I usually have an introduction for this review but with SmackDown feeling a little repetitive in recent weeks I don’t have much to say. Welcome to the most must-see Vulture Hound weekly review in history; welcome to… The SmackDown Review.
Results:
– Charlotte and Becky Lynch beat the IIconics in a tag team match.
– Zelina Vega defeated Lana.
– R Truth was fed to Shinsuke Nakamura.
– The Bludgeon Brothers literally squashed local jobbers in a 2 on 3 handicap match.
– SmackDown Live Tag Team Tournament Finals: The New Day defeated The Bar.
It’s a YES from me:
The first match of the night saw Charlotte and Becky Lynch team up to defeat the IIconics. The match itself wasn’t anything special but it was the backstage segment that followed which caught my intrigue. Charlotte and Becky celebrated and praised each other for their teamwork. Charlotte exclaimed that she loved tagging with Becky, alluding that there could be potential Women’s Tag Team titles in the near future!
The Miz was in the middle of cutting yet another scathing promo on Daniel Bryan when Bryan showed up and attacked the Miz on the set of Miz and Mrs. Ignoring the fact the show has already been filmed and finished in post-production, Miz got the upper hand and smashed a vase over Bryan.
In what was a long but incredibly intense match, the New Day eventually came out on top against the Bar. Kofi Kingston and Big E hit Midnight Hour for the pinfall victory after it looked as though the Bar might steal it. The Bludgeon Brothers showed up in the crowd to watch the New Day celebrate in the ring. The two sides will face off for the Tag Team titles at SummerSlam.
Ah hell no:
After wiping away his face paint last week – exactly the same way Bray Wyatt wiped away Finn Balor’s demon paint last year – Randy Orton looked to bore us a little closer to death as he cut yet another unimagined promo on the almost completely broken Jeff Hardy. Orton went on to say he’ll become so violent people will want to change the channel. Well, as violent as the PG programming will allow him to be, eh? The only upside is that Jeff might come out of this as Brother Nero.
Before Lana’s match with Zelina Vega, Rusev forgive Aiden English for costing them the match last week and asked him to sit this one out. Guess what? English cost them the match again. As Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas distracted Lana, Rusev attacked him but Almas got the upper hand, so English saved Rusev from attack when he tackled Almas. However, this caused Cien to bump into Lana, pushing her off the top rope, and allowing Vega to hit the double knee strike in the corner for the win.
Two matches that were nothing more than filler saw Shinsuke Nakamura squash R Truth with the Kinshasa for the win and The Bludgeon Brothers also decimated three local jobbers in a handicap match. The preamble to the Nakamura match was pretty hilarious in all honesty. In a backstage segment, R Truth interrupted Renee Young interviewing Nakamura to demand a match for the US Title at SummerSlam. Nakamura responded by asking Truth how he is going to do that despite not earning the opportunity. R Truth, unfounded as ever, retorted by saying, “the same way everyone else does… by pinning Carmella”. Now, this may seem like Truth’s typical confused gimmick shining through, but it actually reflects the state of affairs in the SmackDown Women’s division quite accurately.
Looking forward:
As was the case with my “intro” to this review, I haven’t got much to close on other than there will be some incredible matches at SummerSlam. Yet, I’m wondering how many of these matches will finish cleanly as Shinsuke Nakamura is set to defend his US Title against a damaged Jeff Hardy pursued by a psychotic Randy Orton; Bryan and the Miz can’t fight each other without taking cheap shots; and Aiden English can’t stay away from Rusev and Lana.