SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

Lithium93_

Decided the superthread would be a better idea than the weekly threads, which really doesn't draw that many posts.... Maybe either Bounty Hunter, jaykhunter, Lord TSC could sticky..

Anyways, here's this week quick hits preview

AJ Styles to defend the WWE World Title against Dean Ambrose

SmackDown LIVE’s turbulent Women’s division is stronger than ever

What will be the fallout from Miz’s controversial Intercontinental Title victory?

When will Randy Orton finally square off against Bray Wyatt?

Will The Usos end the fairy tale for ‘Beauty and The Man Beast’?

Mr.Nice Guy

Is Eva Marie's suspension still going?

Lithium93_

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Is Eva Marie's suspension still going?

She's taking time off to deal with nagging injuries apparently.

http://www.inquisitr.com/3537589/wwe-news-update-on-eva-maries-time-away-from-wwe-dealing-with-nagging-injuries/

Itssoeasy

Lithium93_ wrote: »

She's taking time off to deal with nagging injuries apparently.

http://www.inquisitr.com/3537589/wwe-news-update-on-eva-maries-time-away-from-wwe-dealing-with-nagging-injuries/

nagging injuries ? Is that what they call laughing your own website and packing stuff and dying her hair to black ? :rolleyes::rolleyes: WWE should just let her contract out and concentrate on the women in wwe who to some degree care about being wrestlers and wrestling.

I mean jojo came in the same time as her and maybe the wrestling thing didn't work for jojo but she has been able to positively contribute to wwe with the announcing gig. What has Eva contributed positively ? **** all basically.

edit: Also nagging injuries ? Don't you get nagging injuries from taking actual bumps in a wrestling ring ? I honestly thought the wwe were past this with the models who don't know a wrist watch from a wrist lock.

Lithium93_

Itssoeasy wrote: »

nagging injuries ? Is that what they call laughing your own website and packing stuff and dying her hair to black ? :rolleyes::rolleyes: WWE should just let her contract out and concentrate on the women in wwe who to some degree care about being wrestlers and wrestling.

I mean jojo came in the same time as her and maybe the wrestling thing didn't work for jojo but she has been able to positively contribute to wwe with the announcing gig. What has Eva contributed positively ? **** all basically.

Shuffle her off to Total Divas and leave her there, and let them who can wrestle actually do their thing.

Itssoeasy

Lithium93_ wrote: »

Shuffle her off to Total Divas and leave her there, and let them who can wrestle actually do their thing.

Preach brother lithium.

Lithium93_

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Preach brother lithium.

Should be "Oh Testisfy", but I digress :pac:

Don't get me wrong, I love eye candy as much as the next guy here, but them days are in the rear view so to speak, why waste a perfectly good segment on Eva Marie's talent (read: Lack thereof), instead give that segment to Becky/Alexa (let them build/further their feud)/rest of the SD Live Women's Division, build feuds that mean something meaningful that'll hook fans in, instead of giving people an excuse for a piss break when Eva comes through the curtain.

TL;DR Nobody really gives a flying fiddlers about Eva

DM_7

Rhyno will gore Heath eventually

Neil3030

This show is so refreshingly old school. Two match-building promos and then straight into a tag match. Not an authority jerk in sight. Long may it continue!

Neil3030

LOL!!!

Otunga FINALLY finishes his Rikishi anecdote on his 4th attempt, a week after he first tried to tell it!! :pac: :pac: :pac:

Neil3030

Heath Slater just took a hot tag and cleaned house.... would you have imagined that ever happening a few months ago?

Neil3030

Oh Miz, that was beautiful.

Neil3030

Every time Wyatt does a promo from his spooky lair I think of the mid evil zone of the Crystal Maze.

thebostoncrab

See that's why Miz is so great. A fantastic heel promo, and Ziggler gave the best promo of his career afterwards.

God Smackdown and Raw are like night and day. It's astounding that one show with an hour less can cram in more material than the 3 hour mess. I care about every single Smackdown feud, because they are giving the feuds time and logic behind them. It was also so refreshing to have a show without the need for an authority figure to come out and set up the evening for 20 minutes.

And the Aj v Ambrose match was easily their best yet. I hope some day Raw can be this good.

sky88

thebostoncrab wrote: »

See that's why Miz is so great. A fantastic heel promo, and Ziggler gave the best promo of his career afterwards.

God Smackdown and Raw are like night and day. It's astounding that one show with an hour less can cram in more material than the 3 hour mess. I care about every single Smackdown feud, because they are giving the feuds time and logic behind them. It was also so refreshing to have a show without the need for an authority figure to come out and set up the evening for 20 minutes.

And the Aj v Ambrose match was easily their best yet. I hope some day Raw can be this good.

The booking is just so simple compared to raw. the title picture on raw is a mess with authority figures involved. were as the smackdown one is simply about being which one thinks there the best.

Bryan and shane are being used when needed to set up stuff and i cant really fault how there using them, which i think is hard with bryan still probaley the most over in the company.

