Here’s my take on the happenings of Smackdown Live this past week on the Fourth of July.
John Cena vs. Rusev in a Flag Match at Battleground
I’m glad to see Rusev finally returning, but he just suddenly came onto the beginning of the show. Back a few months ago we saw him in a grainy video in the gym demanding that he’d be given a WWE Title Match at Money in the Bank, or else he’d ‘go back to Bulgaria’. Obviously that didn’t happen, and now we have him squaring off in another feud with John Cena, this time over the flags of their respective countries.
Instead of trying something new with Rusev, say have him returning as a seventh participant in the mens’ Money in the Bank ladder match, or turning face and facing Jinder Mahal for the WWE title, WWE has decided to play it safe and return Rusev to the familiar anti-American heel role he’s always played. And what’s with Battleground and the flag motif? Now there’s a Flag Match? Hope they have something better for Rusev after John Cena is done with him.
Speaking of the Rusev clan, my next thought on Smackdown is nothing short of outrage.
Lana jobs to Naomi for a third time
It might be embarrassing to say this, but I did watch a few episodes of Total Divas and know that Lana was training to get into the ring as far back as at least over a year ago. Not withstanding the majority of the focus being on how Natalya felt about Lana asking her to train her, or Lana putting a shot put ball into Natalya’s car, Lana was indeed training hard and the fact that she took that long to debut on Smackdown demonstrated that commitment.
And yet, her first three matches on Smackdown consists of her losing to Naomi, either by pinfall or submission. This third match lasted barely 30 seconds before Lana got locked into Naomi’s new submission hold and tapping out in barely one second. It may a bit intriguing now with this seemingly new alliance with Tamina, but nevertheless the rollout for Lana’s in ring debut has been abysmal. I know she’s a rookie in the ring, but WWE Creative has a way of amplifying those weaknesses in a really gross way.
The Rap Battle was funny, but who were all those guys?
The New Day vs. Usos rap battle was very entertaining, clearly the most entertaining segment on Smackdown Live this week. I’m not going to dive into all the digs and insults hurled across the aisle; suffice it to say there were a few references made that were politically incorrect in the WWE world as well as on matters related to certain talent not suitable for a PG show (Xavier Woods).
But was it just me or was I just confused about each tag team’s little entourage that came out with them during the rap battle. The Usos look like they pulled some extra WWE technicians from the back and put ‘Day One Ish” shirts on them, while the New Day looks like they rented out former Rosebuds for their segment. One of the Usos’ guys looked like a middle aged dad with glasses wearing a hoodie. It was entertaining, but in all honestly a bit surreal.
Independence Day Battle Royale: Ups and Downs
I’ll start with the downs, because it’s always better to deliver bad news first.
Dolph Ziggler being eliminated earlier on, without even removing his vest might I add, was rather unexpected in my opinion. Unless Dolph is planning to take a long extended break from wrestling that the IWC hasn’t heard about or he’s being booked for another story line, he should have been in at least the Final Four of that match if not winning the thing outright. But more on this point later.
The slight dissension between the Hype Bros, Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley, may be the tiniest of seeds being planted for an eventual breakup and a heel turn for one of them. But is it just me or am I not really that excited about this potential story line happening? Lately I find with whatever is going on with Goldust and R-Truth to be more captivating (probably because RAW spent some decent weeks doing the build up). Even Mojo eliminating Zack and then getting eliminated himself was rather quick for my taste.
There are however some silver linings, and that brings me back to Dolph Ziggler. My reasoning that he was eliminated so quickly and not even in the final three is because Smackdown is looking to shake things up ever so slightly, which is probably why Tye Dillinger was put up as one of the last three competitors in the battle royale along with Sami Zayn and AJ Styles. Dillinger is pretty over on the blue brand, even though he’s been absent the last few weeks, but perhaps they’re planting the seeds for a more extensive run on Smackdown (quite possibly with Sami Zayn which would be something I personally would love to see).
As for how the match ended and Kevin Owens’ subsequent beat down, I’ve got no complaints. AJ using the Pele Kick to eliminate Sami was a pretty awesome way to conclude the match. And making Styles kick Owens in the head after he ambushed him then standing tall with the title gives some momentum to AJ going into Battleground, without making Owens look like a weakened champion.
And actually, one more thing that was good that came off this episode of Smackdown….
Kevin Owens on commentary
Asides from the Miz, Owens is almost as good on commentary as he is wrestling. Kevin has this natural tendency to carry on a story or a narrative, whether that was beating down Chris Jericho at the Festival of Friendship or providing his unique banter at Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton. One of the other things perhaps not as noticeable is how Owens carries on differently with the so-called “heel commentator” JBL than he is with Saxton or Phillips (even though Phillips technically is impartial and is just supposed to call the match).
Owens at times was also funny and entertaining even though he plays a character that is to be despised. His quip about how it seems Canadians were in the running to be United States Champion (himself, Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger) was great, even claiming that he is better than the other Canadians also. The feigned disgust over Mojo ‘betraying’ Ryder by eliminating him was classic hypocrisy at work, considering Owens stabbed ‘friends’ twice in the back already.
I hope they give Kevin Owens more opportunities to do commentary. Who knows, maybe he can become the next Corey Graves.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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