SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JULY 3, 2018
OMAHA, NE. AT CENTURYLINK CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Arena/Opening Thoughts
WWE will arrive in Omaha, NE. tonight as Smackdown will emanate from the CenturyLink Center where it last appeared over five years ago in May of 2013. We inch closer to Extreme Rules, which is just under two weeks away.
Last week did not produce many newsworthy topics until the end of the show where we saw the reunion of a Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan and Kane. Kane saved Bryan from a beat down by the Bludgeon Brothers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, following Bryan’s match with Harper. They officially reunited with their signature hug and were granted a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules by G.M. Paige. Tonight, WWE has announced they will kick off the show. Isn’t it ironic that Dr. Shelby returned last night on Raw for Bayley and Sasha Banks’s counseling? If you don’t remember, Dr. Shelby did anger management courses for Team Hell No back in 2012. They became one of the more memorable tag teams in history. This was part of the platform that launched Daniel Bryan’s popularity. He would go on to be involved in the WWE Championship picture from the summer of 2013 all the way to the “Miracle on Bourbon Street” at WrestleMania 30, when he captured the title in the main event. With that said, we’ll look forward to what they have to say tonight as well as what else WWE has on the menu for the evening’s festivities.
Inter-gender Match: Asuka vs. James Ellsworth
Last week James Ellsworth came out to call out Asuka, following him being kicked by her the previous week. He claimed he loves women, his love life was great, and other things that I’m fairly certain nobody believes. G.M. Paige came out and told Ellsworth that he knew full well Asuka wasn’t in the building, but rather home with her family in Japan. Ellsworth then assumed Paige came out to ask him on a date, to which she said yes and it would be next Tuesday (meaning tonight). She actually made him believe she was interested until she revealed it was really a match with Asuka.
Thoughts: You can’t have too many expectations for this, but when Ellsworth is around you can certainly expect some moments. I just look for this to be a building block towards the championship opportunity Asuka has against Carmella at Extreme Rules.
Non-Title Match: WWE Champion A.J. Styles vs. Aiden English
At Extreme Rules, WWE Champion A.J. Styles will defend his title against Rusev. Tonight, Styles takes on Rusev’s “sidekick” and resident singer Aiden English in a non-title match. On the evening Rusev won the opportunity to fight for the championship, English disrespected Styles by offering his hand in sportsmanship and pulling it away when Styles accepted. English got a “knuckle sandwich” for his efforts, as Styles laid him out. Rusev, in the ring at the time, appeared frustrated with English. Nonetheless English said on Twitter that at Extreme Rules, the house that A.J. built comes crashing down, “and it all happens on Rusev Day.”
At #ExtremeRules the house that @AJStylesOrg built…comes crashing down. And it all happens on #RusevDay pic.twitter.com/j25ytadfVy
— Aiden English (@WWEDramaKing) June 27, 2018
Last week following his victory over Xavier Woods, Rusev claimed he wanted to “break down the door to Styles’s house, take the title, and it will be a great Rusev Day.”
Thoughts: There’s a confusing message with Rusev. One week he wants to be a good sport, the following week he wants to break and enter into Styles’s house. It doesn’t make sense week-to-week. English has at least been consistent acting heelish. This match tonight makes me think of when he worked with Randy Orton some time ago. It was a well fought loss for English and so we’ll see if we get a similar match tonight.
Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce
We were supposed to have this match last week until WWE switched it up and had Becky Lynch work with Sonya Deville (with Mandy Rose in her corner). Becky was victorious after Mandy inadvertently shoved Sonya into Becky and allowed her to apply the Disarm Her for the submission victory.
Becky Lynch looks to go two-for-two over the Australian duo, The IIconics. Two weeks ago, Becky scored a victory over Billie Kay and tonight, she looks to do the same against her partner Peyton Royce.
Thoughts: I’ll repeat my sentiments from last week. I’m happy Becky is getting featured more as of late. For my money she is the best babyface woman’s wrestler on the roster. I’m not 100% certain, but we could be looking at her getting involved in the Smackdown Woman’s Championship picture come SummerSlam depending on what happens between Asuka & Carmella at Extreme Rules.
Independence Day U.S. Championship Open Challenge
WWE is telling us that Jeff Hardy will issue a U.S. Championship open challenge this evening on the heels of Independence Day. Last week he was to face Shinsuke Nakamura, until we learned Shinsuke had an incident with a police dog at the airport. (Did he complain that TSA didn’t speak Japanese to him? As someone who spends quite a bit of time at airports, these things are near and dear to me.) Nonetheless Hardy issued an open challenge to which Eric Young of Sanity answered. They fought to a no-contest when The Usos arrived and a brawl broke out between all parties. The match was tossed but a six-man tag ensued, which was won by Hardy and The Usos.
Thoughts: Interesting to see Sanity take the loss here. As far the the U.S. open challenge, it’s a cool concept but one that could be used only so much. We’ll see tonight if Eric Young answers the call again or they go in another direction. Shinsuke could be in play as well.
New Day: First Annual Third of July Pancake Eating Contest
This is happening. All three members of New Day will compete in a pancake eating contest. It’s not confirmed whether the pancakes will be made from scratch, Bisquick, the Aunt Jemima complete mix, or ordered from IHOP. Whether or not syrup and butter will be used is yet to be determined.
Thoughts: Excuse the sarcasm but seriously? This is the first annual, so it will happen again? Is Smackdown (or wherever New Day ends up in the future) going to move each year to accommodate this? I listened to Bruce Mitchell’s take on New Day’s gimmick on Wade Keller’s podcast as well as reading his article at the time. If you’re a VIP PWTorch member I suggest researching both items and you’ll see why I have no use for this segment tonight.
Other Items
• As I’ve said for a few weeks, Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara is still in play. In a selfie promo, Almas’s business manager Zelina Vega asked where the competition is, and then advised everyone stay out of their way.
• The Miz had the Bludgeon Brothers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan on MizTV. He misread the intentions of Harper & Rowan following their beatdown of Daniel Bryan the previous week. He thought they wanted to be in the Miztourage. He also offered them a role in “Ruff Ruff Ref.”
• To the delight of Wade Keller, Tye Dillinger cut another promo involving him being a “10.” I’m with Wade as it’s quite frustrating to constantly call attention to this when he could be out in the ring working or just not talk about being a “10.”
Wrestlers Advertised, Dark Matches, and 205 Live
The CenturyLink Center’s website doesn’t show any matches or advertised wrestlers.
205Live will follow Smackdown. Buddy Murphy faces Mustafa Ali in a no-disqualification match. Lio Rush is expected on the show as G.M. Drake Maverick tweeted the following:
I have been requested via email to let you all know that @itsLioRush has arrived in Omaha, NE
Thank you.
— Drake Maverick (@WWEMaverick) July 3, 2018
Start time is shown at 6:45 CDT.
Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or email me at fpeteani@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
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