By John Moore
WWE Talking Smack
Aired January 3, 2017 on WWE Network
-Renee Young and Daniel Bryan checked in from the Talking Smack set. Bryan called himself Daniel “Boom Boom” Bryan based on the crowd reaction he got. Renee transitioned to talking about Smackdown beating Raw in the ratings. Bryan said it takes a while for people to acknowledge that Smackdown was better. Bryan compared this to WCW winning the ratings war even though WWE had a better product until the balance shifted and stayed on WWE’s side.
-Bryan said this journey has been fun to see how Smackdown evolves with people in new positions. Renee talked about getting slapped by Maryse. Bryan said he has some kind of rash on his neck. Bryan said Maryse was getting fined $5000 for slapping a non-in-ring talent.
-Bryan mentioned how Smackdown puts title matches in main events as opposed to Raw which would put talking or contract signings in their main event slot. Bryan said he’s going to try to convince people to put the Wyatt Family vs. American Alpha in the main even slot next week for the Tag Team Championships.
-Baron Corbin was the first guest. Corbin said he went out there to make a statement and is planning to make it come to life with him winning the Royal Rumble to face whoever is holding the championship. He said he was leaving Mania as the new World Champion. Corbin brought up AJ Styles saying that he was the reason Smackdown beat Raw in the ratings. Corbin said that wasn’t true since AJ has been champion for a while, while the rating shifted when Corbin was added to the Main Event.
-Baron Corbin said he was looking through John Cena to the Royal Rumble and to WrestleMania. Bryan said Cena has been the man in the company and looking through him shouldn’t be hard. Corbin said Cena was part time. Corbin said this era was the end of Cena’s time because he puts half effort and half-time.
-After Corbin left, Bryan mentioned how last week’s main event was a team effort and there might be some truth behind Corbin saying that it was because of Corbin that the ratings shifted. Bryan said Corbin looked like a monster coming out of the match. Bryan said Corbin might win the Rumble since he won the Andre Battle Royal.
-Renee wanted to know about the source behind the John Cena part-time ramblings backstage. Bryan said he does have the issues to this day that someone like Dean Ambrose who leads the company in participating in house show main events. Bryan said part timers come in at WrestleMania to take the best spots away from people who work over 200+ matches. Bryan said Ambrose has led the last two years in WWE matches while people before him have gotten injured after only one year of leading the company in that statistic. Bryan said he understands that Cena does deserve praise since he was a part of that grind but Bryan also agrees with the locker-room that harps about part-timers.
-Carmella and James Ellsworth were the next guests. Carmella tried to play things off that nothing was funny going on. James Ellsworth changed the subject by saying he’s apologizing for his interference. Carmella said Ellsworth doesn’t have to apologize. Bryan said Ellsworth interfered in a women’s match. Bryan said when he touches a woman who doesn’t want to be touched, [raspberry noise].
-Renee wanted to know what Carmella and Ellsworth do together. Carmella said they have fun together. Bryan was intrigued and wanted to know what kind of fun do they have. Carmella assumed he was alluding to something. Bryan said he honestly wants to know what they do for fun. Carmella couldn’t really answer and says that he helps her with her bags and holds things. Ellsworth said he’s a true gentleman. Carmella also called him “Jimmy”. Bryan wondered if she called him the “Big Man” or the “Big Dog”. Carmella said not yet. Soon Carmella and Ellsworth awkwardly left.
-Bryan mentioned how he did a ride along with “Jimmy Dream”. Renee said Carmella doesn’t have proper intentions with James. Bryan said Renee does not know what James Ellsworth brings to the table. Bryan said James might be “bigger” than we think he is [wink!].
-Bryan said Natalya and Nikki Bella’s feud has gotten pretty intense. Bryan said they’ve both been attacking each other are in ways that aren’t valid. Bryan said they are both hard workers that should be role models but they are focusing on negatives between each other. Renee then talked about next week’s stacked card featuring John Cena vs. Baron Corbin and the Tag Title rematch.
-Bryan wanted to talk about American Alpha next but he was interrupted by Miz. Miz wondered if Renee was happy. Miz said this has everything to do with Renee and Bryan. Miz gloated about making the IC title prestigious. Miz said Ambrose only won because of doing a favor for Renee who was a journalist getting in the way of the main event. Renee tried to defend her actions. Miz told Renee to journalize! Miz and Renee bickered.
-Bryan informed Miz that Maryse was getting fined for the slap against Renee. Bryan said Miz lost the match. Miz said that a disqualification should have happened because Maryse slapped Dean Ambrose. Miz said everyone in this company is plotting against him. Bryan said Miz wants to keep the title by cheating. Miz said he wasn’t cheating, Maryse was. Miz tried to blame it on Renee. Bryan brought up Miz hitting him with the Intercontinental Title. Miz almost blew a gasket. Bryan said Miz complains about other people, but this is only because these people are better than Miz.
-Miz said Bryan was not better than him and he’s the best. Miz ranted and yelled at everyone. He said he was so sick. Miz said people were plotting against him as he blew up and eventually walked away. He continued yelling on his way out. This ended the show on an awkward note.
John’s Thoughts: The show is always better with Bryan and Miz at the helm. The weak point of this week’s episode was Carmella, who didn’t know how to handle Bryan’s teasing, but Ellsworth’s charm countered that. Corbin continues to shine in this setting. Miz did well in his rant. He also wasn’t at all trying to shoot, it was all kayfabe and just how the cheating Miz character should act when he got busted. I also thought they handled the Renee integration very well, or at least as well as they could have handled it. This also has me wondering where has Shane McMahon been? I also wonder if this leads to him overturning the IC Title change. If so, it would lead to Ambrose being the king of the Dusty Finish in WWE.
Is there any editing or proof-reading? This makes it sound like Corbin was arguing with himself
Corbin brought up AJ Styles saying that he was the reason Smackdown beat Raw in the ratings. Corbin said that wasn’t true since AJ has been champion for a while, while the rating shifted when Corbin was added to the Main Event.