Spoilers follow for the May 30th episode of Smackdown.
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After an absolutely terrible Raw, the only thing I have to say is this: I hope Smackdown is better.
The Shield is out first, because there's probably one person out there who is just tuning in for the first time since WrestleMania and has no idea that The Shield vs. Evolution is still a thing. The promo exists to hype up the Payback match this coming Sunday, because this is the final show before the PPV. They explain how a No Holds Barred Elimination match works, for those new to wrestling. That's about it. Lackluster opening to Smackdown. Hopefully it doesn't set the tone for the whole night.
Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman)
Cesaro and Kingston have a pretty strong match here, for the very short time they're given to work. Cesaro works a more technical match, Kingston puts in a good deal of offense and does his high flying stuff, but is eventually defeated when going for a high-risk move and being caught but an ugly, poorly executed, uppercut. After the win, Cesaro hits the Neutralizer on Kofi, because he's a "heel" even though his "heel" run has been just awful. No Paul heyman on the microphone comes as a breath of fresh air.
Match Rating: **1/2
Renee Young then interviews Bad News Barrett, whose monologue was all over the place but made fun of RVD's main taunt, which pleased me. I'm sick of that, too.
Tamina Snuka vs. Paige
Hey, remember when Tamina was challenging for the Divas Championship and then dropped off the face of the earth? Yeah, so do I. She was a "credible" challenger a month ago and now she's jobbing to Paige. Alicia Fox comes out right at the beginning of the match to do distract Paige, but all it does is take the focus off decent in-ring work. Paige wins despite the distraction, because Tamina no longer matters.
Match Rating: **
A Sheamus interview followed by a Bo Dallas vignette (why are we not done with these?) takes us to a commercial break.
Xavier Woods vs. Bo Dallas
So, Xavier Woods goes from jobbing to Rusev to Bo Dallas. This guy's career is totally heading places. Bo Dallas only shows off a few moves, almost all of which we've seen before, and Xavier Woods does very little of consequence. The only impressive spot comes from Dallas catching Woods with a mid-air dropkick.
Match Rating: **
Jinder Mahal (with 3MB) vs. El Torito (with Los Matadores)
These matches continue to be jokes, and if this feud lasts past Payback, somebody in WWE should be fired. Torito wins in a short match with a semi-botched Bullsault.
Match Rating: *
Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett
Paul Heyman on commentary, because of reasons, I guess. He reminds us about The Streak and hypes Payback. This is billed as a "champion vs. champion match," although I don't think that's actually a thing.
Both men look great in one heck of a bRawl. A flurry of back-and-forth action, a good number of big spots, and a really great TV match is given to us from Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. The finish was reminiscent of a PPV. If one of these men wasn't a champion, this would be a solid feud. Finally, we have something on Smackdown worth watching.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Titus O'Neil vs. Big E
Lana and Rusev come out before the match. Rusev waves a Russian flag, which is a response to Big E coming out with an American one. Remember how Titus was supposed to be going through an Alicia Fox-style run? That's completely bombed. Big E continues to be poor in the ring, and Titus doesn't get much to do in what's essentially a squash match.
Match Rating: *
Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) vs. Adam Rose
Colter's on commentary. Adam Rose prances around, does some silly "moves," and then gets a stupid pin on Swagger for the win. Swagger looks incredibly weak right now. Is it official that this match will happen for real at Payback?
Colter and Swagger are upset in the ring afterward.
Match Rating: *
<color=red>Last Man Standing Match: Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) vs. Jimmy Uso (with Jey Uso)
I don't know if Bray Wyatt's ever been in a Last Man Standing match before, so it makes sense to let him have a trial before his match against John Cena at Payback. It also allows those new wrestling fans to understand what they're going to see. If it's a good one, it might get people hyped up for the match at Payback.
Luckily, it is a good one. Bray gets to do his weird offense, Jimmy Uso gets in far more offense than anyone likely expected, and the Last Man Standing gimmick was brought into the spotlight well. A couple of great spots are hit, the two men seemed legitimately warn out by the end, and this was a good way to send us into PPV mode. Wyatt got the win, but Jimmy looked strong in defeat.
Match Rating: ***
So, with two matches worth seeing, Smackdown becomes almost more worth watching than Raw this week. That's two weeks in a row that there's been at least something worth seeing on Smackdown, which is progress. Payback is Sunday, and it's sure to be ... something, I guess.
The Good: Sheamus/Barrett. Wyatt/Uso.
The Bad: Swagger/Rose. O'Neil/Big E. Los Matadores/3MB feud. Bo Dallas vignettes still existing.
Match of the Night: Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett.
