Smackdown Live Review 07/04/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. It’s the Fourth of July and I expected America to be celebrated during this episode. Most holiday episodes tend to be average or less than average but there is a lot advertised for this episode of Smackdown Live. John Cena returns for the first time since Wrestlemania. Naomi defends the Women’s Championship against Lana again. There is an Independence Day Battle Royal to crown the new number one contender for Kevin Owens United States Championship and there is a rap battle confirmed between The Usos and The New Day with Wale as the special guest host. That sounds like a lot happening so lets see how I thought about it all.

Smackdown comes to us live from Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

– Smackdown kicked off with an Independence Day video package.

John Cena/Rusev Return
John Cena is back and makes his way to the ring. Cena tells the crowd to let him have it because he’s fired up tonight and because it’s Independence Day, and America is a beautiful country, where anyone can come and work hard to achieve greatness. We all have fun and all celebrate the American dream; he loves his country and loves WWE, because anyone can come here and prove themselves by competing with the best. Cena goes on saying there are a lot of people saying he sold out, went Hollywood and lost his edge. Some have even called him a part time mascot. He’s not a part timer, he’s an all timer. He is a free agent, because if his time is limited, he will go down in a blaze of glory. Cena said he’ll be working on both Raw and Smackdown. Styles, Nakamura, Owens, Joe, Lesnar, Mahal, Reigns; line them up and he will knock them down. He’s never lost his fire, and he is the most dangerous man in the world because he has nothing to lose. The franchise is back. Here comes Rusev. Rusev says he works hard and got hurt working while Cena was back filming movies. Cena got commercials for his return while he got nothing while he worked hard to rehab. He sent video messages to Bryan and Shane with no response. Cena won’t take any opportunities from him, the American dream is a lie and Cena is a joke. Says they aren’t in Bulgaria, they are in the US. Cena tells him to come to the ring, and Rusev won’t allow him to boss him around. The US Independence day is a joke because American’s sit around stuffing their faces. Cena says Rusev has been thinking, which is a bad idea. Cena won’t let someone like Rusev push him around, and challenges Rusev to a flag match tonight. Rusev says they will fight on his time and on his terms, and Cena calls him a coward.
Opinion
Well Cena is back. I respect the crap out of the guy and understand he’s great for the business but still loath his character. He’s back and nothing really has changed. He’s still the same old Cena. The crowd was lit for it and Cena’s energy really brought a great energy to the show right off the bat. This really made Rusev’s return feel less important but his argument in his promo backed up why I felt that way. I think the two of them work great together and they even worked a Wrestlemania against each other. Its great to Rusev back and I hope this doesn’t just lead to him being defeated by Cena. I think Rusev could be a main event player on the blue brand.

– Daniel Bryan meets with Styles and Gable. Owens doesn’t want them in the battle royal tonight. Bryan books Styles vs. Gable, the winner is in the battle royal tonight.

Advance to the Independence Day Battle Royal
AJ Styles def. Chad Gable
In a competitive match AJ Styles defeated Chad Gable with a phenomenal forearm.
Opinion
Is it me or does it seem like for the last few weeks they’ve been trying to test Chad Gable as a singles star. I hope this isn’t a bad sign for American Alpha as a tag team. I feel like Gable and Jordan work great together, but Gable has more potential as a singles star. This match was great for the length that it was and I would love to see them wrestle again sometime in the future with more time. Chad Gable even got a fair share of offence and both guys left looking good. This was the best match of the night.

– Mojo Rawley is backstage upset about his tag team loss last week to the Usos. Ryder tries to cheer him up by announcing they’re both in the Battle Royal tonight. Mojo brings up his win at WrestleMania and Ryder jokes that he only won because he wasn’t in the match.

Ms Money in the Bank Carmella Promo
Carmella and James Ellsworth make their way to the ring to tons of heat. Ellsworth introduces the first, second and only Ms. Money in the Bank, who makes fun of the crowd for being upset that she won the briefcase twice in two weeks. Ellsworth says he’s cancelling Independence Day for the more important Carmella-bration. Mella bragged about being able to choose when and where she defeats Naomi to become the next Smackdown Women’s Champion, and out comes the champ who isn’t happy. Naomi basically tells her to bring it because her glow is always on-point. Daniel Bryan comes out says that he’s banning Ellsworth from the arena again. James starts laughing and Bryan laughs along with him, then says he’s suspended for 30 days without pay, fined $10,000 and if he breaks any of these rules he will immediately strip Carmella of the Money in the Bank briefcase. Carmella freaks out and makes him leave, and Ellsworth is escorted out as the crowd eats it up.
Opinion
I’m so glad Carmella won the briefcase again in the MITB rematch because the whole Money in the Bank gimmick fits her character so well. Plus, Carmella hasn’t really been getting this heat that she’s been getting since first winning it and I think they need to run with it. The stuff with Ellsworth was what it was and it played its part. However I would have rather of had Charlotte and Lynch come out rather than Naomi just to get those girls on the show as well as kick off a secondary feud. Becky Lynch might have made the most sense since Ellsworth gets under her skin the most and considering the finish of last weeks MITB match. Naomi was already booked for a match later on and a short Becky/Carmella rivalry wouldn’t hurt.

