March 13, 2020’s crowdless Smackdown was a pretty entertaining show, thanks to Triple H. We got to see some good matches where the focus was on the matches and not everything around them. We got to see some pretty good promos as WWE superstars cracked jokes to help us relax. We also got to see some of the best commentary work in years.
It started with Triple H welcoming us to the WWE Performance Center, the heart of WWE’s developmental program that he was the backbone of for several years. From the start, we could see the respect and honestly in his eyes when he said they do this all for us, the fans.
It was heart touching and authentic. Everything the WWE main brands haven’t been.
Much need humor
More than anything, Triple H injected his brand of humor that helped make D-Generation X what it was way back when. He kept it light when he picked on Michael Cole and other wrestlers. His best line of the night was, “I’m the only man in the history of the world that can get demoted and get busier.”
It was perfect and Michael Cole cracked up several times throughout the night.
As strange as it was to see the arena empty like that, it was also really cool to see the wrestlers not play up or down to the crowd as much as usual and just do their thing. As a fan of behind the scenes stuff, this rocked. It was pretty cool as it seemed like the wrestlers gave a little more of themselves as usual as the focus was entirely on them and it helped make the matches fun. Of course, this could just be because the cameras were focused on them and not the crowd for half the match.
A sign of what used to be
Unfortunately, it also showed the chasm between today’s talent and the previous generation.
Triple H flowed and everything he did seemed spontaneous. It was a perfect example of what many of us spent our lives watching before the over-produced and choreographed product we see weekly now.
His performance carried the show, and twenty years ago he was one of many that could do that.
Still, it was a cool mix of new and old school that us older fans can point to and say, “That, right there!” when we talk about mic skills and cutting promos.
This also raised the bar a tiny bit for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on Monday Night Raw. It should be interesting to see how Raw handles these same constraints.
As cool as this was, the circumstances for it aren’t, and we hope everyone is staying safe out there.
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