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WWE SMACKDOWN TV REPORT
AUGUST 13, 2021
TULSA, OK. AT BOK CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON FOX
REPORT BY ALEX McDONALD, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
[HOUR ONE]
– They opened with a crowd shot and Michael Cole welcomed us to Smackdown. John Cena’s music hit to a decent pop. Pat McAfee said we’re going to start tonight with a legend. John Cena said “very important night tonight” then he ran down the ramp. Cole said Cena will be face to face with Roman Reigns tonight. He mentioned a “strange set of circumstances” leading to the Reigns-Cena match at Summerslam. They then went to a video package recapping the contract signing from a couple of weeks ago. Back live, they showed the graphic for the Summerslam main event. Cena said we are on for Summerslam. Cena said with school back in session he should give Reigns his report card. He called him a “D”, and rattled off words starting with the letter. Cena said at Summerslam, Reigns will get an “F” from Cena. He said he wants to hear what the crowd has to say. A loud Cena chant broke out. He asked the crowd if they thought Reigns would “beat the hell” out of him at Summerslam. The crowd booed. Cena asked again and the crowd booed louder. Cena said he has the answer, and Reigns will beat the hell out of him at Summerslam, but he also knows that Reigns will lose. Roman Reigns’ music then hit. Cole said “this is going to be electric”. Reigns made his entrance with Paul Heyman to boos. Reigns held the title high and his pyro went off as they showed graphics for the Sasha Banks-Bianca Belair contract signing, and the Intercontinental Championship match between Apollo Crews and Shinsuke Nakamura. As they cut to break Cole said “an historic moment, next”. [c]
-They came back with Reigns about to enter the ring. Cena was pacing. McAfee said you only see this in movies, or maybe WWE 2k22. Reigns held the championship up for pyro as Cena looked on. The crowd chanted “Roman sucks”. Cena said the crowd is lively tonight and thanked Reigns for joining them. Reigns said not to waste his time, “let’s get to it.” Cena said he won’t waste time, but will wait until Summerslam to embarass Reigns “on the biggest stage of them all”. Reigns asked if that’s all Cena had. Cena said that’s all he needs. He said Reigns thinks it’s his company, and everyone knows it belongs to the fans. Cena said Reigns is sick about it. Cena said he’s back because he’s the only one that can shut Reigns up. Cena said Reigns has been pushed for a decade because it’s the best chance WWE has. Cena said they asked him to come back to serve Reigns humble pie, which he will get at Summerslam. Cena said the fans have one week to choose between Team Reigns (boos) or Team Cena (cheers). A Cena chant broke out. Reigns said he thought we were going to get something original. He said Cena gave us the same old. Cena said Reigns is going to beat his ass at Summerslam. He said spear, “big punch by another DC superhero”. Cena said he just needs to pin Reigns. He said one more win would make him a 17 time champion, which would make history. He said he’s there to help Reigns. Reigns said he’s not going to bury his opponent like Cena. He said they do compelling story-telling around here. Reigns said Cena might be the greatest. He said Cena might take every slot on the Mount Rushmore. Reigns said Cena is juggling Hollywood and WWE. He said Cena is good enough to main event Summerslam, and good enough to win the WWE Championship, but he’s not good enough to win the Universal Championship. Reigns said 20 years of missionary may have been good enough for Cena, but it wasn’t good enough for Nikki Bella. Reigns said he’s going to smash Cena and send him back to Hollywood. Cena said Reigns has been protected, by the Shield, five Wrestlemania main events, Paul Heyman, two lackeys. He said Reigns needs to be embarrassed. Cena said all he has to do is hang in there, one, two, three. Cena said all he has to do is one, two, three, and Reigns will be the answer to a trivia question. Cena said he’s going to win and leave through the crowd in Las Vegas. He said he may even “blow you a kiss”. Cena repeated again, all he has to do is “hang in there, one, two, three.”
(McDonald’s Analysis: I actually enjoyed that. I liked the theme of Cena’s promo. Repeating the one, two, three, was effective and hammered home the point that he just needs to withstand and persevere through the onslaught of Reigns. I loved how Reigns listened and basically no sold the whole thing, that’s exactly how he should react. I wonder if the CM Punk reference has anything to do with the rumors surrounding the new AEW show tonight?)
-They showed a graphic for Banks-Belair later. Cole called it “the other main event of Summerslam.” They cut to Nakamura and Rick Boogs in the back. Nakamura danced while Boogs played guitar. They showed a video of Apollo Crews and Cole said the Intercontinental Championship match is next. [c]
-They returned with Nakamura’s entrance. Crews was already in the ring.
