WWE SmackDown Live Review // 27th February 2018

It was the penultimate SmackDown Live before Fastlane as John Cena made his return to the show in an attempt to work out his Road to WrestleMania. That road would lead him to a main event match with WWE Champion AJ Styles, with the opportunity to be added to the WWE Championship match at 11th March PPV. But how did it all go down in Los Angeles? Lets take a look! 

Commentary - Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips & Kevin Owens.
Ring Announcer - Greg Hamilton 
Interviewers - Renee Young

Daniel Bryan gave John Cena an opportunity

The opening segment was nothing special, but managed to move from point A to point B relatively quickly, whilst continuing to develop the issues between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. Basically, John Cena wanted in on the WWE title match at Fastlane, McMahon said some things about the Land of Opportunity but didn't seem too interested in putting Cena in the match, but then Bryan interrupted and booked Cena vs. AJ Styles in the main event, with Cena being added to the WWE title match if he could beat the WWE Champion. There's not really much else to talk about, Cena came across as a little entitled and there was nowhere near the same feel that his promo gave off on RAW, but we got a rematch of last year's best WWE match, so it's hard to complain that much.

John Cena def. AJ Styles // Pinfall 

Was this ever going to anything but great? Especially, considering it was on television and not PPV. After a high impact contest, John Cena walked out with a spot in a six-pack challenge at Fastlane after pinning the WWE Champion with an high-angle variant of the Attitude Adjustment, having escaped a Calf Crusher moments earlier. Whilst the early part of the match that included Cena hitting a tornado DDT that lead to Styles head connected with Cena's hip bone had me a little worried about where the match was heading, but a sequence that saw the two trade near falls with Styles coming close with an Ushigoroshi and a Rack Bomb and Cena almost getting pins with a TKO stunner and sitout electric chair front drop saw things begin to pick up. In an interesting piece of booking both men hit their finishers for two counts during the break with Styles kicking out of an Attitude Adjustment and Cena a Styles Clash, this meant that as soon as the show came back from the break it hooked in the audience, letting us know this wasn't a regular TV bout, whilst also making sure that Los Angeles was hot once SmackDown was back on air. Whilst the match wasn't as rich as their Royal Rumble match last year, there was a tonne of gorgeous action after the break, including Styles rolling into a pin whilst still hooked in the STF, Cena trying an failing to do the wrist control AA (he's obviously been watching a lot of Kazuchika Okada lately) and a really well-done countout spot after Styles had originally broke the count, only to get AA'ed through the announce table with Cena more than happy to take the countout victory this time round, which was a lovely bit of storytelling. The result leaves us with a ridiculously stacked six man scramble match at Fastlane, with Cena now joining Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in the main event.

After the match - Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin blindsided John Cena & AJ Styles, with Dolph Ziggler initially coming down for the save, before taking a swing at Styles and getting an Attitude Adjustment from Cena for his trouble.

Baron Corbin def. Sami Zayn // Pinfall

The show's semi-main saw Baron Corbin level his series of matches with Sami Zayn at two a piece, after a clean victory with the End of Days. This was a solid outing for the pair, as Corbin begins to look more and more comfortable in his current spot and whilst I'm still waiting for his breakout singles match, it feels like it's getting closer and closer everytime he steps in the ring with competitors like Zayn. The pair did struggle to hold the crowd at times, with a "Rusev Day" chant moments after coming back from the ad break (which was split screened and mostly sleeper holds), which may have been down to both men being heels, even if Corbin was positioned as the bouts psuedo-babyface after Zayn weirdly slapped the Lone Wolf's chest in the corner before stalling. There was a few added elements for the viewers at home, that both hurt and improved the viewing experience. This included a funny turn by Kevin Owens on commentary, who repeatedly ripped into Corbin, which included the line "Corbin, if you're looking for your hairline, its on top of your head", as well as a number of weird cutaways to Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, as they discussed Bryan's decision to allow Owens to appear on commentary, with no real consequence. What did have consequence and may have been the highlight of the bout (expect perhaps for a quality sequence into Corbin's Big Bossman lariat) was Dolph Ziggler jumping to barricade to nail a superkick on Owens, that looked vicious and got a nice pop from LA, with the high impact moment leading directly into Corbin's victory as the intriguing interplay between competitors in the WWE title match at Fastlane continued. 

After the match - Dolph Ziggler nailed Baron Corbin with a ZigZag - Daniel Bryan asked if he could go home to see his wife and daughter, Shane McMahon allowed this - Shane McMahon caught up with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, telling them to go after Daniel Bryan because "Brie doesn't like when [they're] late for dinner" - Dolph Ziggler cut a handheld promo putting himself over ahead of the Fastlane WWE title match

The New Day and The Usos renewed their rivalry, before The Bludgeon Brothers interrupted 

Before the segment - Actor Josh Duhamel appeared to promote his new TV show, Unsolved, in a fun backstage interaction with Breezango and The New Day.

