Smackdown Live Review 09/05/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. This week we are joined by a new announce team of Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves since JBL has step down. The matches announced tonight are Natalya vs Carmella and Randy Orton taking on Shinsuke Nakamura to name the next number one contender for the WWE Championship. Last week we found out the Fashion Files are going back to their basics and we saw the return of Shelton Benjamin in the ring. AJ Styles has been hosting an US Champion Open Challenge and Bobby Roode has been making Smackdown Glorious. Lets see what happens this week.

Smackdown comes to us live from Denny Sandford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are on commentary. JBL had stepped down from his announcer duties this week although he’ll still announce for random events. Graves was announced to be doing double duty for both Raw and Smackdown.

– The show opened with Orton and Nakamura cutting promos about each other and tonights main event.

Kevin Owens & Shane McMahon
Carmella was in the ring ready for her match with Natalya. Ellsworth introduces her as Owens music hits. Kevin Owens comes out and says that he is going to be the referee for a women’s match that is slated to kick off Smackdown Live. Shane McMahon comes out and they begin to trade shots back and forth verbally, with Kevin talking about how Shane’s children should be ashamed of him. Shane warns him to never speak of his children again. Kevin says Shane likes to jump off things, how Vince did not show him enough love and then says he wish he did not survive the helicopter and he bets his children feel the same way. The whole idea was that Shane was alway seeking his fathers love but his entire family would have been better if Shane didn’t survive the Helicopter crash including his kids. This makes Shane snap and he attacks Owens, punching left and right and throwing him across the announce table before continuing the assault.
Opinion
This was an entertaining way to kick off the show. Mostly with Owens coming out saying he was going to referee the match. I loved how Owens made this feud personal as if winning championships is personal to Owens for him to make money to support his family. It actually feels like these two dont like each other and I’ve noticed that chemistry since way back. This was great. The only thing I disliked was how weak Shane-O’s working punches look like.

– Daniel Bryan is waiting for Owens as he makes his way to the backstage area. Bryan apologizes to Owens for Shane-O’s actions but Owens is livid.nKO says he’s going to own this company after he takes every member of the McMahon family to court, and tells Bryan to enjoy his job while he still can. Owens says he’s going to make sure Smackdown Live becomes the Kevin Owens Show. Bryan asks if there’s any other way they can handle this, and Owens says maybe he’ll go to the police and file official criminal charges against Shane.

Natalya def. Carmella w/ James Ellsworth
In a decent match Natalya defeated Carmella with the schoolboy of doom after Carmella gets distracted by Ellsworth trying to give her the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Carmella gets on the mic, fuming about what just happened with the Smackdown Women’s Champion. Melee says she understands that James Ellworth is sorry… because he’s a sorry excuse for a human being. Carmella says he isn’t even human, that she’s shocked he still has a job with the company and his mother should have given him away at birth. Good lord she’s going in. She announces that things are through between them and dumps Ellsworth.
Opinion
This was more angle advancement and to tease that Carmella could have cashed in but it fell kind of flat. Natalya won but was the background of this segment when she should be in the forefront as the champion. The promo after the match from Carmella was harsh and shocking. In the past few weeks Ellsworth has been fucking up and Carmella has been letting it slide but the way she went in on him was harsh. Talk about bullying.

The New and Improved Dolph Ziggler
The new-and-improved Dolph Ziggler makes his way out to the ramp for his re-debut, looking… exactly the same as he always does. He starts yelling at the crowd about how they don’t appreciate the greatest star in the world because they’d rather have some crappy gimmick.
He goes to the back and John Cena’s music hits, as Ziggler comes out wearing a goofy hat, doing his best Cena impression and telling everyone to buy his little towel thing. That didn’t work so he goes to the back and Randy Savage’s music hit… This time he comes out in a robe with a beautiful woman on his arm dressed like Miss Elizabeth. Ziggler says the fans usually go for all that nostalgic crap and makes the woman leave. He says he knows exactly what the fans deserve and once again tells production to hit the lights. Naomi’s music goes off and DZ comes out looking utterly ridiculous and does the signature ramp slide.
The fun and games are over, as Dolph gets deadly serious and asks the fans if this is what it’s come to. He says that anyone can do what he just did, but nobody can touch what he does in the ring, even if the fans don’t give a damn about that. Ziggler says the fans make him sick, and he doesn’t give a damn about them before walking out.
Opinion
What?! LOL I thought the Randy Savage entrance with the Saved by the Bell graphics was blasphemy. Now honestly, as the crowd didn’t react much, I thought this was pretty entertaining. We’ve seen stuff like this from Sandow and Haas in the past. I would love to see him next week come out like Jinder Mahal, Ultimate Warrior and Sasha Banks. However, overall if this is the best they have for Ziggler maybe he should leave because he’ll do great no matter where he goes. I mean check out how well Rhodes is doing. Ziggler is talented but he’s just needs to step away from the WWE for a little while to feel important again when he shows up again.

