WWE Smackdown Review (Layin’ The Smarkdown)
July 1, 2016
By: Alex Kahrs of Wrestleview.com
AWWW WRESTLEVIEWNIVERSE, DON’T YOU DARE BE SOUR! CLAP FOR YOUR LOCALLY WORLD FAMOUS SMACKDOWN REVIEW, AND FEEL THE POWWWWAAAAAH!
Welcome back to Layin’ The Smarkdown, the only Smackdown review personally vouched for by Mauro Renallo!* I’m back to cover what I considered the best of this week’s Smackdown, but before I do I want to address something real quick: as you have noticed lately, I haven’t been around much. Long story short, work has been super busy and I haven’t hand time to recap Smackdown as often. On top of that…as excited as I am for Smackdown to go LIVE starting July 19, the reality is my work schedule doesn’t allow me the time to recap the show the same night. So, once the show goes live I will be forced to take a bit of a break from recapping Smackdown until I have a chance to watch Smackdown live. Don’t you fret, Wrestleviewniverse…it currently looks to be about a month of a break, so I look to be doing that again come August. And man, am I excited about what Smackdown being live is gonna do to the product…especially with the brand extension returning!
That said, let’s take a look at this past week’s Smackdown as WWE continues to try to build a PPV main event featuring a man currently suspended due to Wellness Policy violation. That seems weird, but 1) it’s Roman Reigns, 2) it’s probably the same thing that happened to ‘Swoggle and he didn’t get a sample turned in or something, and 3) it’s Roman Reigns, and you can believe dat!
Opening Match: Nothing better to kick off Smackdown than actual wrestling! Great match between all four men here, Cesaro looking particularly good here with the win. Did like both the tension between Sheamus and ADR and the current feud between Sheamus and Crews playing into the match. Awesome work on the post-match too, good setup for the title match right after.
US Title: Two matches in a row, friends! Isn’t it amazing? And a good match at that, considering the story they told of Cesaro fighting back after ADR’s attack beforehand. Good win for Rusev to build toward a title defense on Independence Day against Titus O’Neil.
Kay/Brooke: Congrats to Billie Kay on getting a match on main roster TV this week. Decent match for what it was, a chance for Dana to shine a bit more.
Side note: I’m excited for a feud between Charlotte and Sasha Banks.
MizTV: Good little segment to hype the Battleground main event. It’s interesting to see how WWE can build this match in spite of Roman’s suspension. Great back and forth from both champions here, a lot of fun.
Wyatt Family Squash: I fully realize I might be the only recapper to try to catch the names of the “local talent” facing the Wyatts this week, but that’s my attention to detail for ya. Anyways, this match existed. Why do we have squash matches in 2016? I’m not even trying to be snarky, I legitimately want to know why this is still a thing.
Wyatts/New Day note: I love this feud. I especially like the way Xavier Woods doesn’t look like himself in it. This could make for a fun feud with the tag titles on the line in the near future. Yes, please, and thank you.
Summer/Sasha: Decent enough match, especially showing Sasha back in action. Considering I haven’t seen WWE television much in the past month, I’m mostly just glad Sasha is back.
Main Event: Such a great main event, worthy of the “Champion vs Champion” tagline given to it. Miz continues to show his strength as a heel, and Ambrose impresses me greatly as WWE Champion.
That’s it for Smackdown this week! What did you think of the show? Are you excited for the main event of Battleground? Who do you think will be drafted to Smackdown come July 19? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @Power2TheSmarks! Until next time, this is Alex Kahrs reminding you to be excellent to each other. Party on, dudes!