Fuck, I loved this segment. Both teams bought their A-game on the microphone and completely changed my mind about wanting to see them feud again, because after this these teams can feud for the rest of time and I don't think I'd mind. New Day did some stuff where Kofi Kingston would repeatedly have to spritz Big E's crotch with water, which was odd, but actually lead pretty well into what SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos had to say, as they ripped on The New Day for being a comedy act and liking bright colours, comparing them to the old, face-paint wearing Jimmy & Jey. The stuff with the tag champs discussing never having appeared as a team on WrestleMania was very strong, with a real feeling of frustration and determination, that is easy to relate to and easy to get behind. After the year that these lads have had, they deserve a spot on the biggest show of the year. The New Day seemed closer to the heel turn that was teased during their match with Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable last week when Big E teed off on the twins with a couple of stingy zingers, including "We hosted WrestleMania when the two of you were in the back eating catering" and "We didn't get here because of our Daddies", whether they go full villain before Fastlane is yet to be seen, as The Bludgeon Brothers hit the ring with their styrofoam mallets and both teams bailed. The interruption felt a little unnecessary but I suppose creative needed a way to end the segment without the teams coming to blows.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Aiden English // Pinfall

Before the match - Aiden English and Rusev went to see Shane McMahon about not being on the show for the last few week's with English ending up booked in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura. - English sang a song about being the only true Artiste of WWE, before telling Los Angeles they didn't deserve to celebrate Rusev Day, which, of course, got loud "Rusev Day" chants anyway. 

Shinsuke Nakamura got a straight-forward victory in his first TV match in almost a month, pinning Aiden English in a filler bout. Whilst the action was fine and highlighted by a nice diving crossbody roll through, the only thing the match really had going for it was Rusev's interference on the outside, with the crowd being loudly split between Nakkers and RuRu producing a couple of cool duelling chants that lifted the action. Nakamura controlled most of the match, with Rusev interfering on a couple of occasions, including a nice looking roundhouse kick on the outside, but for a match that was so clearly a forgone conclusion it felt unnecessarily long and didn't feature anything that would've made it feel like anything other than an excuse to get Nakamura back on TV somehow. A match with Rusev at Fastlane would give Shinsuke a good warm-up bout for WrestleMania, but with only one show left before the PPV it comes across as incredibly rushed, as the booking of Nakamura post-Royal Rumble win has been less than inspiring.

Ruby Riott def. Naomi // Pinfall

The only women's bout on the show and the one that felt like it had the least focus was Ruby Riott's victory over Naomi, with the Riott Kick. The match itself was alright, with a number of moments where Naomi showed glimmers of the promise we've occasionally seen out of her over the last few years. The sequence where both missed roundhouse kicks at pace, before connecting at the same time was well-timed and easily the highlight of a match that felt like it never got the chance to get going. Riott's victory appeared to come out of nowhere as she deflected a running bulldog that sent Naomi into the top turnbuckle before connecting with the overhead wind-up kick for the win, this would seem to be a way of building up the move for the title match with Charlotte Flair at Fastlane, but didn't come across well on television. 

Also This Week

- Randy Orton interrupted a Bobby Roode interview, claiming his issue wasn't with the SmackDown Top 10 list, but that the Viper just wanted to win the United States title for the first time in his career 

- Noelle Trent from the National Civil Rights Museum was joined by Titus O'Neil, Mark Henry and Alexa Bliss to discuss the Freedom Rides as part of Black History Month.

- Highlights of The Festival of Friendship with Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens from the 13th February 2017 episode of RAW aired for some reason. 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.29 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 Review

On 18th June, WWE aired Money in the Bank, it's eight PPV of the year, live on the WWE Network from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The show featured a Money in the Bank ladder match for a future shot at the WWE Championship featuring AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal defending the WWE title against hometown hero Randy Orton and the first ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match with Natalya, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina and Carmella, as well as appearances from The New Day, SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi, Breezango, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos and Lana. But was it any good? Let's take a look.

• Promo - The opening video focusing on the two Money in the Bank ladder matches and Jinder Mahal's defence against Randy Orton.

Carmella def. Lynch, Flair, Natalya & Tamina 

in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match

You only get one shot at the first ever and unfortunately the SmackDown Women's division fumbled their first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, putting on a dull, uneventful affair, with very few notable moments. Perhaps, it was too big of an ask to put five women who all lack experience in Ladder matches, perhaps the ladies just weren't given any decent ladder match spots because...reasons, perhaps WWE just wasn't as all in on the idea of the women doing anything even remotely creative as they needed to be to make this match work. I have no idea. It was stupidly warm in the UK for 1am watching this and I wrote minimal notes, but then again there wasn't much to note down. A couple of spots with different people jumping off the ladder, Tamina taking a couple of awkward af spears into the ropes and steps and Flair diving off the top rope to the floor. These five would've been better off without being tied to the gimmick if WWE were going to put on such a conservative ladder match. 

