We’re getting tired of repeating ourselves, but we feel we must; until we are hoarse from screaming.
Smackdown Live is a much, much, better show than Raw is. Maybe it’s the talent, maybe it’s the pacing, maybe it's the writing, maybe it’s the lack of Stephanie McMahon, but once again the blue brand triumphs.
It’s getting increasingly difficult to pick negatives from the show, so for the sake of the 'worst’ in our countdown, we're glad JBL is still on Smackdown Live. Let’s head to the Fedex forum in Memphis, TN, for this week’s edition of ‘Best and Worst of Smackdown’.
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#1 Worst: JBL falls down during rescue attempt
The returning Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler tried his best to piss off the already incensed Dolph Ziggler, in this edition of the King's Court on Smackdown. The segment revolved around Dolph Ziggler’s newfound attitude that has been the cause of much dissent of late.
An angered Ziggler would superkick The King, following this, his friend from the commentary booth, JBL would get up and try to rescue Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler. Only, it would become a comedy of errors as JBL got entangled in ropes, falling in the process.
We’re glad David Otunga took a cheap shot at him later at the commentary desk.
We’re not sure if we heard it right, but we believe he even referred to Lawler as Lawyer. Confused with David Otunga maybe? Also, we're not sure if this counts as a botch but Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton had a pretty sloppy exchange during their match too.
#1 Best: Return of the legends
The reveal of Mickie James as La Luchadora is big news indeed. While it is almost certain that during the previous segments, it hadn’t actually been her under the mask; the pairing of James and Bliss does work beautifully.
Bliss is known as ‘Baby Trish’ backstage, and Mickie's best-known program had been as Trish Stratus’ crazy stalker fan. More importantly, it gives the Smackdown Women's Division a good worker at the very top of the division, as we discovered from James’ match against Asuka in Toronto.
Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler is a legend in Memphis, and ever since he got taken off the pre-shows, has been missed by the WWE Universe. After all, he was the voice of wrestling’s most popular era.
Even in this limited role, it’s always great to see Lawler make a comeback to WWE.
#2 Worst: Silent Dolph Ziggler
As happy as we were to see Lawler return, this segment did little for us. He started off with a pretty bad joke, which killed the edgy feel of the show thus far. Dolph Ziggler not responding to King's questions did not help matters, and it did become painful to watch.
While we love heel Ziggler, there was absolutely no chemistry between Ziggler and The King. We do hope they’re not having a long, drawn-out program.
#2 Best: Heel vs heel match
Styles is the indie heel, who thinks he’s too good for WWE. The Miz is the annoying heel, who believes that he's a league above everyone else. Ideally, they should be working together against the babyfaces.
What makes the two men similar is the fact that they’re both hungry to be the top guy on Smackdown Live. So, after ages, we had our first heel vs heel match to kickstart the show. With no disrespect to The Miz, we would like to borrow his catchphrase and say that the match was 'awesome’!
#3 Worst: Hype about Elimination Chamber
The Royal Rumble is probably the biggest PPV of the year, after Wrestlemania. Now that we're only two weeks removed from the grand event at the Alamodome, the event should have been the focus of this Smackdown episode.
However, Shane McMahon jumped the gun and delivered the massive Elimination Chamber announcement. Hey, AJ Styles will most likely be in it, so we’re excited to see it. Ummm, couldn’t it have waited a bit?
The answer, of course, is no! It couldn't have waited at all. With so many pay-per-views jam-packed, one after the other, WWE has no choice but to announce shows frequently. It would really help to cut the B pay-per-views by half, for the sake of both journalists and fans alike ideally.
Less is always more, except in Vince McMahon’s world of sports entertainment content. Darn!
#3 Best: Nattie growing as a heel
How do you transform a lovable babyface into a vicious heel? You put her in backstage segments and make her say mean things about everyone's favourite - Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart. This week, we booed Nattie!
That concludes this recap. Goodbye.
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