Smackdown Live Review 06/20/2017

Hello Misfits. Smackdown Live is only five days away from their next brand exclusive PPV “Money in the Bank.” It’s one of my favourite PPV’s because involves the Money in the Bank ladder matches and as well has been a night where many historic moments have taken place since its inception. This is the go home show heading into the event, so lets see how it went.

Smackdown comes to us live from Wright State Nutter Centre in Dayton, Ohio.

– Smackdown kicked off showcasing the controversy surrounding the Women’s Money in the Bank match. Then we cut to a backstage scene where all the girls involved in the match excluding Carmella are arguing about the match and how Carmella won. Daniel Bryan but says he wants to hear what Carmella has to say first.

Carmella Promo
Carmella and Ellsworth make their way to the ring to a ton of heat from the fans. James tried to hype them up for the first ever Ms. Money in the Bank, to more boos. Carmella said her name has been trending for 48 hours, but for all the wrong reasons. She ranted about all the internet trolls that complained because she “ruined a historic moment”, or her personal favorite, “needed a man to win the match for her”. To that end, she simply says she doesn’t care, because she’s been overlooked ever since she was the last woman drafted in 2016. Carmella says while everyone was out there to make history, she was taking steps to prepare for her future, and she damn sure isn’t here for “girl power”. She brings up the hypocrisy in the fans, talking about Kane helping Seth Rollins win Money in the Bank, and Bray Wyatt getting involved in a match he wasn’t even signed on for. The bottom line is that she is the first ever Ms. Money in the Bank, and there’s no a damn thing anyone can do about it. 
Opinion
I absolutely loved it. For the first time since the brand split it felt as if Carmella was getting a reaction. The controversy of her victory at the Money in the Bank gave her a ton of heat and there was validation to what she was saying. Although, she could have screamed a little less this was the perfect promo and really well thought out. The examples she gave and the points she made about the MITB being a No DQ match made total sense. I also loved how she pointed out she was not part of the women’s revolution and called out the internet fans being displeased with her victory stating that she didn’t care. Great stuff.

– Charlotte meets with Bryan, and she wants Bryan to act. Bryan says MITB was no DQ and Carmella did have some strong points. Charlotte strongly disagrees and feels it should only be that for the competitors and wants him to do the right thing. Why did Daniel seem scared of Charlotte?

Big E w/ The New Day def. Jimmy Uso w/ Jey Uso
In what felt like a quick match Big E defeated Jimmy Uso after hitting the Big Ending after the Uso’s failed at escaping the match like they did the night prior.
Opinion
Quick match to continue the angle between The New Day and the Uso’s. It was solid stuff but mainly storyline progression.

– Bryan talks with Shane O’ Mac on the phone and Natalya & Tamina interrupt him. Natalya wishes Bryan a belated father’s day and talks about her cat. Tamina interrupts and wants to know if he will fix the situation. Bryan will have an official decision soon.

– Naomi is interviewed about the finish of the women’s MITB and she is not happy about it, but feels Bryan will make the right decision. Naomi says she will be ready for anyone, and Lana arrives and says she would have won at MITB without Carmella’s distraction. Lana wants a rematch, but Naomi says she won fair and square. Naomi calls Lana a couple of names and says she will give Lana a shot next week because she’s a fighting champion.

– Tom Phillips spoke with Orton earlier today which leads us to this recorded sit down interview from earlier in the day. Randal is asked about his loss at MITB; Orton says he lost control when The Singh Brothers attacked his father and took his eye off the ball and beat himself. He’s been there before and used the numbers game, whether it was with Evolution, Legacy or The Authority but Mahal made it personal and now it’s not just about regaining his title. He will do whatever it takes to get revenge and will hurt Mahal. Maybe he will travel to India and rain down RKOs on the entire Mahal family. Please send Orton and a film crew to India to film hundreds of RKOs. This was a great interview and quite honestly it really feels like Orton wants Jinder Mahal to succeed because he’s really putting out a lot of great stuff to help get Jinder Mahal over as a massive heel.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Dolph Ziggler
In an amazing match Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler after hitting a brutal kinshasa.
Opinion
WHAT A MATCH! I do feel like Nakamura shouldn’t be over exposed on the main roster and on every other week but this match was tremendous. Definitely lengthy but a PPV quality match-up. Ziggler can really work with anyone and their is great chemistry with the artist known as Shinsuke Nakamura.

