Smackdown Live - 8/30/2017

Opening segment Miz and ziggler. Good promo from the Miz, also good from Dolph. Both are putting up some of the best promos of their careers on the new smackdown and it looks good. Now I'm not a fan of the Miz but if he continues this way this could be a good run with the Ic title. The drawback is Dolph just failed in a bid to take the wwe title and to get a triple threat so he needs the win but Miz needs the title longer to make it relevant. Tough one. (J): Definitely a side of the Miz that I'm not used to seeing. I hope to see more of this. When Miz first came in I thought the same thing about him that everyone else did: reality star wants to make it as a wrestler, yeah right. But he's stuck it out and I've grown to enjoy some of his work. But this new side might just boost him up to being one of the greats. When Miz came storming out to deliver another "shoot" promo he mentioned the unfortunate KFC commercial. Last night during Raw that commercial ran and I thought to myself, how ironic that the two superstars who are suddenly taking their characters to a much more interesting and intense place (Dolph Ziggler and Miz), are the same two who "starred" in that gods-awful commercial. But mayhap it's not irony. Mayhap it was a wake up call to these two that they need to do something drastic to be taken seriously in this new era. A little disappointed though that it all came to naught when Miz backed down from the fight with Ziggler. Hype bros v Vaudevillians tag team title tourney. Vaudevillians have fallen since their main roster debut and they face zach Ryder and *ugh* mojo rawley. Neither of these teams will probably be in the finals or win so take that as you may. The match itself was serviceable. I expected vaudevillians but was wrong. The double team rough Ryder was cool. I like how all splashes in the corner are stinger splashes now. Ugh. Interview section. (J): I was pulling for Gotch and English in this one. I really enjoy their showmanship and unique old school style. I am not a Hype Bros fan. I like Mojo Rawley, and I like Zach Ryder (hate his gimmick, but he is pretty talented and seems to be coming into his own lately). Together though, they just seem to be missing something. At least that is until tonight. Tonight something seemed to click between them. Maybe it was some of those stiff shots they delivered, or maybe they have finally gotten on the same page. Mojo looked like he was reading cue-cards in the post match interview though, so I doubt they'll be walking away with the belts.

(J): Interlude - New Titles: Let me just throw out a little something about the new titles. The Smackdown titles are pretty sweet looking. And I'm glad that they just made them the Smackdown Tag Team Titles and the Smackdown Women's Title. I don't hate on the red belt, I think it looks pretty cool in it's own right (even more so draped over Finn Balor's shoulder, alas), but the name... I get that they were trying to say that this is WWE Universe's championship. That they were going to put this title on the guys that the fans wanted to so, and they have. However, you have to admit that calling the championship that would replace the World Heavyweight Title the Universal Championship does sound like they were just trying to one up the other brand. But I digress; back to the show.

