No matter how much a show improves, or how good it is to start, there are always miscues or downsides to every decision. And as fans, we get to pull on the strings to see what unravels.
Nothing like a little chaos to make things interesting
- The New Day/Orton and the Revival feud. This has gotten old fast, and the six man tag match felt more forced than not to put the New Day over following Clash of Champions. It makes some sense in that they want to keep Big E and Xavier Woods relevant, but they could’ve done that without Kingston and Orton taking part.
- The build up for Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan is an awesome talent that can make just about any gimmick and storyline work. It’s a rare ability that’s underappreciated. But just like they did with the Reigns storyline, they’re drawing his arc out as a slow burn with a thousand promos that tends to be more annoying than not.
- Kevin Owens sues Shane McMahon. This is one of those double-edged storylines that’s a love it or hate it type of thing. While it’s a cool concept and change of pace, this storyline has run its course. The main thing is, Owens’ character has changed back and forth. He went from being a Stone Cold-type to a humble groveler, and now a cerebral assassin like Triple H. It’s be nice if we knew what to expect from week to week. Have to assume the unpredictability is part of the plan. Now, whether or not it works, that’s going to become apparent soon enough.
- The women’s through the ropes shoulder block. Okay, this one’s been bugging for a while. When any woman wrestler tried to shoulder block their opponent (who is outside the ring) through the ropes, they do it half speed. Then the pause and wait for their opponent to wind up and kick them. Holds are missed and the timing is off all of the time, but generally it’s done at full speed. The men hit the ringpost, they take go through the ropes and their timing works. Whether it’s from lack of preparing or nerves at something bad happening, they continue to miss the mark.
- Heavy Machinery squash match. While they gave Heavy machinery an actual named team this week (the B-Team) there wasn’t any doubt what would happen. The weird thing is, one has to wonder if they pissed someone further up the food chain off or what. They showed a lot of promise and the fans were buying in, so it just seems weird. On the flip side, the Viking Raiders have moved into a partial feud with the OC. An interesting switch in the teams’ fortunes.
- Daniel Bryan’s face turn. Okay, maybe Bryan isn’t exactly a babyface, but Rowan and Harper are pushing him that way as he and Roman Reigns have been the focus of their attacks. There’s nothing wrong with him switching if that’s what they’re doing, it’s just he’s such an awesome heel he’ll be missed on the dark side.
Final Thoughts
Despite these brief moments, Smackdown Live put on a solid show that remains vastly improved from before Eric Bischoff’s arrival, and it should only get better with their war with AEW on the horizon.
