WWE Smackdown LIVE Highlights
More Royal Rumble Announcements Made during Smackdown Opening
This past Monday on RAW the Undertaker made the huge announcement that he will be participating in this year's Royal Rumble match set to take place in around three weeks time. No one really knew what to expect from him when it was announced he would be appearing on the show this week but the announcement he made was huge and really did add to the hype of the Rumble match. Last night's episode of Smackdown Live kick started with more Royal Rumble news as both The Miz and new Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose announced that they will be entering the two thousand and seventeen Royal Rumble match. I honestly have mixed feelings in regards to superstars announcing that they will be apart of the Rumble match. It's a slightly new take on things, in the past, we have seen superstars make it clear that they are going to be taking part but there is something a little different this time around. What I will say and what I have been saying quite a bit recently is that this year's Rumble match really is shaping up to be one of the best and most unpredictable we have seen in many years, I'd probably say since we saw Sheamus win back in what I think was two thousand and twelve or eleven. I honestly do think that it's difficult to pick out a clear winner this year, it genuinely is difficult to choose a standout and I love that. I haven't been the biggest fan of the past few Rumble matches and I've made that perfectly clear but I definitely have high hopes this year. So far we have Seth Rollins, Goldberg, the New Day, Baron Corbin, Brock Lesnar, Dean Ambrose, the Miz, and the Undertaker all announced. The overall opening of last night's show was strong. We got to see the story between the Miz and Ambrose develop even more and it was nice to see Ambrose back in his element with momentum and the fans on his side.Tensions Rise between Nikki Bella and Natalya
Over the past couple of week's I have spoken a little about the growing feud between Natalya and Nikki Bella. I along with the rest of the world was not surprised to see that Natalya was the women who had attacked Nikki during the Survivor Series pay per view. While we all would have loved for it to have been Mickie James most of us were expecting it to be Nattie. Now, while I wasn't the biggest fan of the reveal I have loved their feud and I've been surprised at just how much I have actually jumped on board with the whole thing. Last night the pair continued to develop their feud with their singles match advertised during last week's show. Before the match even began the WWE showed us what was actually a very very well done video package that gave this feud exactly what it needed. Now, this is far from the best storyline in wrestling today but even if you weren't a fan of what these two were presenting I'm confident that this video package would have given you much more of an interest in the whole thing, it was that good. It did actually feel like I was about to watch a pay per view match. The pair actually never put on a match, something I kind of expected but was glad to see how it turned out. Before the show cut to a commercial break we saw a shot of Nikki Bella making her way to the ring when she was once again attacked by Natalya backstage. Focusing on Nikki's leg did set up perfectly for what we were about to see moments later. With Nikki charging down the ring the pair began to brawl with Nikki taking control right up until a brief moment that saw Natalya once again target the leg of Nikki Bella. Moments later the sharp-shooter was locked in and Nattie once again had the momentum back on her side. Personally, I really really liked how this was done, and I can't fault it. The video package was brilliant, the backstage work made sense, the brawl involving the referees trying to hold the two back was a great touch and the way the whole segment ended made this overall one of my standout moments of the night. We can of course expect the pair to collide again at the Royal Rumble pay per view in a few week's time.
