Every once in a while a show comes along that reminds us why we are wrestling fans and why we continue to watch WWE even though the product is nowhere near as good as it once was. This week was one of those episodes.
Everything about SmackDown was absolutely A+, from the storytelling to the promos, as well as the matches. Live from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, we saw an episode that we will remember and cherish for a long time. The episode was so good that we have very few complaints.
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However, we certainly have a job to do, so here’s the best and worst of the blue brand this week.
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#1 Best: Exhilarating top contender’s match
Luke Harper is one of the best big men to have come along in a while, in terms of in-ring skills. AJ Styles is widely acknowledged as one of the best wrestlers in the world right now, if not the absolute best.
When you put them together, the result is magic. Each man gave it his all in the ring, with some exciting spots and some impeccable storytelling. Shane McMahon’s involvement added a new dimension to the match that will certainly play out in the coming weeks.
Styles executed a 450-splash that was absolutely ‘phenomenal’ to pick up the big win. Not only did it prove that Styles is one of the best wrestlers around, it also elevated Harper a notch.
JBL compared Styles to Shawn Michaels during the course of the match, saying that he never has a bad day!
#1 Worst: The match we’ll eventually get
AJ Styles has had the best first year in the WWE, maybe the best in the company’s history, from entering as a top acquisition to becoming a world champion in almost no time. He certainly deserves better than Shane McMahon, but from the looks of it, that's what we will get at the showcase of the immortals.
AJ Styles cannot have a bad match, and we're sure Shane will bring his A-game as well. However, as fans, it'll be heartbreaking to see Styles lose his Number 1 contender’s spot to Randy Orton.
The worst part - it doesn’t seem like Luke Harper has a big match at Wrestlemania either!
#2 Best: Scathing promos across segments
John Cena was the guest on Miz TV this week, and like every other guest in the past, he has entered into a program with The Miz and Maryse. Oh yeah, Nikki Bella is involved as well. Here's the good news, though! The promos were absolutely brilliant.
Sure, it was a lot of the same ‘John Cena is a part timer, Cena is a manipulator, Cena takes away opportunities’ promo (which was countered by Cena with his standard John Cena lines), but the delivery was fabulous.
If that wasn't enough, Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin had a pretty solid war of words as well, and we cannot wait for them to square off, presumably for the IC Championship.
Alexa Bliss was great as always, feigning an Academy Award winning performance for becoming the 2-time Women’s Champion. Amazing segments!
#2 Worst: Mixed-tag match for next week?
James Ellsworth will be in the ring with another top star next week, in what JBL called the first ever inter-species match. To be honest, we are sick to the hilt of him getting involved in such high-profile segments and think that he should be kept off TV as much as it is possible to do so.
We certainly hope that this match ends very quickly. There are legitimate wrestlers like Curt Hawkins and Jack Swagger backstage who do not get TV time while this jobber does, regularly.
#3 Best: The massive swerve
Randy Orton turned babyface today with a brilliant swerve and also by rather dubious means. After all, he did commit arson and burn private property down. He did desecrate the final resting place of the oft-mentioned Sister Abigail, with kerosene and fire.
However, it was all for a better cause. While we did hear the rumours that Orton would be going to WrestleMania to face Bray Wyatt, we did not expect his betrayal to happen in this manner. This segment was reminiscent of the Attitude Era and we loved it immensely indeed.
We are just glad that the swerve wasn't just another RKO outta nowhere!
#3 Worst: The end of the Wyatt family?
Braun Strowman has gone solo. Luke Harper is having a great singles run. Randy Orton just turned on Wyatt this week. We don't know where Erick Rowan is right now. Does this mean that the Wyatts are no more?
Is this truly the end of an era? With these guys, you never know really.
This was one Blissful episode of Smackdown Live indeed. Can we have more of such episodes, please? Especially where Alexa looks like this!
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