SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE NETWORK REVIEW: TALKING SMACK
APRIL 24, 2021
REVIEW BY NICK MORGAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Hosts: Kayla Braxton and Paul Heyman
This week’s guest: Cesaro, Bayley, Sami Zayn
– Kayla opened up the show welcoming us and noting that it has been 12 days (I think her math is off a bit since supposedly this is being recorded on Saturday the 24 and not right after Smackdown, it should have been 13 days, but I protest too much here.) Anyway, Kayla set up the show by saying that a lot is going on as people are positioning themselves for WrestleMania Backlash. She then turns to Paul and asks him how he is doing? This sets off some more of Kayla and Paul’s back and forth banter as Kayla tried to pull them back to the point of the show: Natalya and Tamina. Really, this is the main point of the show they want to push, the absolutely worse part of last night’s Smackdown. Paul knocked this down and Kayla moved on and worked towards welcoming their first guest: Cesaro.
– As Cesaro came out he stood in front of Paul trying to intimidate him as Paul tried to calm things down by complimenting Cesaro. Paul then laid things out, that Cesaro doesn’t get to talk to Roman. Instead, he must talk to Jey Uso, and if Jey approves he can talk to Paul and then if Paul thinks it’s appropriate, he will arrange an audience with the Tribal Chief. Cesaro stood mute during this and then reached out, shook/grabbed Paul’s hand while Paul talked about being professional, after merging into a two-handed shake, Cesaro simply left and through the whole segment did not say a word.
– Okay, I am totally confused. Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan did almost all of the talking during Cesaro’s on-air segments and here on Talking Smack he doesn’t utter a word. It is pretty accepted that Cesaro is not the best talker, but a couple of weeks ago he cut an Okay promo on Talking Smack, why not let him do another here. I mean they can do retakes and edit and make it good. Yes, standing there silent can intimidate Paul, but as an audience we know that he wouldn’t intimidate Roman with this, so we are left wondering, “Where is the fire in this guy, why should we as an audience get behind him?” For me personally, just the reason that he hasn’t gotten a big push before isn’t enough and just standing there in front of Paul is not productive for him or entertaining for us.
– Kayla sent us off to a break featuring a Peacock ad and the promo for the Roddy Piper biography on A & E.
– And we are back with a thoughtful Paul who went on a short rant about Cesaro and how Paul thinks he is arrogant and threw out a “meta” comment about “if I offend you, you sell it”. Okay, it is fun watching Paul get pissed off.
– Kayla finally announced the next guest: Bayley. After Paul apologized for Cesaro and complimented Bayley and even kissed her hand. Bayley was in full Bayley mode and Kayla pointed out that she was wearing a Sami Zayn dancing tee-shirt (wow, they got that shirt out fast). After that Bayley went off on Bianca Belair saying that she got lucky and that now that she (Bayley) is back, Bianca has a problem. Bayley then went on to trash everybody, with a neat little needle at Sasha about how Bayley has defended her title on WrestleMania, implying that Sasha didn’t and has a checkered past in defending her titles.
– A true pro, Bayley then went to town on Bianca noting that while she does have some talent, she is not ready for Bayley or for heading up the women’s division like Bayley is. This was a classic heel promo given in Bayley’s great annoying character, Bayley is at the top of her game and I am happy to see her getting back into the main event picture. Kayla said goodbye while Paul continued to fawn over Bayley, and we went to break for the Vaccine promo and an ad for Monday’s Raw.
Back on set, Sami Zayn is at the desk and unfortunately not dancing. Kayla brought up Sami’s conspiracy theories and Sami went off on the difference between a conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies which Sami has had to deal with. After a rather long rant, Paul asked about the dancing and Kayla said she loved it and laughed out loud as the clip played on split screen. Sami noted that dance comes from the soul and the deep joy he had watching Kevin Owens get “nailed” by Commander Aziz.
– While Paul kept asking Sami to dance, Kayla and Sami tried to get serious and asked Sami for a hug, as Sami hesitate Paul told Sami to hug Kayla. Both Sami and Kayla demurred, and Kayla tried to go to break as Paul and Sami actually hugged. Sami noted that he actually needed the hug and thanked Paul. At this point Kayla wrested back control and sent us to break for a WrestleMania 2022 in Dallas promo featuring Stone Cold. And we are back.
– After a quick promo for the Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan match on Smackdown next week, Kayla threw to Paul for closing comments on that match. Paul sat there tapping he phone on the desk before stated that at WrestleMania Roman Reigns had the most definitive victory in WrestleMania history and that next week when Roman Reigns beats Bryan again, Bryan will be gone, finished, Kaput, out the damn window. Paul implored any fans of Daniel Bryan to watch next week because it will be the last time you will get to see Bryan in action. Bryan has pushed the Tribal Chief to far and now is the time for the consequences. Next week you will witness the most dominant champion of all time, Roman Reigns. This rant was about 2-3 minutes and was vintage Paul Heyman. It is hard to do it justice in the written word and if you do want to see a master at work with gestures, facial expressions, pauses and the use of the English language then I urge you to go and at least watch the last four minutes of this show.
– The show ended focused on Paul and Kayla did not say anything letting the power of the promo speak for itself as the show ended.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A short show this week at 25 minutes and was a good to very good watch. The end segment with Paul is a must watch. The Bayley segment was good, and it is fun to watch Bayley chew the scenery. I don’t think the Cesaro segment leading off the show landed very well. I can see what they are trying to do, position Cesaro as an intimidating threat, but versus Paul in this setting it doesn’t work that well. Sami segment was strange, which I guess is appropriate when Sami is involved. I am sure everyone watching (including me) wanted to see Sami dance, but all we got was the split screen replay. Yes, I know, always leave them wanting more, but they could have shown Sami leaving and walking up the stage and then busting out some dancing when he didn’t think anyone was watching or filming. That would have been funny and satisfying.
As I noted this was a good show and worth a watch, especially the final Paul rant, but also watch Bayley’s segment, she is really doing some good work in her heel persona.
Well, that is it for now, see you all next week. Until then, take care and stay safe.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.