BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 10th, '19, 20:50

KAYLA BRAXTON INTERVIEWS DOLPH ZIGGLER IN THE PARKING LOT EARLIER TODAY- He starts to bury Owens, who happens to be driving by (with his windows open so he can hear what Dolph is saying, so Owens starts honking his horn. Owens parks his car and gets out and a confrontation ensues, with Owens throwing the first punch. They are quickly broken up by security, and then Shane shows up and orders Owens to go home, even though he is booked in tonight’s main event.
Then we were show Sarah Schreiber interviewing Shane and asking him why he cancelled tonight’s scheduled Owens vs. Ziggler main event. Shane said that we can’t have wrestlers fighting backstage because disputes should be settled in the ring, and Owens was the one who threw the first punch so Owens gets sent home. Sarah follows up by asking if Shane has a new main event in mind. He says he has some ideas and will get back to her when he has one!
At this point I was completely certain I must have been hallucinating. I mean...
1. They established a logical reason for the camera to be at the sight of the confrontation
2. The confrontation happened for logical reasons where we can sympathize with Owens for starting it but also can’t deny that he threw the first punch.
3. A main event was already in place for the show, but if now being cancelled due to this confrontation, thus creating a reason for why we are going on the air without an announced main event.
4. There was an attempt to impose a sports-like order on the proceedings via the authority figure condemning and punishing out-of-ring violence.
5. Rather than persecuting the babyface in ridiculous ways, Shane is giving Owens a perfectly fair punishment for a legitimate offense, with the heelishness coming from Shane’s selective enforcement of these rules.

This can’t be 2019 WWE main roster TV. It’s... logical. And GOOD.

KEVIN OWENS INTERRUPTS THE ANNOUNCERS RUNNING DOWN THE CARD- HOLY SH*T THIS WAS FANTASTIC!
First great detail: The only match the announcers got to plug before Owens’ interruption was Balor vs. Nakamura.
Owens hopped the guardrail, grabbed a mic, and cut a SCATHING promo on the lack of promised change in the company and burying Shane for taking up everyone’s TV time. Shane came out and ordered his mic cut so Owens got another mic and kept on cutting his promo, saying that Shane calling himself “the best in the world” is “an insult to everyone in the back.” Once that mic got cut off, Owens grabbed the headset right off of Byron’s head and began speaking into that, specifically naming Buddy Murphy, Apollo Crews, Asuka, Mustafa Ali, and AoP as people who should be getting the time Shane has taken up. Once the mic in Myron’s headset got cut Shane ordered security out to get Owens, who hopped back into the crowd before they could get him. Shane ordered then to “make sure that he stays out.”
This was probably the best thing WWE has done all year, with the possible exception of that first faceoff between Becky and Ronda. Owens was outstanding, Shane played his role with a perfect air of “I’m the one in control here, not you” that allowed him to keep his cool the whole time, knowing that whatever Owens said, Shane would be able to eventually silence him by shutting off his mic, and the corwd absolutely ate it up.

They’re advertising a “tag team title summit” tonight, because we must give these things a painfully stupid name. Also, we’re getting a three-way between one member of each team in the title match, and the reveal of Aleister Black’s mystery opponent for the PPV.

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. FINN BALOR- 6.75/10
This was one where they were clearly holding back for a bigger upcoming match. Nakamura won cleanly to set up that match.

DREW, ELIAS, SHANE, & ZIGGLER BACKSTAGE- fine
Drew, Shane, and The Drifter hype up the PPV match. Dolph (wild card #1) showed up and was angry because Shane cancelled the main event he was in. Shane placates Dolph by giving him a main event match tonight against Roman Reigns, with the others at ringside.

SAMOA JOE VS. KOFI KINGSOTN RECAP PACKAGE- F*CKING AWESOME!