Now, let's talk about THAT finish. James Ellsworth climbed the ladder for Carmella, perhaps in a desperate attempt to climb out of the friendzone and dropped the briefcase down to his bae. Apart from the slightly clumsy presentation of having multiple refs look confused, making it appear like we were about to get Shane McMahon or a returning Daniel Bryan to head out and restart the match, this was the best part of the match. The reaction it got on social media was perfect and surely exactly what WWE were hoping for, as furious fans jumped on their phones to let us know why the finish was sexist and having a man get the briefcase in the first women's MITB match was a disgrace. Those are the fans that will still tune into SmackDown next week and their complain has the potential to create a buzz and produces a much more clickbait worthy headline for the various mainstream media that cover WWE. Yeah, I think it would've been more effective after a blow-away, spotfest of a match, but it's still clearly had an impact on the audience who will watch WWE no matter what. 

• Backstage - Dasha Fuentes interviewed Lana about her SmackDown Women's Championship match...it was too warm to pay attention. 

New Day def. The Usos by Countout 

Usos retain SmackDown Tag Team Championship

I spent most of this match trying to work out why this bout was more creative in the first five minutes than the entirety of the Women's ladder match. We had the Usos taking control by sending Kofi Kingston over the top rope backwards in a spot that really made you sit up and take notice as it appeared at first glance that Kingston had potentially died as he tumbled to the floor. The Usos in control with Kingston as the face in peril produced the strongest action of the bout as Usos hit a lovely double suplex into the ringpost and then we got the Big E hot tag baybeeeeeee. I'm not sure there's anything more joyous in the history of all things than that near 300lber running through two lads and tossing them left and right with suplexes of various shapes and sizes. It's one of my favourite things in WWE and I'm happy to see it make a much welcomed return. The Usos zeroing in on Kingston's leg later on in the match was also a well worked tag team sequence.  

Unfortunately, I feel like the latter portion of the match lost some of it's fluency with a couple of awkward and potentially dangerous moments, where things didn't quite go to plan. The stand out moment was Uso #1 (or possibly #2) overshooting on a top rope dive into Big E's Big Ending and almost ending up spiking himself on his head, but there were a few other moments in the home straight were the two teams seemed to forget what was going or what was about to come next. It's a shame then that the bout went on end with a countout as The Usos survived the Midnight Hour and then grabbed their titles and went home. On it's own the finish wasn't particularly offensive, but after the screwy finish to the ladder match and a less than stellar couple of minutes heading into it, it was at least a deflating conclusion to the match.

Naomi def. Lana to retain SmackDown Women's Championship

What a weird match this was. I'm not sure if anyone is still sure why this match was booked and I'm not sure we ever will. Lana got her title shot for nothing, which is supposedly a decent way of building heat for someone, but the fans don't particularly want to boo Lana and she quite clearly wasn't ready for a match at this level. It wasn't perhaps the carwreck that it could have been, but neither was it anything resembling a good match. The crowd was subdued, the wrestling varied between passable and clumsy and having Carmella come out and stand about did nothing for the bout and didn't make much sense either (at least, in kayfabe). Lana worked the leg a bit (for the second match on the show), with a couple of nice suplexes in the ropes, some awkward wrestling parts, Carmella came out after a near fall of Lana's spinebuster finish (yup, her first match had someone kicking out of her finisher) and then Naomi put on the Slay-o-Mission to retain her title. Not a classic.

• Promo - The same WWE Network promo that feels like it's been running for two years at this point. 

• Fashion Vice - Up to this point, I'd probably say this was the best part of the show as Breezango produced an 80's inspired version of the Fashion Files. We saw an ominous VHS threat from whoever destroyed the lads' office and the two made about five or six Michael Jackson reference before leaving.  

• Arena - Mike and Maria Kanellis are here! The whole production on this segment was brilliant from the music, to the hands-free microphones, to having Mike Bennett take Maria's last name, I can't wait to see what WWE has planned for these two on the blue brand.

Mahal def. Orton to retain WWE Championship

A strong part of this matches charm was the St. Louis crowd absolutely adoring Randy Orton. The went nuts for anything the Viper did, whilst they were quick to pour scorn on Jinder Mahal's foreigner based antics. WWE went all-in on presenting Orton as the home-town boy, supported by a group of "St. Louis" legends including Ric Flair, "Cowboy" Bob Orton and Baron von Raschke and it worked with the crowd losing it the moment they heard the name of the place where they were read out by the ring announcer during Orton's introduction and whole heartedly supported him throughout the match. Partly due to this and partly due to the style, but this match felt like something that had been plucked from a bygone era, which certainly has it's own appeal. 

