SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

Okay Smackdown at best.

Edge's segments were the highlight. Even though I feel like any time his feuds need some heat, they just plonk him in a chair give him an extreme close-up and he goes super intense. The Brood stuff was kinda great, shout out to Seth for flopping around some more to cover himself in the the 'Broodbath' (seriously?). A lot of the stuff on the show felt like we'd seen it before in previous weeks.

Was nice to see Shotzi and Nox get a good pop, because their use of them has been spotty at best. Bianca looked strong, no sign of Sasha which is a little suspicious. Wonder if this match is really going to happen Speaking of talent disappearing, it's now officially been 4 weeks since Toni Storm debuted. After weeks of hyping her up, they gave her one match and now she's disappeared, great work! Finn has also now vanished for the second week in a row despite having a reason to pick a fight with Cena. Sami has also been banished from television seemingly. Not sure what the end game with the Corbin stuff is, expected a match for the briefcase at Summerslam but apparently not.

I did enjoy Cena and Reign's face-off. Even though we got it last week, it was still great here even if adding the stipulation that Roman will leave WWE is a pointless one. Where's he gonna go like? Summerslam has shaped up to be a real disappointment, feels like a one or two match card if even. Not sure I'll even bother myself watching it live.

Becky's return at least lead to more spotlight on the women's division, Smackdown's womens roster is stacked. Enjoyed the opener but if this was their attempt at Becky being a heel they're screwed. I know people are saying Bianca was being cheered but I'm not sure if she was cheered anymore than usual tbh and have to agree about ther coming out like she did considering she lost her title but still that's WWE for you. Toni is once again on the missing list, assuming (hoping) she'll be the opponent for Naomi.

Happy Corbin which was long rumoured is official and I think I like it, as weird as it is. Although it does remind me a lot of Cameron Grimes in NXT and honestly feel like they could have gotten some more out of Broke Baron Corbin but I'm sure half the fun will be in seeing him go broke again. It seems like the only thing they do with the IC title nowadays is put the champion in a tag match which is weird. Dominik is going solo, guessing this was the solution to Rey not wanting to feud with his son. I think I finally realised what feels off to me about Dominik and it's his selling, it just seems off or very casual. Cesaro showed up and lost, wish he'd get out of WWE to be honest.

The Heyman stuff is interesting, I wonder if he did betray Roman and know Brock was going to show up. The Tribal Chief stuff on Smackdown is still excellent and it feels like in the last few weeks they've made an effort for it not to be the only focus on the show and it's working. Finn will probably be the feud just for Extreme Rules which is a shame, not sure I loved his promo delivery but think it could make a good feud and really elevate him. I reckon he'll be an opponent for Nakamura in the future for the IC title.