(1) APOLLO CREWS (c) (W/AZEEZ) vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (W/ RICK BOOGS) – Intercontinental Championship Match
Crews took down Nakamura immediately and hit a suplex for a near fall. Nakamura recovered with a flying kick off the ropes. Nakamura hit a jumping knee for a near fall. The crowd chanted “let’s go Shinsuke”. Crews recovered and took Nakamura down with a running elbow. Nakamura reversed Crews in the corner and propped him on the top rope. He hit a knee to the gut then tried to set up for a superplex. Crews pushed Nakamura off and stood on the middle rope. Boogs jumped up on the apron and distracted Crews with his guitar. The referee ejected Crews. Azeez tried to get in the ring. The referee caught him and ejected Azeez also. They cut to commercial. [c]
They returned with Nakamura getting a near fall. Nakamura went to the top rope and Crews knocked him down, crotching him in the corner. Crews hit a nice superplex. Crews hit a powerbomb, picked Nakamura up and hit a second powerbomb with a sit-out for a near fall. Crews went to the top and went for a splash. Nakamura got his knees up to recover. Crews hit an enzuguiri as Nakamura went for his finish. Crews went for the cover, but the referee caught his feet on the ropes. Crews hit a German suplex for a near fall. Nakamura reversed an Angle Slam and hit a kick. Nakamura hit a suplex for a near fall. He took Crews down with another suplex. Nakamura then hit the Kinshasa and made the cover for the win.
WINNER: SHINSUKE NAKAMURA to WIN the Intercontinental Championship in 11:00
(McDonald’s Analysis: WOW! I’m actually surprised they did the title change there. Nakamura has had some momentum lately, so it makes sense I guess. The match was solid. Nothing special, but slightly above your average TV match with some decent spots throughout. Crews has been IC champ for a while, so I’m not complaining about the change. I wonder if we get a rematch at Summerslam.)
-Rick Boogs came down to celebrate with Nakamura. There was a huge fireworks display. They went over to the announce table and Pat McAfee celebrated with them. They cut to a video package recapping the feud between the Street Profits and Alpha Academy. After the video the Street Profits were in the back with Kayla Braxton. Montez Ford said his last match with Otis was one of the most painful experiences of his life. He said he’s rejuvenated, so he’s not scared, he’s excited. Angelo Dawkins said now that Ford is back “the Street Profits are up, and we want the smoke.” They cut back to the arena where the Street Profits made their entrance. They showed a graphic for the Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy, next. [c]
-They returned from break with Alpha Academy making their entrance. (I love their gear. It’s awesome.)
(2)STREET PROFITS (ANGELO DAWKINS & MONTEZ FORD) vs. ALPHA ACADEMY (CHAD GABLE & OTIS)
Chad Gable and Ford locked up to start. Ford did some flips into an armbar. Gable reversed with a suplex into an armbar of his own. The announcers mentioned how Gable has changed Otis. Ford flipped away from Gable and the two exchanged arm drags. Ford hit a flip into an enzuguiri and knocked Gable into the corner where he tagged Otis. Otis shoved Ford into the corner where he tagged Dawkins. Otis tossed Ford up and hit him with a slam. Dawkins came in and attacked Otis. Otis took him down with a big suplex. Otis took Dawkins to the corner and gave him shoulder blocks. Gable and Otis tagged in and out and hit shoulder blocks. Dawkins threw Gable into Otis, knocking Otis off the apron. Ford dove over the top to “take out” Otis. Dawkins hit his cool-looking neckbreaker move for the win.
WINNER: STREET PROFITS in 4:00
(McDonald’s Analysis: That dive by Ford was a little much. That could have been bad. It looks super impressive, but it doesn’t have the same impact when he barely makes contact. No pun intended. I love tag team wrestling, but I’d rather Gable manage Otis and Otis be a single act. This confirms my belief from last week that they are building the Street Profits back up to be the next challengers for the Usos.)
