Shinsuke Nakamura def. Dolph Ziggler
Being that this is Shinsuke’s first match on the main roster if you don’t count live event matches, I was expecting the former 2-time NXT Champion to make a great first impression. Dolph Ziggler always seems to be the guy tasked with getting new call-ups over on the main roster, and for all of Ziggler’s faults, he’s a serviceable worker at the very least. Being that this was his first match, I obviously wasn’t expecting anything spectacular or anything that I’ll remember, though I did believe it had the potential to be the show stealer if it got the time because of the level of work both men can go to. Overall, it was a very solid outing. Shinsuke got to hit all of his signature moves and I believe it also did a good job of showcasing the strong style of wrestling that has made him popular with the WWE fans. I also thought Ziggler did a good job of selling certain moves and was sublime in hitting is. Overall, this was a very solid outing that put Nakamura over in his first match, so good on both of them. Nothing special, but certainly a solid outing which was higher quality than what you’d get on TV. ***1/4
The Usos (C) def. Breezango – Smackdown Tag Team Championships
So, I wasn’t sure about the gimmicks and different stuff that BReezango had throughout the match, but I wasn’t going to pay it any mind until I saw the actual match. And guess what? I was actually very entertained. Once you get pass the grandma and other gimmicks that Tyler Breeze displayed throughout the night, the action really intensified, and I thought both teams displayed some great chemistry with each other. Coming into the bout, I was expecting a straight up comedy bout between both teams, but I think both teams kept a great pace where the crowd wouldn’t be out of it, they kept the stupidity to a point where they got the crowd involved, and there was some very believable near falls to boot. So overall, a very entertaining and surprisingly good tag team bout. Would definitely love to see Breezango get rewarded with a tag team title run if they can keep this up on PPV. Props to the Usos for serving as great foils to them as well. ***1/2
Sami Zayn def. Baron Corbin
The psychology of the match was set in stone rather early when Sami Zayn started to sell his lower back. I was sure that with Baron’s offensive move set would be enough to have Sami’s back be his undoing, but apparently, I was wrong. I thought the two displayed a very solid effort back and forth, with Sami playing the babyface in peril for most of the match and having to use his speed and cradle pins as compensation for his back. Meanwhile, Baron was targeting it throughout the entire match and was using power moves. Overall, this was a good back and forth match with Sami getting a much needed victory. Corbin got to dominate, but the resilient underdog pulled one out. Sami so such a great, fight from the bottom babyface, and sold Corbin’s work really well. He got beaten down, but survived long enough to capitalize on Corbin’s error. Sami winning here works, especially since rumors are that Corbin is MITB bound. ***
Carmella, Natayla and Tamina def. Charlotte, Naomi and Becky Lynch – Six Woman Tag Team Match
This was ok, but never really felt locked in. It was also disjointed at times and was a bit frantic in a bad way. Natalya is now likely next up for a title shot (better than Carmella), while Becky loses again. They really have no idea what to do with her, which is a shame, considering the fact that Becky was the first woman to hold the Smackdown women’s championship. I think this match sort of highlighted how big the loss of Alexa Bliss was in a lot of ways. Charlotte can more than make up for that, but the dynamic sort of shifts with Charlotte. Overall, this is something I’d expect out of Tuesday night Smackdown. So nothing horrible, but yeah, whatever. **
Kevin Owens (C) def. AJ Styles by countout – United States Championship
I was watching some of their TV matches from RAW and Smackdown last year, and I had my expectations sky high for them, because these are two of the very best of the business. I was calling for this to be the match of the night for obvious reasons, and I was proven right. The two just absolutely clicked together. AJ Styles was marvelous as usual and Owens was great in targeting Styles’ leg and exploiting that weakness. I have no issue with the countout finish, they are scheduled for a long program and this was the first match. Plus it worked into the knee attack by Owens on Smackdown, the work they did in the match ad sometimes the heel should pick up a shitty, skin of his teeth win. And they accomplished that without beating either guy or giving too much away in match one. I thought that this was a smartly worked first chapter of the feud and made me want to see another match; this more than did its job in my opinion. Owens keeps his title, Styles is protected with the countout loss, and the program continues. All is well here. ****
Luke Harper def. Erick Rowan
I have no idea why they were feuding, and I had no care at all for this match. I know these two have worked against each other in the past before (The Authority storyline comes to mind), but these two work much better as tag team partners than as adversaries. It was flat, with little energy, and the finish was kind of lousy to me. This was definitely the cooling off period from the co-main event to the real main event of the show, so not surprising that this is where the match fell, but overall, not worth your time at all. Maybe you liked the match, but I wasn’t feeling it, and I think WWE could do a better job in developing both characters. *1/2
Jinder Mahal def. Randy Orton (C) – WWE Championship
So, holy crap. Who would have thought that a member of 3MB and a guy that was jobbing as recently as a couple of months ago is now the holder of WWE’s top title? A few things had me picking against Jinder winning here, even with the smart money having the win in his favor. First, Jinder pinned Randy Orton in a six man tag team match a couple of weeks ago, which is a tell-tale sign of what’s to come on PPV, that he would lose. Also, Randy just won the title last month, and reports came out that Randy was going to be rewarded with an extended WWE Title reign because of the jobbing he took at the hands of Brock Lesnar at Summerslam last year. But, holy shit. Props to WWE for taking a chance on Jinder and actually pulling the trigger. This year hasn’t been a good year for WWE Champions to say the least. It started with Styles, who lost it on the first PPV of the year, Royal Rumble. Then, a mere two weeks later, Cena loses it at the Elimination Chamber. Then, a mere a four weeks later, Bray Wyatt drops it to Randy Orton. And after a horrible match at WrestleMania, and that bad House of Horrors match, Orton drops it in short order.
As for the quality of the match, I thought it had energy, and while the work of the arm and shoulder was annoying because it really didn’t factor into the finish all that much because Orton was still able to hit the RKO, Jinder made some strides here, and I have no problem with the title change at all. Experimentation is essential in WWE if you want to find new main eventers, and while I’m sure many people will say Jinder only won because he looks jacked up on steroids, I’m inclined to believe he paid his dues backstage, put in the work, and was rewarded with the victory. You couldn’t catch me thinking that Jinder Mahal would one day become the WWE Champion, but hey, never say never in WWE. He has some things to work on, but I’m on board with the experiment. I don’t know if this is a transitional run or if this is just a trolljob, but we’ll have to see. Overall, solid, but an unspectacular main event for me. ***1/4
Conclusion:
Unless you want to see the sheer shock of Jinder winning the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens and AJ Styles’ match is probably the only match I’d see in its entirety over again. Smackdown exclusive PPV’s have been suffering from the lack of depth on the undercard, and it certainly doesn’t help that John Cena and The Miz isn’t there anymore to give any diversity. I wouldn’t call this show bad, because I certainly enjoyed myself more than I hated it, but I felt like this was just another going through the motions act from WWE, and I really wish the WWE main roster would feel motivated after having NXT consistently show them up. Overall, I’ll give this show a mild thumbs up, but only catch Owens/Styles and the last four or so minutes of Jinder/Orton and you’ll be fine. Until next time.