The in-ring stuff here was perfectably acceptable stuff and whilst it was never going to be accused of being ground-breaking or a spectacle, it did what it did very well and on as show like Money in the Bank didn't need to be anything more. After an early face shine where Orton ran through his greatest hits, The Apex Predator seemed to suffer an knee injury falling to the outside, with Mahal focusing on the injury and controlling the majority of the contest from there on in. Orton's selling was superb throughout this. If there's one thing Orton does well it's sell injuries, sell injuries and wrestle clinically. The only problem with this was that it was the third match on the show (fourth if you count the pre-show) in which the leg had been worked and we were only four matches into the PPV. Mahal running through some of the ringside guests signature moves was also a cute touch, with the Figure Four tying in nicely with the overall story. 

The bout's conclusion was a little too similar to the pair's Backlash match for my liking as we saw the Singh Brothers saved Mahal after he took one of the worst RKO's I've ever seen and then Orton losing his shit on the Sunil and Samir, before returning to the ring and taking a Khallas to lose the match and allow Jinder to retain. The addition of the Bollywood Boyz getting physical with Bob Orton at ringside was a positive, even if it seemed to take an age for Orton to save his Dad, but that aside this was almost a carbon copy of the ending of the previous match. There was no twist to it, no new take on the sequence to trick us or anything a little bit creative or different from what had gone before.  

Breezango def. The Ascension

I guessed the Ascension were going to be the ones who had trashed Breezango's offic but I was hoping it wouldn't be. They were the only heel team left on the SmackDown roster, so if you were shocked when they came out you weren't paying enough attention. This was a complete nothing match. A few minutes of filler and nothing else. No hijinks from Fandango & Tyler Breeze, but nothing to particularly note that they were furious at Konnor & Viktor for destroying their office either. A waste of a match and a waste of the mysterious reveal. Breeze got a roll-up win after the Ascension dominated. 

Corbin def. Styles, Owens, Ziggler, Zayn and Nakamura to win the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Easily the best match on the show and probably the only one that's worth your time. This was a well-put together six person ladder match which used it's cast of performers well, building to a fantastic crescendo (something which MITB matches often lack). It wasn't the greatest stunt show type affair that WWE has ever put on, it wasn't up there with the first from WrestleMania 21 or Daniel Bryan's win in 2011 or Dean Ambrose's last year, but it held it's near half hour running time well and remained entertaining throughout. Negating the awkward earlier portion that the Women's match had, the bout was carried by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' rekindling their feud, whilst Baron Corbin refused to buddy up with Dolph Ziggler. Whilst a lot of the earlier spots were a little tame...a Zig Zag off the first rung?...everyone appeared to know what they were doing and how their characters should interact with one another. It wasn't sparks flying everywhere, but there was at least some fire somewhere. 

Talking of Zayn and Owens, those two were all over this bout with almost every big spots involving one or the other. Owens in particular took the brunt of the punishment, bumping about the place like the New Face of America should. First a slam off the top rope onto an open ladder from Zayn to Owens, Zayn got hiptossed into a ladder in the corner by Ziggler, Zayn replied with a wicked sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder, a half and half suplex onto the apron from Zayn to Owens, a Phenomenal Forearm from AJ Styles to knock Zayn off the ladder, a Helluva Kick to Corbin, a low blow from Owens stopped Zayn climbing the ladder, Styles gave Owens a Death Valley Driver off the apron through a ladder bridging the ring and announce table, before both lads ended up bowing out after taking Kinshashas from Shinsuke Nakamura. Both lads worked their arses off throughout the match, providing the contest with more than their fair share of moments. But would you have expected anything else of these two workhorses? 

The bout also saw some of the best use of Shinsuke Nakamura since he debuted on SmackDown in April. Firstly, Corbin took out Nakamura, jumping the King of Strong Style on the ramp and then we didn't see Nakkers for most the match. It made Shinsuke feel special, it made a moment out of his initial exit and an even bigger moment out of his return and it made him feel like something other than another cog in the wheel. When he got to the ring, still selling the attack from earlier, he dominated with taking out Corbin, Ziggler, Zayn and Owens with Kinshasas and generally looking like a bad ass mother fucker bent on going after the briefcase. The reaction to his return was only bettered when Nakamura put his hand on the ladder, only for Styles to place his hand on the other side of the ladder, with the two moving the metal aside to focus on beating each other up. The two were absolute gold together with big strikes that whipped the crowd up, before Styles blocked a Kinshasha before the two climbed the ladder amidst duelling chants from the St. Louis crowd. If WWE can keep these two apart, with teases like this until a big show (preferably WrestleMania) then they should have something special on their hands. 

