Smackdown Live Review 09/19/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. Last week went off the air in epic fashion that had everyone talking all week when Kevin Owens brutally attacked Vince McMahon. This week we get to see what happens next in this rivalry between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens. Also, Rusev vowed to make an impression this week. On that note will we see Ziggler imitate any superstar entrances this week. Baron Corbin takes on AJ Styles for the United States Championship and Charlotte returns. Lets see how Smackdown Live goes tonight.

Smackdown comes to us live from Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

– The show opens with highlights from last week’s Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens drama.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are on commentary.

Shane McMahon Segment
Shane McMahon makes his way out with a very serious look on his face without the usual pomp and circumstance of his entrance. He called Owens’ actions last week cowardly and despicable, stating that he loved his father despite the fact that they had never seen eye to eye. Shane says that his kids had to watch their own grandfather beaten down by a coward on live television, and promises to bring down the vengeance and fury of the McMahon family upon Owens inside Hell in a Cell.
Opinion
The last couple of weeks heavily focused on this feud rather than other stuff so I thought it was cool to address things right off the bat. This was straight to the point and was good for angle advancement. There are still a couple of weeks until Hell in the Cell so keeping Owens and Shane-O apart for this week was a good idea in my mind.

Randy Orton def. Aiden English
English sang Voices before Orton made his way out. In a quick match Orton defeated English with a RKO outta nowhere.
Opinion
This was what it was and only really there to let Orton redeem a victory and set up the next angle. I really thought English singing voices was funny.

Rusev def. Randy Orton
Before the Viper could properly celebrate his victory he was cut off by Rusev’s music. The Bulgarian Brute made his way out to the ramp and claimed that he was set to become a national hero going into SummerSlam, but in just ten seconds he was turned into a national disgrace. Rusev threatened to rip the fangs out from the Viper.
Orton tried to hit the RKO as soon as the bell rang, but Rusev shook him off and sent him flying into Aiden English on the apron. He turned around into a destructive superkick, and Rusev quickly picked up a three-count.
Opinion
This was funny but kind of weird. I mean this wasn’t a scheduled match so why would the referee ring the bell? As for storyline progression for two guys who have barley been on TV since Summerslam with this angle and to get Rusev some redemption for Summerslam, this was good.

– Rusev is running around screaming “I beat him! I beat him!” backstage. I’m not even kidding. Renee Young shows up and says he looks elated, but he didn’t know what the word meant. Rusev said that he would now return to Bulgaria a hero, and ran away screaming “I’m number one!”

Jinder Mahal Promo
The Singh brothers introduce us to WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, who makes his full grand entrance with an elaborate carpet set up in the ring. The crowd boos him and he takes a second to not get a damn. The champion says that he knows the crowd wasn’t happy with what he had to say about Shinsuke Nakamura last week, before putting up more strange photos of him on the tron. The Singh brothers are rolling around on the carpet, clutching their sides in laughter. He uses the same picture to showcase Nakamura expressions in all situations even going as far to say he “rooks the same”. Jinder continued to sling racist insults at Nakamura, making fun of his inability to pronounce letters, his hair and his nationality. The crowd actually started chanting “that’s too far” at him. He explained he was saying these things because he wanted Nakamura to get a taste of how the fans will treat him if he becomes the WWE Champion. The champion cut a promo in Punjabi and left.
Opinion
I enjoyed the promo but it was the same as last week. Last week this promo was new and this week it was the same as last week. What is with them recycling promos with Mahal? I thought this would be the time Shinsuke would come out to defend himself but instead he was interviewed by Renee backstage after the promo. I mean did he not want to come defend his honour or confront the guys who made fun of him two weeks in a row. Also you can totally tell we’re in the PC era because the fans started chanting thats too far. The funny part is these are the same people who make racist comments towards Jinder so..the promo worked? The point Jinder was trying to get along was that the fans will turn on Shinsuke and show their prejudice and bias thinking. I still think Nakamura should have made it out to the ring.

United States Open Challenge
United States Championship
AJ Styles (C) vs. Baron Corbin
Styles cut a promo before the match talking about Kevin Owens and how he’s going to his ass kicked at Hell in the Cell and how Baron Corbin is always looking for shortcuts. The match never officially started before Tye Dillinger came out for revenge on Baron Corbin. Corbin still tapped in the ring to the calf crusher.
Opinion
This was angle advancement which I’m not against on Raw and Smackdown rather than matches just been given away every other week. I feel like this is leading to a triple threat.

– Baron Corbin is seen limping in the backstage area. Renee tries to ask him a few questions and he screams “WHAT!?” at her. Corbin rants that he was seconds from winning the U.S. title but was attacked by the “perfect zero” and now he’s sprained his ankle. He claims that he won’t bitch and moan, because he’s getting even instead.

