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn said he’s going to do commentary on the Nakamura/Owens match. Zayn talked about how Nakamura is so charismatic that you forget how hard he can strike out there. Baron Corbin interrupted and took the microphone. Corbin punched Zayn in the face. Why wasn’t Zayn ready for that? Poor Sami. Corbin hit Zayn in the back with a ladder that just happened to be there. Corbin told Zayn that Nakamura isn’t who he should worry about…and he threw him into ladders. Corbin said it looks like a spot on commentary just opened up and walked away.

– Shane McMahon was talking on the phone with somebody (Daniel Bryan?) about what just happened. Naomi went into the office to complain about Lana. Shane said he’s busy and Naomi has no obligation to fight her. Naomi said she really wants to fight her and put her title on the line. Shane asked if she really wants it. Shane announced Naomi vs. Lana at Money in the Bank for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Naomi suggested that Lana invests in a Russian hat because she’s going to snatch Lana bald.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Kevin Owens
In the main event, Baron Corbin sat on commentary and in a competitive “first time in WWE” match, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kevin Owens after a kinshasa. Following the match Corbin attacked Nakamura and hit him with an End of Days.
Opinion
 This was a solid match and what you’d expect from these two world class wrestlers. Although they’ve wrestled before in ROH and at a live event in Hawaii, there hasn’t been a WWE televised match between the two until this match. It was easy to tell they were familiar with each other though. Although, Owens is still the champion and wins when it counts, I still think they could have gone with a no contest finish with Corbin coming in attacking Nakamura to make statement rather than waiting until after Owens took the loss. Owens has been pinned by Nakamura three weeks in a row and it kind of feels like Owens can’t beat Shinsuke. I know it doesnt hurt Owens and I’m totally cool with the finish but I would have preferred my finish. Nakamura sold the End of Days with perfection.

Final Thoughts
This was a solid episode of Smackdown Live filled with a ton of storyline progression and igniting new rivalries. It was also be remembered as the night Lana made her return and Smackdown Live debut under this new character. There was more action on this show than promos even though the opening promo did last long it was important to that match at MITB. It was an enjoyable watch and there wasn’t a real dull moment. Its the perk of only being two hours…no pointless filler. I do however miss Harper, Dillinger and American Alpha. I was also really getting intrigued by this new Rowen character but we havent seen him since Backlash either.
Rating – 7/10

https://media.go2speed.org/brand/files/ssi/1989/HPOL.PNG