BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post Reply
User avatar
Big Red Machine
Posts: 27378
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 1st, '18, 09:06

OPENING SEGMENT-
I’m about four sentences into Becky’s promo and she has already done more to get over her frustration at not getting title shots and show us how much being a champion would mean to her than anything WWE has ever done with the Smackdown Women’s Title before. Who’d have thought that using actual facts and numbers to tell your story would be more compelling than having an authority figure give a bullsh*t speech about how every single person in the division is worthy and booking a five-way #1 contendership clusterf*ck? You learn something new every day, I guess.
Becky’s promo was so good that she even managed to make the plug for Evolution, the first-ever all-women’s PPV in WWE history not feel forced. Carmella comes out and is being a total babyface about everything. Her plug for Evolution, the first-ever all-women’s PPV in WWE history, on the other hand, is a great example of how not to handle such things, saying she was sitting around in the locker room and realize that she hadn’t truly appreciated th3e gravity of Steph’s announcement.
Carmella continues on to admit to all of her past crimes and say that she as just jealous of Becky and how she has had to deal with people on social media saying she sucks but she persevered because she had Becky to set an example for her, and so on and so forth and everyone sees where this is going so please G-d don’t let Becky fall or this or else she’ll come out of it looking like a moron.
James Ellsworth’s music played and I screamed because I honestly did think this company was dumb enough to give him a full entrance with music one week after he was fired, but it turned out it was just another plot by Carmella that can best be described as “Ellsworth-related distraction allows Carmella to attack her challenger from behind. Even after he’s gone they still can’t come up with something new. Can I at least get Paige kicking down the door of the production truck and firing the entrance music guy/gal for assisting Carmella in this trap?
Carmella went for a DDT onto a chair but Charlotte made her big return coming out to make the save… and I would absolutely love to see Charlotte somehow added to this match out of this and Charlotte winning the title at SummerSlam by pinning Carmella, leading to a Becky Lynch heel turn.

USOS BACKSTAGE PROMO- atrocious.
Someone actually thought it would be a good idea to start this out with one Uso trying to do a Rock catchphrase but the other one interrupting him after the word “candy” and reminding him that the show is PG-13. And to make mattes worse, Roman Reigns has said “bitch” several times over the past month, and not once was he talking about an actual female dog, so don’t tell The Usos aren’t allowed to say “ass.” Well… unless you’re prepared to admit that the rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to Roman in order to help Roman become more popular.

PAIGE & CARMELLA BACKSTAGE- loved it!
I’ll take exception to Paige’s comment that the odds should “always” be stacked against the champion, both because of principals of general fairness and because the odds are actually slightly stacked in the champion’s favor (at least to retain the championship though not necessarily to win the match) due to what Michael Cole always refers to as the “champion’s advantage.” Other than that, though, I thought this was really great. Carmella reminding Paige that she will never be able to be champion again was exactly the right logical to the situation but still completely out of line button to press to make Paige react the way she did, and the scenario where if Charlotte beats Carmella tonight she gets added to the title match at SummerSlam sets things up in such a way that Charlotte has done absolutely nothing wrong here and thus is fully deserving of our cheers, and yet one can clearly see why Becky would resent the situation… and how that resentment could carry over to Charlotte personally if things go wrong.

#1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: The Usos vs. Sheamus & Cesaro- 6.75/10
New Day came out to do commentary for this match. They sat down at their own commentary table which was covered in pancakes and Booty-O’s. This was sitting right next to the announcers’ table the whole time and yet none of the announcers figured out that New Day was about to come out? Really?
Anyway, now we’ve got SIX people doing commentary. The New Day became horrendously annoying and didn’t really even say anything to build up to next week’s #1 contendership match. Sheamus & Cesaro won clean, so at least New Day didn’t factor into the finish. We then got a rather vanilla face-off between New Day and Cesarmus.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS CHARLOTTE FLAIR ABOUT HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE ADDED TO THE TITLE MATCH- Good promo by Charlotte, saying all of the right things for her role in the story.

