By Jake Barnett
WWE Smackdown Hits
AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose: I enjoyed the back and forth promo between Ambrose and Styles. They managed to use some of Ambrose’s more dismissive and comical tendencies productively here, as it gave AJ something to throw back in his face whenever he would try and get too cute with an anecdote or a one liner. Styles giving Ambrose a receipt to the from last week with a kick to the balls was a nice touch as well. The only thing really missing here was a serious conversation about how much the WWE Championship means to both men, but maybe that will be best saved for an eventual rematch.
The Tag Tournament Semi-Finals: The Usos finally got a bit of character development on television with an assault after the bell on American Alpha. This is the spark that the team needs to be relevant long term on Smackdown, and it sets up Alpha attempting to gut it out on Sunday, only for those dastardly Usos to cost them again. Plus, Heath Slater needs a job, and backing into the Tag Team Championships is exactly how Heath Slater should earn one.
Bray Wyatt’s Promo: I have enjoyed Bray’s renewed intensity on Smackdown. His promos have still mostly been full of gibberish, but he was more coherent than usual on Tuesday and focused on the predator/prey theme they have been using for his feud with Orton. Wyatt needs a signature win on Sunday, and hopefully he gets it by hook or by crook. A returning Luke Harper would be a nice get for Smackdown.
Apollo Crews vs. The Miz: A minor hit because this was another enjoyable match between these two. The Ziggler and Miz feud was propelled into existence by the Daniel Bryan and Miz confrontation on Talking Smack, and they’ve managed to parlay it into a match that feels bigger than it should for a two week build. I have a hard time believing that anyone would care about a Dolph Ziggler run with the Intercontinental Championship again, so I’m most looking forward to what may come from a Ziggler loss.
The Women’s Division: This one will appear on my misses list two, but I wanted to make sure to point out what I think WWE is doing right with the Smackdown Women as well. I have generally liked the willingness to spread around the exposure for all the women on this show in comparison to Raw, and the Six-Woman elimination match will allow them to crown a champion and setup feuds that will continue past Backlash. They have also made significant changes to Carmella since her debut, and have successfully kept talents like Naomi and Natalya away from microphones where they still struggle with self-awareness.
WWE Smackdown Misses
The Women’s Division: Despite all the things that are working, there’s still work to be done to make the Woman’s divison a success. The promo work in the opening segment was okay, but the writing left a lot to be desired. Becky Lynch in the only one that feels remotely fleshed out as a character, and that’s mostly because of how involved she was in the successes in the Women’s division pre-draft. The Six Woman Tag Match that got significant time on this show didn’t spend enough time telling stories in the ring that would plant seeds for Sunday or beyond. The focus on the long term is still lacking.
Breezango: These two could be a pretty solid tag team if given the opportunity. They are butt of bad jokes at this point and it’s hard to watch.
Squash Matches: Smackdown could use one on each show, even if it’s brief. It would be nice for some of the talents not involved in PPV matches to get some screen time.
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