By Jason Powell
WWE Smackdown Live Hits
Money in the Bank announcement: The show was sold for me with the simple announcement of the six names. Smackdown may have a tough time filling out the undercard with those six wrestlers in the same match, but that match should more than make up for any undercard shortcomings. Am I the only person who saw five current or former (Dolph Ziggler) internet darlings and just assumed that Baron Corbin will win the match?
Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler: I’m surprised they didn’t hold off on Nakamura’s Smackdown debut for one more week. After all, they spent over a month building to his pay-per-view debut, yet his Smackdown debut was oddly unadvertised. Even so, it was cool to see him team with Styles for the first time. It will be interesting to see if Nakamura pinning Owens was meant to set up a program between the two.
Jinder Mahal’s Punjabi Celebration: Well, that beat the hell out of a Punjabi Prison match. The over the top celebration with the dancers and the pryo was great. Mahal’s promo was more of the same both in terms of the context and his hoarse voice, but WWE does these over the top celebrations well.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch vs. Natalya and Carmella: The babyface duo got a measure of revenge after their team lost the six-woman tag match at Backlash. Is Charlotte’s turn really this simple? She was happy go lucky with Lynch and Naomi backstage and again after the match. There has to be more to it, right? Here’s hoping the idea is that they are trying to establish that she is friendly with the babyfaces so that it will mean more when she turns on them.
The Usos vs. Tyler Breeze and Fandango: A well booked segment with Breeze and Fandango scoring quick wins that had the crowd buzzing heading into the impromptu tag title match. I’m still not finding much humor in Breezango’s antics and the new addition of a squirt gun didn’t change that. In fact, Shane McMahon looking at the squirt gun as if it was something he’d never seen before was the most unintentionally funny moment of the night.
Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin: Zayn gets a quick win, while Corbin comes back really good post match beatdown. Simple and much more effective than having them trade wins.
WWE Smackdown Live Misses
None: A good two-hour show with a nice mix of in-ring action and storyline development. The MITB announcement made the show feel newsworthy. Bonus points for setting up a match for next week.
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