SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

The White Wolf · 12-10-2019 1:00pm

I'm so cynical about life at this stage I don't know if that's a genuine real time reaction. :pac:

Itssoeasy · 12-10-2019 1:22pm

I'm a fan of evil bayley. So is this the new heel indicator for female wrestlers to change their hair style/ colour ? That interview with Cathy Kelly back stage sounded like she enjoys saying "screw you" to the fans. Could this do the same for bayley as it did for Becky ? Bayley could easily be on Charlotte and Beckys level of WWE wanted to. She good in the ring and certainly one of the best they have so why not ?

The White Wolf · 12-10-2019 1:27pm

The only thing that annoys me about it is that the same **** who crossed the line abusing her will be fawning over her now.

I'm genuinely excited now to see where it goes because she's well capable. Hopefully they don't **** it up. I could have done with Sasha staying on Raw because I don't think her shadow will help.

J. Marston · 12-10-2019 1:33pm

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I'm a fan of evil bayley. So is this the new heel indicator for female wrestlers to change their hair style/ colour ? That interview with Cathy Kelly back stage sounded like she enjoys saying "screw you" to the fans. Could this do the same for bayley as it did for Becky ? Bayley could easily be on Charlotte and Beckys level of WWE wanted to. She good in the ring and certainly one of the best they have so why not ?

Promos. That's why. It's easier giving heel promos but she is as wooden as they come in WWE.

And it's difficult to catch lightning in a bottle again like they did with Becky.

CastorTroy · 12-10-2019 2:12pm

I checked Gable's height and see he's the same as myself. And here I thought I was pretty much average height.
So will we also get Even Shorter Mysterio?

Think the least believable war room reaction was after the Natalya announcement.

ThePott · 12-10-2019 3:05pm

That wasn't great really.
The idea of a draft was ruined by the Wildcard Rule seemed like half the people didn't move or we'd seen them so much on one show that it wasn't much of a shock. I didn't see the leak but typical WWE stuff a great moment to remind that this is a billion dollar company. The whole drafting as team things is a bit of a mess too, you have to suspend disbelief a bit.
Like Becky and Roman are great but if you can get AJ Styles and the US title and a Gallows and Anderson that's the obvious first pick.

Totally here for Heel Bayley, they've never known how to use her as a face and think it could really work. Must have been a rubbish show to watch live tbh.

J. Marston · 12-10-2019 6:21pm

From 3,869,000 viewers last week to 2,898,000 this week for Smackdown. Big, big drop.

ERG89 · 12-10-2019 6:32pm

J. Marston wrote: »

From 3,869,000 viewers last week to 2,898,000 this week for Smackdown. Big, big drop.

A staggering achievement to lose almost as many viewers as AEW drew.
What nostalgic bandaid will Vince use next, Goldberg? Austin? Hogan & Flair?

Lithium93_ · 12-10-2019 6:38pm

Lord TSC wrote: »

Expanded a bit over in the draft thread, but that seemed to be an audible they made when they realised they had accidentally released full spoilers for the draft order. Looks like the two were meant to be picked together, but once they realised (mid-show) what had happened, they drafted them separately to throw the leaked list off a little.

Anyway, my main take away from this show was that Kofi doesn't seem to care about last week, or that his title run even happened, so I guess I won't either.....

I saw this mentioned on Twitter, and adding if it were any other wrestler (choose your own example) who'd lost their title in such an embarrassing fashion, that they'd be fuming/demanding a rematch for their title the next week.

Ali Bomaye · 12-10-2019 7:05pm

Watched the first half hour of this. Just about resisted turning off after the Fiend appeared. Then sat through the first bit of the draft and finally had enough when I heard Baron Corbin's music. The only half decent thing about any of this is that at least it's so bad that it's funny and can be laughed at. Hope they continue to lose viewers.

CastorTroy · 12-10-2019 7:41pm

Wonder if they'll update the Smackdown opening. I just had a quick look and it has Becky, Alexa and Owens in it.

764dak · 12-10-2019 8:16pm

Lithium93_ wrote: »

I saw this mentioned on Twitter, and adding if it were any other wrestler (choose your own example) who'd lost their title in such an embarrassing fashion, that they'd be fuming/demanding a rematch for their title the next week.