Of course, with the crowd going nuts for Nakamura and Styles on top of the ladder, it was the perfect time for Baron Corbin to push them both off and claim the briefcase for himself and that's exactly what he did. Corbin was the natural choice as winner as he had the most to gain from a stint with the briefcase, as he continues to grow as a performer (he's arguably improved more as a performer on SmackDown than his time on NXT). He's also got the character that is best suited to the MITB gimmick and there's a real opportunity to further the Lone Wolf persona with Corbin lurking in the background waiting to strike whenever the champion is at their lowest ebb. I'd love to see a long-run with the briefcase as I'm not sure that Baron is quite ready to carry the brand (although with Jinder Mahal as champion who knows what's what anymore) but after a 9 months or so being groomed to take the step up with a couple of major programmes with Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, even Luke Harper or Tye Dillinger, would put him in a position to realistically take the belt and have options going forward. It could also offer the elusive stand-out singles match that Corbin is yet to have. The SmackDown after WrestleMania would be the perfect place to switch things up.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.2/10

Before the main event, this PPV was heading for a low four and whilst the main event was probably in the lower half of MITB matches, it was still good enough to effectively pull the event up to an above average rating. Outside of the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match, Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton was probably the best match from the undercard, with an old-fashioned charm, whilst The New Day vs. The Usos was also heading in the right direction until the screwy finish. The rest of the show ranged from a complete waste of a first to just a general waste of everybodies times, with Lana v Naomi also happening. Looked at as a whole the shows major drawback was just how many bloody matches involved someone working the leg. There's absolutely no excuse for half the main card to work the same body part, I wouldn't expect that from a thrown together indy, but WWE really should be above that kind of laziness.

WWE SmackDown Live #928 Review (30th May 2017)

On 30th May, WWE aired the 928th episode of SmackDown live from the Phillips Arena in 
Atlanta, Georgia on the USA Network. The show featured AJ Styles taking on Dolph Ziggler, a wild brawl with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Tamina and Carmella as their #1 Contender's match never got started, as well as Randy Orton, United States Champion Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The New Day, Shinsuke Nakamura and more. But was it any good? Let's take a look. 

• Charlotte Flair, Carmella, Natalya, Becky Lynch and Tamina cut short and mostly uninspiring promos about why they will become #1 Contender to the SmackDown Women's Championship later in the show.

Nakamura was a Guest on Owens' Highlight Reel

A run of the mill opening segment, with a few flashes of excellence on the mic from Kevin Owens. The New Face of America beginning by running down Chris Jericho for inventing the Money in the Bank ladder match, whilst the crowd chanted for AJ Styles, continued to keep that fire burning, whilst he also managed to get some good heat for mocking Nakamura's entrance and had a sound-bitey exclamation point of telling Shinsuke that Money in the Bank will be the "day the music dies". The crowd wasn't too hyped to hear Nakamura talk with a spattering of "What?" chants with the King of Strong Style stumble over his first sentence not helping the matter, but the content as he threw shade of Owens and Corbin was well done. This moved well into the Owens and Corbin attack with Sami Zayn quickly making the save and throwing down the challenge for a tag team match. 

Zayn & Nakamura def. Owens & Corbin 

The match was a continuation of the segment as it didn't verge off the beaten path, but remained entertaining thanks to a couple of nice touches, as well as an Atlanta crowd that was heavily into the action. Pretty much your regular tag team match, as Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin controlled Sami Zayn through double teams and distractions, before Zayn was able to find the space to make the hot tag to Shinsuke Nakamura and we headed towards the finish. Sami is perfect in the face in peril role, especially against physical talent like Corbin and Owens. He makes the other talent look like a million bucks, whilst also making you long for the day he finally gets the upperhand. Zayn hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb on Owens, only for Corbin to knock Nakamura off the apron was my second favourite moment in the bout, only topped by Atlanta's reaction to the finish. After Corbin and Owens fell out after a bit of heel communication, Zayn Cactus clotheslined Big Banter Baron to the floor, with the camera panning back round to show Owens about to turn around with Nakamura eyeing him up in the corner. The crowd popped huge when they realised what was about to happen and for the second time in as many weeks Nakamura pinnined the United States Champion with a Kinshasa. 

 

•  Commentary team Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and John "Bradshaw" Layfield shilled the WWE Network free trial, pushing 4th June's Extreme Rules and 18th June's Money in the Bank. 

The New Day interrupted The Usos 

Big fun, super happy return house for The New Day's Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. This was a succinct promo segment in which all five lads involved played their roles well and built up a match for 18th June. The Usos fed for the New Day entrance well, bigging up themselves for their victories of American Alpha and Breezango, before ragging on one of Atlanta's sports teams for an added bit of cheap heat. The pop for Big E, Kingston and Woods sounded sizeable and the trio didn't disappoint with the crowd eating up what they'd been missing for over a month. Both sides seemed to have a lot of fun working together and that translates to a fun experience as a fan with the five bouncing off of each other as The Usos took jabs at the attitude and skipping of New Day, whilst New Day through shade at the Usos cap and hoodie look. These two teams are more than capable of keeping this up for the next two weeks and continuing to produce entertaining segments opposite each other and have shown before at last year's Royal Rumble that they can do a good match together and I've got high hopes that this programme can raise the bar. 

• ICYMI - Highlights of Jinder Mahal's Punjabi Celebration from #927, as well as various Indian media coverage of Mahal as champion.  

• The Fashion Police went all noir for a superb skit, that included voice overs of the twos thoughts (leading to a great moment of the two finding out they could hear each other's thoughts) as Fandango discovered their office destroyed. Breeze was in a dress for some reason and after licking a substance found Fandango worked out it was Epico & Primo who were behind the attack, this was all a wonderful experience and you should go and watch it. 

