Smackdown LIVE: This Weeks Best and Worse Moments
After a strong episode of Monday night RAW taking place this week the blue brand had a lot to live up to but with an opening involving Becky Lynch, Royal Rumble builds, and a must-see main event there was no sleeping on the most recent episode of Smackdown LIVE. In today’s blog post I’m going to be taking a look at some of the best and worse moments from last nights show and deciding at the end which was the dominant brand this week!
The Number one Star of Smackdown LIVE
After this week’s episode of Smackdown I believe truly there is no one dominating Smackdown LIVE on the level that we are seeing from Becky Lynch. The former Women’s Champion arrived on this week's show with a huge welcoming from the live crowd. Backstage footage of Lynch arriving in her car and engaging in a segment with Heavy Machinery and the New Day along with the singles match against Peyton Royce and storyline further build to the up and coming Royal Rumble title match we saw from her this week has left no doubt in the minds of fans worldwide that the man is the face of the blue brand today. This was a very strong and exciting opening to the show, the promo from Becky was very well done, and the work involving the IIConics and the build to Lynch vs Asuka meant an excellent start to a very strong episode of Smackdown LIVE.
Everything Involving Shane McMahon and the Miz
We next reach the first low point of the show I’m going to be talking about today and that’s what we saw during the end of last nights Smackdown LIVE. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I genuinely really dislike what we are seeing between the Miz and Shane McMahon and every part of me is praying this does not lead to a singles match between the two at Mania because I may just have to curl up in a ball and cry in a corner somewhere. The closing segment of the night had its highs and lows but overall I didn’t feel as though it should have closed the show and the entire thing did not change my opinion on the work we are seeing between the Miz and Shane. I also don’t yet have any interest in the pairs up and coming tag team match against the Bar despite Sheamus and Cesaro’s showing last night.
The Flow of the Show
One thing I truly do love about Smackdown LIVE is how the show overall is run. There is such a fantastic flow to the show in the sense that each segment, match, and promo eases into the show so well. From Lynch and Asuka’s showdown to AJ Styles coming out and walking around the arena to The Usos segment, what we saw was a very strong use of the time the blue brand has. What we get on Tuesday nights every single minute used wisely and fully. There is never a sense that anything has been rushed or missed and for two hours we get so much wrestling, storytelling, and general content and it’s that overall that makes Smackdown LIVE the true A show in the WWE today.
Honest Thoughts on AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan
Okay, I will admit that the up and coming WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan is one I am very much looking forward to and one I believe could be a true standout of not only the night but of the year, however, the feud itself is something g I just haven’t enjoyed. Despite loving the new Daniel Bryan and his current heel role and AJ Styles being AJ Styles something just isn’t working here for me personally and I do find myself far more interested and invested in several other storylines and rivalries on the roster right now. With everything so strong right now on the blue brand, this for me just appears to be fading into the background and easily overshadowed. I enjoyed the brawl between the two and the story itself is far from weak I do, however, just feel as though there is so much more going on that is easier to enjoy.
A Smart Direction with NXT Call-Ups
This next point does also include what we saw from this week’s Monday night RAW but I just have to mention it here today because after watching last nights episode of Smackdown LIVE the way in which the WWE is using the future NXT call-ups has truly grabbed my attention. This is a totally new direction here where in which we are seeing the confirmed call up names pop up on both shows here and there. I really like the little teases, the backstage moments and generally the way the WWE are going about with calling these superstars up to the main roster. This way fans are able to learn more about each induvial character, the superstars are able to build a following and create a buzz/interest which effectively should mean stronger popularity and demand which in the long run means far better and stronger success on the main roster, hopefully resulting in less of the same mistakes made with previous call-ups.
Mysterio vs Almas
When it was revealed that Andrade Cien Almas and Rey Mysterio would be going one on one this week on Smackdown LIVE I just knew I had to tune in! This is a dream match full of serious potential to be a match of the year candidate and that is exactly what we got here. With the two working so well together, a cultural history, identical in-ring styles, fast-paced action and intensity watching this bout is almost impossible to predict a winner. Despite not sharing the ring together a great deal throughout their careers so far the pair knew each other so well in this match, counter for counter, back and forth action, thrilling moves we very rarely see in the WWE, Zelina’s involvement, and the crowd reaction all contributed to exactly why this was such an epic match that did not disappoint in the slightest! Almas did pick up the huge victory pinning Rey once again and come the end of this incredible match I was left still wanting to see more from these superstars.
Very Outdated
Watching this week’s episode of RAW and Smackdown LIVE there was one big negative I took from both shows and that’s what we saw from Alexa Bliss and Mandy Rose. I’ve always touched on the “walking in while Alexa was half naked” segment over in yesterday’s post but with last nights episode showing a cringe-worthy brawl between Naomi and Mandy Rose in a hotel room and Mandy’s storyline with Jimmy Uso I was left feeling frustrated and very disappointed. While the Naomi/Mandy angle has potential and I can see how this could be done correctly it wasn’t done correctly at all and as a result what we got instead was a very outdated segment that felt like yet another step backwards. The women’s division did not fight for an evolution that would see women fighting about who is hotter and splitting up a marriage in twenty nineteen and the WWE really do need to fix up on these angles, storyline’s and particularly how superstars like Mandy Rose are being used.
And that was this week’s episode of Smackdown LIVE. Full of highs and lows, there was a true mixture of really great things and really…well not so great things. The matchup between Almas and Mysterio was the best match of the two shows this week but overall, I would give RAW the title of better show this week. I loved what we saw between Samoa Joe and Mustafa Ali and the opening involving Lynch was also very strong but I did find myself more interested and entertained by this week RAW with the flagship show stepping up massively from the previous week.
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