First of all, let me say I was impressed with what WWE did with Friday Night SmackDown the previous week. While they relied heavily on celebrities like Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez (and wasted Kingston’s title reign), it’s safe to say they put on an acceptable show. But with this one .. ugh, where do I start?
Friday Night SmackDown
We can say it was refreshing having two guys like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns open the show on opposing sides. We know they work well together, and they put on a sweet match til the inevitable interference. While the imagery was alright, it reeked so much of what Kane used to do; and the HIAC finish is still very fresh. Had they waited a few weeks (with The Fiend disappearing) and then tried this finish? It would’ve been better received.
The problem with the entire show started when WWE released the draft results early in press releases. So if you’re like the people here who have to read through this stuff? You’ll not be surprised when almost all the picks were the exact same as what WWE released the day before. This left no element of surprise, and what made it worse is they had to confirm the SmackDown tag team champions will be on SmackDown .. the Raw Women’s Champion will be on Raw, etc. Duh really? Also, I scratched my head when Reigns was drafted to SmackDown, although he was already on SmackDown?
What would’ve made this brand split great is if Paul Heyman represented USA with one USA executive, while Eric Bischoff represented FOX with one of their executives. It would’ve taken us right back to the first draft in 2002; when Bischoff was in charge of Raw and Heyman SmackDown. Instead, we had Stephanie McMahon trying her best to entertain while reading a bunch of names from a list. And it wouldn’t be so bad if she only did this twice in one night; but it happened once, twice, thrice, four times .. someone please stop it! And what was with the “War Rooms”? Are we really meant to believe USA and FOX care as much as WWE wanted us to believe? C’mon now.
Natalya Draws
I got some good laughs from these segments, but for the wrong reasons. Firstly, we had to listen to a bunch of ancient FOX reporters reminiscing about the days when they would have drafted legends like DUSTY RHODES! ANDRE! HULK HOGAN! RIC FLAIR! BRUNO SAMMARTINO! It’s like they all stopped watching wrestling in 1990. None of ’em had any idea who the current generation is, or they might have tried putting some over. And while you could understand the USA Network cheering over a talent like Randy Orton .. I burst out laughing when they reacted in the same way to getting Natalya. OMG NATAYLA IS A HUGE DRAW! Who knew? They clearly won the draft with this pick.
And you know it’s serious business when NFL guys talk about the times when they were chosen in real sports drafts. Let’s be honest here, a sports draft is way more important than a fake WWE draft. I could handle a couple of segments with FOX reporters, but there were one too many. If you’re not American like myself, you have ZERO idea who any of these guys are. So I was sat there .. twiddling my thumbs, waiting for something to happen. I guess the tag match between New Day and The OC was alright. But Shorty Gable vs. King Corbin again? Are they trying to torture us?
There was only one saving grace for me, and that was seeing Bayley finally transform in to a serious competitor. Ditching (stabbing) the silly tube men, we finally got the Bayley many have clamored for. The “Hugger” gimmick died long ago, and this was the only way forward for her. Did she need to win the title right away? I don’t know, but at least we got a decent main event out of it; even if Charlotte Flair got her nose broken. Bayley called us all bitches .. although it was done in a way which was easily missed; and commentary wouldn’t repeat the line. Yes Bayley .. you’re right, we’re totally bitches after sitting through that mess.
Conclusion
I was waiting to see fans walk out .. because if it were me I’d have stood up and asked for a refund halfway through. They should have renamed Friday Night SmackDown the “Stephanie McMahon reads from a list, featuring FOX” show. And no, Paul Heyman couldn’t save us with his mic skills. Another Velasquez/Lesnar stare down couldn’t save us either. All in all, this was one of the worst shows I have ever seen from WWE. But why does it feel like no one cares? Am I the only one who noticed? We don’t mind sitting through a pointless, forgettable draft show? I don’t get it.
Was anyone entertained? Please let me know. It’s not often I get this negatively animated over a show; but this was infuriating. Usually I’d watch Impact Wrestling and share the results here, but it was gonna run over in to Friday Night SmackDown (I watch Impact on 5Star in the UK). So I was already annoyed at the conflict in schedule, and even more so when it became clear that SmackDown would suck harder than a referee prematurely stopping a Hell in a Cell match. Do you think WWE could have done this better? And if so, how would you have done it? Please let us know your thoughs, and thanks for reading.
