4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (24 July - Results & Review)
WWE serves up mixed bag of hot/not segments on penultimate SmackDown stop pre-SummerSlam.
Finn Bálor vs. Sami Zayn has been tacked onto next weekend's SummerSlam PLE following Friday's episode of SmackDown in Oakland. Bálor won a messy Fatal-4-Way main event to punch his ticket to a bout vs. Zayn - the winner of that becomes number one contender, presumably for the next PLE or maybe even the Sunday Night's Main Event special on 6 September.
That's cool, but much of WWE's SummerSlam build has been alarming. Some of the matches just don't feel worthy, and it's pretty obvious that the summer spectacular would benefit from being one night. Even so, this was far from an awful episode of TV. It offered just enough to keep you watching, and there's no denying that the 2-hour runtime has helped the blue brand tremendously.
There were a few surprising treats lurking in the women's division, but we need to talk about how paper thin the Women's Tag-Team Title division is. Nikki Bella's return shouldn't mask how threadbare the whole thing is, and there was no need to make new champs Fatal Influence look like complete and utter losers here.
Back on the plus side, a contract signing segment between Gunther and Nick Aldis was pulsating television. There's a coolness to Aldis on the mic that many WWE fans won't have seen before when he's playing a constantly harassed GM. On the opposite side of the coin, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk came up just short in their quest to sell bad blood before meeting for the top title.
Here's all the good and bad.
Downs...
4. They’re Working Hard, But…
...this was tough to buy.
Cody Rhodes and CM Punk traded verbal bombs, and Cody confusingly said he both respects and loves Punk but doesn’t like him. Huh? Punk closed the duelling promo by saying he’s going to beat “Dusty’s kid”, so Rhodes called him back to get the last word. Personally, this fan wonder if there’s anything in him effectively holding up the Four Horsemen sign. He was talking about becoming WWE Champ for the fourth time, to be fair, but it was noticeable for a retro enthusiast like yours truly.
Overall, it felt like something was amiss here. This latest confrontation between champ and challengers didn’t carry the same intensity or ‘real people having a real conversation’ aura of their bickering during the SummerSlam Kickoff post-Saturday Night's Main Event. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it didn’t come close to touching that or setting things alight before they meet in-ring with the title at stake.
Punk should be above low-hanging fruit like the "Dusty's kid" line too. Yes, even if he's going to turn heel. It's up in the air whether he or Cody will go rogue on the next PLE (many expect one will), but regardless: There was no need for CM to effectively ridicule the Rhodes name whilst he's annoyed at perceived disrespect from Cody. That kinda trashes your own argument, Phil.
Both men are putting their all into these segments, but this one fell a little bit short of greatness. It was bang average, which is a shame.
3. Bloodline-Infused Run-Ins Ruin Main Event
Bloody hell. Your writer had to double check that this wasn’t a Vince Russo-era episode of WCW Nitro during that headliner. There were far too many run-ins on the Fatal-4-Way main event. You already had 4 guys vying to move on to SummerSlam for a match vs. Sami Zayn in the number one contendership situation. That was enough. We didn’t need the run-ins from Solo Sikoa, The Usos, LA Knight and Jacob Fatu in that order.
Sure, everyone understands that they’ve got other matches to build, but this was chaotic in a bad way. All of the distractions took away from Bálor’s win when he badly needs to look like an important part of the show since moving to SmackDown. Thundering through Tama and Talla Tonga en route to this victory represented a fairly rough start to life on Fridays for Finn, so you'd think Triple H would be keen to give him plenty of spotlight.
Especially if he's likely to beat Sami and get a match against either CM Punk or Cody Rhodes afterwards.
Nope, because the never-ending Bloodline business must take centre stage. Honestly, it's so damn boring now. The Usos are flip-flopping between heel and babyface depending on whether Roman Reigns is in town, and there's nothing to Fatu vs. Keys. Hell, the latter even got a jobber entrance in his hometown, which should show how much the creative team think of him.
This was all over the place. It wasn't good mayhem, it was scatty. As usual, The Bloodline reprise hogged attention when it really doesn't deserve to.
