WWE Smackdown Live Reaction -
Ziggler #1 Contender
Check out my great, good, bad, and pathetic from Tuesday night's edition of Smackdown Live.
Great
Honestly, for the first time I can remember, in any of my reviews, ever, there was nothing great I could pick from this show. And that is a terrible sign for night one of the new era of Smackdown. I was thoroughly unimpressed and highly disappointed at the lack of creativity. Especially after the excellent show Raw gave us in their new debut.
Good
- I thought Becky Lynch and Natalia had a pretty good TV match and I was pleased with Becky winning. I thunk Lynch is undervalued and being in Smackdown and featured will be good for her. Natty is not a heel in my opinion.
- Apollo Crews won a Battle Royal to ear him a spot in 6-Pack Challenge. While the Battle Royal was nothing special. I thought it was a good showcase for Crews.
- Shelton Benjamin is coming back to WWE and will be on Smackdown beginning next week. This is great news as he's a great performer.
- I liked the American Alpha video package and hyping their debut next week. They will be instant stars if they are presented correctly.
Bad
- The match itself was good, but I'm sorry, that finish turned me completely off. And its not just the fact that Dolph Ziggler won. Its the fact that he beat AJ Styles. WHY!?!?! Why beat a guy who really should be challenging for the title and carrying your brand, in favor of Dolph Ziggler who has had his time and who's star is falling, not rising. Very disappointing. And if Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews are two of the top 6 stars on your show, you got a problem.
- The Miz TV segment would have been good, if we don't just see the same exact segment at Battleground with Jericho. Then Orton beats the IC champion in a no title match, and we all know he's not even going to attempt to challenge and win that title. You know, so its held by someone with some credibility. Smh.
- And that's my main problem with this show. It felt stale and same old same old. Its like Raw got new writers and Smackdown got the old Raw writers who recycled crap.
Pathetic
Much has been speculated about how the women would be addressed for the Smackdown brand. Would there be one champion who would travel to both shows, or would they create yet another belt for 5 women to fight over. Well, none of those questions were answered on Smackdown. All we got was more the same lame bullshit they have been doing where they parade people out t say one or two lines and nothing is accomplished. Poor Naomi. It was utterly pathetic to witness. And then, the grand finale of shit was the arrival of Eva Marie like she was some type of star. Wtf am I watching. And they said the women mattered now. Yea, right.
So its set. At Summerslam, Dean Ambrose will defend the WWE title against Dolph Ziggler. Never would have imagined this would even be an option a month ago. This is the greatest example of how weak Smackdown is. But even still, I thought there were better options, had the draft been executed better. But it is what it is. At least now we know they can only go up from here.