The 5-Way Elimination Match to Determine the No. 1 Contender to the SmackDown Women's Championship Never Began

An incredibly well put together segment here, that concluded with Commissioner Shane McMahon announcing that Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Tamina, Becky Lynch and Carmella would compete in the first ever Women's Money in the Bank Ladder match on 18th June. The announcement got a nice response from Atlanta, but if the preluding brawl hadn't been so bright, I don't think the announcement would've had the impact it did, history-making or not. This was supposed to be a Number One contenders Elimination match between the five aforementioned women, but quickly erupted into a wild brawl, with the referee repeatedly asking the girls to get back in the ring, almost comically, in order to start the match. The quintet had other ideas, as Lynch through Carmella into the time keepers area and dove off the barricade with a forearm, Flair sent Tamina into the ringpost, hit an Exploder suplex on the floor on Natalya and then a diving moonsault to the floor onto both, before a flurry of moves on the floor from all five concluded with Flair powerbombing Natalya through the announce table. It's great to see Women's wrestling being treated so seriously on the blue brand and the women took the opportunity and ran with it, creating a crazy melee that acts as a strong advert for what the five could do when they bring a bunch of ladders into play also. 

Breezango def. The Colons 

Breezango continued to be one of the best things on WWE television in a delightfully comedic match. The bout was more than just comedy though as the short story that was told, with the Colons repeatedly knocking Breeze out of his corner leaving Fandango to go at it alone was solid stuff and had a nice pay-off, as well as a number of good wrestling sequences as Deputy Dango battled against two men. The hot tag when Breeze re-appeared dressed as a janitor and went to town on Epico and Primo was glorious stuff as Breeze worked at a higher pace than anyone in overalls, swimming cap and false moustache should ever be expected to work. Finishing off with Primo walking into an Unprettier from Breeze after fighting over a mop with Fandango, this match put Breezango back on track after two successive loses to The Usos and was charmingly captivating throughout it's short time on screen. 

• Dolph Ziggler interrupted AJ Styles being interviewed by Renee Young, saying if SmackDown was the house that AJ Styles built then Ziggler laid the foundation, getting Styles fired up for a fight right there and then, only to say "See you out there, kid" and walk away. 

Orton Spoke for the First Time Since Backlash

I like that this Randy Orton v Jinder Mahal feud has been pushed to peripheries with the segments kept shorter and snappier than what the Money in the Bank ladder match competitors are receiving. That perhaps sounds like a strange statement when talking about the WWE Championship story, but allow me to explain. Having the two only appear on screen together for seven minutes, after only having Jinder present last week, has allowed the story time to breath and find it's groove, whilst also not overexposing either act. Orton is an underrated promo guy when motivated and whilst he didn't seem to be bringing his A-game here, the content was strong enough that it hit home. Orton talking about his grandfather and wrestling in his home town at Money in the Bank told the right story, ending with Orton declaring that "The only thing Jinder Mahal has earned the right to is a good old fashioned American Orton family ass kinking". Mahal interrupting on the big screen started off awkward but once getting past Jinder telling Randy where he was, The Majarajah cut a much better promo that last week, galvanising a big USA chant from the crowd, before The Singh Brothers clapped for about five minutes. The two haven't been seen in the same place and neither has wrestled since Backlash so WWE still has those ideas in their backpocket for the next two weeks leading into the PPV. I'm finally beginning to warm to this storyline and hopefully we'll see WWE continuing to hit the right notes moving toward 18th June.

Ziggler def. Styles

A good TV main here as AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler worked a pacy and energetic match, that gave Ziggler a huge win heading into Money in the Bank. The bout was built around the Styles Clash with Ziggler doing anything and everything to escape the move and usually ending up taking some punishment straight after the escape, whether that be the Ushigoroshi or a tasty suplex into the turnbuckle. We eventually saw Styles attempt his other finisher, the Phenomenal Forearm, only for Ziggler to crotch him on the top rope and hit a superkick to pick up the win. The match wasn't always particularly crisp and no one would tell you this was the clinic it perhaps could have been, but the two bought bags of intensity and covered their mistakes well. The two have the in-ring chemistry where it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, they're able to make whatever happens work. The Show Off needed a big win to make him look credible ahead of the Ladder match, whilst AJ Styles could get pinned every week and still be over because of the way he wrestles and commands a crowd. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.03/10 

Top to bottom this was a really good piece of wrestling television. The Women's segment was the high pint and the main event was finished the show well, but there was also the opening tag, the return of the New Day, Breezango antics and some good work from Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal. The two hours flew by and there was absolutely nothing that outstayed it's welcome. Good stuff from the Blue Brand.

