SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
BECKY LOOKING LIKE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER…
Recap: Becky Lynch faced Mandy Rose during the first hour. Mandy controlled most of the match, but Becky made a comeback and won with the Disarm-Her.
Afterwards, Becky played to the fans hard, thanking them for their support. She said she felt great after racking up some wins. She then said that “Straight Fire” was coming for Carmella.
Later backstage, while emphasizing the fan reaction to Becky, Paige informed Carmella that she would be facing Becky Lynch next week. If Becky wins, she’ll get a title match against Carmella at SummerSlam.
Evaluation: This match was nothing special, but Becky did her usual good job of playing to the fans afterwards. The fans have been rallying around Becky for a few months now, and it appears WWE is beginning to notice.
Forecast: I expect Becky to win next Tuesday and face Carmella at SummerSlam.
FUNERAL FOR TEAM HELL NO…
Recap: Around the middle of the show, Miz held a faux “funeral” for Team Hell No after their loss to the Bludgeon Brothers on Sunday. Most of the segment consisted of Miz emphasizing that he was right about Team Hell No all along. He called Bryan a glory hound obsessed with tugging the fans’ heartstrings, and said his career was dead.
Bryan’s music then hit, but instead of coming down the ramp, he surprised Miz from behind. Bryan took out Miz as well as several pallbearers. Miz ran to the back.
Evaluation: This segment accomplished its purpose: acting as a transition from Team Hell No to the long-awaiting Bryan-Miz feud. There was nothing exemplary here, but nothing bad either.
ORTON GOES CRAZY…
Recap: Early in the show, Jeff Hardy cut a promo in the ring. It was another offbeat-style promo as we’ve seen over the past month or so, but this time he added some “Broken” flourishes, in particular emphasizing the word “BROKEN” when speaking of the heartbreak in losing the US Title.
Shinsuke Nakamura was then interviewed backstage. He referred to Jeff Hardy as a sad clown who paints his face to hide his tears. He creepily asked Renee to smile, then claimed he’d give everyone a reason to smile tonight. He closed by saying, “God Bless America.”
In the main event, Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton on Shinsuke, seemingly to retake the US Title. Before the referee could count to three, Randy Orton appeared and dragged Jeff out of the ring. On the outside, he removed Jeff’s gauged earring and pulled on the hole in his earlobe, to the clear discomfort of the fans. He then hit a Draping DDT from the announce table to the floor before leaving. The announcers were perplexed as to his motivations.
Evaluation: This segment did a good job of getting the normally cheered Randy Orton over as a heel. The earhole pull in particular made the fans cringe.
Nakamura’s backstage segment was the perfect level of creepy for his heel character.
This version of Jeff Hardy doesn’t seem to be clicking. Fans seem more interested in either the “classic” version of Jeff Hardy from 1990s-2000s WWE or Brother Nero (which requires a pairing with Matt to really work) rather than this Willow-type Jeff.
Forecast: We’ll see Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy at SummerSlam. With Randy Orton on a John Cena-type schedule, Jeff will likely be victorious. The purpose of this feud is likely to get Jeff more over as a singles face.
RANDOM THOUGHTS…
AJ Styles and Andrade “Cien” Almas had a strong match with good chemistry….
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – SMACKDOWN 7/10: Tag Division in the Main Event, WWE & US Champions Tag, Battle of the Sexes II
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