Aiden English def. Sami Zayn
In a quick match Aiden English defeated Sami Zayn with the school boy roll-up of doom. Aiden English continued to try to sing after the match but Zayn ran him off. 
Opinion
This was just fluff. I’m curious where they are going with this angle and especially Sami Zayn. I still feel like Zayn is picking the short stick every week.

– Daniel Bryan is backstage upset until The New Day comes in. Bryan says nobody better than them to lift his spirits up and then The Usos come in. Bryan says they need to choose the stipulation for next weeks tag team title match. The Usos say it will be a street fight and walk off. The New Day get excited about the Sin City Street Fight but Bryan excuses them because he gets a phone call. He refers to the person as sir and they request he does something right now in the ring.

Daniel Bryan suspends Shane McMahon
Daniel Bryan made his way out to the ring and called down Shane McMahon. After several times demanding he come down to the ring, Shane finally came out and admitted that things got a little out of hand. Bryan reminds him of a year ago when The Miz kept getting in his face about never wrestling again, and every single week he restrained himself to do what was best for the WWE and the fans. Daniel says they can’t run Smackdown Live by assaulting their employees. Shane takes full responsibility for his actions and says that he shouldn’t have put his hands on Kevin Owens but he goes into a blind rage when somebody talks about his family. Shane says that Bryan is a father now, but Daniel immediately tells him not to go there. He says that he got a call from Vince McMahon and has the unfortunate duty to inform everyone that effective immediately, per the Board of Directors, Shane is indefinitely suspended.
Opinion
I felt like this was great but could have been done backstage or the next week allowing other guys or angles to get on the show. Technically the Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon angle took four and half segments on this show. I mean we easily could have got a quick backstage segment with Tamina/Lana and Charlotte/Lynch or Bobby Roode squash or promo in this segment. Fashion Files with Benjamin and Gable? I mean just something else. Whatever happened to this show won’t be about the Authority but about the stars.

– Renee Young interviews WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.Jinder Mahal is asked who he would rather face between Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, and he says it doesn’t matter. He says he represents Asia better than Nakamura ever could because he stands for the 1.3 billion people in the greatest country on earth. Jinder says may the better man win, and may that man fall to the Modern Day Maharaja.

Baron Corbin def. Tye Dillinger
AJ Styles was on commentary on this match. In a competitive back and forth match, Baron Corbin picked up the victory when Corbin connected with a wicked right hand and a cheap shot while the ref was distracted followed by the End of Days and that’s all she wrote.
Opinion
This was a solid match but more as angle advancement between Corbin and Styles which will accumulate at Hell in a Cell in a United States Championship match. I love Styles but I just have no interest in Corbin. The dude looks boring.

– AJ Styles catches up with Dillinger backstage. Styles tells Dillinger he put up a good fight. He offers Dillinger the spot to face him next week for the US Title Open Challenge. Dillinger accepts. I definitely see Corbin getting involved and playing a role in this match.

– They aired a Bobby Roode video package. This was well put together and something they should have done sooner. The week after he made his debut. It sucks he wasn’t on the show though.

– James Ellsworth is backstage sulking until Carmella walks up. Ellsworth starts apologizing, admits he’s a freak who should be in a zoo and just wants one more chance. Carmella cuts him off and says from now on we’re doing things my way before giving Ellsworth a huge kiss followed by a big slap. Wowza…dudes all around the world just become so much more hopeful they can land beautiful women looking the way they do. I wonder how Big Cass felt about this after just buying a house with Mella. LOL

– Daniel Bryan catches up with Kevin Owens backstage. Bryan tells Owens that everything has been taken care of and Shane is suspended. Owens says it doesn’t matter because next week he is going to make everyone’s life a living hell and even make Bryan’s life a living nightmare. Owens says nobody can stop him. Bryan says someone will be at Smackdown next week that might be able to stop him. Owens automatically jumps to conclusion that it is Shane McMahon’s wife but Bryan tells him that Mr. McMahon aka Vinny Mac will be at Smackdown next week. Owens looks a tad bit worried about this because ya know.

Final Thoughts
No Fashion Police, Bobby Roode, Mike Kanellis, Rusev, Luke Harper, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Lana, Tamina, Erick Rowen, Chad Gable or Shelton Benjamin. I’m starting to think Smackdown could benefit from a third hour. Maybe even a half hour. I think with all the talent they have and the way the show is written they could actually utilize the time better than Raw utilizes theres on most weeks. I thought this week was good but too many segments were given to the Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens angle. I’d like to point out that if Talking Smack was not cancelled some of this stuff could have taken place on there. The main event was the only really good match on the show but this show will be remembered for Graves debut, the Owens/Shane stuff, Ziggler acting a fool and Carmella kissing Ellsworth which gave hope to ugly guys all around the world. The show kept me invested from start to finish and that is what matters. I mean they are like 3 weeks away from a PPV. They have time to really kick things into a higher gear.
Rating – 6.5/10

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