One of the things I’m enjoying the most at the moment in the world of professional wrestling, is ‘Talking Smack’.
The show, which is hosted by Mrs Dean Ambrose Renee Young and featuring Smackdown Live Commissioner Daniel Bryan, provides a weekly discussion on all things blue brand.
Young is fantastic in her role, and asks the important, to the point questions without patronising the fans or the talent, which makes the show far more enjoyable than other interviews/panel shows.
What’s fantastic about this show, is the opportunity it presents for the talent of Smackdown to showcase their personalities.
Take Carmella for example, for those of you that don’t watch NXT, from what we’ve seen of her on the main roster so far, we don’t know an awful lot. The ‘Princess of Staten Island’ has the potential to be not just one of the best superstars on the roster, but without the ability to showcase this, people can’t connect with her. That’s where Talking Smack comes in.
One week, Carmella would attack Nikki Bella during her interview, then the following week would be a guest herself and express her ill feelings towards Bella, as well as why she assaulted her.
The same goes for Alexa Bliss, who is in the same boat as ‘Mella, with regular WWE fans not being familiar with her personality.
She has been given the chance to get her story across to the viewers, her back story and again, give the fans a reason to care about her. I feel like the show adds interest and helps build up feuds, with superstars given additional promo time to promote themselves with.
Even with a guy like John Cena, who is arguably the top superstar of the last decade, benefits from Talking Smack, as sometimes on Smackdown there isn’t the time for each of the top guys to each get microphone time.
The blue brand superstars have an hour less than the Raw guys and girls to perform, so the additional half an hour of airtime does them the world of good.
It also has that authentic, unscripted feel about it, almost like a shoot promo, but as far as WWE superstars could go without breaking kayfabe.
The Miz is a superstar that is one of if not the most underrated in the entire of WWE, by the fans at least. I do feel alone in being a Miz fan, but I don’t understand why people don’t appreciate him more (but more on that at a later date).
The promo he cut on Daniel Bryan got the world of wrestling talking. Was it real? Was it scripted? One thing’s for sure it made people stand up and take notice of the Intercontinental Champion.
Speaking of the Intercontinental Title, that belt has had so much buzz around it thanks to not only Miz, but the excellent work of Dolph Ziggler it feels more of a big deal than the Universal Title over on Raw.
See the key to getting over with the fans, is connecting with them. Take those that rarely speak or interact with fans such as The Ascension, Erik Rowen, Neville, Apollo Crews, sure the latter two have the in ring ability to excite, but fans don’t feel as engaged in them.
The same applied to The Uso’s, but their recent appearance on the show got people talking, their attitudes were different, they showed cockiness and arrogance never displayed previously. Having recently turned heel, people can invest in their characters now, as they seem more genuinely dislikable, which has reinvented them.
I’d like Jack Swagger to be given the same opportunities and anyone else attempting a change of attitude to help establish it and them.
I think Raw would benefit greatly from a show such as this, perhaps hosted by Cathy Kelly and featuring Mick Foley (seeing as he spends all his time off television tweeting in character anyway).
It’d give people like Bo Dallas, Cesaro, Gallows & Anderson and others a chance to express themselves and let people know who they are. In the case of Cesaro, he’s often been criticised for his lack of personality and charisma, but if they would just let him talk I’m sure the ‘higher ups’ of the company would be pleasantly surprised.
Maybe if these superstars were given the exposure and attention they deserve, WWE management wouldn’t be so hasty to simply cast them off and give us another case of wasted talent.
Would Raw benefit from a Talking Smack type show?
Is Talking Smack a good show?
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