BRM Reviews the 6/18/2021 Smackdown (Rey vs. Roman Hell in a Cell)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 6/18/2021 Smackdown (Rey vs. Roman Hell in a Cell)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 20th, '21, 00:01

So yeah. They’re putting a Hell in a Cell match for the world title on free TV, just two days before the Hell in a Cell PPV. It’s quite the stark illustration of how streaming services have changed the business.
The kayfabe explanation for this is that Rey didn’t want to wait for Sunday to get revenge on Roman for beating Dominik up. Roman was fine with this, so the match is happening tonight. Outside of kayfabe, my guess is that they wanted Drew vs. Lashley to main event the PPV but didn’t want Roman to not be the main event.

REY MYSTERIO JR. PROMO- This was an excellent go-home promo, vowing revenge on Roman for injuring his son. Rey said that he didn’t know when Dominik would be back, but that there was a point when they weren’t sure if Dominik would even be able to walk again. In that case, you’d think management would strip him and Rey of the tag titles.
Rey demanded that Roman come out and verbally accept his challenge to a Hell in a Cell match tonight. That’s kind of odd, considering that Rey even acknowledged that Roman had already accepted on Twitter. If Rey wants more reassurance, you’d think he would have made sure there was a contract signed or something like that, instead of asking for another verbal agreement.
Meanwhile, someone decided to lower the cell down over Rey. I was so baffled as to why this would happen that I was certain that Jey Uso would be hiding under the ring and attack Rey from behind while Roman distracted him. Instead, it turned out that it was so Rey could look around at the cell with trepidation after Roman threatened to do things to Rey that would make what Rey did to Dominik look “PG.” That’s nice and all, but you can’t have something happen just because it would give you a visual that would add to the drama. You need to have a kayfabe reason for that thing to happen as well!

APOLLO CREWS & COMMANDER AZEEZ PROMO- fine
I think I’ve passed the point where I’m annoyed that Apollo is using this cartoonish accent and have just accepted it as part of the character.

KAYLA BRAXTON INTERVIEWS BIG E. & KEVIN OWENS – Owens was good, but I didn’t like Big E.’s comedy.

APOLLO CREWS & COMMANDER AZEEZ vs. BIG E. & KEVIN OWENS- 6/10
Sami Zayn came out to do commentary. He was a lot better than I was expecting. I think this was because he had a message to push with an actual direction (he hates Kevin Owens and wants to see him get hurt) instead of his usual rambling about there being a “conspiracy” against him that never actually goes anywhere or evolves in any way.
Commander Azeez pinned Owens after the Nigerian Nail. The announcers claimed that Sami distracted Owens, but that didn’t seem like it affected things to me. Sami did a spectacularly douchy celebration at ringside, then came back to watch Owens writhing in pain on the big screen. Azeez game Owens a second nail just because.

KEVIN OWENS DEMANDS A MATCH AGAINST SAMI ZAYN- fine
He was still selling his throat, which was great. He went to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville, and Pearce made the match.

WINNER GETS TO KEEP BARON CORBIN’S CROWN: Baron Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (w/Eric Boogs)- 5.75/10
Is Nakamura supposed to be a babyface? Because Boogs is definitely a heel. There is no way anyone could think someone that annoying would be a babyface. Also, he’s stealing Corbin’s property just to be a dick. Even Cole is admitting that Corbin “earned the right to wear the crown” while Nakamura is just taking it. Nakamura won clean, hopefully ending this feud.

BIANCA BELAIR & BAYLEY SEGMENT- boring
I’m sorry, but I don’t care about this feud at all. They had their match last month, and there was absolutely no reason for it to continue. They haven’t added anything new of substance since then, so it certainly doesn’t deserve to be in Hell in a Cell, which it now is because Bianca challenged Bayley for it to be so. I don’t care how confident you are. Hell in a Cell is supposed to be something that (as we are constantly told) “shortens careers.” You don’t challenge someone to a Hell in a Cell match unless you hate their guts to the point where you can’t be in the same room without fighting.
Speaking of fighting, Bayley attacked Bianca and beat her up, then posed with the belt in a completely by-the-numbers and not Hell in a Cell-worthy go-home segment.

ROMAN REIGNS & JIMMY USO BACKSTAGE- very good
Jimmy says that he has come around to Roman’s way of thinking and offers to help him tonight… in a match where the gimmick is that the ring is surrounded by a cage so that no one can interfere. Roman asks where Jey is. Jimmy says that he hasn’t seen or heard from Jey all week. He even stopped by Jey’s house and no one answered the door. Roman sends Jimmy to go find Jey.

ANGELO DAWKINS vs. OTIS DOZOVIC (w/Chad Gable)- no rating, great segment
Beardless Otis looks like… not a star. Montez Ford isn’t here tonight because Otis injured him last week. Dawkins did not come across like someone out for revenge during his entrance. The already-injured Dawkins was lured into a trap and beaten up before the match. Alpha Academy looked devious, vicious, and dangerous.

KAYLA BRAXTON ALLOWS SETH ROLLINS TO TAKE OVER HER SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW WITH CESARO- terrible
Rollins is a cartoon character. And you can’t tell me that this is such a “personal” situation, and then have them sit a foot from each other and have Rollins insult Cesaro to his face and have Cesaro just shove him, get up and leave. This made me less excited for their PPV match. Which idiot came up with this terrible idea. Is it that hard to come up with “each guy will do an interview where he talks about how he is going to kick the other’s ass on at the PPV?”

HELL IN A CELL MATCH FOR THE WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE: Roman Reigns(c) (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.- 8.5/10
They did so little compared to pretty much every other Hell in a Cell match we’ve ever seen, but they made everything they did count, paced the match perfectly, and made sure everything they did built and built until the huge spot at the end. Wonderful!


This was a solid episode of Smackdown. Obviously the main event carried most of it, but there was some other good stuff, too. As a go-home show, though, it was pretty much a failure, as I came out of I a lot less excited to see Sunday’s PPV than I was going in.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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