WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES (10/25): Cody Rhodes our Messy King, Triple H came to Play, Motor City Gold, Game 7 Was a Dud, Big But Quiet Crowd

This week’s episode of Smackdown was chaotic! Storylines took unexpected and exciting turns, though some logical conclusions arose from illogical booking decisions. Compelling promos and a wild title change meant this episode stuck the landing and avoided feeling hollow. As always, I’m Chris Adams and you can reach me at cadamsowj@gmail.com if you think I’ve “Missed.”

HITS

Cody Rhodes, Our Messy King: Other than the title change, what I remember most is Cody Rhodes declaring himself to be a messy king. Last week, on the post show with Wade Keller, I was highly critical of Cody and his enthusiastic embrace of the Crown Jewel Contest of Champions. I’ll point out that I was doing so while wearing three different types of Cody Rhodes merchandise. Obviously, I love the guy! Last night, he came with a wonderful counter to what we got last week. It is not just about the belt, or the ability to call oneself the champion of champions. The story has evolved into something much more personal between Gunther and Cody. While I’m still not a fan of the belt and the reasons for its creation, I can appreciate that the story between the two champions has evolved into something with more substance. Both men spoke from the heart, and Cody’s humanity shined forth in the face of Gunther’s barbaric, egotistical, and narcissistic smile. The heat between the two feels real, and Cody’s willingness to embrace his messiness and complexity is a great layer to add to his persona. This segment did wonders for increasing my excitement for this clash at Crown Jewel.

MCMG Get The Gold: My entire family cheered when the Motor City Machine Guns beat the Bloodline to become WWE Tag Team Champions. I don’t think anybody expected them to win. But they overcame the odds and emerged victorious in a match that was also full of rich Bloodline story development and the reunification of the Usos! Let’s hope this reign from the Guns lives up to the excitement of this surprising and monumental victory.

Triple H Came To Play: Once again, it’s a promo segment capturing my attention. Like the segment between Cody and Gunther, there was a realness in what happened between Triple H and Randy Orton. There was a realness behind Triple H’s concern for Randy’s protection. We all know the pain Randy has gone through. We can see the scar on his back. We know that Kevin Owens has a history of targeting backs with apron power bombs. We know all of this, and thus Triple H’s concern becomes our concern. Our emotional connection to Randy connects us to Triple H and we are drawn into this world, even though we know with our minds it is scripted. It has become real by allowing us to have real, human connection with and concern for Randy Orton as he demands to fight one of the toughest of them all. I wouldn’t mind seeing Triple H interact as a performer more often than he does. Different than anybody else from the Attitude Era, he has a gravitas to him that immediately adds weight to whatever segment he’s in.

Naomi Wins Again: Naomi continues to gain momentum and rack up a sizable number of wins. I would appreciate a more nuanced development of her character, and hope she receives more time with promos and backstage segments. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see the glow continuing to shine week after week!

Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Smackdown: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

MISSES

Game 7 Was A Dud: This was supposed to be the final match of the feud between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade. It felt amazing, the flow of the match perfectly put together and executed by performers who seem destined by the stars to be locked together in mortal combat. Yet it ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. LA Knight’s interruption of the match and subsequent ending of the match without a winner made him look absolutely foolish, selfish even. He had to have known there would be consequences for what he did, and so it was no surprise when the Triple Threat match was announced for Crown Jewel. The Triple Threat felt like a logical conclusion, but how it was executed was jarring and robbed us of a proper ending to Andrade and Hayes’s personal feud. They could have arrived at the Triple Threat in a cleaner and more satisfying way. Let’s hope the Triple Threat itself delivers on something spectacular. Otherwise, this decision will look even more foolish.

The Crowd: It looked like a packed house, but it sounded rather empty. The crowd was dead especially for the match between Naomi and Candice LeRae. There’s not much that WWE can do about it, but in segments like that, it just makes everything feel so sad. Rather than focusing on the work itself, and the performance, that emptiness feels like a black hole sucking up all the attention. It’s hard not to feel for the performers.

Stay right here and keep the flow going. We think you’ll like to read this next…

RECOMMENDED NEXT: WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS (10/25): Keller’s report on Andrade vs. Carmello in “game seven” match, Machine Guns vs. DIY, plus Cody-Gunther, Reigns

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: WWE Smackdown results (10/25): Powell’s review of Motor City Machine Guns vs. DIY for a shot at the WWE Tag Team Titles, Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes “game seven” with LA Knight as special referee

(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at kellerwade@gmail.com. You can also send live event results and news tips to that email.)