Smackdown Live Review 08/22/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. It’s the Smackdown after Summerslam and its time to find out what the fall out of the biggest party of the Summer is. After watching an incredible episode of Raw yesterday (something I can’t say all the time), so it made me realize that WWE is treating this weekend like Wrestlemania weekend where big things happen on the Raw and Smackdown as well since they’re in the same building and city. We’ll find out how Owens reacts to Shane McMahon officiating. Whats next for Shinsuke Nakamura and Jinder Mahal? Since Cena appeared on Smackdown, will anyone return or be called up from NXT to fill that void? After their ten second match, whats next for Rusev and Orton? Theres a new Womens Champion and Tag Team Champions, so how will the landscape of those divisions change? Lets find out.

Smackdown comes to us live from Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, NY.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and JBL are on commentary.

AJ Styles/Kevin Owens/Shane McMahon
United States Champion AJ Styles kicked off the show to an incredible reaction from the Brooklyn crowd. He welcomed everyone to Smackdown Live, the house that AJ Styles built, and the entire arena chanted it along with him. He announced that the United States Open Challenge was effectively reinstated, and out came a very angry looking Kevin Owens. AJ cut off his music and yelled that this wasn’t happening, and that things between them were done. KO claimed he wasn’t beaten at SummerSlam, because once again a McMahon screwed a legendary Canadian out of his title.
Shane McMahon made his way to the ring and got in between the two superstars, dancing around as both guys looked like they wanted to take a shot at him. Shane said that he called the match at SummerSlam right down the middle, and Styles won the match fair and square. Owens took offense to that, and questioned how he could survive a helicopter crash, but barely get back up after being barely grazed by a 450 splash. He rolled footage of Shane making the three-count on Sunday even though AJ’s foot was on the ropes. Owens brought up the hypocrisy in him getting his shoulders up several weeks ago and that terrible referee’s decision standing. They went back and forth screaming about how the three-count should or should not have mattered, until Styles told them both to shut up.
AJ called KO a “whiny ass little bitch” and said if he really wants to do this again, he’d put the title on the line just to finally shut him up. Shane said it went against his better judgement but he agreed if the champion wanted to defend he wasn’t going to stand in the way. Owens said that wasn’t enough because he had been screwed over by two different referees and demanded that he get to pick the special guest referee. Styles said there was a 5-year-old in the front row that could probably count to three, and it didn’t matter who the ref was, so it looks like that’s our main event.
Opinion
This was a great opening segment that addressed the US Title situation right away. I kind of was looking forward to a surprise to answer Style’s challenge but instead we’re getting Kevin Owens vs AJ Styles once again. I do appreciate the stipulation that this is Owens last chance at the United States Championship as long as Styles is champion because that feud has run its course because they’ve had so many matches in the past three months. Im sure this is just to build towards the Owens/Shane feud. Also, its smart writing because it keeps fans watching the show to see who KO picks as the referee.

– Daniel Bryan was backstage on the phone. The Singh Brothers come in and start praising Jinder Mahal. Jinder Mahal comes into the office talking about how he isn’t surprised that Bryan wants to see him after his huge victory over Shinsuke Nakamura at Summerslam. Bryan says he doesn’t believe Mahal could have done it without The Singh Brothers. Mahal compares him to the rest of the Americans which leads to Dragon Boy saying Nakamura deserves a rematch. The Modern Day Maharaja refuses to wrestle Shinsuke tonight and Bryan says thats fine. Mahal doesn’t have to wrestle Nakamura tonight but the Singh Brothers do. Samir and Sunil look worried. I’m glad they’re finally gonna get to wrestle a match on Smackdown even if it’s a squash.

– Kevin Owens is walking backstage and comes across Sami Zayn. Owens says Zayn was exactly who he was looking for. Owens tells Sami to forget about all the fighting they have done in the past and says he’s the only person he can trust to be the referee tonight regardless of everything else. Sami said that they’ve been fighting for so long that he’s almost forgot what they’re fighting about. Owens asked him to think about it, since he obviously isn’t doing anything else on Smackdown these days. Sami says he’ll think about it.