Charlotte Flair Returns
Charlotte Flair is here! She gets a great reaction and thanks the fans for all their support through the difficult weeks with her father’s health. She says that she learned the lesson that life is short and promises to make every moment count from here on out.
Natalya cut her off and came out to host a “celebration of women” segment, and has something under a tarp in the ring to reveal. She talks about all the great women like Oprah Winfrey and…herself, and all the ladies in the Mae Young Classic. She takes the tarp off to reveal a photo of herself with the women’s championship. Charlotte mocked her portrait and announced that she was issuing a challenge for the Smackdown Women’s title.
Out comes Becky Lynch, who apologizes for interrupting the Ego Olympics. She called Natalya the craziest there is, the craziest there was, and the craziest there ever will be. Becky also issues a challenge for the title. Up next is Naomi, who comes down and insults Natalya’s cats. Tamina Snuka makes five, accompanied by Lana. The champion is grateful that someone out here respects her accomplishments, but Lana calls her a crazy cat lady and tells her to shut up. Natalya bails from the ring and screams that she’s not a crazy cat lady, because she will be the women’s champion forever.
Daniel Bryan came out to book a fatal four way match for later in the night where the winner would go on to face Natalya at Hell in a Cell.
Opinion
For the first time it felt like the womens division revolved around Natalya and the championship rather than the Money in the Bank. However, I did miss Carmella on my screen. The Charlotte promo before Natalya came out was cool and I consider to be her official babyface turn as she’s pretty much been a tweener ever since being on Smackdown Live. Natalya who since winning the title kind of came off as a tweener was in full heel mode tonight.

– Aiden English warms up backstage and Kevin Owens arrives and praises his voice. He thinks that English could sing the new Kevin Owens show theme song. English sings him a sample, and Owens approves.

The New Day def. The Hype Bros
In a competitive match The New Day defeated the Hype Bros after hitting the midnight hour. The Usos were on commentary. 
Opinion
Solid tag team action which allowed the New Day go over to keep their momentum. It also gave some more depth to whatever is happening between the Hype Bros. 

Kevin Owens via Sattelite
Kevin Owens joins us live via satellite. The self-proclaimed Face of America started things out by apologizing to the WWE Universe and to the McMahon family, after watching back the footage of what he did last week. He then said Shane had it coming, because he made all this happen. Owens claimed that it was Shane’s fault that his father got beaten senseless and left a broken and bloody mess. He issued one last apology to everyone who watches Hell in a Cell, because what happened to Mr. McMahon is nothing in comparison to what Shane will face inside the devil’s playground in three weeks.
Opinion
This was awesome. Owens really told a great story in this promo that amplified his character. He apologized for his actions and he lost control. I feel like in the past we’ve seen Owens act out of anger without really thinking about his actions so it added to that aspect of his character. He then blamed Shane-O because nothing is ever his fault. I loved it. Simple, straight to the point and smart to keep them away from each other this week.

New and Improved Dolph Ziggler…Week 3
Dolph Ziggler came out and called himself the greatest in-ring performer in wrestling history, yet the fans still don’t get it. He went to the back and came out to Triple H’s theme music, complete with leather jacket and bottled water. Ziggler asked if he was hip and fun now, and asked if he could run NXT if he put a pair of mom jeans on. The fans chanted for CM Punk but he says he could stop the show. Dolph went to the back and this time came out to Shawn Michael’s theme, complete with ridiculous looking cowboy hat. He told the crowd that he lost his smile, but thinks he can still go “lower”. On the third time he came out to Degeneration X’s theme, throwing glow sticks into the crowd and doing crotch chops. The crowd is still chanting for CM Punk. Ziggler says he has two words for ya… “WHO CARES!” He calls DX a bunch of irrelevant dads begging for the fans to laugh at their stupid jokes as they coast off into retirement. He starts screaming about being the best ever before leaving.
Opinion
Funny stuff but I’m ready for the next step in the storyline. It would be a great time to introduce Bobby Roode making his entrance while Ziggler is in the middle of his shtick.

Final Thoughts
This Smackdown fell flat compared to the last couple of weeks. Nothing could compare to how Smackdown went off the air last week but I understand this generation rarely has great episodes week after week. Some of the popular names that were missing were The Fashion Police, Chad Gable, Carmella, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Roode, Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Erick Rowen, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis. It really blows that everyone can’t be on the show every week or they can’t find a way to incorporate them but it is what this. This episode was fun to watch but nothing too special or memorable happened. Charlotte’s return and getting right back to the top is cool though.
Rating – 6/10

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