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SmackDown Live came to us from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona this week, and pretty much phoned it in, through the night. There was far more that we disliked on this very episode, than we liked, despite the fact that the performers gave their all.
We don't know if it is a lack of stars, or the actual stars in the show being kept away from the main event spot, or simply the fact that there is too much wrestling on TV, at this moment; but this show was an underwhelming experience.
Let's revisit this episode and examine the aspects of the show that worked and those that did not really impress us.
Unfortunately, the latter outweighs the former.
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#1 Worst: Low attendance, negligible reactions
At the very beginning of the show, we saw Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens spit fire at one another, in what was a natural, well-scripted and powerful promo battle. The crowd in the arena did not seem to care, though.
We don't know if it was because the attendance was poor, or the 21st-century wrestling fan would rather chronicle everything on his/her cellphone camera than watch history being made before him/her, but the lack of enthusiasm just took away from the segment at hand.
Of course, the crowd alone is not to blame. The material being presented before them was rather underwhelming as well. RAW seems to be the brand with all the stars, while SmackDown has a roster full of talent, who don't seem to show up, week after week.
This lack of enthusiasm continued through the night, and dampened our own enthusiasm for the show we were watching.
#1 Best: The return of Bobby Roode
This was easily the best segment of the night. Ziggler got the right kind of heel heat, as he committed blasphemy and imitated the legendary Undertaker. Ziggler made snide remarks and got the crowd all worked up, before a familiar theme song graced our ears.
Bobby Roode came out to a smattering of applause, but it was comparatively louder than the responses we'd heard through the course of the entire night. We're not really fans of the fact that he's been kept off TV for this long, but as long as his program with Ziggler kicks off, there's no harm done, right?
Zayn got some TV time too and also got to be in the main event of the night. Maybe Luke Harper should knock on a few doors as well.
#2 Worst: Awful scripting
Rusev has proved time and again, that he is a very funny, witty and sarcastic guy, in real life. We imagined that his 'celebration' segment would be quite entertaining indeed. However, he was relegated to the same scripted environment that others have been on the show, and his segment failed to deliver.
The essential problem here is the writing. How can the same company that gave us Cena vs. Reigns in those explosive promos on RAW, write the underwhelming segments that we heard on SmackDown Live? It simply boggles the mind.
#2 Best: Matches were made official
While this may have been an uninteresting show, from start to finish, it certainly wasn't an uneventful one. We learned that AJ Styles will face Baron Corbin for the US Title; we also learned that The New Day and The Usos will battle inside Hell in a Cell for the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships as well.
We also learned that Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler will clash, in what should be a very solid match indeed. While none of these announcements really got big reactions, it was heartening to hear them.
Let's hope that the pay-per-view is stronger than the two weekly shows.
#3 Worst: Major flaws in logic
During Rusev's celebrations over his blitzkrieg quick victory, the mayor of Bulgaria was invited to attend the celebrations and declare that 26th of September would be celebrated as Rusev Day forevermore.
What he forgot was that, at the time of the show, it was 27th of September in Bulgaria.
It was also hilarious how Shane McMahon, a man who's had personal problems with Kevin Owens, only attended the tail end of this week's episode. Bear in mind that he's also the commissioner of the show.
One would assume that he would be back in the thick of things, considering all that's been going on. These flaws in logic make watching SmackDown Live a far less entertaining experience than it should be.
#3 Optimism: Fashion Files on next week's show
Imagine just how weak a show has to be, if one is more excited about next week's show than what we just witnessed. The Fashion Files are the best thing on SmackDown Live, and as one would expect, Breezango is not booked in a program, at all.
Let's hope that next week's episode results in a renewed push for the Fashion Police. Aiden English got a chance to showcase his skills during these vignettes, and look at him now! He's booked on the show almost on a weekly basis, when so many stars are not.
In some ways, The Fashion Files are the new Talking Smack, an avenue for WWE superstars to showcase their personalities and get gimmicks over. Therefore, we are cautiously optimistic about next week's show.
Let's end with an image that will give you nightmares, but hopefully, take your mind of the show you just watched.
