By John Moore
WWE Talking Smack
Aired February 14, 2017 on the WWE Network
-Renee Young checked in on the Talking Smack set alone. She said Daniel Bryan was on his way from doing “GM duties”. Renee said her mind was blown after assuming we were getting Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. Renee also mentioned how Dean Ambrose has picked up some injuries and has been released from the hospital.
-Bryan showed up and apologized for being tardy. Renee quickly brought up Randy Orton relinquishing his Royal Rumble title shot to Bray Wyatt for loyalty. Bryan said he talked with Shane McMahon and they were having a battle royal to come up with a new number one contender for a match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. Bryan jokingly said it was Renee’s fault for jinxing the main event by mentioning Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt on Talking Smack after the PPV. Bryan said Renee better be careful of what she says or else she’ll get them in trouble [wink!]…
-Alexa Bliss was the first guest on Talking Smack. Bliss said she didn’t know why Naomi was even celebrating and it was embarrassing for her to talk about her eight year journey. Bliss talked about it only taking five months to get to that position. Renee defended Naomi for having many setbacks. Bliss said Naomi had an “injury” and was trying to avoid title defenses until WrestleMania. Bliss said when they get in the ring and Naomi tries to use the “injury” to get out of defending the title before Mania, Bliss would make sure the injury’s legit. Bliss said she will send tickets to Naomi and her family to watch Bliss’s match at WrestleMania.
-Bliss said we can’t celebrate eight years of losses. Bliss said at this pace she would have way more to talk about in eight years given that she won the title early in that timespan. Bryan brought up how professional athletes sometimes peak early on only to struggle in the long run. Bliss said she has nothing to worry about due to her athletic background which caused Bryan to comically look around in faux confusion. Renee reiterated Bryan’s point and Bliss said she will not burn out because she believes she’s the future of WWE.
-Renee brought up the possibility of Bliss having similar injuries in her run due to having similar athletic ability to Naomi. Bliss said no…[Pause five seconds] Because Bliss is better than Naomi. Bryan mocked Bliss’s excuse from Sunday’s Talking Smack of not being hydrated or energized. Bliss said she did in fact have no sleep combined with the pain of the Patriots losing. This baffled everyone in the room since the Patriots actually won!!! Bryan had some fun with this one by rubbing Bliss’s nose in that botched statement.
John’s Thoughts: If Bliss managed to avoid all news in the past couple of weeks, and she watched the Super Bowl on DVR and only saw the first three quarters of that game, she would have thought the Patriots lostl.
-Bryan went over the top in telling Bliss, CONGRATULATIONS THEY WON!!!! Bryan excitedly said that Bliss was so devastated that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl that she lost her championship but now she must be elated that the Patriots won! Bliss tried to shut down Bryan’s hilarious trolling by saying that she’s still tired and she couldn’t get sleep due to watching the Patriots game. Bryan congratulated Alexa Bliss for the Patriots having a good season! Bryan said it was a time to celebrate that the Patriots won. Renee apologized on behalf of Bryan’s rudeness before Alexa left.
-Renee said Bryan was the worst. Bryan continued to dig and said if he thought the Seahawks had lost a Super Bowl for two weeks and then found out they won he would be doing backflips on the table, even if he’s not medically cleared to do so. [wink!]
-Natalya and Nikki’s falls count anywhere match was the next subject. Bryan said he made this match because they fight everywhere but the ring and something had to be done. Bryan said this should be the opportunity to resolve the conflict. Bryan and Renee recapped the footage from earlier in the night and said it was a repeat of past brawls between the two.
-Bryan recapped Baron Corbin’s attack on Dean Ambrose next and attributed the attack to Corbin holding a grudge from the Elimination Chamber. Bryan said Bliss and Corbin have been winners in the past yet sometimes they get to high levels in WWE, yet they find out they are not the winner they thought they were. Bryan said it takes the ability to learn from mistakes, but instead Corbin is blaming Ambrose. Bryan said he was disappointed that we couldn’t see the “Big Hog” compete tonight. Bryan said Renee hasn’t seen what kind of “caliber” athlete Ellsworth is.