Even the womens is being booked better youve got the becky/alexa feud but still have carmella/nikki in a totally separate feud.

Lithium93_

Maybe RAW should take notes from Smackdown in how to keep a show simple in terms of booking, I actually enjoyed watching Smackdown Live, whereas with watching RAW, it feels more like a chore with a lot of filler, and some killer stuff..

Bounty Hunter

Dunno if we need to sticky as hopefully this won't drop off the 1st page when the next show is upcoming and thus the thread gets bumped.


Really enjoying SD atm. For the past 3 weeks it has been the clear better show for me and honestly I expect that to continue.

CSF

Poor Bray's character could not be more stale at this stage and you get the feeling he feels the same and his kind of phoning it in now. Miz and Ziggler are knocking it off the park.

Slightly lower standard than recent shows but still not bad overall.

Bounty Hunter

CSF wrote: »

Poor Bray's character could not be more stale at this stage and you get the feeling he feels the same and his kind of phoning it in now. Miz and Ziggler are knocking it off the park.

Slightly lower standard than recent shows but still not bad overall.

They really are, two guys who before the brand split I wouldn't have cared all that much about but now despite having already faced each other several times recently I am really interested in their PPV match.

SD really are building to their PPVs better atm, even just that match and the triple threat main event alone have done enough so that I want to watch it

sky88

ziggler always gets a lot of unwarrented flak for me hes has been given such crap over the years but when he has been given great stuff like him and miz are he generally knocks it out of the park.

id say the same for the miz too

Neil3030

Hard to beat a good old fashioned loser*-leaves-town match.

You'd have to imagine Ziggler goes over.

*Or one of them, at least.

Mr.Nice Guy

I've turned a corner on Miz the last while. He's been excellent of late and Dolph did well in his role too. I loved the gasp from the crowd when he said he was putting his career on the line.

It's clear how making the results of the matches actually matter means so much more to investing in what's happening. Look at the title scene on Smackdown and compare it to Raw. John Cena wants the title to get a historic reign, Dean Ambrose wants to prove himself against his critics, Styles wants to show he is the top dog. Now compare that to Raw where Rollins gets put into title shots without having to do anything and yet he seems more concerned about being shafted by Steph and Hunter. Look at Owens who won his match thanks to Hunter and who has had to take a backseat to the shadowy presence of the son-in-law.

It's really not that hard: just make the outcome of the matches actually matter and don't just assume that fans will be invested because a title is on the line.

Itssoeasy

I'm loving talking smack though. Cenas promo on ambrose was class and becky did great being herself but also at the end getting her point across about how much the title means to her and what she will do to keep it.

Am I right in thinking that the head writer from nxt is now on the smackdown writing team ? The bits I've seen on smackdown I've liked. The two hours is a perfect amount of time to get people over but not bore the audience. I mean ppvs being longer than the tv shows used to be a unique selling point of the ppvs but with raw now three hours it takes away from the uniqueness of them.

J. Marston

So do we reckon Dolph is finished with WWE? Can't say I've ever liked him so won't be too broken up if he leaves.

Lithium93_

CastorTroy

Carmella's roll up was actually pretty good.
It's really strange having 2 women's feuds going at once.

Good video for Miz. I forgot about Scowly.

As has been said, we're made to care more about the SD stars than Raw. Can't even remember most of the Raw events.

bobby_says_hi

Hasn't it always been this way whenever there was a brand split? Raw was always the 'entertainment' show with emphasis on big storylines, shock booking and the 'stars' that everyone wants to see. Smackdown was always the wrestling show, showcasing talent that would otherwise get lost in the shuffle on Raw.

Ben Gadot

J. Marston wrote: »

So do we reckon Dolph is finished with WWE? Can't say I've ever liked him so won't be too broken up if he leaves.

I wouldn't say so, he'll win and they'll probably do a quickish rematch that Dolph also wins.

I think Miz is going to enter the main event picture soon.

I was never truly won over by Dolph but I have to say his promo work since the brand split has been brilliant. He was nearly losing it there on Tuesday night yet still stayed on the right side of his emotions, which isn't an easy thing to do so fair play to him.

To be fair to the bloke, I can't really blame him on his recent struggles. They fed him to Corbin before the split who is now dicking around with the likes of Crews and Swagger.

DM_7

Dolph and Miz is Smackdowns Sheamus v Cesaro. Oddly its the Smackdown one that is all about the Promo's while RAW was about the matches.

Gas if Survivor Series ends up with Dolph and Miz v Sheamus and Cesaro.

I would like Dolph and Miz to elevate each other though so they can both get involved in World Title matches and be World Champions again. They both work hard, have showed they can carry a following at differant times, both got lowered well down the card and stuck with it.

CastorTroy

Meant to ask, who was that waiting behind the door for Randy? He had a different mask than Rowan.

johnnyryan89

CastorTroy wrote: »

Meant to ask, who was that waiting behind the door for Randy? He had a different mask than Rowan.

Think it was Rowan but with just a different mask. Thought Harper might have popped outta nowhere but rumours are he's going to Raw when he comes back.

