For the second night in a row, Chicago hosted a WWE show. Thankfully, after the debacle that was Raw, SmackDown was a near perfect show in every respect. There were only three matches, but all of them had major stakes.
The non-wrestling segments delivered too! We had very little to complain about from this week’s brilliant episode, and truth be told, we’re glad that SmackDown Live finished 2016 on such a great note. Here are the many positives and 2-3 negatives from this week’s power-packed Smackdown Live edition.
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#1 Best: Dean Ambush
From Miz refusing to talk to Dasha Fuentes, to Renee Young’s confrontation with The Miz’s wife Maryse, to the Ambrose ambush (can we just call him Dean Ambush already?), to Ambrose concluding the segment by taking our the security guards and speaking into their walkie-talkies; everything about this whole dramatic storyline spells supremely high-quality sports entertainment!
We hope the match between these men is just as good, next week.
#1 Worst: JBL blanks out!
We don’t really know if this was a botch on JBL’s part or if his mic conked off!
Suddenly as JBL was talking about Becky Lynch, before she took on Alexa Bliss for the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship, he stopped at a critical juncture- ‘There’s a reason why she was the first ever Smackdown Live...’ and suddenly stopped for no reason.
This left Mauro Ranallo and David Otunga guessing as to what she was first at. Was she the first ever draft pick? Was she the first ever Women’s Champion? Will she be the first ever two-time Women’s Champion on SmackDown Live.
Let us add a few more to this mix. Was she the first ever orange haired woman to confuse JBL? Was Becky the first ever woman JBL fell for? Nobody really knows! While we’re at it, Mauro Ranallo’s joke about how WWE’s most metal athlete, Baron Corbin is a fan of heavy metal band Baroness was not very good either!
#2 Best: Incredible Main event
AJ Styles, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler simply tore the house down. There was a lot of confusion regarding AJ Styles’ condition heading into this match, but boy, did he ever deliver! Each of the men brought their A-game and shone on the big stage.
Baron Corbin played the role of the big man to perfection and Ziggler was the perfect counterfoil with his hard hitting moves. AJ Styles, as always sold everything like a boss! The match built to a crescendo, like a fine piece of music, and the table spot was a thing of beauty. So was the combined End of Days/Zig Zag spot later on.
This is awesome...clap, clap, clap, clap!
#2 Worst: JBL on Talking Smack
At the time that we’re writing this, we haven’t watched Talking Smack yet. But JBL replacing Daniel Bryan in the program, even for a week is as bad as JBL replacing Bryan in the ring for a match. To be honest, we are wondering if we really want to watch it with JBL as co-host!
We may have to because this is our job after all! Let’s hope JBL makes it entertaining by calling Renee a Maggle!
#3 Best: Smackdown outdraws Raw
The night prior, Raw drew a 12,000+ crowd in Chicago. SmackDown outdid the number and packed the place with 13000+ wrestling fans. This is the first victory of sorts for SmackDown Live, since the brand split and is heartening news.
This is primarily because Raw has always been seen as the main WWE show and the flagship brand of the company through its history. It is unanimously agreed by wrestling fans that SmackDown is the better show. Will it go on to topple Raw in the rating’s battle too? Only time will tell for sure!
#4 Best: Who is the masked Luchadora?
In the words of the New Day- ‘who is this masked woman?’ Who? Who? Who? We know it’s not Becky Lynch, like last week! Who could it be then? These are the questions that keep us up at night.
#5 Best: New Tag Team Champions
We followed them in NXT. We’ve seen them grow in the main roster and showcase impeccable athletic skills. Today we saw them defeat the Wyatt family and become Smackdown Tag team Champions. A proud moment for American Alpha and everyone who has wished them well in their main roster run.
To conclude, Smackdown Live definitely has been the A-show this year. They gave us everything we could ever want. Heck, they even gave Ellsworth a girlfriend!
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