Heel Dolph Ziggler Shines Bright on Smackdown LIVE this Week
During last week's episode of Smackdown LIVE we saw Dolph Ziggler attack Kalisto moments after the former United States Champion came to the aid of the show-off, effectively seeing Ziggler turn heel. I mentioned in last week's blog post that I was definitely a fan of the idea. I've never been the world's biggest Ziggler supporter but I do know that I have always enjoyed his work as a heel far far more. It just works with his character and he know's what he's doing. What I also love about this move is how much it just makes sense. Ziggler hasn't had the success he wanted since the brand split. The WWE have been telling the story of him just almost getting there and never being able to stay at the top despite having such a long career in the company. He has been pushed and pushed, he's worked his butt off and he's pretty much just reached breaking point and that was something we really did see shine through last night during his work. It was as if he was in a constant battle with himself and it came across really well. It's a different angle for Ziggler but works so well because of the story the company have been telling with him and because of how well he works the whole thing. lat night he took on Kalisto in one on one action which of course makes perfect sense. The match was short and simple but we got enough of Ziggler's new character for us all to really jump on board and get with the plan. Kalisto did have a strong showing in the opening and even though Ziggler managed to gain some momentum it was a quick roll up that allowed Kalisto to walk out with the victory. However, after the match Ziggler gave Kalisto yet another beat down using a steel chair to attack the former champion. Apollo Crews would soon make an appearance in an attempt to save his friend, however, there was simply no stopping Dolph who used the steel chair yet again this time to take out Crews. Everything in this segment just made sense and worked and while I may not be the biggest fan of Ziggler and Kalisto everything here just worked for me and I felt as though this was exactly what Ziggler needed to help grow and develop this storyline.Huge Women's Championship Match set for Next Week
I have sat here and moaned about the Smackdown LIVE women's division from day one. While they have a roster full of amazing talent and the storyline's have been amazing the matches produced by the women over on Monday Night RAW has been noticeably stronger and that of course comes from Sasha Banks and Charlotte setting the bar so high. Over the past year, we have seen women in the WWE break down barriers and given opportunities that they just would not have even bothered dreaming about five years ago or so. We got to see a set of firsts with the women stealing the show at Wrestlemania, we got to see the RAW women's championship defended in a falls count anywhere match, extreme rules and the first ever women's hell in a cell match, not to mention Charlotte and Banks got to main event a WWE pay per view. So much history made in one year, the women's division coming so far in the space of twelve months and last night the blue brand proved that the women's revolution is far from over and it's time for them to elevate their women's division to new heights. In a backstage segment, Daniel Bryan announced that Alexa Bliss will defend her Smackdown LIVE women's championship against Becky Lynch in the first Smackdown LIVE steel cage match. Huge huge news and honestly I cannot wait to see this match go down next week. These two women have delivered some top matches in the past and I really do have high expectations for this one. I'm expecting this to be a brilliant match, hopefully, the main event and I do think these girls are going to raise the bar with a couple of awesome, crazy spots.Corbin Main Events Smackdown LIVE against John Cena
I mentioned in one of my first posts of twenty seventeen that I believed this would be the year of Baron Corbin. He's someone that really has been sitting back waiting for his moment to shine. He's the one superstar that has made it clear time and time again that he wants to be nowhere but at the top in the main event as champion and while the build up has been a little slow at times he has finally found himself as one of the top men on the WWE Smackdown LIVE roster and I do believe strongly that two thousand and seventeen will be his year. Last night we did see him main event another episode of the show this time in one of the biggest matches of his career so far taking on fifteen-time world champion, John Cena. Honestly, I was very very worried about this match. Corbin has been on such a high over the past month or so and he really is just full of momentum, finally getting to where he should be and the last thing he needed was a clean loss to Cena. I wasn't expecting truly spectacular from the match itself, there was no way this was going to be a match of the year candidate but it was sure one I had a lot of interest in and with AJ Styles on commentary the main event was one I for sure was not going to be missing out on. The match was an interesting one. Corbin held his own very well throughout showing his dominance and finding control during certain moments. One of the key issues he has and something that really was focused on during this match was how easily distracted Corbin was. He continued to target the current WWE World Champion that at times allowed Cena to get back on track and in control of the action while there were so many moments Cena showed that being the veteran in this match had so many advantages.Now, I won't lie to you I was fucking fuming with the ending of last nights show. Ofcourse there was always going to be a part of me that knew they were going to give Cena the win because he needed to some degree but the fact Corbin had to take such a loss just didn't sit well with me.I know I say it every week but the truth is the truth and once again Smackdown LIVE was the dominate show of the week. I would have loved to have seen Shawn Michaels appear on Smackdown LIVE this week instead of RAW just because I think they could have done more with him on the show and with Ellsworth, in fact plugging his movie would have worked a lot better with Ellsworth coming out and claiming how much of a huge fan he was of him and blah blah. The little story was just there. Anyway, the show itself was strong as always. Plenty of story development which was great. I'll admit I hated the ending with every fibre in my body but I'm gonna try and erase that from my memory. As always you can let me know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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