SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
This week’s episode of WWE Smackdown has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.
-On this night, the classic John Cena promo worked just fine. The proof was in the crowd reaction and that audience was in the palm of his hand. At some point, he’ll need to keep things serious and address the reality that Reigns is the top guy on the show. Thus far, Cena has avoided that fact and while it hasn’t affected things yet, it will hurt his credibility if he keeps it up.
-Give me Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor any day of the week. They showcased some chemistry together and it made for an effective opening match.
-That’s it from Big E? The biggest win of his career and that’s it? Big E needed more time to define this moment. It was mission statement time, but he was unceremoniously interrupted instead. The audience needs an avenue to invest in him outside of the comedy shenanigans. Coming out of Money in the Bank, this was the moment. Strike one, WWE.
-So, forgetting the fact that there were TONS of people crammed together watching, the WWE presentation at Rolling Loud was great. In particular, the shot looking out onto the crowd was notable.
-A good next step for the Edge and Rollins program. Edge framed his loss to Reigns as a big deal and transferred that heat onto the back of Rollins. The Rollins act is stale overall, but he freshened it up by combining the grating laugh attitude with words that conveyed a threat.
-You can’t bet on any NXT call-ups these days, but Toni Storm looked like she fit within the format and tone of the show. Smackdown needs depth in their women’s division. Storm provides that and then some.
-Roman Reigns appeared to be on his game times two this week. A little more emotive than usual and it worked to thoroughly dismiss John Cena. As far as the Balor challenge goes, it will certainly be a good match, but the inevitable Balor loss sends him down a familiar road less than a month after being reintroduced.
Seth Rollins’ act is NOT stale, he crushes everything he does lately and is laugh out loud hilarious sometimes.
Each their own and everything, but this is the most entertaining Rollins has ever been to me now that he ditched the boring Messiah shit