SAMOA JOE PROMO- good, but…
He puts AJ over for being a great champion, but claims AJ has been a failure as a father and a husband because of it. I liked that he managed to actually turn AJ’s plug for Evolution last week into fodder for his promo, but I really don’t like these sort so promos where they just bring up some personal thing from out of nowhere. It feels like cheap heat to me. It’s just a more tasteful version of the Sami Zayn vs. Bobby Lashley “did you ever really even serve in the military?” angle. Also, if I am supposed to believe anything Joe says then shouldn’t AJ be on the show this week? They never told us he was injured and I can’t imagine what would be more important for him to do on a Tuesday night than show up to work, so I can only assume that he’s at home with his family right now, which seems to count Joe’s point.

JEFF HARDY CALLS OUT RANDY ORTON- meh.
Jeff first cut a great promo about how much the US Title means to him and assures us that he wants to win it back. He said it in the kind of wacky Jeff Hardy language that only sound acceptable when Jeff Hardy says it. He actually manages to make the term “WWE Universe” sound natural.
Jeff called Randy out to fight and Randy came out, but Shinsuke Nakamura jumped Jeff from behind. Randy Orton surprisingly got in Nakamura’s face when Nakamura was going to go for the Kinshasa, but then eventually told Nakamura to do it so Nakamura did. Everyone expected Nakamura to eat an RKO by the end of this but he never did. Instead he just let Nakamura leave before obliterating Jeff and doing more gross things and Taking Jeff’s necklace. Doesn’t Jeff have any friends backstage?

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS BECKY LYNCH ABOUT CHARLOTTE FLAIR “POTENTIALLY BEING ADDED TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH AT SUMMERSLAM”- Great promo by Becky. In a very rare occurrence, Renee Young actually came off as a sh*t-stirrer here, but that’s what was called for, and she didn’t seem malicious about it the way other interviewers might, so that was good.

LANA vs. ZELINA VEGA (w/Andrade “Cien” Almas)- 3/10
Rusev wasn’t at ringside with Lana because they want “professional space.” They had a match that went a lot longer than Lana should have been in the ring for. The finish saw Lana to go the top rope but Almas distract her. Lana recovered and it happened again but this time Aiden English came out to pull Almas down… and somehow this resulted in Lana getting additionally distracted or something and Vega rolled her up and pinned her. This finish really didn’t feel like it did anything new for this feud. They needed to find some way to make English’s presence result in Lana losing that wasn’t so forced.

BLUDGEON BROTHERS PROMO- dull

AIDEN ENGLISH APOLOGIZES TO LANA BACKSTAGE- She tells him to f*ck off. Then an angry Rusev shows up demanding to talk to Aiden English, but he’s already gone. Rusev says that this never would have happened if he was out there for her, and she very angrily agreed, pointing out that she could have used him out there tonight. This was all fine.

DANIEL BRYAN PROMO ABOUT THE MIZ’S “UNDERHANDED TACTICS”- Naturally, the first thing he does in this promo is plug the all-women’s PPV. Why don’t they just make all of the wrestlers wear shirts that say “for Evolution, the first-ever all-women’s PPV in WWE history will take place at Nassau Coliseum on October 28th” so that they don’t have to derail every single promo by plugging it? And while we’re at it, can we do that for “Survivor Series, the only time of year when Raw and Smackdown Superstars face off in head to head competition,” “the biggest event of the summer: SummerSlam” and every other such phrase that becomes painfully grating because of how often they insist on repeating it?
Bryan finally addresses Miz’s underhanded tactics, and cut an excellent promo on him. He called out The Miz, who appeared on the TitanTron claiming to be on location for Miz & Mrs. (which he of course plugs heavily) and tells Bryan that if he wants to fight him then he should contact Miz’s agent. Okay… why doesn’t Paige just book the match?
These two had a GREAT back-and-forth resulting in Bryan challenging Miz to a match at SummerSlam and Miz not accepting it. The thing Miz did with the baby pictures and crying sound-effect was annoying in the wrong way and also doesn’t make much sense unless Miz knew he was going to have to rebut Bryan’s comments and he has his own stooge in the sound truck, and the constant lines about indy shows “in front of dozens of people in high school gyms” also got the wrong kind of heat from me, as they feel like they’re coming from the company, not from Miz (even if it was all stuff Miz came up with on his own, it still felt that way) but other than that, this was a pretty great segment.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS CARMELLA- fine

