SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The Yep Movement…
Recap: The show began backstage where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were proselytizing the Yep Movement and their planned Occupy SmackDown demonstration, both clearly inspired by Daniel Bryan’s wrestling days. Kevin and Sami approached Daniel Bryan while he was on the phone with Shane McMahon. Upon seeing the “Occupy SmackDown” posters being passed around, Bryan neglected to mention anything to Shane and instead indicated that everything was going well in Shane’s absence.
At the top of the second hour, Kevin and Sami aired a list of grievances in the ring, each punctuated with a “yep!”. They invited the entire roster to occupy the ring, however no one took them up on the offer. Daniel Bryan then entered the ring. He countered any suggestion that Occupy SmackDown was similar to his old Occupy Raw movement by stating that unlike Kevin and Sami’s movement, his was about the fans. Bryan did, however, address any concern that the match at Clash of Champions would be unfair with Shane McMahon acting as special guest referee by appointing himself as the second special guest referee. Kevin and Sami seemed pleased, as did the crowd.
In the main event between Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan was on commentary. He mentioned that Shane was fair “when he was in his right mind”. He also said he related to Kevin and Sami’s indie experience.
After the referee took an unintentional bump, Bryan inserted himself into the match as replacement referee. He was lenient with interference on both sides, and made the count on pinning attempts from both sides. However, he did appear a bit slower in beginning the count on Nakamura’s cover than he was on the cover by Owens which ended the match.
Evaluation: They seem to be giving just enough indication of Bryan sympathizing with Kevin and Sami while pulling back just enough that he’s not openly advocating for them quite yet.
In the brewing conflict between Bryan and Shane, Bryan is clearly the face, regardless of what WWE’s intentions may be. His insertion as a second referee was cheered as much by the crowd as it was by Kevin and Sami. Bryan also consistently comes off as inherently more fair and less hotheaded than Shane. The conflict between Byron Saxton and Daniel Bryan on commentary furthered this characterization, as when Saxton was asked why he thought the match was fair, he responded he thought it was fair because Shane said it was fair and Shane was his boss. Mindless lackey behavior is typically a heel maneuver, both for Saxton and his boss Shane.
Forecast: After tonight, it seems this Bryan-Shane feud will come to a head at Clash of Champions. The uncertainty about who will have the final call when there are two referees will add to the tension.
Jinder and A.J. Return…
Recap: After not being on television last week, Jinder and AJ returned this week. At the top of the show, the Singhs interrupted AJ’s promo to state that they were done with Jinder, and asked to be in AJ’s corner during Clash of Champions. At first AJ invited them to “hug it out with Uncle Al”, but then quickly pointed to social media photos of Jinder and the Singhs together in India as evidence that they were faking. He did say, however, that he liked the idea of a one on one match where the Singhs are not in Jinder’s corner. AJ tossed the Singhs out of the ring while Jinder came down the ramp and mouthed off on the apron.
Later Jinder jumped AJ during a backstage interview, with the Singhs in tow.
Evaluation: There was nothing mindblowing here, but I did think that Jinder looked sufficiently intense going into his title rematch.
I was hoping that the Singhs would not be at ringside for the rematch at Clash of Champions, as win or lose I’d like to see Jinder look stronger. Based on tonight, however, it doesn’t appear I’ll get my wish.
At one point AJ mentioned that the earlier Punjabi Prison match basically encompassed “homefield advantage for Jinder”. Jinder is from Canada. Even if we put that aside and act as if he were from India, nothing about being from India should give him any advantage when it comes to fighting in a bamboo cage. I thought it was an odd statement.
AJ referring to himself as “Uncle Al” during the promo did make me chuckle.
Why was Shane McMahon absent from SmackDown tonight after leaving early just the other week? No explanation was given.
Forecast: I’d be surprised if AJ doesn’t retain on Sunday, but I would at least like to see Jinder look strong with minimal Singh interference. It would be great if the Singhs were banned from ringside as a result of the sneak attack during AJ’s interview tonight. My best case scenario is AJ retaining the title while making Jinder look good, perhaps setting up Jinder for the US Title picture.
There is Dissension Among the Lumberjacks…
Recap: Ruby Riott faced Charlotte Flair in a match that took place almost entirely on the split screen during a commercial break. The match ended in DQ when Natalya (who was on commentary) interfered.
The Riott Squad attempted to slingshot Charlotte into the steel steps as they did to Naomi last week, but before they could, Naomi came down the ramp to rescue Charlotte. As the Riott Squad left the ring, the other lumberjacks for Sunday’s match jumped them.
Evaluation: This served to set up tension among the lumberjacks on Sunday. Very much like on Raw, heel/face distinctions went out the window as all lumberjacks teamed against the invaders.
As usual, Naomi’s moves looked more like gymnastics than fighting. She’s athletic, but I never enjoy her in the ring for this reason. The Rear View would be the worst move in WWE right now if it weren’t for the fact that Naomi also does the unnamed move where she slides on her knees as she slaps her opponent.
Forecast: The big loser in tonight’s events was Natalya, who had been attempting to unite all of the lumberjacks in her favor. With the lumberjacks clearly now not on the same page, any advantage she could’ve had on Sunday will be nonexistent.
Random Thoughts…
-They seemed to have a lot of time to kill tonight. Before the main event, Renee Young did a quick in-ring interview with Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura that seemed to serve no purpose. (Interestingly, the crowd cheered for Shinsuke while Randy was handed the mic.) After the main event, there was a lot of extra recap…
-Breezango is not a great first pay-per view opponent for the Bludgeon Brothers if the goal is to get them over as legitimately scary rather than kitschy….
-The best unintentional humor of the night was Daniel Bryan’s statement that “we do a lot of things where we don’t know how they’ll work in WWE.” That statement could apply to some of what the creative team does…
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – RAW: The Intercontinental Title takes center stage, Absolution attacks Asuka, Jason Jordan turn continues, plus random thoughts
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