SAMOA JOE PROMO- great!
Joe is Wild card #2)

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH CONTRACT SIGNING- bad
How is Nikki Cross going to sign a contract for Alexa Bliss!?
This was the same segment we’ve gotten over and over and over in this feud, where the babyface tries to tell Nikki that Alexa is using her but Nikki won’t listen. They had some new bits this time, yes, but none of those new bits were good. The first new bit was Bayley trying to tell us that early in her career she was like Nikki and let others manipulate her until she realized they were only using her, at which point she decided to stand on her own and win championships for herself. I have no memory of an angle like this. The other new bit was Nikki refuting the claim that Alexa was using her by saying that Alexa told her that if they won at the PPV they would be “co-champions.” I can buy Alexa telling Nikki this and am even willing to believe that Nikki might be fooled, but surely Kayla or one of the commentators or Bayley would have questioned the legality of this (I know Lay-Cool did it, but it’s utterly ridiculous and you’d think one of the babyface announcers would question it or that someone from management would come out and put the kibosh on it). Nikki’s performances have been great, but everyone around her (aside from the conspicuously-absent Alexa) has been terrible.

NIKKI CROSS vs. CARMELLA (w/Bayley)- 1/10
Nikki won a short match that served no real purpose other than to fill time.

PAIGE & THE KABUKI WARRIORS CONFRONT THE IICONICS BACKSTAGE- Acting-wise, this was well done, but Paige slapping someone in the face then hiding behind her changes felt heelish. The other problem I had with this was the fact that Paige was trying to go to the IIconics to schedule the Kabuki Warriors’ title shot. Shouldn’t she be going to management for that? That, of course, also shoots down Paige’s whole spiel about how the IIconics have been cowards by not defending their belts. While it’s true that the IIconics are cowardly, it’s management who should be blamed for the lack of title shots being booked, not the champs themselves.

SARAH SCHREIBER INTERVIEWS ROMAN REIGNS- bad
Now he’s trying to steal Taker’s lines to get cheered. He got almost no reaction.

TAG TEAM SUMMIT- surprisingly decent
They started to play New Day’s music before letting Big El do his intro. Oops. I was terrified that they were going to do this like they usually do with their “summits” and have everyone sitting on stools in the ring while they talk at each other, turning to do so because the stools are all pointed so that they have to sit facing the hard-cam. Instead we got what could have actually passed for a natural series of interruptions. New Day and Bryan (and Rowan, for his little part) were very good, but Heavy Machinery were horrible.

XAVIER WOODS (w/Big E.) vs. OTIS DOZOVIC (w/Tucker Night) vs. DANIEL BRYAN (w/Erick Rowan)- 6.5/10
Good for the time it got.

FIRE & DESIRE BOTHER EMBER MOON IN CATERING- Other than Ember being upset about then cutting her in line in catering, this was fine. The heels challenged Ember to find a tag partner. She said she would, but that in case she couldn’t she’d just kick both of their asses by herself.

MUSTAFA ALI PROMO- awesome!

ALEISTER BLACK’S OPPONENT IS REVEALED- AWESOME!
It’s Cesaro (wild card #3). That match should ROCK. Also, the execution here was excellent. Especially on Aleister’s part.

SHELTON BENJAMIN IGNORES A QUESTION FROM AN OFF-SCREEN INTERVIEWER- This is the second week in a row this has happened. This segment shoots down my theory that last week’s segment was a hint that he knows that Brock does, in fact, plan to cash in MITB at the PPV.
Maybe they should stop asking Shelton questions. Especially about sh*t that doesn’t even pertain to him.

KAYLA BRAXTON INTERVIEWS KOFI KINGSTON- Kofi cut an awesome confident babyface promo to build up to this title defense against Samoa Joe at the PPV.