Bobby Roode def. Aiden English
Aiden English was in the ring doing one of his singing numbers when he’s cut off by a piano sound. SMACKDOWN LIVE HAS JUST BECOME GLORIOUS.
In a quick but competitive match Bobby Roode defeated Aiden English after catching English jumping off the top rope with a spine buster and then hitting him with the Glorious DDT.
Opinion
This was well…GLORIOUS. I feel like when Roode never came out in the opening segment we didn’t expect to happen here so it was pretty cool. Im shocked he didn’t stick around NXT for his championship rematch but with Adam Cole there now, I guess that’s not an issue. It’s just incredible to see Bobby Roode on the main roster in the WWE. My only complaint here was the commentating team. It felt like their was no excitement. If it was JR, he would have acted as if Santa came to town. Tony Schiavone would have told us this was the greatest night in Smackdown Live history. Joey Styles would have screamed OMG. Graves would have been expressing his love for Bobby Roode and his gloriousness. Mauro would have made some pop culture reference in excitement. Hell, even Michael Cole would have been screaming some nonsense. Yet these guys barley reacted. Kind of ruined the moment a little bit in my mind.

– Bobby Roode was interviewed by Renee Young. Roode congratulated Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon for breaking the bank and cashing in on the hottest free agent in WWE history. He said that if you don’t know by now you’re about to find out, everything he does means big box office ratings. Roode said that Smackdown has already been great, but from now on it will simply be… GLORIOUS! The crowd was into it and he was over like a babyface.

– Shelton Benjamin makes his return to the WWE as Daniel Bryan introduced him to Chad Gable as his new tag team partner. Daniel Bryan was on his phone again. Chad Gable came in and Bryan said he was sorry for trading his tag team partner to Monday Night Raw. Gable says thats all anyone wants to talk to him about. That being said, it wasn’t just a one-sided trade. In exchange for trading Jason Jordan to Raw, Kurt Angle helped him sign one of his close personal friends to Smackdown! Bryan said this particular person would make a great tag team partner… SHELTON BENJAMIN! Gable lost his mind and said that he’d followed Shelton since his college wrestling days, and couldn’t wait to be tag team partners. Shelton is almost a foot taller than Gable. He’s enormous by comparison. The former “Gold Standard” looked hesitant about this tag team, but went along with it anyway. This is hype. I’m excited about this and to see where it goes.

– Kevin Owens once again approached Sami Zayn, who was talking to Jimmy Jacobs and this time handed him a referee shirt. Sami said that he did think about it (in the ten minutes since that segment) and then he remembered all the numerous times he’s been attacked, stabbed in the back, and had the crap beaten out of him by Owens. He threw the ref shirt on the ground and said Owens is going to need help tonight, but he won’t be getting it from him. Damn that Jimmy Jacobs got in Sami’s head.

The Usos def. The Hype Bros
In a solid tag team match The Usos defeated The Hype Bros after duo super kicks on Ryder.
Opinion
This was a great TV tag team match. I kind of forgot about the Hype Bros and wonder if they still have an angle of breaking up or something. On that note though even if they did, I’m sure Tye Dillinger, Mike Kanellis, Luke Harper and Erick Rowen were all involved in something before they disappeared. The Usos are on top of the division. The birthday boys got the W.

– Usos cut a promo before they took off. The Usos wanted to remind everyone that they had the entire Smackdown live tag team division on lock. They sent a message to every tag team in the locker room and said they were all members of the Uso Penitentiary. Loved it.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. The Singh Brothers
The Sigh Brothers come out in their dress cloths but their hands and wrists taped. They still make the huge introduction for Jinder Mahal. Shinsuke dominated the match and picked up the victory after making one of the Singh Brothers tap out with a cross armbar.
Jinder Mahal comes in the ring to blindside Shinsuke with hitting him with the WWE Championship. He lined up for his finisher, but Nakamura fought his way back and laid out the champion with the Kinshasa. He left all three of them laying in a heap in the ring.
Opinion
This was great. It was great to finally see the Singh Brothers in the ring. To my knowledge this was their first ever match on Smackdown Live. It was also about time one of Jinder Mahal’s opponents who got screwed because of The Singh Brothers got their hands on them outside of the match. I felt like they missed the ball of never booking this match when he was feeding with Orton but glad they went to it finally. This segment was to get Shinsuke back on top with revenge after losing this past Sunday and the post match stuff was just angle advancement. Eventually Shinsuke will get his rematch as Bryan mentioned earlier in the show and they need to let Shinsuke regain some of his momentum.

– The Fashion Police popped out of nowhere and scared Kevin Owens. They were wearing pink rompers with pineapples all over them. Fandango wanted to be the special guest referee…s, because they would make damn sexy zebras. Owens freaked out and screamed at them to leave. He looked like he was going to change his mind out of desperation, but Baron Corbin showed up and offered to be the referee. The only condition is that if KO wins the title back, Corbin gets the first shot. The Fashion Police are great and I think this is how Corbin get himself in the picture to be the next contender for the United States Championship.