2. Urgh! Why Are We Still Doing This?!
Fatal Influence’s Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley won the Women’s Tag-Team Titles at SNME to end Paige and Brie Bella’s rotten reign. That should’ve been the end of it, but Brie beat Lainey on Friday in a short match that never properly got going. It's worth saying that Bella’s “Brie Mode” stuff is painful at this point. Then, Nikki Bella made her return to set up a 6-woman tag for SummerSlam that definitely feels like one of the weakest offerings on the entire weekend.
It’s cool that Influence is on the PLE at all, but WWE should’ve closed the book on this feud last weekend. Honestly, not here for The Bellas and Paige getting to stand tall over the new champs either. Nikki said Fatal Influence managed to “sneak up from the minor leagues” as well. Yeah, way to put NXT over. It was bad enough that Bruce Prichard buried the brand on the latest season of Unreal, now we've got wrestlers scuffing it on mainline WWE TV.
Great.
It sure doesn't help that there won't be anything up for grabs in this 6-woman tag. The Women's Tag belts will be a secondary concern behind Nikki's return, and it's actually really worrying that management think The Bellas are some super-babyface act everyone loves. The bloom came off the rose a long, long time ago, guys. Paige lining up alongside them hasn't worked the way it was supposed to, sadly.
Fingers crossed this is simply a vehicle to put Influence over before they move on to better things.
1. Repeating The Same Trick Is Idiotic
Last week, Charlotte Flair pushed Jade Cargill into the women’s ladder match at SummerSlam by foolishly attacking her and forcing the DQ. This time, it was Jade who returned the favour by attacking Charlotte. Nia Jax was involved in both matches to keep her own Sami Zayn-esque conspiracy story thread going, but...are the creative squad idiots or something?
They’ve made both Flair and Cargill look silly in consecutive weeks with this lazy booking.
Rather surprisingly, the match was ticking along nicely before Jade’s run-in too. Charlotte and Nia have rescued some decent chemistry from prior heat during matches that broke down and degenerated into shoot territory, and Jax slimming down has made her zippier inside the ring. Fair play to Nia, because she looks like the absolute best version of herself and is clearly smashing whatever workout plan she has. Good to see!
However, WWE deciding to repeat the same duff trick they pulled on last week's SmackDown sucked. It makes no logical sense at all that arch rivals like Jade and Charlotte have helped one another qualify for SummerSlam. It actually makes both women look like they just don't pay attention to how things work around here, which absolutely shouldn't be the case for Flair in particular. She's a veteran, after all.
Nah, this tanked. It's alright to have little sub-stories hidden in the women's ladder frenzy on the PLE, but don't make your workers look like they've got a collective IQ of 6. Both Flair and Cargill should be more cerebral. Why did the 'Cerebral Assassin' Trips green light this?!
Ups...
4. The Direction Blake Monroe Needs
Onto the good Friday's episode had to shout about.
Let’s cut through the noise with all of her “Coming Soon” pitfalls and random attacks on women. Trying to schmooze up to Tiffany Stratton but then warning her she’s coming for that Women’s United States Title is a vast improvement for Blake Monroe. Her start to life on WWE’s main roster has been arduous, so it’s nice to see her get some proper direction that feels progressive and like it suits her gimmick.
Facing Stratton would be a good landing spot for Monroe, and it feels higher profile than most other things Tiffany could be doing as Women's United States Champ. In the future (perhaps far off into the future, to be fair), these women might well make a solid heel unit in the tag division. They're pals away from the ring, it seems, and they both excel when playing bratty Barbie dolls who are ultra-athletic and more than meets the eye. That could be something to keep an eye on.
For now, sticking with Stratton's babyface run (as painful as it has been for a while now) sounds like a plan - if only to get through this match with Blake. Then, once Monroe bags the title, Tiffany can turn on Chelsea Green and revert back to her entitled little bitch character that worked so well on NXT. She deserves another chance to showcase that on the bigger shows.
