PWP Nation’s Zak Fellows reviews this week’s episode of Thursday Night SmackDown!
As this writer’s viewing of WWE Smackdown occurred in the lead up to the WrestleMania determining Fastlane pay-per-view here are some thoughts that sprung to mind as I watched.
Please note that not all thoughts will be mentioned because there are too many to count and this is a family friendly review.
So with that said let’s get started:
Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler is a feud of the month
Since last year, Dolph Ziggler has been in a perpetual status of non-event. Having been used for the purpose of making his opponents look good with little to no prospect that he himself will go further beyond the zenith of what he has already achieved… I mean more so than he already was and this is a former World Champion mind you.
With his victory over Kevin Owens on this past edition of Raw, which you can read a wrap up for here, and subsequent involvement Kalisto’s victory over his new found rival, it appears as if Ziggler and Owens will face each other at WWE Fastlane and perhaps in whatever multi-man match will be scheduled at WrestleMania 32.
Do not mistake this for out and out criticism as I admire the attempts by WWE to always have something for Owens to do as he remains a solid heel that is over with the audience. The match itself, assuming it does happen at Fastlane this is pro wrestling: The industry of missing the obvious and right after all, I’m sure will be decent but just don’t expect any real meat to be on it.
(Quick Thought: Ziggler may slowly become Jericho. Tyler Breeze beat him and he is doing nothing at the moment as well. The loser is on TV more than the guy who he put over fancy that).
WWE tip toes as opposed to runs
A common problem that I have been finding with WWE’s process in pushing its wrestlers, speaking just as a fan from the outside looking in here, is that they often seem to hesitate from going completely all the way with pushing someone. I’ve noticed this especially with Roman Reigns in that they seem afraid to push him to the moon and pull the trigger on a lengthy run at the top to see if he could succeed or not. To sum it up in three words: JUST DO IT!
Well, Smackdown showed another sign of that tip toeing through a match between Ryback and Erick Rowan where Braun Strowman also played a role. With Ryback’s victory and Strowman getting involved your wrestling track record should tell you that Strowman and Rowan beat down Ryback and ended the segment with them on top building heat towards them while the big guy gets sympathy.
Not in this case as Strowman just knocked Ryback out the ring with the segment ending with the three men looking at each other in a relatively heatless atmosphere. I get the idea behind keeping people perceived as evenly as possible but sometimes drastic movements are a lot more impactful on a general viewer. Perhaps they are building towards Ryback vs. Strowman but if that’s the case this was a weak way to get it started.
(Quick Thought: Gonna miss those wacky designs Ryback had for singlets but hey now we can see his abs).
AJ Styles can be a USP for SmackDown
AJ Styles is someone’s who continuing presence on a show different from the one for which I am accustomed to seeing him is not something of a bizarro world subject for me. I am, for the most part, someone who identifies a wrestler by the ‘whom’ and ‘what’ as opposed to the ‘where’.
With that said, I cannot deny that AJ’s inaugural month with the WWE has been thoroughly interesting and enjoyable. From his showing at the Royal Rumble, to his match with Chris Jericho and a feud of the week with the Miz suffice to say AJ Styles has something good going for him in the WWE. And as seen from Chris Jericho, it appears that the big match for next week’s Smackdown will be a rematch between the Phenomenal One and Y2J.
Of the past Smackdown’s since his debut, AJ’s matches have been the ones to watch. People actively tuned in to Smackdown to see him perform the Styles Clash on Curtis Axel, his match with the Miz is one of the most viewed videos for this past Smackdown on YouTube and I’m sure the same can be said for the match with Jericho next week: AJ Styles can be the answer to making Smackdown feel important and impactful again (Yes I had to go with the pun shut up).
(Quick Thought: “Classic Match?!” It was good Chris you’re not Dixie Carter).
Goldust remains gold as a character
So, after two months of nothing of particular note, it appears that Goldust is returning to his role as the local freak in WWE via some humorous interactions with R-Truth. I suppose the obvious comparison that could be drawn from the segment, where Goldust impersonated a bellhop as R-Truth checked out of a hotel, is with the fondly remembered team of Booker T and Goldust because of the obvious reason…both are comedy characters. I mean R-Truth is more overtly comedic than Booker but the main appeal of seeing those two together in 2002 was their interaction which we have seen with other tag teams such as Team Hell No.
It is quite astounding how still, to this day; Goldust is so good at playing his character that I never find myself cursing his presence in something and he remains reliably funny to watch. He experienced career resurgences with Booker T and his brother Cody, who you may now know as Stardust, and it appears that WWE is going to try that route again this time with R-Truth who I have always enjoyed as the delusional comedy character as opposed to the rapper.
I’m not sure what the ultimate goal will be for Goldust and R-Truth especially in a division that has one team sucking up all the attention and heat to the point that they have no over competition but I say put The Truth is Gold (Yeah that’s their catchphrase now) and the New Day in the same vicinity and we could be do for some great hijinks.
(Quick Thought: What did you think I meant when I said the obvious reason?)
The Standard Tag Team Match is too ‘Status Quo’
To end on a sour note, the main event of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Rusev and Alberto Del Rio was an OK if uneventful tag match but its big issue lies in repetition from the past. I’m not saying that having the same match over and over again is a bad thing and the absolutely not of wrestling show rules but this is only a case when there is an evolution of a match. Yeah remember the saying “Bigger, Badder, Better”? This is what these matches should always be becoming
Watching this match brought back memories from a two week period in 2005 of Smackdown main events. You see, one week Batista and Eddie Guerrero teamed up to face Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy. Then the next week another tag match was booked with the addition of ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton and Roddy Piper to their respective teams. This added a new dynamic to the match that prevented it from repeating the footnotes of the previous installment.
Point being, the main event match of this Smackdown felt interchangeable, run of the mill, stuff we have already seen before. I blame Theodore Long.
(Quick Thought: For a faction that was introduced with some fanfare the League of Nations has been devoid of being about much of anything).
[Zak Fellows isn’t about much of anything as well.]
How I never noticed the trend with Smackdown main events until 10 years later is baffling.