Give or take, Backlash was a terrific show. It featured everything that is new about the new era and some really great stories came through to great effect. Smackdown has been monumentally better since the brand split and the 2-hour format plus the Talking Smack aftershow has been a boon to making more characters develop and storylines getting proper time to play out.
This week is a fallout to Styles’ new reign as the biggest prize holder in the WWE, Becky Balboa coming to Philadelphia as Women’s Champion and Slater getting his contract.
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Here are the 5 points to note from this week on the blue brand:
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1: The face that actually runs the place is back
Cena returned for the first time since Summerslam and admitted to the newly crowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion that Styles really is the face that runs the place. But Cena was back to get what he thought was his. And it wasn’t just the armband that Styles wore as a souvenir before he won the grandest prize of them all at Backlash. Cena wants to walk down that ramp as champion again. But not just a champion but a SIXTEEN time World Champion a la Ric Flair.
That’s a fair goal to have and the one and only goal that he’s left with. And he again put Styles over by mentioning that he can’t think of a better guy to win the title from, for that victory to mean that much more.
But a certain former champion didn’t care about all of this at all.
2: The Lunatic
Ambrose’s character saw a marked shift ever since he became champion. Actually, it saw a difference after Stone Cold’s podcast where the host himself mentioned that he was miffed with this laidback attitude of the champ and that he’s resting on his laurels.
We saw him return to his mad side on the show today where he didn’t give two cents about John Cena being present and what he thought about Ambrose ( Cena’s words were much like Stone Cold’s)
To the writer’s credit, Cena’s words would’ve been enough to render Ambrose buried but the former champ had a great comeback when he talked about Cena being one of those part-timers who have nothing left to give to the company except being a corporate puppet and then returning to their shows and movies.
Shane McMahon could not bear this argument anymore and made a triple threat match for the championship for No Mercy.
3: Next chapter
Becky Lynch gloriously won her first ever championship in the WWE and was charming and endearing calling herself Becky Balboa. The fans were elated to see that championship above her ‘boulder shoulders’ and this week it was just poetic that Becky Balboa came to Philly with her newly won crown.
She witnessed the five women match to determine the number one contender and while the division was again put together, it was great to see Carmella and Nikki Bella having their bit of continuity. The Princess of Staten Island again got the better out of Bella but Bliss took advantage to win.
Bliss Vs Lynch sounds pretty promising while a second feud has already been planted with Bella Vs Carmella
4: Slater’s night
The most endearing character in all of WWE is not a free agent anymore. Points to the writers to get best out of Slater and Rhyno’s odd couple pairing with them getting the maximum laughs out of this segment. Slater was thanking his whole family when The Ascension interrupted eyeing the titles. Slater told them to focus on the set and the carpet, the contract and a referee being absent pointed to this being not a match up sort of a situation.
Well, Smackdown’s powers that be could not let this situation get out of hand, so they booked the title match which the champions won.
Also, Slater is officially Smackdown talent. They gave him his moment and let him sign the contract in peace.
5: Must see?
Dolph Ziggler was robbed of a title opportunity with Maryse playing the distraction. He wanted Miz to stop taking such assists from his wife and face him one on one. It was wonderful to see the crowd boo Maryse after she just uttered a sentence. Daniel Bryan arrived to make a rematch but Miz couldn’t stop being his entertaining self. He told Bryan to give him what he asked for at Backlash, backstage. He wanted to renegotiate his contract after his victory. If Bryan won’t do that, he won’t fight Ziggler, who he thought was unworthy of a title shot.
Bryan was seething at Miz’s audacity and made his way to the ring while the champion and his wife bailed through the crowd.
Later, Styles was supposed to find a tag team partner and no one accepted this offer. Except, the guy who Strowman dispatched on Raw, James Ellsworth, was chosen by Bryan as Styles’ partner.
Of course, in a great bit of some stellar continuity, Miz thought otherwise and continued his hate- hate relationship with Bryan by laying out Ellsworth and proclaiming that he is the main event and he will gladly be Styles’ partner.
Styles sold this like it was a miracle from God!
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