-They showed Rollins in the production truck yelling at the workers as they cut to break. [c]
[HOUR TWO]
-They came back with a video package showing Sasha Banks’ heel turn from a couple of weeks ago. They showed the graphic for the contract signing later. Seth Rollins made his entrance to a good pop. Rollins said the crowd has been on fire tonight. He said that Edge won’t be there tonight. Rollins said he is as disappointed as they are. He said he wants to put his fist in Edge’s face for all the lies and misinformation he spread last week. The crowd chanted “we want Edge”. Rollins said the crowd has “Edge-lite” according to Edge. Rollins said Edge has done everything there is to do in WWE. He said Edge can’t stand that Rollins has done everything Edge has done better. Rollins threw to a video recapping Edge and Rollins careers. The package showed everything they’ve done, but favored Rollins’ accomplishments. (This was super well done, the two are more alike then I thought.) Rollins said Edge and all the fans should thank him. Rollins said if he had stomped Edge in 2014 none of this would be happening and their match wouldn’t even be on the table. Rollins said Edge would be in a wheelchair. The crowd chanted “we want Edge”. Rollins said Edge has pushed him too far and is making him be a person he doesn’t want to be. He said Edge has put himself between Rollins and the Universal Championship too many times and that affects him and his family. Rollins said at Summerslam he will not hesitate and he will stomp Edge, and if that puts him out for good, “so be it”.
(McDonald’s Analysis: Yet again, this is awesome. Edge and Rollins are oddly alike and the video package was really well done. WWE always excels in this area. I would like to see more of these in the future. As far as the promo goes, I think Rollins was on point. He seems genuinely bothered being compared as lesser than Edge. I also like the turn his character is taking where he’s “thinking things he doesn’t want to think”. I want to see where he goes after the Edge feud. Their match could easily steal Summerslam.)
-They showed the Mysterios talking in the back. Rey said “no mistakes” to Dominik. Dominik said they have their number. Rey told Dominik he can’t think that way. Rey said you can never be over-confident. He said no mistakes again. He said they need to go out and take care of business, because that’s “the Mysterio way”. The Mysterios made their entrance as they showed a graphic for Mysterios vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, next. [c]
(3) DOMINIK & REY MYSTERIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & ROBERT ROODE
Roode went after Rey who recovered and took Roode down. Roode hit a kick to the gut and took Rey down again before he tagged Ziggler. Ziggler and Roode double teamed Rey. Ziggler taunted then locked in a headlock. Ziggler tagged Roode back in and he perched Rey on the top before he tagged Ziggler. Rey recovered and jumped off onto Ziggler. Cole started talking about Dominik’s age and how much money he made as tag champion. Dominik was tagged in. He hit a crossbody off the top on Ziggler. Dominik took Roode off the apron. Ziggler hit Dominik with a Fameasser. Dominik took Ziggler down into 619 position. The Usos appeared on the screen and taunted Rey and Dominik. Roode tagged in and went for an attack on Dominik. Rey shoved Dominik out of the way and told him to pay attention. Roode went after Dominik again, who reversed and rolled Roode up for the win.
WINNER: REY & DOMINIK MYSTERIO in 3:00
(McDonald’s Analysis: They’re going for something here with the Mysterios. I’m convinced now. Cole talking about Dominik’s confidence and how much money he made was weird and very telling. I’m starting to think Rey may be the one who forces Dominik away from him though.)
-They showed a recap of Reigns and Cena from earlier. They then showed the graphic for the match at Summerslam. Baron Corbin made his entrance with no music. They showed a graphic saying “Corbin’s Last Plea.” Michael Cole said this is Corbin’s last chance to get help before bankruptcy. [c]
-Corbin said if things don’t turn around soon he will have to declare bankruptcy. He said this is the final time he’s going to ask for help. He asked the crowd to donate a minimum of $1,000 each. He said he has a credit card scanner to make it easier. Kevin Owens’ music hit. McAfee said he assumes Owens has his debit card. Corbin said he knows Owens is there to contribute, but he doesn’t know if it works with Canadian credit cards. Owens said Corbin needs to stop. He said he thought Corbin wanted to help himself. He said Corbin wants to use people’s sympathy to help him. Owens brought up Corbin trying to steal Finn Balor’s title match and trying to get $100,000 from McIntyre on Monday. Corbin said he won’t leave until Owens gives him $1,000. Owens said he’ll give it to him if Corbin can beat him in a match. Owens said if Corbin loses, he has to stop asking for help and get help for himself. Corbin agreed. Corbin said he wouldn’t be in this position if Owens wasn’t such a cheap, piece of, and then Owens cut him off with a Stunner.