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After an absolutely terrible Raw, the only thing I have to say is this: I hope Smackdown is better.
The Shield is out first, because there's probably one person out there who is just tuning in for the first time since WrestleMania and has no idea that The Shield vs. Evolution is still a thing. The promo exists to hype up the Payback match this coming Sunday, because this is the final show before the PPV. They explain how a No Holds Barred Elimination match works, for those new to wrestling. That's about it. Lackluster opening to Smackdown. Hopefully it doesn't set the tone for the whole night.
Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman)
Cesaro and Kingston have a pretty strong match here, for the very short time they're given to work. Cesaro works a more technical match, Kingston puts in a good deal of offense and does his high flying stuff, but is eventually defeated when going for a high-risk move and being caught but an ugly, poorly executed, uppercut. After the win, Cesaro hits the Neutralizer on Kofi, because he's a "heel" even though his "heel" run has been just awful. No Paul heyman on the microphone comes as a breath of fresh air.
Match Rating: **1/2
Renee Young then interviews Bad News Barrett, whose monologue was all over the place but made fun of RVD's main taunt, which pleased me. I'm sick of that, too.
Tamina Snuka vs. Paige
Hey, remember when Tamina was challenging for the Divas Championship and then dropped off the face of the earth? Yeah, so do I. She was a "credible" challenger a month ago and now she's jobbing to Paige. Alicia Fox comes out right at the beginning of the match to do distract Paige, but all it does is take the focus off decent in-ring work. Paige wins despite the distraction, because Tamina no longer matters.
Match Rating: **
A Sheamus interview followed by a Bo Dallas vignette (why are we not done with these?) takes us to a commercial break.
Xavier Woods vs. Bo Dallas
So, Xavier Woods goes from jobbing to Rusev to Bo Dallas. This guy's career is totally heading places. Bo Dallas only shows off a few moves, almost all of which we've seen before, and Xavier Woods does very little of consequence. The only impressive spot comes from Dallas catching Woods with a mid-air dropkick.
Match Rating: **
Jinder Mahal (with 3MB) vs. El Torito (with Los Matadores)
These matches continue to be jokes, and if this feud lasts past Payback, somebody in WWE should be fired. Torito wins in a short match with a semi-botched Bullsault.
Match Rating: *
Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett
Paul Heyman on commentary, because of reasons, I guess. He reminds us about The Streak and hypes Payback. This is billed as a "champion vs. champion match," although I don't think that's actually a thing.
Both men look great in one heck of a bRawl. A flurry of back-and-forth action, a good number of big spots, and a really great TV match is given to us from Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. The finish was reminiscent of a PPV. If one of these men wasn't a champion, this would be a solid feud. Finally, we have something on Smackdown worth watching.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Titus O'Neil vs. Big E
Lana and Rusev come out before the match. Rusev waves a Russian flag, which is a response to Big E coming out with an American one. Remember how Titus was supposed to be going through an Alicia Fox-style run? That's completely bombed. Big E continues to be poor in the ring, and Titus doesn't get much to do in what's essentially a squash match.
Match Rating: *
Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) vs. Adam Rose
Colter's on commentary. Adam Rose prances around, does some silly "moves," and then gets a stupid pin on Swagger for the win. Swagger looks incredibly weak right now. Is it official that this match will happen for real at Payback?
Colter and Swagger are upset in the ring afterward.
Match Rating: *
<color=red>Last Man Standing Match: Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) vs. Jimmy Uso (with Jey Uso)
I don't know if Bray Wyatt's ever been in a Last Man Standing match before, so it makes sense to let him have a trial before his match against John Cena at Payback. It also allows those new wrestling fans to understand what they're going to see. If it's a good one, it might get people hyped up for the match at Payback.
Luckily, it is a good one. Bray gets to do his weird offense, Jimmy Uso gets in far more offense than anyone likely expected, and the Last Man Standing gimmick was brought into the spotlight well. A couple of great spots are hit, the two men seemed legitimately warn out by the end, and this was a good way to send us into PPV mode. Wyatt got the win, but Jimmy looked strong in defeat.
Match Rating: ***
So, with two matches worth seeing, Smackdown becomes almost more worth watching than Raw this week. That's two weeks in a row that there's been at least something worth seeing on Smackdown, which is progress. Payback is Sunday, and it's sure to be ... something, I guess.
The Good: Sheamus/Barrett. Wyatt/Uso.
The Bad: Swagger/Rose. O'Neil/Big E. Los Matadores/3MB feud. Bo Dallas vignettes still existing.
Match of the Night: Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett.
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If you wish to be notified whenever I post something new, please join this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.
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Talk to me on the Twitter, <url=https://twitter.com/martertweet>@martertweet.