WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 9/10: Bloodline brilliant, mid-card mania, mission accomplished for Becky Lynch as a heel, more

Hits

Acknowledge Them

There are a lot of newsworthy items in wrestling these days, but the fact that the Smackdown main event picture is electric right now cannot get lost in the shuffle. What an amazing segment the show opener was! Roman was absolutely off the charts good, Brock looked more invested than he has in years and years (maybe ever?), and Paul Heyman….Paul Heyman was brilliant. Add in the hot crowd, and we watched the best thing in wrestling right now.

Feel the Heat

You’d never know it was Madison Square Garden by looking at the show, but it sure sounded like it! A great crowd motivated by a great show.

Mid-card Mania

Most days I would hate the concept of throwing the entire mid-card in a single match with a celebrity guest. This week, though, it worked in all aspects. Trae Young, did a great job building heat, the action was fast paced, and Big E got a big win in the Garden. A win for all involved. Big E’s promo was a good one, too, and it was a great move to start adding in the possibility of Bobby Lashley being on his radar to not have Big E lost amongst the challenges of Brock Lesnar and Finn Balor on Smackdown.

Mission Accomplished

If WWE was determined to make Becky a massive heel to complement a superstar babyface in Bianca Belair, then let’s declare this mission accomplished. This was the best showing by Becky Lynch since her return with a nice mixture of her old character mixed with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Throw in some new flare and she was excellent. The real win was the fan embrace of Belair, whose own facial reactions to the ridiculousness in front of her were spot on.

MSG Marquee Match

Another slow-building, but ultimately very good match between Edge and Seth Rollins to serve as the marquee match of the night. Despite some bad booking over the years, both are still stars of a very high magnitude. The ending was absolutely riveting and an astounding win for Rollins. One of the more memorable match endings in ages in WWE. It is fascinating to think about where this all takes both men moving forward including this being an awakening moment for Rollins, but for this night, they created something epic.

One Last Scare

Just when you thought Smackdown this week couldn’t get better after a very entertaining final match with the Usos and Street Profits, the return of the Demon King was the exclamation point to take it all over the top. Is this the end of the Reign of Reigns? It certainly feels like it could be.

Misses

None

Wall-to-wall, this was a tremendous show. Newsworthy, entertaining, and good wrestling. In many ways, a perfect Smackdown.

CATCH-UP: 9/10 WWE SMACKDOWN TV RESULTS: McDonald’s “alt perspective” on Edge-Rollins, Brock Lesnar in MSG, Lynch-Belair Contract Signing, Usos-Street Profits Tag Titles