WWE Women’s Champion
Naomi def. Lana
In another squash match, Naomi defeated Lana when Naomi locks in her submission right away and Lana taps.
Tamina arrives and tells Lana to get up and lets go. I guess we have our next filler feud set, or Lana has hired some muscle to help her out.
Opinion
This was messed up. It makes me really intrigued on what and how they plan moving forward with the Lana character. What took place following the match with Tamina was interesting but it doesnt fix that the fact that the Lana character seems like a total flop. Don’t get me wrong, by no means what so ever do I think Lana is qualified or even ready to be the women’s champion but it would have been nice to see her pick up a victory or even a fluke victory in a regular match against someone else or a non-title match against Naomi. Personally, I wouldn’t mind an angle where Tamina starts to help train Lana or something but we’ll see what happens. Lana is fucking gorgeous.

– Baron Corbin lays out Nakamura with his briefcase backstage while Nakamura was getting interviewed.  They brawl and are separated. Storyline progression.

Rap Battle – The New Day vs. The Usos w/ Host Wale
Grammy nominated artist Wale is in the ring and introduces The Usos for tonight’s Rap Battle. The tag team champs come out with a crew of guys all dressed in black with Day One Ish gear. The New Day are out next, and they’re all dressed up in Fourth of July gear. They have a gang of….well, basically the Rosebuds. There’s a unicorn, a sailor, the Statue of Liberty and a bunch of other random characters. Wale tells them to keep it PG.
Big E kicks things off and raps about how the Usos were only in dark matches and pre-shows before they came along and made them relevant. He makes fun of Rikishi and the Usos fire off saying nobody knows who Big E’s dad is. They say they’ll keep it PG because they wouldn’t want to be like Xavier Woods and keep it Rated-R. The crowd pops huge for that reference and Wale basically loses his mind. Kingston does his best to rap about how the Usos have never hit the gym a day in their life and have to wrestle in shirts. Kofi says their guts hang out more than their weenies do. Jimmy makes fun of Kofi because he used to be Jamaican, but now he’s staying in his lane. Jey actually cuts a pretty sick rap and ends it by saying the only way the New Day wins tonight is if Wale becomes their fourth member. Finally its Woods’ time to step up, and calls out Jimmy for being nothing until his wife put him on Total Divas. He tells them to get back to doing what they do best, carrying bags for Roman.
The Usos have had enough and take a cheap shot at the New Day and a brawl erupts. Wale backs them all off and says that the champions have been disqualified for throwing the first punch, and awards the rap battle to the New Day.
Opinion
This was great. It did feel like it ran a little long but it was definitely entertaining. There were some great digs and clever insults. There was stuff you were surprised they even got away with saying. The reference to the Paige video leaks earlier this year that featured Woods, got a huge pop from the live crowd, the folks on social media and with Wale too. Personally I think the Usos won this rap battle because verses actually sounded verses and they had better digs. The New Day’s came off more goofy and besides the last one about Roman they were more childish the insulting. Quality stuff.

– Aiden English was in the ring attempting to sing about how great he is, but got cut off by Randy Orton’s music for the second week in a row. Orton made his way down to the ring and posed on the top rope, but English took a cheap shot at him from behind, then threw him to the floor and pummeled the Viper into the ring steps. English returned to the ring to finish his song as they went to commercial break.

Aiden English def. Randy Orton via DQ
In basically a one sided beat down Aiden English defeated Randy Orton via DQ when Orton beats English up outside the ring and assaults him with the steel steps.
Opinion
This was perfect way to show that a little bit of the old Viper and Apex Predator is back. Orton is vicious and has zero disregard for his opponents. It served it’s purpose.

– Jinder Mahal comes out and mocks Independence Day, saying that America is the home of prejudice and intolerance, not the home of the brave and land of the free. He declares that he will destroy Randy Orton’s legacy at WWE Battleground and prove that he is the only true superpower in the company. Jinder tries to speak to his people in Punjabi, but Orton cuts him off and tells him to shut up. Randy says that nobody will stop him from destroying the champion inside the Punjabi Prison, and he might as well just screw around and RKO Jinder back to India. Orton says nobody likes him, but it’s not because of the way he looks, the way he dresses, the color of his skin or where he’s from. He says nobody likes Jinder because he’s simply a jackass. They are weeks away from the event but I hope we see them get more creative with the booking of the rivalry beyond them cutting these promos against each other. Maybe some cool backstage skits or something.

– Tyler Breeze, dressed as a women, interviews Tye Dillinger. Breeze is going by Tenee Young as an imitator of Renee Young. Fandango is in the background, dressed as a construction worker. Ty Dillinger plays a long with the skit and even stirs the pot between The Fashion Police. The Fashion Police keep making the best put of the scraps WWE creative gives them. Random but funny stuff.

– Mike and Maria Kanellis are backstage being interviewed by Renee Young. Maria says that people don’t understand their love. Mike gushes about how beautiful and perfect his wife is. They go to kiss but a loud clatter interrupts them. Cameras pan over and Sami Zayn is standing there stretching. They freak out that he’s now cut them off two weeks in a row, and Sami apologies for that and says he really appreciates their message of positivity and love. He rambles on forever about…something…until his music hits and realizes he’s late for the main event. Mike wants to continue their kiss but Maria puts her hand up and says no. Mike says the moment has been ruined. God, I loved random rambling Sami Zayn.

Final Thoughts
A lot happened on this show but a lot didn’t. This was a pretty average episode of Smackdown Live with a ton of storyline progression. However, it felt like a lot of angles have just been dropped or forgotten for this week. Breezango never continued to find out who attacked them and ruined their office for weeks. The Harper/Rowen angle from a couple of weeks ago seems to have been dropped. There was no Charlotte, Becky Lynch or Natalya on this show. However, we did get a new angle between Cena/Rusev, Lana/Tamina and a lot of progression on continuing angles. It was a great solid two hours of TV but forgettable besides some highlight footage.
Rating – 6.5/10

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