New Women’s Champion Natalya Speaks
Natalya cuts a promo before the match about how Summerslam will be remembered for the night she pulled the plug on the glow. Natalya said she was gonna restore prestige to the championship and reminds everyone that she’s the best. Natalya says this is her time and she’s going to the champion forever. Carmella’s music hits. Carmella congratulates Natalya. Ellsworth mocks Natlaya about it taking her this long to win the championship. Carmella said she had a tiny, tic-tac of a thing to bring up. Carmella said that it might be Nattie’s time, but she’s on her watch, and the second she decides to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase there’s nothing anybody can do about it. Ellsworth mocked Natalya for agreeing to be tag team partners with Carmella tonight, because all it takes is one little cash-in and she’ll no longer be relevant.
Opinion
This was a great segment to let Natalya celebrate finally winning the big one. I’m glad they gave her time to speak after the huge victory. I also like how she addressed they got rid of that horrible glow in the dark, toy looking Womens Championship. I loved Carmella once again inserting herself to remind the new champion that she’s Ms Money in the Bank and can cash in at any time. I still dislike Ellsworth but he did a good job playing an idiot rubbing in how long it took Natalya to win the championship and pretty much laying out the game plan for the match before the match started like an idiot. I just want to add that I’m extremely happy for Natalya. This title run was long overdue and she deserves it after being the glue on the division for years. Also, Carmella is a babe.

Naomi & Becky Lynch def. Natalya & Carmella
In entertaining match where Carmella was playing mind games with Natalya, Naomi and Becky Lynch picked up the victory after Carmella got caught with a bexploder from Lynch followed by split leg moonsault from Naomi. Carmella tried sticking with her plan to avoid tagging into the match, making Natalya face off both opponents alone. This way after Natalya was laid out she could cash in. Carmella and James were arguing allowing Natalya to tag Carmella in which lead to the finish.
Opinion
I loved the pre match promo that led to this match because they basically let you know what to expect. Carmella was a lousy tag team partner because she wanted Natalya to get beat down so she could cash in just picking at the remains of the damage Becky and Naomi did. This is all so twisted since Natalya is a heel and they’re facing two babyfaces, yet it somehow worked. I hope Becky and Naomi get something more important to do next week because they kind of just felt there. Maybe Naomi will get her rematch. Maybe Lynch will be involved in the Lana/Tamina angle.

 – Dasha welcomes back Dolph Ziggler to Smackdown Live. Ziggler says he’s been watching a lot of Raw and Smackdown while he was gone to try to figure out how to get over. The Showoff said that it’s good to be back… in a backstage segment. He sarcastically thanked WWE for rolling out the red carpet for him. He mocked everyone, saying that maybe he’ll start singing, or he’ll start playing the guitar, or get a giant obnoxious robe, or find a super hot woman that glows in the dark, get a spotlight put over his head, with lasers, because that’s what the WWE Universe wants. He said he’s going to do all of that…next week.

– Lana is shown backstage on the phone because that is what everyone does backstage. Tamina walks in asking Lana what the plan is. Lana says the Ravishing Journey starts next week. Lana makes Tamina close her eyes and says imagine what its like being in a locker room with a bunch of people but yet feeling all alone because they’re different. Lana tells her to think about how it feels to be laughed at and gossiped about until the anger takes over. Lana tells Tamina to open her eyes and says now she sees the anger. Lana than says they’re going to take out all the bullies and crush the competition as the Ravishing reign of terror begins and they won’t stop until Tamina becomes champion. Hype.

Final Thoughts
This was an amazing episode of Smackdown full of surprises. I know their was speculation about Roode making an appearance but I actually was not expecting Shelton Benjamin. There weren’t any five star matches on this show hut it didnt need any. They got me looking forward to next week to see what happens. They covered a lot of the angles as well as hyped stuff for next week with Lana, Tamina and Dolph Ziggler. I also believe Fashion Files return next week as well. We didnt get any Orton/Rusev angle advancement this week, so I’m sure they will next week. Next week we’ll also get to see who Roode gets in an angle with first plus so much more. I can mention a bunch of other stuff but as you can tell, I’m looking forward to watch next week. Smackdown gave us answers, that left more questions and thats something they need to do every week. Cena going to Raw might have been a big loss but I think Smackdown Live will be okay. It’s was an awesome episode of Smackdown Live that will have historic footnotes. Check it out.
Rating – 8.5/10

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