This week Smackdown came to us from Lincoln, Nebraska as the go home show for the very first SmackDown exclusive pay-per-view Backlash. This week, Styles confronts Ambrose, the women’s division heads towards the 6 woman elimination match, the tag team title tournament continues and so does Slater’s quest for a contract. Bray Wyatt and Orton continue their feud and The Miz continues the immense momentum he gained after his Talking Smack promo.
A lot happened in this 2-hour show which has become more compact and entertaining than Raw over the past couple of weeks. The brand split has really given more stories to more superstars
Here are the 5 things to note from this week's episode of Tuesday night live Smackdown.
5: The Moneymaker
The Miz is a wonderful performer and he is doing some of the best work of his career right now. The Talking Smack promo was a huge breakthrough. He first appeared tonight in a backstage segment with Bryan and Shane McMahon wondering why his title isn’t being given as much importance as the Women’s Championship and why a ‘loser’ like Ziggler could become the number one contender. Bryan asked him to fight Ziggler or give away his title. This checkmate moment for Miz was followed by his music blaring through the arena- a wonderful transition and he walked out to a match against Apollo Crews.
This was a generic Miz match – the kind of performance that has rendered him uninjured for 10+ years. However, Miz is an entertainer and he was hilarious - covering his ‘moneymaker’, slapping Ziggler and sending Maryse to get his title when Ziggler put it as bait for Miz to come in the ring and face him.
“Still a coward”Awesome stuff.
4: The Final Confrontation
Still wearing his trophy on his arm, Styles was belligerent this week after what transpired last week. Firstly, he threatened to break the headset of a production guy and bullied him for doing his job and replaying the footage from last week. This tirade continued on a few more employees. In contrast, Ambrose was getting his hair sprayed and getting used to the coffee around the place.
The final segment of the night was the confrontation between the champion and the number one contender.
It was repetitive in the beginning with Styles talking about how he beat Cena and why he should be taken very seriously instead of being made fun of. Ambrose, on the other hand, hasn’t been as phenomenal as AJ but he really made this segment work with his promo. He first gave Styles his old trophy for participation in bowling. And then he went on to describe how he’s not John Cena and how he doesn’t walk around with Styles jock strap around his head after he beat him. For Ambrose, Styles is the Face that comes in Second Place.
Styles gave Ambrose a low blow, broke that bowling trophy and that’s the end.
3: Absolute frustration
In a backstage interview before their match with American Alpha, The Usos were their exuberant selves but there was some underlying tension. They reminded the audience that they were chosen 9 spots after the NXT recruits but they’re happy being the underdogs. The tension was palpable after they jumped Alpha a split second after the bell rang. But the former champs were defeated in mere seconds. as well.
They went for a handshake only to turn heels. They injured Gable enough for Alpha to be removed from the tournament. Absolute frustration gave in and the Usos are now the new heels of the division.
In other news, Slater and Rhyno qualified as well. Slater is close to that contract, people.
2: Chaos
The show kicked off with Daniel Bryan talking about the 6 woman elimination match at Backlash to become the inaugural Smackdown Women’s Champion. A match that Nikki Bella is rumoured to win to establish the title. Talking about Bella, Bryan first called Lynch who was surprised since she thought Bella should have been the first woman called up for the segment. In a nice bit of continuity, Bryan told her that she’s the first female draft pick for Smackdown and she deserved to be called first. Also, the audience adores Lynch who is arguably the most over babyface in the blue brand at the moment.
This segment was a build up to another six woman tag team match. It was a way to build the dynamic between each woman. Natalya is still pissed off at the Irish Lass Kicker and Bella still needs to overcome Carmella.
The opening segment went haywire in an uncomfortable way after Natalya’s promo. Bliss, Carmella got no music for their entrances. It looked absurd and felt like nobody really cared about them.
1: Stories
Stories and more stories- that was the theme of the night for Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton who did not come face to face but had individual segments on their way to a match at Backlash. Wyatt talked about how The Apex Predator was once legendary but Wyatt is a God. He talked about it as a story about the evolution of mankind and how Orton is a thing of the past.
Orton on the hand, in a backstage interview, responded with his own story about a rabbit, a snake, and an overconfident man. The snake is Orton and the overconfident man is obviously Bray Wyatt. So, he’ll wait until Backlash to strike at Wyatt without him even anticipating it.
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