Hello everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA with another installment of the Smackdown Live TV report! This week, we were supposed to get Big Cass vs. Samoa Joe in the main event, but due to Cass’ injuries from last week, that match has been scrapped. In its place, Jeff Hardy will fight Daniel Bryan one-on-one, with the winner facing Samoa Joe next week to determine the final entrant in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Enough jib-jab, ON WITH THE SHOW.
The Results
MizTV with The New Day: Miz asks New Day whoooooo will be participating in the MITB Ladder Match. New Day tease and frustrate Miz, which leads to Miz cutting a promo on each member of the group. He says that if they took their work more seriously, they’d have greater success. Miz asks once more, “Which member is entering the Money in the Bank Ladder Match?” After a brief huddle, Kofi announces that it will be Big E…wrestling Miz tonight!
1. The Miz defeated Big E (w/Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (**1/2)
2. Lana (w/Aiden English) defeated Billie Kay (w/Peyton Royce) to qualify for Money in the Bank (1/2*)
3. Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/Zelina Vega) defeated a local competitor – I don’t think we ever got a name, did we? (*)
AJ Styles-Shinsuke Nakamura Face-to-Face: Shinsuke teased a Pillow Fight for the WWE Championship. No, seriously. Eventually, AJ Styles gets tired of Shinsuke’s games, and walks away from the interview. Shinsuke goes to attack him, but AJ is ready for him. AJ throws Shinsuke out of the ring, but when he follows Nakamura outside, Nakamura drills him with a chair. After another back-and-forth, Shinsuke nails AJ again with the chair. Nakamura starts counting to 10, but AJ gets up to his feet. This infuriates Nakamura, who drops AJ on the announcer’s table. AJ gets blasted with the Kinshasa, and from there Nakamura counts to 10. If you haven’t guessed by now, the WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank will be “Last Man Standing.”
4. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated The Usos to become tag team title #1 contenders (*3/4)
5. Naomi defeated Sonya Deville (w/Mandy Rose) to qualify for Money in the Bank (*1/4)
6. Daniel Bryan defeated Jeff Hardy to qualify for Money in the Bank (***1/2)
The Good
Return of The Dragon: I was reading the forums this past weekend, and there were some fans who thought that Daniel Bryan’s return has been pretty uninspiring. “He’s just another guy,” they said. I don’t know about you, but I think Bryan is the #1 reason to be watching WWE right now. Everything he’s doing is light years ahead of the other competitors, so every time he steps in the ring, it’s a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, the feud with Big Cass has been pretty lame. It’s still great to see Bryan doing what he loves, and better than anybody else in the company.
New Matchups: I mentioned this last month, but it bears repeating – I am a big fan of keeping things fresh. Bryan vs. Hardy, Bryan vs. Joe, and Bludgeon Brothers vs. Good Brothers are good examples of matchups that are fresh, in the fans’ eyes. I also like the idea of Smackdown and Raw guys competing in the same MITB match, because you won’t see this same lineup again the rest of the year. Fresh is good!
The Bad
Last Man Standing: I actually really liked the AJ/Shinsuke segment last night. The problem is that they booked a “Last Man Standing” match at Money in the Bank. I don’t like the choice of the match, simply because at their last PPV outing…both men couldn’t get up by the count of ten. Conceivably, they could end up having the EXACT SAME finish as they did at Backlash (they better not).
The Ugly
The IIconics: Yeah, they’ve jumped the shark with me. I know shrieking female heels usually get heat, but man…this is getting to a point of sheer annoyance. Plus, Billie Kay losing to Lana? Mere weeks after defeating Asuka? Yeah, they’re toast.
Alright, that’s going to do it for the Smackdown Live TV report for this week! Tune in next week! JOE VS. BRYAN!! @TheMagnumDA, signing off.