Blake sending out a warning shot on SmackDown is promising. It's a step up from attacking the riff raff of the division, at least.
3. Short But Fun Qualifier!
You might be stunned to see this in the 'Ups' section, but it richly deserves to be here.
Chelsea Green vs. Kiana James was approx 3-4 minutes, but they packed a fair bit into that short time. You've got to feel a little for James, because she’s completely lost in the shuffle post-Giulia split, but Chelsea qualifying for the ladder match at SummerSlam does seem like the right call. Also short matches aren’t necessarily bad, and this one was probably just what it needed to be. Having Green in the ladder mix as the ultimate underdog works.
Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett put Kiana over as someone who could well be a major player in the women's scene for years to come. No, her recent booking doesn't reflect that whatsoever, but they're probably right. James has improved hugely since debuting. Also, as wishy washy as the union with Giulia was, it did give her plenty of promo time and let Kiana bed in on the main roster.
Remember how strong she looked heading into events at Elimination Chamber? Rekindling that form isn't impossible. James has good facial expressions, moves well in the ring, knows how to get heat, and she's clearly a team player who wants to improve. There's no shame in putting over a popular star like Chelsea anyway.
This was perhaps better than a 4-minute women's division match on weekly TV deserved to be, and that speaks to the energy both workers brought to the party. Keep talking James up, announcers. That'll help.
2. Sami Zayn Demanding “Justice”
Some of WWE's backstage promos or skits are throwaway. For proof, look at all of the Netflix interludes from Monday's edition of Raw involving the likes of Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria and Judgment Day. Nobody will remember any of that next week, if they even remember those speeches happening in the first place. Then, thankfully, we've got cracking moments like this one from Sami Zayn and Adam Pearce.
What a stirring promo from Sami about his entire WWE Title journey and the fallout from it. He was on fire here, then demanded that new SmackDown GM Pearce “fix this situation”. That eventually led to Pearce putting Zayn in a number one contenders match against the winner of a Fatal-4-Way, which turned out to be Finn Bálor. That didn't sound good to Sami.
He wanted a Triple Threat vs. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam instead. To his credit, Pearce was similarly feisty here, which matched Zayn’s fire. Between this and the contract signing goodness, SmackDown really got off to a fantastic start. This is what SummerSlam season is supposed to feel like. A buzz of activity, plenty of bad blood, and wrestlers desperately scrambling for house room in lofty spots on the card.
Zayn has been a highlight since his terrible business with Trick Williams over the United States belt concluded, and this was the latest example of how valuable he is as a personality. Again, Adam Pearce brought it himself. He's been the stronger of the 2 GMs for a while now anyway, so splitting duties between Raw and SmackDown will be good for him.
1. Contract Signing Smoulders
Well now, this was just really, really good.
Nick Aldis relinquishing his SmackDown GM duties to sign the contract, Adam Pearce trying to keep the peace, and Gunther poking the bear. All of it worked. Those facial expressions from Aldis were spot on throughout; he wore the face of a man who has accepted the consequences of his actions, but detests the 'Ring General' who pushed him to “breaking point”.
Meanwhile, Gunther was glorious as a braggart, and even mentioned that Aldis is a former NWA World Champion. However, he’s “just not good enough”. These contract signing segments are usually lame and too laid back, but this was great. The way it simmered, boiled over then exploded was excellent. A boot to the balls from Gunther turned the tables, then he powerbombed Nick through the wood as a final statement pre-SummerSlam.
Fab stuff. Simply top tier. Everyone is playing their respective roles to the hilt, and anyone moaning that Gunther has gone from WWE Title matches to 'working against an authority figure' needs a reality check. They clearly don't know how good Nick can be between the ropes on his day, and he'll have prepared properly for this bout. It's his first WWE match ever, and it's coming on a top PLE like SummerSlam, so he won't take the opportunity lightly.
Who knows if WWE try and elevate things further on the 'go home' show next week. They probs don't need to, because this was glorious. It might be the best contract signing segment in a long time.
What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe and 2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (20 Jul - Results & Review)!