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If you consider the fact that Crown Jewel is only days away, I wouldn't say that this was the most exciting episode of SmackDown that I remember watching. It was fine and there were a few noteworthy moments, but one could have skipped this episode entirely and missed nothing at all, really.
And this is a trend with so many wrestling shows that it is baffling indeed. How many other shows have episodes that you can skip, because it has no overall bearing on the larger narrative?
This is precisely why sports entertainment is losing fans by the day. I wouldn't really say that it was a bad episode per se, but there was no sense of urgency to it, as there is in other TV shows.
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But without wasting too much of your time, here's the best and worst of SmackDown this week...
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#1 Best: Brock Lesnar's backstage attack
Rey Mysterio and Cain Velasquez came to the ring as the former cut a passionate promo about Brock Lesnar, but the Beast Incarnate was nowhere to be seen. And then Paul Heyman appeared on the big screen, and we saw footage of Brock Lesnar in the backstage area roughing up Rey Mysterio's son. And later, Lesnar would assault Velasquez and Mysterio both while the latter was tending to his son.
When WWE allows Brock Lesnar to be an unleashed beast, there is no character in professional wrestling that comes close, by a pretty long shot. If you weren't excited about Brock Lesnar taking on a former MMA star, now there's a readymade storyline for the two men. We have seen that Velasquez can wrestle and so the match at Crown Jewel should be interesting.
Will it be 'match of the year', you ask? It won't, but it's certainly intriguing!
#1 Worst: Kofi Kingston gets pinned
I don't think WWE realizes how much of a star they had in Kofi Kingston, because he's certainly not being treated as one at the moment. He will be in a generic tag team match at Crown Jewel when he could have certainly been a part of Team Hogan.
Moreover, the was the man to lose via roll-up in a showcase match ahead of Crown Jewel. I know there are various theories about him slowly snapping and losing the pancakes, but I still think that Kingston needs to be booked a lot stronger.
The fact that he lost in no time at all to Brock Lesnar did a lot of damage to the man. The fact that there won't be a rematch for the title also proves how little value the company sees in him as a singles star.
It seems like all those months of building him were for nothing.
#2 Best: The main event match
I know that on paper, the main event match did not seem like much. It was just three members of Team Hogan taking on two members of Team Flair and Cesaro. There was no storyline and there would be no consequences.
But the way the match was set up was great. The spots were put together in such a manner that Shorty G and Cesaro got a chance to shine and get over in front of what was a hot crowd. The fact that Roman Reigns allowed Ali to pick up the big win was also a great way to get the man over.
I can't say that I'm thrilled about the 5-on-5 match at Crown Jewel, but if this was a preview of things to come, I am quite interested. I do hope that Shorty G gets a chance to showcase his wares, even after Crown Jewel.
#2 Worst: Misusing Drew Gulak
I have always been a fan of letting the enhancement talent have a gimmick. I'm just not sure that Drew Gulak should be used as an enhancement talent. He's far too talented and far too popular to be slotted into this role.
This is the same man who was the face of 205 Live and can probably outwrestle everyone in the roster not named Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. There's something to the feud that is being built between Drew Gulak and Braun Strowman, but I just don't think he's the right man for the role.
Gulak had moved on from the whole powerpoint presentation shtick, hilarious as it is. It is certainly a step back to see him come back to a gimmick that he had relinquished.
Gulak would be far better on a brand like NXT where he'd be used to his fullest potential.
#3 Best: Rebuilding Lacey Evans
Lacey Evans was never really the most prominently featured NXT Superstar, so for her to be fast-tracked into a feud with Becky Lynch was a pretty bad move. But now she's a lot more confident and a lot better at channeling her character.
This week, she took on a local competitor, cut a promo on her, and teased quitting the match before returning in the nick of time to pick up a big win. I think she did more to get her character over this week than she did in the entirety of her feud with Becky Lynch.
Evans has the ability to get over as a top heel in due course of time. I would love to see her work against someone like Ember Moon because she would certainly get Moon over with the casual fanbase.
If Evans vs. enhancement talent is the route WWE wants to go down, I'm all in for sure.
#3 Worst: Relegating The Miz into the background
I've said in the past that I did not like the idea of Sami Zayn just being a manager and not a performer. I have an even bigger problem with The Miz being just a talk show host because he deserves so much more.
The Miz is perhaps one of the best on the microphone in the company at the moment and while he never gets any credit, he can also go in the ring. All said and done, he's a fantastic character and he deserves to be performing a lot more than he does, as an in-ring competitor, in my personal opinion.
It is just a shame that it has come to a point that he can't be on either Team Hogan or Team Flair. But at the same time, because he's so good on the microphone, he has to host a segment with all of the members.
Turn him back heel already!
#4 Best/Worst: Ric Flair
If you ask me who the greatest promo of all time is, I will say without any hesitation that it is Ric Flair. I prefer his promos to that of Stone Cold, The Rock, and even someone like John Cena, that too by a pretty big margin. But he just isn't himself anymore, these days.
Even though his promo on RAW was unscripted, at least there was a sense of humor to the whole thing, making it interesting. He was extremely slurry on SmackDown and more than one of my colleagues told me that they couldn't understand a word.
But at the same time, he's the greatest WWE Superstar of all time, isn't he? His very presence adds a whole new dimension to SmackDown on FOX.
Speaking of people whose presence adds a lot to the show, The Goddess was certainly missed on this particular episode.
