SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: While I didn’t care overall for the opening segment (more later), I thought that Owens & Zayn played their roles very well. I liked how they went from believing that they were invincible to cowering to Daniel Bryan by the end of the night. The segments where they were trying to convince other superstars to join them was fun as well. In addition, the main event was a good match until the end (also more later).
Bludgeon Brothers: It was good to see Harper & Rowan re-debut and get back in the tag team fold. They work well together, and as I’ve noted in the past, this will keep the division fresh. I also think that they deserve a good run with the tag team championships, so we’ll see where it goes. Bonus points for debuting not only new gear, but matching gear. I’m the type that prefers tag teams to dress the same, as it makes them appear as more of a team, so it was cool to see them change it up.
Paul Heyman promo: I liked this for a few reasons. Firstly, this was originally uploaded online after Survivor Series, so I was pleased that the company felt it was important enough to broadcast on the actual show. There are many times where wrestlers are interviewed for wwe.com, and have great, passionate promos that are only visible to those that are willing to watch it on their site, so that was a positive. Secondly, this continues to put over A.J. as a strong wrestler, and will slowly build the WWE Championship back up to where it should be.
Natalya/Charlotte/Ruby/Morgan/Logan: This started out well with a good match between Natalya & Charlotte, and then moved on into some other positives. I liked how Natalya didn’t end up losing, so she has a valid point if she was to ever receive a rematch. Secondly, I am intrigued by the new roster debuts, and think that this will help keep things fresh as well. I hope that with 5 new debuts (and 6 if you count Paige as a re-debut) between Raw & Smackdown, that nobody will get lost in the shuffle, but I’m interested to see where things go. Another hit goes to them not pulling the trigger just yet on a Carmella cash in. With an attack like that, it would be easy for Carmella to show up, but they held off, which was the right thing to do.
MISSES
Shane-Daniel Bryan: With the exception of Owens & Zayn’s performance, I didn’t particularly care for the opening segment. It seemed to drag on too long, and then just became awkward. Firstly, I’m not the biggest fan of a possible feud between Shane and Daniel Bryan. I liked how they have worked well together on screen and how it’s not a back and forth feud between Stephanie and whomever her GM is at the time. Secondly, we can only assume that Shane was going to fire KO & Sami, but maybe he wasn’t? Therefore, when DB interrupted to make a match, Shane just stood there. It was just a little weird, and we’d see more oddness from Bryan later with his indifference to Naomi and Becky being attacked.
Closing Segment: Just like many figured, Survivor Series is over, and now Team Blue is against each other. Obviously for story’s sake, the entire roster can’t be buddies, but I just didn’t care for how all of a sudden one accidental punch turns into an entire brawl. For me, it escalated way too fast, and seemed to just be a stretch to get KO & Zayn the win.
Promotion: I’ve never seen a show recently be congratulated for something one week, to being dismissed for it the next week, but here we go again. I love that Smackdown does a pretty good job advertising matches in advance to build up interest. In fact, they made sure to do it again by announcing Owens vs. Orton. But, this is the second time in two weeks that they announced a match, only to drop it. It was odd to see them announce Jinder vs. A.J. Styles on Sunday, and then 48 hours later, postpone it. It’s poor planning, and while everything is always “subject to change,” it can lose fans trust if you continue to switch things around.
Jeff Indelicato has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was knee high to a grasshopper (little kid) after coming across the Wrestling Challenge episode after WrestleMania 7. He has not looked back. His passion has led him to winning wrestling trivia contests in his city, and even won him his Senior Talent Show by dancing to Shawn Michaels’ theme song. When not annoying others with wrestling talk, he loves spending time with his family and friends, and focuses on his other passion: movies. Follow him on Twitter @the_Indel or send him an email at indelpw@gmail.com.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 11/14: Raw invasion, Styles and Bryan talk Lesnar, Charlotte-Natalya, Usos, Opening Pep Talk
The 2nd women’s “invasion” nearly the exact same way it happened on Raw the night before was just lazy booking. None of these “new” wrestlers look very interesting. Crazy Mary has a new name now and looks like a cookie cutter female wrestler rather than the interesting bad ass wrestler she was in other promotions.
Aside from this, I agree with nearly this entire review.
The dynamic duo or whatever the Aussies are called seem to be , umm, missing?!? I figured I’d skip Wades review and just go with Jeffs.. sounds like an odd show. Not sure how the tattooed wrestler gets into the women’s fight, she’s sorta ugly, has bad tats and nothing for a body. Vince is going to toss her in 5 minutes.