Smackdown Live Review 07/11/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. This past week AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the United States Championship in Madison Square Garden at a live event. This show will document what the outcome of that surprising title change. Also what is next for the Women’s division? Will Ellsworth find his way onto the show although he’s suspended? Whats next for Cena and Rusev? Mahal and Orton? Will we feel the power of love tonight?

Smackdown comes to us live from AT&T Centre in San Antonio, Texas.

– Smackdown kicked off covering AJ Styles United States Title change at the live MSG show.

AJ Styles Open Challenge
The brand new WWE United States Champion AJ Styles is out to kick off the show, and the fans great him with a big chant. He makes fun of Kevin Owens but says the title is no longer about him, it’s about what it will represent going forward. Styles announces that he is bringing back the true U.S. Championship Open Challenges, and that’s how we’re going to kick off Smackdown Live here tonight… John Cena’s music plays and the crowd erupts the only way they know how for the 16-time world champion. Cena wants to make sure he heard Styles correctly, and wonders if he’d put the title on the line against the face that runs the place. AJ says all challengers are welcome, so the match is on!
Referee Charles Robinson hits the ring and we get official introductions for this championship match, but before the bell can ring Kevin Owens makes his way out and complains that nobody wants to see another stupid John Cena and AJ Styles match for his title. He asks Cena why he even came back, seeing as how nobody missed him while he was gone. John makes fun of Owens’ look at tells him to come do something about it instead of standing out there talking. Rusev comes out of nowhere and blasts Cena and sends AJ flying to the floor. The heels beat them down and Rusev applies The Accolade on his reborn rival before leaving.
Opinion
Well this was a perfect way to kick off the show getting straight to the main attraction of this episode. Also the tease of Cena/Styles 4, really got me excited for a big match for Smackdown. However, right when I thought it was too good to be true, I was right because Owens came out. I loved the exchange between Owens and Cena as well. Watching this scene made me realize that John Cena actually helped put both Styles and Owens over in the past couple of years. Rusev eventually came out which reminded me of someone who didn’t really get put over by Cena. This led to a tag team match being booked involving to major feuds. Creative way to book towards a tag match.

Jinder Mahal def. Tye Dillinger
In a quick match, Jinder Mahal defeated Tye Dillinger after hitting the khallas.
Following the match Mahal cuts a promo on the crowd similar to the promos of previous weeks but also mentions how Orton threatened to attack his family.He will bring hell to Randy Orton next week on Smackdown, because he is bringing the Punjabi prison.
Opinion
Finally, Jinder Mahal got a clean and decisive victory as the top WWE Champion heel. This is Jinder Mahal’s 50th day as the 50th WWE Champion of all-time. It sucks it was at Dillingers expense but Mahal needed this more. I also guess next week we get to see the Punjabi Prison. This is cool for the younger fans who never really witnessed the structure before since it was only used like two times and just shown in video packages. I wonder if it will updated or changed at all. I guess we’ll see a cool little brawl in the prison too. I think it’ll get fans more excited.

Xavier Woods def. Jey Uso
In a competitive match, Xavier Woods defeated Jey Uso after landing a flying elbow on him while he was stuck in the ropes. Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston and Big E were ejected from ringside.
Opinion
This match was to continue towards The New Day earning another tag team title shot. I liked the idea of the New Day being tossed to the back away from ringside because it’s been a while since we’ve seen any of the members have a singles match without the others around. The same goes for the Usos. It also proved the New Day has momentum, even when the number game is even.

– Naomi finds Shane McMahon and wants to know who she’s going to defend her title against at WWE Battleground. Charlotte shows up and says that if he names Lana the contender again somebody is going to get hurt. Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana and Tamina Snuka show up and all make their case. Shane announces a 5-way match at the PPV where the winner gets a shot at the title. Charlotte wants to know why Lana is in the match and Tamina stands up for her, telling her to shut her mouth before somebody gets hurt. Shane announces a tag team match for later on tonight, before Carmella shows up and gives him a letter from her attorney demanding that they reinstate James Ellsworth. He rips up the letter and Carmella storms off with her Money in the Bank briefcase.

– Backstage, Renee Young is with Baron Corbin. They roll footage of Corbin attacking Shinsuke Nakamura last week during an interview segment and the brawl between them that followed. Corbin said that if Nakamura wasn’t afraid of him yet, he’ll learn tonight after they get done in the ring.

– John Cena and AJ Styles are preparing for their main event match. Styles reminds him what happened last time they were in the ring together, and says he hasn’t forgotten that Cena took the WWE Championship away from him. Cena says he’s not going to hang on to the U.S. title very long picking fights with him, but offers his support and says he has AJ’s back tonight if he needs it.

Natalya & Tamina def. Charlotte & Becky Lynch
In a pretty standard but entertaining tag team match Natalya and Tamina defeated Charlotte and Becky Lynch when Lana distracted Charlotte who missed a tag and got caught with a super kick from Tamina.
Opinion
This was a decent tag team match. This is another attempt by the WWE to get Tamina over, now involving her with Lana. I feel like this might be similar to what Eva Marie and Nia Jax  in NXT. I’m sure we’ll see some sort of match or angle involving Tamina and Charlotte.

– Mike and Maria Kanellis are backstage being all lovey dovey, making everyone sick with the Power of Love. Sami Zayn shows up and tries three times to get their attention. Maria says she’s been looking for him, and demands an apology for interrupting them last week. Sami says he’s already apologized twice, and is getting a little sick of it. Sami asks Mike what they even do around here and if he’s ever actually going to wrestle. Sami continues and says Maria must be the fighter in the family. Mike Kanellis throws him into a wall and breaks a vase of flowers over his head, and Maria tells him that this beating has been brought to you by the Power of Love. Love hurts…
Dang.

– It’s time for another episode of the Fashion Files. Fandango walks through the backstage area dressed like a cowboy, riding a toy horse on a stick. He runs into Zack Ryder and asks the Broski to park his horse for him. Tyler Breeze shows up and is tangled up in his own lasso. Ryder wants to know if he wears a bra when he goes undercover. Mojo Rawley shows up and wants to know what the hell he just walked in on. The Fashion Police questioned them about messing up their office, and Mojo says they would never do something that shady. Ryder wants to know what happened in the Battle Royal last week and Mojo says it was every man for himself, and not to take it personally. He tells them all they need to get back to reality and stop messing around.

Final Thoughts
This Smackdown kicked off great and went downhill from there. It wasn’t exactly horrible but it just wasn’t must watch television. There was storyline progression but nothing really happened. There were matches booked for Battleground and that was the most hype we got for it. Raw definitely won this week and it I still just wish Smackdown could get an additional fifteen minutes or something.
Rating – 6.5/10

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