Automatic title rematches no longer exist.

764dak · 12-10-2019 8:39pm

ThePott wrote: »

That wasn't great really.
The idea of a draft was ruined by the Wildcard Rule seemed like half the people didn't move or we'd seen them so much on one show that it wasn't much of a shock. I didn't see the leak but typical WWE stuff a great moment to remind that this is a billion dollar company. The whole drafting as team things is a bit of a mess too, you have to suspend disbelief a bit.

How is this different from the 2002 or 2016 draft?

TimesArrow · 12-10-2019 8:42pm

So one week after Kofi is absolutely destroyed and embarrassed and loses his title in 5 seconds he’s back to throwing pancakes like a knob and nothing is said about it? If he doesn’t seem to give a **** about being decimated then why should should the audience care?

Loughc · 13-10-2019 12:52am

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I'm a fan of evil bayley. So is this the new heel indicator for female wrestlers to change their hair style/ colour ? That interview with Cathy Kelly back stage sounded like she enjoys saying "screw you" to the fans. Could this do the same for bayley as it did for Becky ? Bayley could easily be on Charlotte and Beckys level of WWE wanted to. She good in the ring and certainly one of the best they have so why not ?

Actually Bayleys heel turn has been masterfully handled. The way she initially justified her actions by helping Sasha her friend. Her crying after losing the women’s championship leading to her completely snapping and going full heel.

Makes sense and loads of little nuances along the way. And then again most of the stuff they churn out is complete tripe so I’m finding it hard to get behind anything.

ThePott · 13-10-2019 12:54am

764dak wrote: »

How is this different from the 2002 or 2016 draft?

Can't speak for 2002, wasn't watching at the time.
In 2016 it was kicking off the brand split. There was weeks of build-up of commissioners being revealed and Smackdown was going live and basically re-establishing the brand as not just a Raw repeat. In other words, you won't just see the same talent week in week out, two rosters. It felt like a big deal. They had Superstar reactions etc. They had NXT call-ups as surprises etc.

This time it was, "hey the people, you've seen on this show before will now officially be on the same show they're already on". Then a dry announcement with no wrestlers present. In 2016, it was a new Smackdown. They had this opportunity again with the move to Fox and basically made it so that most of the wrestlers that were put on Smackdown were already on Smackdown or we've seen them everywhere due to the Wildcard rule. Essentially the Wildcard rule ruined the draft.

I'm not saying it's entirely different just that it was poorly done and presented. The 2016 one was better done and more entertaining from memory.

Lord TSC · 13-10-2019 12:42pm

When the split actually meant something, the draft was always super exciting, because it usually meant a tonne of fresh and new storylines. Because, say, Cena was always on Raw, he would have had NO interactions with the Smackdown guys. So drafting Cena to Smackdown meant you'd have a tonne of discussion about "OMG, now we get to see Cena in new feuds with X and Y and Z".

This draft doesn't do that. One, because the "wild card" nonsense has meant that you've still got the same batch of people this week facing each other as could have last week. And two, because I've zero trust they won't just keep wild-carding things going forward (espeically when you remember the next big PPV is Survivor Series, a show all about inter-brand feuds).

Drafts work best when they've followed a period of strict separation between two rosters. This wasn't that.

CastorTroy · 13-10-2019 12:54pm

Are the 24/7 and women's tag titles still multi-brand?

Cotts72 · 13-10-2019 1:29pm

Lord TSC wrote: »

When the split actually meant something, the draft was always super exciting, because it usually meant a tonne of fresh and new storylines. Because, say, Cena was always on Raw, he would have had NO interactions with the Smackdown guys. So drafting Cena to Smackdown meant you'd have a tonne of discussion about "OMG, now we get to see Cena in new feuds with X and Y and Z".

This draft doesn't do that. One, because the "wild card" nonsense has meant that you've still got the same batch of people this week facing each other as could have last week. And two, because I've zero trust they won't just keep wild-carding things going forward (espeically when you remember the next big PPV is Survivor Series, a show all about inter-brand feuds).