WWE SmackDown Live #927 (23/05/2017) Review

On 23rd May, WWE aired the 927th episode of SmackDown Live from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. The show saw Shane McMahon announce the competitors in the Money in the Bank Ladder match and Shinsuke Nakamura team up with AJ Styles to face Dolph Ziggler and United States Champion Kevin Owens in the main event, with Natalya, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Naomi and Fandango all making appearances. But was it any good. Let's take a look.

• ICYMI - Jinder Mahal is the new WWE Champion after defeating Randy Orton at Backlash on 21st May. 

• Mahal and the Singh Brothers arrive backstage with a police escourt, with Jinder pulling pantomime villain-esque facial expressions as the crowd chant "USA". 

Shane McMahon Announced the Participants in This Year's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Coming out of Backlash, SmackDown didn't waste anytime in setting out it's shop for Money in the Bank on 18th June. The opening segment had Commissioner Shane McMahon making a pair of matches for the event, firstly a rematch between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton over the WWE Championship and then the Money in the Bank Ladder match competitors. It's a pretty straightforward line-up with the competitors from the three big non-WWE title bouts from Backlash, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, United States Champion Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura getting the nod for WWE's annual high-spot spectacular. Certainly not a shabby line-up, but you've gotta feel for Luke Harper and Tye Dillinger who actually won their matches at Backlash! However, these six lads have the potential to put on a special contest at MITB, with a good mixture of powerhouses, work horses and guys willing to pull off the big memorable spots that the match is known for. 

The segment itself was fun stuff, with everyone getting a little bit of mic-time, as faces and heels took shots at each other and set up a pair of matches for later in the show. Styles and Nakamura stood out here for me, with Styles getting a pop for a South Park reference and generally just bringing some energy to his promo, whilst Nakkers is just Nakkers and fascinates me every time he speaks words out of his beautiful mouth. It wasn't all roses though as Owens initially not being part of the bout would have been a nice development, but Shane McMahon gave into his demands so easily that I'm not quite sure why they even bothered with that direction. Corbin demanding the briefcase be lowered and he be declared winner, just two days after staring at the lights against Zayn was a head scratcher also. 

Lynch & Flair def. Natalya & Carmella

  

A decent tag bout here, that was arguably more entertaining than the six man tag from Backlash two days earlier. After a sloppy start between Carmella and Becky Lynch, that played out in front of a dead crowd, the bout managed to turn things around after the ad break with Lynch's hot tag to Charlotte Flair getting a big reaction. The match actually stayed on the screen during the break, but it was difficult to focus on the action with various fast-food adverts blaring away at the same time, so I'm not quite sure what got the crowd so invested, although considering this was the opener it perhaps took Toledo a few minutes to get warmed up. The finish was done well with lots going as Naomi, Tamina and James Ellsworth got involved at ringside, Natalya threw Flair across the ring with a German suplex and eventually Lynch got Carmella to submit with the Dis-armer to bring a frenetic few minutes to a close. Flair, Lynch and Naomi all celebrated their victory together with no turns, so who knows where the SmackDown Women's division is heading right now.

• Sami Zayn got a flash win over Baron Corbin in a matter of seconds, but then got brutalised by Corbin post-match. The vicious nature of Corbin's attack and the fact that it took place mostly in the crowd made The Lone Wolf look like a real scary dude, helped by the fact he kept yelling at the referees and crowd.

• AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura touched on their history in Japan in the locker room, with Nakamura threatening to turn AJ's house into his playground. 

• Shane McMahon made his debut on the Fashion Files, with Breezango continuing to make the most of every second their on the screen, as McMahon convinced them not to hang up their water pistols. 

Mahal Held a Punjabi Celebration

JINDER MAHAL IS WWE CHAMPION AND HE IS FROM INDIA! That was this segment in a nutshell as WWE came out all guns blazing with a Punjabi Celebration for the Maharajah, with lads playing the dhol drums and dancing and what have you, the Singh Brothers mugging about, shit loads of pyro. Just like the assertion that the entire of India was watching and losing their minds for Mahal and having JBL throw out ridiculous comparisons to Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa, the whole segment was about making Jinder look like a big deal and the segment definitely hit that aim. Mahal's promo wasn't anything special and wasn't helped by the champ losing his voice, but it got over his character and his issues with the audience and then talking in Punjabi managed to conjure a "USA" chant. Whilst I'm pretty sure WWE did the exact same angle when The Great Khali won the World Heavyweight title in 2007, the segment had it's own charm and I doubt most of WWE's audience remember Khali's run almost ten years ago.

