After the fun and games of the James Ellsworth phenomenon over recent weeks, Smackdown Live looked set to get serious again heading into this week.
The main event, as announced last week would see Dean Ambrose face AJ Styles, with the stipulation that if Dean were to win, he would become the number one contender to Styles’ WWE World Title.
Also announced for this week’s show was Bray Wyatt vs. Kane in another No Disqualification match and the return of Smackdown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch.
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So would these announced segments play out?
Would they inject some more legitimacy into the show, after the catalog of shenanigans over the previous weeks, or were we set for more silly antics?
#1 Bray wins, Orton’s music plays
The RKO on Kane, led to Bray Wyatt picking up the victory as he crawled over the Demon to make the pin, as Orton left the arena. Then Randy Orton’s music played, even though Bray had just won the match. Say What?!
It’s unclear whether this was a mistake on the production team’s part. It could also be that perhaps they see Wyatt’s victory as so insignificant, that they feel it was more important to put the spotlight on Orton. I hope it was a mistake. Otherwise, it’s a disappointing indication of how they view Bray Wyatt’s star power.
#2 - Kane hit with an RKO ?!
Another predictable element in this match was the appearance of Randy Orton, who ran down to the ring to seemingly even up the numbers.
However, when both Kane and Orton were stalking Bray and waiting for him to get to his feet, Orton struck with an RKO out of nowhere on Kane. Yes, Kane. This was a turn that I did not see coming, and it will be interesting to see where this goes.
#3 Harper interferes…kind of
Early on in the Bray Wyatt vs Kane match, Luke Harper predictably got involved by appearing on the commentator’s table, when Kane was about to chokeslam Wyatt through it.
However, after rescuing his leader, Harper stood at ringside and watched the rest of the match without getting involved, even when Kane was on the offensive. This was a No Disqualification match, which means Harper could have got involved as much as he wanted to and effectively make the match a handicap. Yet for some reason he decided not to.
Where’s the logic in that?
#4 Becky has a yellow streak
After three weeks out, with an unspecified issue, Becky Lynch returned and was interviewed by Renee Young in the middle of the ring.
It didn’t take long for the Number One contender, Alexa Bliss, to interrupt the segment and accuse Becky of being a coward and making excuses, for not defending the title against her.
Things soon got physical, and after Bliss had laid Becky out with a DDT, she grabbed some yellow spray paint from ringside and sprayed a yellow streak along Becky’s spine.
This was a decent way to reignite this feud and build towards their Title match in two weeks time.
#5 What’s next for Baron Corbin?
During his appearance on Talking Smack last week, Baron Corbin asked Daniel Bryan what he has in store for him next; it turns out that he has nothing.
Corbin was not even mentioned on this week’s show, no backstage segment with Corbin demanding more opportunities, no attack on another roster member to make a statement. Nothing.
This was disappointing as there had been rumours of a big push coming for the ‘Lone Wolf’. Hopefully, something significant will happen next week, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
#6 Randy Wyatt?
In a strange backstage interview, Orton was asked if he would care to explain his actions from earlier in the night, where he RKO’d Kane. After staring into the camera and not saying anything for a minute or so, Orton would then simply say, “If you can’t beat them, join them”.
What does this mean? People had presumed that his attack was due to some sort of issue he had with Kane, but this quote suggests it was a gesture of good will to Bray Wyatt.
Could Randy Orton really be about to join the Wyatt Family?
#7 Captain Nikki
In a match to determine the captain of Smackdown Live Women’s Survivor Series team, Nikki Bella defeated Natalya.
Due to a second stipulation in this bout, Natalya will not be involved at all in the Survivor Series elimination match next month.
Where does this leave Natalya? As the most experienced member of Smackdown Live’s Women’s division, many expected her to have a significant role to play, yet thus far she has been somewhat of an afterthought.
#8 Carmella jumps Nikki for the Millionth time
While celebrating her victory, Nikki was attacked from behind by her long-term foe, Carmella.
You’d think that Nikki would have learnt to keep an eye out for sneak attacks, as this is the millionth time that Carmella has done this.
This feud has become repetitive and dull, due to its lazy booking and looks set to continue to at least till the Survivor Series PPV, if not longer.
#9 Smackdown Live plug Hell In A Cell
Smackdown & Raw are in direct competition with each other and will battle in a few weeks, at Survivor Series to try and establish a dominant brand. So why on Earth did a Smackdown Live panel hype Raw’s upcoming Hell In A Cell pay-per-view?
Jerry Lawler, Lita & Booker T all spoke about the triple main event that Raw has in store for this Sunday and encouraged people to sign up to the WWE Network to watch it.
Why?! Surely they would want Raw to fail so that Smackdown Live would be the bigger brand. Again, where is the logic?
#10 Ellsworth costs Ambrose
Throughout the night, James Ellsworth would beg Dean Ambrose to let him be in his corner in the main event. This was so that he could return the favour to Dean, after everything he’s done for him over the last couple of weeks.
After being reluctant at first, Ambrose would begrudgingly agree to let Ellsworth join him at ringside for his match against AJ Styles.
That decision would come back to haunt Ambrose. After Styles hit Ellsworth with a few cheap shots throughout the match, Ellsworth snapped and hit AJ with ‘No Chin Music’, causing Dean to be disqualified and costing him his number one contender spot.
What does this mean for Ambrose & Ellsworth? Personally, I hope this leads to Ambrose viciously attacking Ellsworth and turning into a ruthless, aggressive heel.
How do you guys think this story will unfold? Let us know in the comments below.
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