Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Smackdown Live (6/27)

About to make WWE history?
OK, first things first. SMackdown Live, right now, is more entertaining than it's ever been, and this episode was, for the most part, a stellar example of that.


Yes, you have to ignore a couple of things. You have to ignore the fact that Randy Orton is still in the WWE World Title championship picture against Jinder Mahal, and is eating up screen time talking about it. And that as of last night, their next match will be in the Punjabi Prison, a slightly racist double-cage of "bamboo" that's only been used twice before a decade ago.

And you have to ignore the hugely problematic booking of the Money In The Bank match in the women's division. They essentially ruined the ending to the first historic match by having a man grab the briefcase so they could have a second match a week and a half later and... have Carmella win on her own? Why not book the end of the first match like the second? Have Ellswoth try, have Becky stop him, have Carmella use the chair and win on her own? After the last two weeks of promos, there's no denying Carmella is a good person to hold the briefcase, but the way they went about it, despite two very good ladder matches by the women, is just weird and toxic.

But man, overall, Smackdown is packed with good, solid rivalries. You've got Owens vs. Styles over the US Title. Usos and New Day over the tag belts, with the promise of what is, as far as I can tell, the first ever rap battle in WWE without white people in it. We've had Cena vs. Everybody. We've had R-Truth vs. William Regal. We've even somehow had Flo Rida vs. Bo Dallas. But this could be the least embarrassing rap battle in WWE history. Low bar, yes, but still.

We've had Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn, we'll have Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin soon, we may have Mike Kanellis vs. Sami Zayn soon, we have the continuing adventures of the Fashion Files, and who knows, someday they might remember they have a midcard and unmilkcarton Tye Dillinger. We'll at least see him next week in the US Championshipt #1 Contender Battle Royal that AJ Styles will definitely be winning.

Good job, Smackdown. Now trade Randy Orton to Raw for Finn Balor.

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