Hey everyone, I’ll be doing my first deep dive into last night’s edition of WWE Smackdown. Last week was a strong episode for the Bloodline and that’s the big hook for this episode. There were some questionable decisions regarding the women’s division and some good in-ring from the tag division, so let’s take a deeper look.
Bianca Belair opens the show
The show started with Bianca Belair’s promo, but she was interrupted by Charlotte Flair before she could say anything. There were a few good lines thrown back and forth like ” “Tonight, I will show Asuka that now only is patience a virtue but revenge is sweet” from Belair.
The two eventually came to an agreement to have a match at Summerslam if Belair goes on to win the title later in the night. These two claiming the top spot in the division despite having no gold to show for it really made Asuka feel like an afterthought. I am all for building matches well in advance, but why did they have to make Asuka feel so insignificant? Overall an odd segment. I’d like to do some sort of grading format in these reviews and for the first segment I’m officially reviewing I’d have to give it a 70%. Not great, but not completely awful I suppose.
Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs. Pretty Deadly
This match had a simple premise: Sheamus wanted revenge for having his U.S. title opportunity ruined by Pretty Deadly. Sheamus has been in all-time career form this year and he continued this run with a solid, hard-hitting tag match. Holland was able to hold his own as well, showing his continued progress in the ring. The action was physical and intense, but Pretty Deadly was able to pick up the victory. The heels were able to keep building momentum in their short-lived main roster stint, and Sheamus didn’t have to eat another loss.
Grade: 80%
Zelina Vega vs. Bayley
This felt very rushed and had very little thought or care put into it. The heel shenanigans felt very run-of-the-mill and Bayley was able to get the win with some help from Iyo Sky. Good for Zelina Vega, though, as she has continued to get some TV time, but it’d be nice for both her and Bayley to get something of more substance. A pre-taped promo followed this in which Shotzi shaved her own head. It seems like Shotzi is going to be playing an unhinged character and it was certainly…interesting. Listen, it’s the first week for this development so I will give it a chance, but it was hard to watch this first promo and not cringe a little. I’m intrigued to see where this leads, but this wasn’t great. Hopefully, this will lead to a more significant role for Shotzi.
Grade: 70%
We hear from Jey Uso
Jey Uso was looking for a response to his challenge to Bloodline leader, Roman Reigns, but did not get what he was hoping for. Despite this, he was able to get some revenge through Reigns’ Wise Man, Paul Heyman, with a superkick. The crowd is always up for Bloodline stuff, and this was no exception. Jey Uso is finally able to see through the manipulation both Heyman and his family have put him through. It really feels like we are seeing the solidification of “Main Event Jey Uso” happening before our eyes. We say this every time Roman has a new challenge to his title, but based on the crowd reaction, WWE might want to consider having Jey be the one to dethrone his cousin.
Grade: 95%
WWE United States Championship Invitational 4-Way
AJ Styles, Grayson Waller, Santos Escobar, and Butch all batted it out to hopefully advance toward a U.S. championship title match. This is a huge win for Escobar, and probably his biggest win in WWE thus far. He was able to get the victory through a distraction from Karrion Kross on the screen.
This match was pretty great. These are four of the best in-ring workers on the blue brand and they were able to have this match breathe and really get going. LWO rarely wins, so it’s nice to see Escobar get the W. The Karrion Kross stuff is definitely weird, though. AJ Styles beat him pretty emphatically and it’ll be interesting to see how WWE gets fans invested in this program going forward. Next week’s fatal four-way seems like it could be just as good, if not better than this week’s as well.
Grade: 80%
Asuka (C) vs Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s Championship
This is a hard match for me to grade. It felt rushed, similar to the previous women’s match, but Belair and Asuka have an undeniable chemistry. The short glimpses we did see made me want to see more interaction between the two, but the company seems minimally interested in the champion. A triple threat seems like the best course of action. The inclusion of the ever-looming Damage CTRL and Iyo Sky’s MITB briefcase adds some much-needed drama as well. Maybe Shotzi can even get involved. The match ended with Asuka picking up the W via disqualification.
Grade: 75%
Overall thoughts:
This was a mixed episode. The highlight of the night for me was the Jey Uso segment. There is so much thought and care put into this storyline, it’s really hard not to get swept into the drama. I enjoyed a lot of the mid-card segments without truly ever loving them, and the women’s division left me with a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth. While I enjoy all the players involved, the route to the triple threat seems contrived. I hope WWE helps Asuka feel less like an afterthought going forward. I’m really intrigued to see where the Street Profits and Bobby Lashley go in the future, and I am so (so) into L.A Knight at the moment. He is so charismatic and the crowd loves him as well. This show has a lot of promising characters, storylines, and directions, and hopefully, things trend in this direction as we progress toward SummerSlam.
Overall Grade: B