AJ styles segment. Love AJ. I dig the headband and his swarmy heel thing he's doing since he #beatupjohncena. Crews needs some character development. (J): AJ is definitely hitting his stride in the WWE. Crews still has some way to go to find his voice.
AJ out for a full in ring segment. It's hilarious that he's a beloved heel. So crews is out to continue their banter from before the commercial. Became a match, no shocker. Should be good as AJ is, well phenomenal and crews is a gifted athlete who will go far if he can get a character. Decent Match. The catch simian drop was a nice move. Crews looks decent but AJ is the title challenger so no surprise in the ending. More stinger splashes. Lol.
(J): AJ Styles vs Apollo Crews: Not what I was hoping for from this match. Based on what I've seen from Apollo on NXT, I really expected this to steal the show tonight. It was a solid match, but I expecting a barn burner.
There was a commercial break during the match. I swear tonight alone already I've seen this coke commercial like 5 times. I'm looking for slater to win. Maybe he won't but still. I've been loving slater since the draft (the ending of the post show was hilarious). This entire segment is great. Rhyno just eating the spray cheese and crackers like no big deal. Magic. The crowd reaction he gets is great. They made a good decision for this one.
(J): Slater segment: Wow.... I don't even... I mean where do you.... It was kinda funny. Rhyno cracked me up and didn't say a word. But it just seemed... yeah... But hey, Head Bangers return later, so at least there's that.
Bray Wyatt segment next. Two segments in a row is bad booking to me. I enjoy Wyatt but since he never wins his feuds it's a waste of what he's got. Most likely since Orton jobbed to Brock so bad he won't lose this feud but bray needs the win. Should be a good feud but bray needs the W. Probably won't get it but we can hope. Man I remember husky Harris. I would have never believed we would get such a great character even if you told me. Even if you take the stance that he's a ripoff or homage to Waylon mercy, I can't see that as anything but a good thing. The cutoff was weird and sudden.
(J): Bray Wyatt has been compared to a lot of greats, but for me he equates most closely with Rowdy Roddy Piper. You can put him on TV with anyone and he will tell a great story. He'll spit out some great dialogue that should sound like non-sense, but draws you in and makes you hang out every word. He'll get in the ring and have a great match that tells a great story. He doesn't need a title to fight for; he'll find something worth fighting for. I'm looking forward to this feud with Orton.
Bliss and Natalya v Becky lynch and Naomi. I like Becky a lot, I'm big on Natalya (hate how they usually use her). Not big on bliss. Naomi is athletic and has improved. I hope she has a new finisher. I like the hip attack as per when Asuka uses it but it isn't a finisher. (Side note Asuka is my favorite woman wrestler these days. I am excited for her on the main roster but she can rule nxt for a while longer with Nakamura). They focused a lot on Nikki. I expect her to win the title now that she's a face. The match was ok. The chest kick code breaker thing noami did was cool. Bliss is bad. The ending was business as usual as Becky lynch is the most easily distracted chick alive.
(J): Naomi's new gimmick is interesting and she seems like she's finally comfortable and enjoying herself, which I think has been missing from her. Hopefully this will help get her to another level. Becky is my favorite in the women's division so no doubt who I'm rooting for here. I have to say Natalia needed the heel turn, but she's going to need to really embrace it a little more the way Alexa Bliss did. What started off as a decent tag team match gets quick wrap up thanks to another sneak attack by Carmella that doesn't make any sense. Gods bless JBL for trying to put a motive behind it with Nikki showing up Carmella in her home town, but it just isn't playing for me. In some ways I feel like Smackdown is making some bolder strides than Raw, but I really feel like they are going to have a subpar women's division.
Slater and Rhyno v THE RETURNING HEADBANGERS!!!!! I loved the stupid these guys used to rep. Not the stuff post headbangers but as a team. Sadly I don't expect them to win given slaters current program. I hope they are back for a little while at least. (Insert that coke commercial for the 88th time). Given the headbangers lack of video and real music I don't expect this to be more than a guest appearance to pad out the tourney. Tag belts look better than Raws. Good but short match with no surprises (except Rhyno bleeding). Slaters gimmick is getting beaten and persevering. It's good.
(J): The Heath's Kids section made me laugh! I don't think Slater is ever going to be Heavyweight Champ, but I think that he has a lot more to offer WWE than he's been allowed to give. And Rhyno is a just a beast.

(J): Kane Squash...? I guess they needed a way to set up a future feud with Corbin....?
Main event. Wwe champion Dean Ambrose v Baron Corbin. They keep touting a new era and new match ups. This ones new. I like Corbin's finisher. I'm not high on him yet. He needs a bit of work. Ambrose is good. I expect either Kalisto screws Corbin or AJ screws Dean here. I'll r surprised if it's clean. If its clean it's Ambrose decisively. Well AJ is on commentary, so there's that. Also the random milk man jobber was weird. Why do they always have Kane destroy celebs and weirdos? The actual match starts off pretty standard. Match was ok. Haven't seen an sto in a while. Deans rebound clothesline is so cliche now. It's like Romans superman punch it just looks too forced. He needs to drop it for a while. Corbin hits the deep six (another good move). As expected Corbin wins by dq or the ref threw it out. Weird comedy section with Ambrose making AJ look dumb. AJ needs that title, plus Dean chasing to get it back is a better story for his stale character.
(J): When he first debuted, I was afraid that Corbin was going to be another Goldberg. Former football star turned wrestler who just destroyed people in short order. He's proven me wrong shown that he can actually put on some solid matches. This match was nice surprise to end the night on. Not a surprise in terms of the outcome or anything, but a surprise that they actually had a chance to go out there and put on a solid match before AJ got involved (which ended hilariously!). The champ definitely had the match of the night, and that's as it should be, really. Overall smackdown was pretty good. I'd say 4/5.

(J): Overall thoughts: A decent show tonight. Not everything was a homerun, but there were some nice surprises (Hard hitting Hype Bros, the Ambrose/Corbin match), and some things that were expected to be good that delivered (Wyatt/Orton), some whiffs (Women's tag match, Kane's... appearance?), and Heath Slater. AJ is shaping up to be a worthy successor to John Cena, and I think Ambrose is going to be the Champ for a pretty solid run.