Following a rather down episode of Raw, Tuesday’s SmackDown Live had nowhere to go but up for WWE. Thankfully, this roster was given the chance to put on a wrestling-heavy show. It made a world of difference.
Three singles matches went beyond 10 minutes and featured one wrestling from the following pool: A.J. Styles, Randy Orton, and Charlotte. That’s a strong lineup.
There was also a tag team beat the clock challenge to determine a Number One Contender that featured some wrestlers that likely really appreciated the chance. People who tune into wrestling shows usually enjoy in-ring action and this show delivered.
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What this show also delivered on was a series of botches, saved forever thanks to the magic of gif images. Since that happens to be the focus of this article series, the following are some mistakes and outrageous moments from this show.
Featured moments include a finishing manoeuvre that slightly missed its mark, Jinder Mahal messing up the name of the title that Randy Orton now carries and a Titantron entrance that needs some serious examination.
So without further delay, here are the 5 botchiest and most outrageous moment from this edition of SmackDown.
#5 Overshot the Grand Amplitude
American Alpha took on the "travel-agents-no-more" Colon cousins in the first of two tag matches that were a part of a Beat the Clock Challenge. They set the bar off right with a time to beat of 5:17. This all almost didn’t happen after witnessing the execution of their finisher.
Either Jason Jordan pitched his Colon too far back or Chad Gable ran too far while he was in the air because the landing was off. This was probably the first time that Chad has found himself completely perpendicular to an opponent while the pinfall was being counted. Looking at his position, the added bridge was kind of moot.
#4 Title names are tricky
Overall, Jinder Mahal’s promo with Randy Orton was really good. He maintained a solid level of intensity and anger while looking pretty sharp in a pricey suit. There was just that one little line he messed up and it happened to concern the reason he’s facing The Viper at Backlash.
Mahal messed up the name of the belt. To be fair, it was known as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship just prior to the brand split and creation of Raw’s Universal Championship. It was also slightly tweaked to ‘WWE World Championship’ in the mid- and late- 2016 when it became exclusive to the SmackDown Live brand.
However, the currently correct name of the title is simply WWE Championship. Whatever the name actually ends up being in the next few months, Jinder swiped it on this night and rode away with it.
#3 No longer the Bollywood Boyz
Gurv and Harv Sirha have mostly been known as The Bollywood Boyz during their pre-WWE careers. Now that they’re joining Jinder Mahal as a band of extremely well-dressed heel wrestlers of Indian descent, they’ve changed their names to The Singh Brothers. Tom Phillips, however, must not have gotten that memo.
When the brothers first showed up to aid Mahal during his scuffle with Orton, Phillips ecstatically proclaimed that we were seeing The Bollywood Boyz. Poor Tom must’ve gotten an earful from the back real quick because he corrected their names to The Singh brothers in a matter of seconds.
#2 Breezango got an overdue opportunity
Remember when Tyler Breeze was a major player in NXT, competing regularly in title matches? He even opened one TakeOver in a singles match against Jushin Thunder Liger, which was fun. Also, remember when Fandango made his main roster debut against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania and won?
These guys have felt like wrestlers that WWE has dropped the ball on, but perhaps this episode of SmackDown Live is the turning of a new leaf?
Breezango became the Number One Contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships when they defeated The Ascension in 2:55. This was about 2:22 quicker than American Alpha’s win from earlier in the show, so they get the big match against The Usos.
It’s outrageous that a team relegated to lower card comedy antics finally get a chance to shine at an upcoming PPV. Considering the recent treatment of Jinder Mahal and to a lesser extent, The Colons, maybe there’s some real truth to these “Land of Opportunity” claims.
#1 Who are you calling a harlot?
Charlotte’s been dealing with an unfortunate issue since jumping over to team blue. Her name is slightly too long for the big screen while she makes her way to the ring. A little bit of the front and a little bit of the back gets chopped off, displaying an unflattering term (google it, it’s nasty).
Being a 4-Time Women’s Champion over the past few years, it’s highly unlikely that she’s felt the need to turn to a lady of the night lifestyle.
That's about it for this article. If you see any botches or any downright outrageous moments in the future while watching Raw, SmackDown, or a WWE Pay-Per-View, feel free to Tweet them to me @MitchNickelson. Thanks!
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