Agent Coulson

Ziggler could do with losing and leaving the WWE for a year or so and go off to Japan and Mexico for a bit and then come back with a totally new look and gimmick.

WinnyThePoo

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Ziggler could do with losing and leaving the WWE for a year or so and go off to Japan and Mexico for a bit and then come back with a totally new look and gimmick.

I think this would be good. I'd like to see more WWE wrestlers do it. Also his body would be getting a bit of a break from the tough WWE touring schedule.

PTH2009

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Ziggler could do with losing and leaving the WWE for a year or so and go off to Japan and Mexico for a bit and then come back with a totally new look and gimmick.

dont think he can reinvent himself tbh he will always be Dolph Ziggler

SD is losing a lot of talent either true hiatus's or contracts expiring

ERG89

Jesus what were they thinking with the Scooby Doo segments with Wyatt and Orton. Find Wyatt's character to be a load a s**t so I tend to avoid him like the plague,
Made sense to have Cena stand tall at the end, he lost to Ambrose (a match which remarkably meant nothing) and Styles at SummerSlam so its confusing why he was put in it other than equaling Ric's record which means he can request a title match any time if that is the merit.
Ziggler and Miz was outstanding best segment on WWE TV in a long time. Miz's dad returning, a well made video(a rarity these days), the delivery from Dolph to put his career on the line was excellent(sorry Pollock but it was). Like the fact on Smackdown the Women and Tag Teams all have something that is different and their own. However the mid card remains barren (pun intended). I'm hoping Miz moves up but there ain't much there outside of him and Dolph.
Crews, Kalisto, Corbin, backwards baseball cap Swagger, Kane and Hawkins are not achieving much.

Lithium93_

Preview for the go home show before No Mercy

What will happen when Cena, Styles and Ambrose come face-to-face-to-face?

Who will lose the mind games between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton?

Who's the hottest competitor in the Women’s division?

Is Ziggler his own worst enemy?

Can anyone stop the aggression of The Usos?

PTH2009

Todd Philips looks like a mix between Shane Long and Robbie Brady lol

DM_7

Moz v Dolph turned out well booked. Wasn't expecting to see Kenny!

Main event was also built very well. Three lads creating a situation where they all dislike/hate each other was done very well. Especially to get the two face wrestlers showing they don't like each other. The match feels like it really matters to everyone.

Lord TSC

DM_7 wrote: »

Moz v Dolph turned out well booked. Wasn't expecting to see Kenny!

Main event was also built very well. Three lads creating a situation where they all dislike/hate each other was done very well. Especially to get the two face wrestlers showing they don't like each other. The match feels like it really matters to everyone.

I bolded the bit that I believe is the distinction between Raw and Smackdown. Smackdown has everyone acting as if matches are life and death. Raw has everyone more concerned with personal problems than the matches.

Some missteps this week, mainly Bray's booking. But I got Kenny Dykstra back on TV in 2016, so I can die happy now :P

Bounty Hunter

Yeah of that was Raw they probably would have had a filler episode as the big matches were already well built but they were all added to on that show from The Dolphumentary with special Spirit squad guests, to Alexa getting to pin Becky (who is 100% retaining) and then the 3 lads in the main event going at it, Hell they even added a little bit to the tag story.

That said I would probably give this week to Raw slightly. But the fact that it is only slightly when they had a huge title changing main event shows how the two shows are doing and how SD especially at 2hrs is just a much easier watch atm

Neil3030

Oh Aiden English will you ever stop jobbing to people with a fraction of your talent...

CastorTroy

What world are we living in where the women main event Raw, including a title change and then a woman gets a huge pop running to the ring on Smackdown? Times have changed. Good to see.

Liked the Dolph/Miza bit. Though Miz kept using "If" and "May". Surely he should have been confident enough to definitively say it will be Dolph's last time to appear on Smackdown Live

Lord TSC

Ziggler vs Spirit Squad confirmed for tonight

DM_7

If Hawkins can get back in with WWE then I guess Ken and Mondo can. I wonder if WWE thought of them when headbangers were brought in.

PTH2009

Where is Bob holly nowadays ?? Himself and Steve Blackman should be brought back

Agent Coulson

PTH2009 wrote: »

Where is Bob holly nowadays ?? Himself and Steve Blackman should be brought back

Holly is working some of Dreamers House of Hardcore shows I think.

CastorTroy

Will Hawkins actually wrestle tonight or will he do an Eva Marie and somehow avoid it, after his in ring return at No Mercy?

PTH2009

Daniel Ziggler lol first mistake by Mauro on commentary, almost said it again just before the break

Neil3030

"Oh my God he killed Kenny!"

Brilliant.

PTH2009

The survivor series challenge is put down by SD

5x SD divas vs 5x Raw divas elimination match
5x SD superstars vs 5x Raw superstars elimination match
5x SD tag teams vs 5x Raw tag teams elimination match

Neil3030

OOOooooohhh.... Ellsworth very lucky there - he tucked his chin on the Styles Clash. That could have been snapsville for his neck.