– Daniel Bryan books Sami Zayn against Baron Corbin next week. Becky Lynch arrives and Sami says he feels she got robbed at MITB. Becky talks with Bryan, and says she has MITB won, but Ellsworth cost her the match. Lynch doesn’t feel that Smackdown is the land of opportunity, and no matter how much she trains, someone always gets involved and ruins things. Bryan says it’s complicated, and is wishing he stayed home. Becky sounded like she was about to cry.

– Owens says the only reason he didn’t win MITB is because the others conspired against him to take him out and end his career. However, he’s still here, still the US Champion and still the new Face of America. Therefore, like America is considered, Smackdown is the land of opportunity and will give one tonight. AJ Styles makes his way out and says that he will beat Owens for the title. Owens refuses and says that the challenge was for a local resident of Dayton Ohio. Chad Gable then makes his way out to accept. Owens says he is not from Dayton, and Gable says he just moved to Dayton… this morning. AJ vouches for him and we have a match.

United States Championship Open Challenge
Kevin Owens (C) def. Chad Gable
In a competitive match Kevin Owens defeated Chad Gable with a pop up powerebomb. AJ Styles was on commentary for this match.
Opinion
It was great to hear American Alpha’s music hit. It feels as if we haven’t seen them in months and they truly are a special tag team that is under utilized. I loved how Gable took control of Owens early on but the right man won. Solid match.

– The Hype Bros make their case to Bryan that they are still owed a tag title shot due to winning a shot in December. Bryan says if they beat the Usos next week that they get the tag title shot.

– Tye Dillinger is still alive and was apart of a Sonic commercial with Sami Zayn.

Daniel Bryan Addresses the Women’s MITB Controversy
As we head into the final quarter of Smackdown, general manager Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring to a great reaction. He says he’s happy to be back but wishes it were under better circumstances. Bryan says he’s been with Shane McMahon and the Board of Directors trying to figure out what to do about this Women’s Money in the Bank controversy, and says he was instructed to keep his emotions out of the decision-making and stick to the WWE Rulebook. He brings out all five of the women who competed in Sunday’s ladder match.
After all the ladies make their way to the ring, Bryan says he listened to the opinions of all the women and he’s come to a decision. He says Money in the Bank matches are No DQ and there’s nothing in the rulebook that says someone else can’t climb the ladder and give it to someone else; it’s the first woman who holds the briefcase that is the winner. He brings up that there has been outside interference in previous MITB matches, but they are in uncharted territory. James Ellsworth cuts him off and tells him to hurry up and make a decision, because apparently being at home raising terrible little hippy vegan babies has played with his head. Bryan fires up and tells Ellsworth that if he ever mentions his baby girl again he’ll punch him in the face so hard he won’t be able to breath, and he’ll fire him on the spot. Huge pop from the crowd.
Carmella is offended and asks Bryan who he thinks he is talking to them that way. All the women go around cutting each other off and making fun of the way Ellsworth looks. Bryan tells them all to stop, because he’s made a decision. He says that Carmella made history by becoming the first women to win the Money in the Bank…and she’ll be the first women to hand over the Money in the Bank. Bryan takes the briefcase and announces that next week, there will be a redo of the Money in the Bank ladder match between all five women.
Bryan leaves with the briefcase and all the women immediately start brawling. Natalya and Tamina Snuka get thrown from the ring and Charlotte lays out Carmella with Natural Selection. Becky Lynch puts her in the Disarmher and Carmella flails around crying and screaming as James Ellsworth freaks out from the outside.
Opinion
Well…on one hand from a business standpoint, we get a MITB match on cable TV on Smackdown next week. The second ever women’s Money in the Bank match. On the other hand they might of ripped any of the heat Carmella had off of her. If this kicked off the show without allowing Carmella cut the promo she did earlier in the show, I might have felt different but Carmella sold me on her with that opening segment promo. I hope she wins again next week because she fit the role. Carmella will always be the first ever Mrs. Money in the Bank to me. It was nice seeing Charlotte and Becky work together again too.

Final Thoughts
This was a solid episode of Smackdown. A couple of good matches especially Nakamura/Ziggler. Drama in the women’s division and storyline progression for multiple feuds. American Alpha made an appearance which was a plus for me. They made the most of the two hours and put on a decent show. I enjoyed it this week.
Rating – 7/10

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