-They showed a video package of Banks’ heel turn on Bianca Belair and showed the graphic for the contract signing. Corbin was on the outside trying to recover as they went to break. [c]
(4) KEVIN OWENS vs. BARON CORBIN
Owens went after Corbin who battled back briefly before Owens took him down and hit a senton for near fall. Owens gave Corbin chops in the corner. Corbin went for his around the corner move, but Owens saw it coming and hit a super kick for a near fall. Owens went to the top rope but Corbin recovered and grabbed Owens around the throat. Owens went to jump over the rope, but Corbin caught him with a big right hand that knocked Owens to the floor. Owens got back in and Corbin mounted him and hit punches than went for a cover and got a near fall. Corbin yelled at the official. The two battled to the apron and Corbin went for a suplex. Owens fought back and went for a powerbomb, but Corbin reversed into a backdrop on the apron. Owens rolled to the floor as they went to break. [c]
They returned with Corbin down. Corbin recovered but Owens took him down and hit a big Swanton Bomb off the top rope for a close near fall. Corbin recovered to hit a chokeslam for a near fall. Owens reversed Corbin and went off the ropes but Corbin reversed into a Deep Six for a near fall. Corbin went for two more covers but Owens kicked out both times. Cole said it looks like Corbin is about to cry. Corbin slid under the bottom rope and came back in to throw Owens into the post shoulder first. Owens went for a Stunner but Corbin shoved him off. Owens rolled Corbin up for the win.
WINNER: KEVIN OWENS in 7:00
(McDonald’s Analysis: So, what does Corbin do now if he’s not allowed to beg for money? Does this mean he’s going to get some menial job(s) to “help himself”? If he’s looking, we’re hiring at the Post Office.)
-Owens hit Corbin with a Stunner and celebrated over a fallen Corbin. They cut to the back where Big E was holding a white board and having Bianca spell her name on it. He told her to be careful and watch her penmanship. [c]
(McDonald’s Analysis: Really? THIS is what they’re doing with Big E? And they moved the draft back to October, so basically, Big E is just going to hang out for 2 months before he goes to Raw. Why didn’t they think of something else for him to do if they were going to fire Black. I CANNOT be the only person who thinks this.)
-They came back from break with Kayla interviewing Corbin. She asked Corbin what he’s going to do now. Corbin looked off, then took off running. Big E was standing there with his Money in the Bank briefcase on a table. Corbin took the briefcase and ran off.
(McDonald’s Analysis: That answers my two questions above, I guess.)
-Sonya Deville was in the ring and she introduced Sasha Banks. Banks came out to a good reaction. I don’t know if she’s really popular or if the heel turn hasn’t been fully understood yet. Deville than introduced Bianca Belair who got a decent reaction. Hard to say who’s was better. They both sat at the table for the contract signing. McAfee said “these always go really well”. Belair asked Banks if she was ready or if she should turn around so Banks could attack her again. Belair said she should have known Banks was going to stab her in the back. Belair said Banks just had to ask for the rematch. Banks said that Belair whipped her with her hair at Wrestlemania and gave her a scar that kept Banks out for months. Banks said Belair “thought they would be best friends, bitch.” Deville freaked out and told them to sign. Banks said she needed witnesses. Zelina Vega and Carmella made their entrance. (Carmella’s character is so conceited that she would NEVER come out to someone else’s entrance music, but whatever.) Belair signed the contract then attacked Vega and Carmella. Belair flipped over the table onto Banks and attacked her. Banks recovered and the numbers game became too much for Belair. Banks, Vega and Carmella beat down Belair. Banks slammed Belair onto the table. Banks picked up the championship and held it high. Banks then got on the table and put the Bank Statement on Belair, using Belair’s hair. Banks said “I’ll see you at Summerslam, boo boo.”
(McDonald’s Analysis: That wasn’t as good as I hoped. I liked the spot at the end with Banks using the hair for the Bank Statement. I feel like we haven’t seen that before. Banks as a heel is awesome and the trash talk during the Bank Statement was perfect. However, I didn’t like her mentioning that the “scar” from Belair’s hair is why she was out for months. That was incredibly stupid and not believable. I’m still excited for this match, but I hope they do a better job with the build next week.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a solid episode, but I felt like they started off hot with Reigns-Cena and the IC title change and it really tapered off after that. Also, it seemed like they tied up a couple of loose ends with the Street Profits-Alpha Academy and Nakamura beating Crews for the IC title, which is interesting since the draft has been pushed back. I think that’s a mistake. We need a roster shake-up badly. The Usos being back together is fine, but are they just not really involved with Reigns anymore? I liked Jey with Reigns better than both Usos being back as tag champions. That might be the number one thing I miss about the Pandemic era. Corbin and Big E? Didn’t we have a similar battle for the briefcase last year? This proves my point that they have no idea what to do with Big E until they move him to Raw and have him beat Lashley, then have no idea what to do with him again. Cena-Reigns and Edge-Rollins are clearly the best matches for Summerslam and I can’t wait to see the final build for them next week.
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