ROMAN REIGNS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Shane McMahon, Drew McIntyre, & “The Drifter” Elias Sampson)- 7/10
This was great for what it was in the time it got, although I do like my main events to go longer than 8:40. Shane was a great heel on commentary and Graves was an excellent heel announcer stooge. Shane responding to Drew shoving Roman in to the post with “What happened? Did Roman slip?” and Graves responding “My head must have been impeding his view. Shane, I apologize for that” might be the best commentary exchange in WWE all year.
Roman overcame the heels; interfering to get the win, and Owens got the big spot by jumping the guardrail and hitting Shane with a stunner. Owens hitting a heel authority figure McMahon with a stunner feels very “LOOK EVERYONE! HE’S THE NEW STONE COLD!” but other than needing a change in finisher, I think Owens is a fantastic choice for this role.

This was a very good (maybe even great) episode of Smackdown. If they’re going to stick with this terrible short match crap then they need to at least make up for it with great angles and promos, and that’s what tonight’s show delivered in spades.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Serujuunin
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by Serujuunin » Jul 10th, '19, 21:55

My one tangible complaint with this episode is that I don’t think Cesaro is at a good place to take a big loss to Aleister, but of course Aleister has to win his first real feud. I heard some rumors it was supposed to be Orton, which I would have liked more since Orton can lose and not be hurt by it (and the mind games and dialogue in that program would have been so good), but he apparently got injured? Aleister v Cesaro should be fantastic though, and I am looking forward to it.

That being said, with RAW and Smackdown this week, I am inexplicably left confused, like I can’t tell what’s supposed to happen next with the big picture, and I kind of like it!

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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 10th, '19, 22:02

Serujuunin wrote: Jul 10th, '19, 21:55 My one tangible complaint with this episode is that I don’t think Cesaro is at a good place to take a big loss to Aleister, but of course Aleister has to win his first real feud. I heard some rumors it was supposed to be Orton, which I would have liked more since Orton can lose and not be hurt by it (and the mind games and dialogue in that program would have been so good), but he apparently got injured? Aleister v Cesaro should be fantastic though, and I am looking forward to it.
I think Cesaro is still in a place where a loss won't hurt him, but that is, unfortunately, because he has nothing to lose. Black won't gain much from beating Ceasro (not that he shouldn't beat Cesaro, because he should), but he'll probably gain something for at least having a very exciting match with him.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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

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Serujuunin
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by Serujuunin » Jul 11th, '19, 08:52

Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 10th, '19, 22:02
Serujuunin wrote: Jul 10th, '19, 21:55 My one tangible complaint with this episode is that I don’t think Cesaro is at a good place to take a big loss to Aleister, but of course Aleister has to win his first real feud. I heard some rumors it was supposed to be Orton, which I would have liked more since Orton can lose and not be hurt by it (and the mind games and dialogue in that program would have been so good), but he apparently got injured? Aleister v Cesaro should be fantastic though, and I am looking forward to it.
I think Cesaro is still in a place where a loss won't hurt him, but that is, unfortunately, because he has nothing to lose. Black won't gain much from beating Ceasro (not that he shouldn't beat Cesaro, because he should), but he'll probably gain something for at least having a very exciting match with him.
Hopefully it’s one of those matches where they both come out smelling like roses because of how good it is. I guess all we can do is cross our fingers!

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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by KILLdozer » Jul 11th, '19, 10:22

The moment he started mocking him with "it should be...ME!" , I knew it would be great lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

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Bob-O
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by Bob-O » Jul 11th, '19, 22:57

No Bray...

I know they've been doing the Easter Egg thing where they've been slipping the puppets in, but I think this marks the week they missed the boat on pulling the trigger. Too much time's gone by since the last Funhouse, the buzz is fading.
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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews the 7/9/2019 Smackdown (great)

Post by KILLdozer » Jul 11th, '19, 23:07

Bob-O wrote: Jul 11th, '19, 22:57 No Bray...

I know they've been doing the Easter Egg thing where they've been slipping the puppets in, but I think this marks the week they missed the boat on pulling the trigger. Too much time's gone by since the last Funhouse, the buzz is fading.
He'll probably guaranteed be on Extreme Rules. I never actually see the puppets in the moment lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

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