Breeze def. Jey Uso 

Fandango def. Jimmy Uso

The Usos def. Breezango to retain SmackDown Tag Team Championships

A brilliant piece of booking here, that had Toledo completely invested in Breezango as first Tyler Breeze got a quick roll-up victory on Jey Uso, before Fandango took advantage of Jimmy being distracted by Breeze's out of the ring antics to do the same on the other brother. Breezango asked for a title shot and with a masterstroke of having the referee get on a headset to confirm things with Shane O'Mac we had a SmackDown Tag Team title bout there and then. The Usos controlled most of the bout, but the reactions for two near falls for Fandango were something special. The first came off the hot tag as The Ballroom Brawler hit a tornado DDT and simultaneously kicked out at the other Uso, before the second topped it as Deputy Dango got his knees up to block a Samoan Splash that came after a barrage of super kicks. The finish featured some lovely ideas as Fandango hit Beauty in Motion and then got caught with a Samoan Splash (Uso #2 had sneakily tagged in moments earlier). The camera work and timing could have been better, but that didn't stop this from being a strong finish to a terrifically entertaining tag bout. I'm hoping against hope that this isn't the end of Breezango's push as both lads deserve a reward for their stellar work over the last month or so. 

• Natalya, Carmella (and James Ellsworth), Becky Lynch, Tamina and Charlotte Flair went to Shane to ask for a title shot, with the Commish making a Five-Way Elimination match to decide a #1 Contender, next week. 

Nakamura & Styles def. Ziggler & Owens 

This match had more than a few similarities with the RAW main event (Samoa Joe & Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) the previous night, mostly in the general feel of having four top level since stars in a tag bout for the reason that they needed a main event. I preferred the RAW match, mainly because the storytelling was much stronger, as parts of the booking here didn't quite work. Having Nakamura as the initial face in peril was questionable choice, because it exposed more than was necessary on his TV debut, yet the crowd was into it and began chanting for Styles. Also Styles not selling the leg injury that was major part of the storyline of his match with Owens the previous night was a real waste, as having him hit Ushigoroshi as part of his hot tag, only to have his knee give out and the momentum switch would have helped drive the later half of this 25 minute plus contest. The bout did have some cool moments though, like Ziggler counting along with an Owens pin with his back to the ring and Owens assault on Styles with a Senton on the floor and then running football kick to the spine that knocked AJ off the apron. 

After the second hot tag the match really came to life as we got Nakamura cleaning house, finally beginning to look like the bad ass he's been pushed as on SmackDown, before a great sequence involving all four guys. After Nakamura hit the inverted exploder on Ziggler, Owens blocked the Kinshasa to the Show-Off, Styles hit a Pele Kick on the New Face of America, Ziggler blocking a Styles Clash to Owens with a superkick before taking a running single leg dropkick from Nakkers, who then finished off Owens with a Kinshasa to pin the United States Champion. The last stretch was a great advertisement for Money in the Bank as it showed what the four could do in a spot-based environment, it was just a shame that it took so long to get to. Owens taking the pin, whilst being United States Champion, especially after only getting a countout win on the PPV, was a strange decision, but I suppose the thinking was that Owens is more than capable of covering for it on the mic and Ziggler was guy in the MITB that most needs building up.

• Renee Young and Shane McMahon opened the show, talking a little bit about the Money in the Bank competitors, including Shane giving the most boring description of how someone could cash the brief case in. 

The New Day Interview 

It was so good to see Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods on my TV screen again! After over a month and a half away, their words felt as fresh as a big bowl of Booty-os. The boys chatted about what they'd been up to away from WWE, with Big E talking about performing a marriage ceremony, Kingston talking about healing up his ankle and Woods talking about his new baby. The stuff they were talking about was hardly ground-breaking but the chemistry and relaxed nature of the interaction gave it a certain charm with a couple of laugh out loud quips along the way. The chat about actually being on SmackDown and the tag team division was overall pretty generic, although a throw-away line about JBL calling the Usos "the greatest team of the last half-decade" did provide an interesting potential storyline for their full-time return.

• Young and McMahon discussed the Punjabi Celebration, with all the dancing and the drums and such. McMahon also got a chance to talk about Mahal's title victory, being careful not to call Mahal's victory "lucky" as he hyped up the rematch at Money in the Bank. 

Naomi Interview 

I like how understated Naomi is on the mic, she sounds confident, but not in an over-the-top or exaggerated way, she feels real and that makes it easy to connect to her story. The SmackDown Women's Champion turned up to discuss next week's #1 Contender bout, talking about the possibility of facing Carmella, who has pinned her twice recently, using her history to explain why she will never underestimate an opponent. The chat moved into Naomi's outside life and her journey to become a professional wrestler, a story that I knew very little about. It's the fleshing out of backstories and creating a rounded picture of performers lives that Talking Smack really excels. It wasn't must see, like some of the previous interviews, but I think it will add an extra dimension to Naomi's bouts for anyone who did see it.

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.46/10 

A solid episode of SmackDown heading out of the PPV, setting up the direction for the next few weeks as we move towards Money in the Bank next month. The main event under delivered, but I feel like almost every other segment on the show over performed. Breezango and The Usos was entertaining as fuck and had the crowd believing Tyler Breeze and Fandango could take the tag titles, whilst Jinder Mahal's Punjabi Celebration felt fresh and benefitted from know run in from Randy Orton. This show did it's job in shifting stories along and setting up two marquee bouts for the next PPV and remained a comfortable watch across the hour and half.