Drafts work best when they've followed a period of strict separation between two rosters. This wasn't that.

Along with the fact you had 2 GMs and both brands competed against each other. Teams were split up and fresh characters were built (take for example the APA)

The 2 brands competed for free agents and made it somewhat exciting.

SS usually pitted Raw v Smackdown in all matches for the essential bragging rights and usually there was some what of a carrot dangled in the main event match to make it worthwhile for the winning brand

As mentioned the Wildcard rule has literally s**t all over it, for it to work they have to be isolated and treated separately

J. Marston · 13-10-2019 1:50pm

When you think about it, it's been a shìtshow in terms of planning over the last year.

In December we had the "the fans are the Authority now" speech. Nothing changed. Vince, Steph and HHH stuck their oars in the Mania main event feud. Shane did his heel shtick on Smackdown.

Then the Superstar Shakeup. It lasted three weeks before the wildcard rule where it was supposed to 4 superstars allowed on each other's show. It was never enforced.

Then another draft where they said they're drawing firm lines between the shows. This draft is done a month before the usual invasions before Survivor Series so it'll mean nothing.

It's amazing how they're a billion dollar company when they seem to be always desperately spinning plates.

Omackeral · 13-10-2019 8:14pm

And remember RAW was supposed to go ''Dark'' for the last hour with black motifs etc. Lasted one week.

ERG89 · 13-10-2019 8:20pm

Omackeral wrote: »

And remember RAW was supposed to go ''Dark'' for the last hour with black motifs etc. Lasted one week.

Remember when they wouldn't wrestle during commercial breaks & had 2/3 falls matches instead or restarts. :pac:

Loughc · 13-10-2019 8:27pm

ERG89 wrote: »

Remember when they wouldn't wrestle during commercial breaks & had 2/3 falls matches instead or restarts. :pac:

Haha classic crazy Vince.

The rise and fall of WWE Blu-ray will be epic.

CastorTroy · 13-10-2019 9:05pm

Omackeral wrote: »

And remember RAW was supposed to go ''Dark'' for the last hour with black motifs etc. Lasted one week.

Guess I blinked and missed it. What was that?

Chuck Noland · 13-10-2019 9:19pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

Guess I blinked and missed it. What was that?

I don’t remember either

Omackeral · 13-10-2019 9:21pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

Guess I blinked and missed it. What was that?

When Mick Foley unveiled the 24/7 Championship he said the last hour of Raw would be dark and they made a deal of changing the logo for that part of the show and dimming the lights. I think it was meant to insinuate TV-14 type stuff maybe.

This is from CagesideSeats.com

''During his introduction of WWE’s new 24/7 championship on the May 20 edition of Raw, Mick Foley said, “I’m gonna make you aware that starting tonight, the third hour of Raw each and every week is about to get downright mean and nasty - a little bit dirty.”

It was a bit confusing, and some fans online took this to mean that, despite its name, the new title would only be featured from 10 - 11PM Eastern on Mondays. Mick wasn’t talking about the belt, however. As he delivered those lines of his promo, the lights in Albany, New York’s Time Union Center were dimmed. It was that change, along with darker graphics on the Titantron and other arena screens, to which Foley was referring.

All part of the plan to differentiate the third hour of Raw with its own look, according to Fightful’s sources. The site was told the idea is to make the 10 - 11PM Eastern block “more Raw”; one source said this was just another example of WWE throwing out ideas and hoping they catch on. They didn’t hear anything about changes to the actual content of the show during its last hour on the air each week.

Omackeral · 13-10-2019 9:22pm

CastorTroy · 14-10-2019 1:23am

Was that when they also said the 24/7 would be featured every week in the final hour or something along those lines?

Chuck Noland · 14-10-2019 7:40am

Omackeral wrote: »

Dead link??

Jerichoholic · 14-10-2019 7:43am

CastorTroy wrote: »

Was that when they also said the 24/7 would be featured every week in the final hour or something along those lines?

And don't forget, every week a different SUPERSTAR will answer the audience's 100% REAL AND NOT FAKE questions in the ELECTRIC CHAIR.

(forgotten in one week)

SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

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