3 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 6)
Lana & Breezango raise the bar, but SmackDown's slump continues.
We're less than two weeks away from Money In The Bank 2017, but SmackDown are sleepwalking towards the finish line. Last night's show wasn't entirely bad, but it was another uninteresting offering from a brand that has declined significantly in 2017, and suffered greatly through WWE's annual summer slump.
The women's division played a big role ahead of their history-making ladder match, first opening the show with a typical in-ring segment, then meeting in a six-woman tag bout. The debuting Lana also made her presence felt throughout the night, and found herself booked in a Women's Title bout with Naomi by the end of it, highlight her successful evening.
There were five matches on offer, and while a few had their merits, the bulk were disappointing, particularly the main event. Elsewhere, Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton continued their lifeless feud, AJ Styles undid last week's loss to Dolph Ziggler, and Breezango maintained their status as the brand's most consistently entertaining act with another Fashion Files installment.
Mediocre has become the new norm on SD, and unfortunately, it's hard to see that changing anytime soon. With that in mind, let's take a look at the segments that had the blue brand reaching for the briefcase this week, and those that brought it crashing back down to Earth...
Downs…
5. Oh, What A Surprise...
In a shocking turn of events, last night’s SmackDown kicked-off with one of WWE’s favourite time-killers: a lengthy, multi-person, in-ring talking segment.
This week’s version saw Commissioner Shane McMahon bring the women’s division out to discuss their forthcoming Money In The Bank ladder match, and as usual, it generated little excitement. Creative are mailing it in with these segments at the moment, and while it succeeded in debuting Lana and establishing her beef with Naomi, the bad once again outweighed the good.
They tried to give everyone some microphone time, but there were far too many voices for anyone to say anything of substance. Each line felt generic, much like the segment itself, and the participants also continued last week’s irritating habit of talking (or in Charlotte’s case, yelling) over one another, making this a frustrating watch.
These talk-a-thons would be fine if WWE injected a little variety, but they don’t. The company have been writing segments like this for years, but SD’s are particularly bland at the moment, and they’ve made the show feel more formulaic than ever before.