IF CHARLOTTE WINS, SHE GETS ADDED TO THE TITLE MATCH AT SUMMERSLAM: Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella- 4/10
They tried hard but things really didn’t click well. The crowd wasn’t into it much, either. The best thing about this was the shots they gave us of Becky watching the match backstage and looking conflicted.


This wasn’t a particularly good show from Smackdown (especially not in the ring) but things are definitely moving forward a decent pace, which is SOOOOOO much more than I have been able to say about most of the WWE main-roster product for months.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 1st, '18, 19:59

SD is up to 989 episodes. Soon we'll be seeing Sd 1000 lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

User avatar
Big Red Machine
Posts: 27378
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 1st, '18, 20:04

The 1000th show should be 10/16, which would be a fine day to build up to some big men's matches for so they have something to do while you're building up the women's PPV.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 1st, '18, 21:23

I actually look forward to it, it should be better than all the cliche RAW gimmick historical shows lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 1st, '18, 21:56

Miz and Bryan is really getting old and stale and it's all really starting to fee likel recycled and repetitive material lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 2nd, '18, 09:44

Where was Asuka?
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

User avatar
Big Red Machine
Posts: 27378
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 2nd, '18, 10:07

KILLdozer wrote: Aug 2nd, '18, 09:44 Where was Asuka?
Same place as AJ: You're-not-supposed-to-think-about-the-fact-that-she's-not-here-ville. She's probably staying in the same room in the hotel that Charlotte just vacated.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

User avatar
cero2k
Site Admin
Posts: 20950
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 11:32

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by cero2k » Aug 2nd, '18, 10:40

KILLdozer wrote: Aug 1st, '18, 21:56 Miz and Bryan is really getting old and stale and it's all really starting to fee likel recycled and repetitive material lol.
miz and bryan was hot about a year ago when they were still together on smackdown the first run and had proper heat and we wanted to see Dragon kill Miz, but now that Dragon has cooled off with cheap feuds, this just feels like trying to start a fire with a burnt out log
Image

User avatar
Big Red Machine
Posts: 27378
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 2nd, '18, 11:00

cero2k wrote: Aug 2nd, '18, 10:40
KILLdozer wrote: Aug 1st, '18, 21:56 Miz and Bryan is really getting old and stale and it's all really starting to fee likel recycled and repetitive material lol.
miz and bryan was hot about a year ago when they were still together on smackdown the first run and had proper heat and we wanted to see Dragon kill Miz, but now that Dragon has cooled off with cheap feuds, this just feels like trying to start a fire with a burnt out log
Yes, but I also feel like all it needs is one good moment to heat it up again. That being said, the way they seem to be building to this (i.e. keeping them physically apart as much as possible) is not going to do it. I think they need a full-on brutal assault of Miz trying to end Bryan's career again. In hindsight, instead of the tag title shot I would have used the last PPV to build up to Bryan getting "punch Miz in the face" and then embarrassing him at the PPV with a submission win in under a minute, then have Miz come back this month extra-vicious and try to end Bryan's career, with Bryan making some big return a week or so before the go-home show.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

User avatar
cero2k
Site Admin
Posts: 20950
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 11:32

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by cero2k » Aug 2nd, '18, 11:14

i know they like to pretend that Miz is this badass wrestler, but they really should have used him as a chicken shit heel right now, try to re'injure Bryan again to get away from having a proper match with him. Then just have dragon say something like you're trying to injure me again because you know that if we ever get in the ring again, i'm gonna kick your ass, you may out talk me, but i can out wrestle you, blah blah
Image

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 7/31/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 2nd, '18, 15:23

Exactly. He's not nearly tough or dangerous enough as they try to act like. He's just a shit talking, gets really really mad in 2 minutes, average wrestler.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests