Here’s a not-so-hot take: I initially didn’t get the hype about All In and AEW in general. It's not because they’re bad or anything; I still have the All In show in my wrestling binge backlog. But just like NJPW, I can’t seem to find time to catch up with whatever storyline Cody and Co. are currently running with. But after this week’s abysmal episode of SmackDown Live, I thought I should grow a pair and start watching more non-WWE stuff because honestly, I think I need a well-deserved break from WWE’s shenanigans.
Or maybe it’s because this week was just terrible? The midterm elections pretty much put everyone with a thinking brain in a collective depression so maybe that’s why I'm in a foul mood. Regardless, this week’s episode was plain terrible. And this was supposed to be the go-home show, mind you. For some reason, the excitement for Money in the Bank is just not there. Just like Jofer Serapio did last week, I, too, gave WWE the benefit of the doubt on the whole Wild Card Rule. I guess I should’ve known that they’ve never been consistent in terms of quality.
But SmackDown Live had a saving grace this week in the form of their main event segment. Kofi Kingston continues to receive this well-deserved main event treatment and I’m all for it. I was actually expecting he’ll get the AJ Styles treatment where he barely received the spotlight a WWE Champion deserved. Kofi’s rivalry with Kevin Owens is probably the only angle I’m currently invested in, mainly because Owens is so effective as the punchable heel. Seeing him and Sami Zayn working together again brings me joy, like everything’s right with the world again. Also, there’s this dope sequence that happened. See, it’s not all bad.
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_wrestling) May 15, 2019
The Wild Card RunDown
Since this week’s episode of SmackDown Live was pretty much a dud, I might as well try this thing now and see where it goes. To borrow a page from Vince McMahon’s playbook, I’ll take a segment from RAW and talk about it here on the SmackDown Live column—just like the whole Wild Card thing! And unlike Vinnie Mac, I’ll be consistent and stick to one segment per week. Sami Zayn stealing Braun Strowman’s spot in the Money in the Bank match is noteworthy, but my pick is going to be Becky 2 Belts’s first-ever double contract signing segment.
Nothing fancy about this segment, really. It’s your typical contract signing where they end up in a brawl. But this time, Becky had to deal with both of her contenders vying for each of her titles. That dynamic alone is interesting enough. The segment effectively painted Becky Lynch as a proud champion biting off more than she can chew. Charlotte Flair and Lacey Evans have never looked better as legitimate threats. Hopefully, the taste of wood gave Becky 2 Belts some perspective. Or not, and she ends up surviving the onslaught at Money in the Bank.
SMACKDOWN RUNDOWN: I really don’t have anything to say about this episode, try as I might. If you didn’t watch the show, don’t bother. You’re not going to miss anything. Aside from the fact that there will be two multi-person ladder matches, I’m not really hyped for this year’s Money in the Bank at all. Thank heavens for Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens for keeping SmackDown Live afloat for the past few weeks. Whatever, here’s a C. I can’t wait for AEW to give WWE the kick in the shin they definitely need.
The RunDown CutDown
- YOWIE WOWIE! Did they jump the gun on Bray Wyatt yet again. The revealed his “secret” way too early and during a week where nothing great happened. The mask didn’t even look that menacing to begin with. Sigh. Two weeks from now, he will have already lost two matches to Roman Reigns.
- Daniel Bryan and Rowan didn’t even bring their newly-minted SmackDown Tag Team Championships this week. Sigh. Let’s get the inevitable unification matches over with.
*****
Ricky Publico (@NitPickRick) is a wrestling fan who enjoys watching high flyers and brawlers battle it out in the ring. A known Botchamania binge-watcher, he claims to have memorized the chronological order of Royal Rumble winners, but fails to remember who won in 2004. He writes stories about life and nonsense.
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