-Apollo Crews was the next guest and Renee called him a fine specimen. Crews asked Bryan if he heard about the Patriots. They replayed the footage of Dolph Ziggler saying that he wants to destroy an entire generation. Crews said he was confused because Dolph gave him good advice when he started in WWE yet is looking like a sore loser against Kalisto. Crews said Ziggler headbutted him for no good reason which is against Crews’s upbringing of loyalty, standing up for friends, and fighting for what he believes in.
-Crews said Dolph has made this personal and tried to injure him. They recapped Ziggler targeting Crews’s leg with a chair. Crews said he was worried and hoped this wasn’t the end. Crews said he eats sleeps and breathes WWE.
-Bryan wanted Crews to give everyone his life story, the one that Bryan keeps trying to get out there. Crews said his parents came from Nigeria and his father got a job in Atlanta. Crews said his father put him in a military private school, which built up the values that he lived by. Crews said that’s where he learned friendship and when he sees Dolph fighting his friends, Crews takes it seriously. Crews said he’s not letting Dolph take his hard work from him. Renee and Bryan wished Crews a speedy recovery.
-Bryan called Crews a standup guy with a lot of dedication to his friends, family, and this sport. Bryan said that gives him goosebumps and Crews was one of the guests that he wanted to get on this show for the longest time. Renee said she liked his positivity. Renee said that Dolph was starting to become like Nikki Bella and Natalya as far as the hatred is concerned. Bryan said he tries not to judge people’s mental state, but with Dolph being such a disappointment for so long; it must hurt to have so many great moments taken away from him. Bryan said Ziggler must be losing it a little.
-AJ Styles was the next guest. AJ complained again about not getting a one-on-one match. Bryan asked if he promised AJ that? Styles said that it was Shane who promised it and Bryan should grant it. Styles continued to complain about the triple threat situation. Bryan said he was only doing what’s best for the fans. Styles called Bryan Shane McMahon’s “puppet” and Bryan should honor what Shane promised. Bryan said that it is true that there are people above him that that book the matches. Styles and Bryan then bickered about the timing of the rematch clauses.
-AJ stopped complaining after Bryan told him that he was in the battle royal. He still complained about not getting the singles rematch but he said he’ll take what Bryan gives him at the moment. Bryan and Styles went back to complaining about the timing of the rematch clauses again. Renee tried to tell AJ Styles to have patience. Styles came back by saying that Renee has no say in the decisions around here. Renee said she was trying to make the situation less awkward. Styles said he was going to make this less awkward by walking off.
-Bryan said this wild Smackdown Live had given him a headache. Bryan said everyone was losing it. Renee said that it’s probably due to WrestleMania coming up. Bryan said he does agree with Styles and that he should get his one-on-one rematch, but there are just too many factors. Bryan shifted to talking about the announced Battle Royal and women’s match for next week. Bryan and Renee ended the show by yelling “answers!”
John’s Thoughts: The best part of Talking Smack was Alexa Bliss’s flub on the New England Patriots. That was a piece of gold that Bryan would have been foolish not to take. As for Apollo Crews, he’s still missing something and you would think that he would benefit from a demotion back to NXT to bring his improv promo skills up. Bryan and Renee tried really hard to carry Crews through that segment but he just couldn’t stay on task. You can see why they don’t put him and Kalisto on this show (as Kalisto made a “good Lucha thing” that one time). Styles was okay and it seems like he was instructed to force out the Shane McMahon references. Hopefully Styles can get something better but it looks like that’s the direction we’re headed. Styles can get a good match with anyone so there’s at least that, but I wonder if Styles can find a way to sell the dreaded Shane McMahon air punches?
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