
I guess I’m too late to join the intertextuality party, but let me throw in my two cents anyway.
No one is arguing that you can't be intellectual with your wrestling. You have the freedom to break down a match to bits if that’s your thing. But every time you decide to share your thoughts and comments, you also place yourself on the pedestal and you should also be prepared to eloquently defend your position. Why? Because you're the fool who wants to be all academic in a sport where people without pants fight for a belt.
So don't cry about your opinions not being respected. Your opinion—no matter how much production went to it—will always be open to criticism from the people you're criticizing, their fans, and literally anyone else who wants to chime in. Just like you have the right to express your opinion about the country's pro wrestling scene, the pro wrestling scene also has the right to correct you, especially when you weren’t even there in the first place. It's that simple.
Criticize to make something better, not to belittle. Alright, let’s start the damn column.
Rusev Day Dominates the Gauntlet


Speaking of D-Bry, I didn’t really get how he was able to push the Bludgeon Brothers’ buttons. They attacked Bryan simply because he interrupted their exit? It’s not even his fault then, blame the sound guy! But I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by this. Let’s just hope they can justify another excuse to delay The Miz/Daniel Bryan storyline. I’m pretty sure everyone will already lose interest come WrestleMania, except maybe for a few faithful followers. At least Miz got to pin Bryan in the gauntlet so that’s one seed planted. SmackDown Live is such a tease.

And finally, Rusev received the biggest opportunity of his career! I was actually hoping for Samoa Joe to win this one because if I can’t have a proper Bryan/Joe storyline, I might as well get my fix with a surefire classic Styles vs. Joe. But hey, Rusev’s one hell of a choice! I am so relieved Creative finally listened. Hopefully, Rusev can prove to everyone that he’s more than just a meme. I also hope this isn’t happening just because he threatened to leave or something.

Becky’s on Fire, Ellsworth Returns


SAnitY Invades SmackDown Live... Kinda


The Fall of Shinsuke Nakamura


And if by some miracle he ends up dethroning Jeff Hardy, so what? They invested so much in Nakamura—top guys like Orton and Cena put him over, he had countless opportunities to be the WWE Champion, and he’s a Royal Rumble Winner for crying out loud—and all he’ll have to show for it is a measly United States Championship? I’m not necessarily saying the U.S. title is a downgrade, but consider his accolades, accomplishments, and the overall hype they generated for him as context. Tell me it’s not a downgrade for him.


SMACKDOWN RUNDOWN: SmackDown Live once again sent everyone home happy with an awesome main event. That’s all I really need to justify giving this episode a high grade. A whole lot of new possibilities and storylines unfolded in a span of two hours and except from seeing one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world lose his credibility, everything seems to be on the right track. And let’s not forget about Rusev finally getting a fair shot at a world title! Obviously, this show scored another A.
Some Blue Brand Blues That Didn’t Make It
- So the Usos are just gatekeepers now? Cool, cool. They’re just too over to be jobbers and that’s a total damn shame. I get that the goal is to put SAnitY over and needlessly beating nameless jobbers won’t really help in distinguishing themselves from the Bludgeons. I just can’t help but be sad for ma boys.
- So tell me, what happened to the mini-rivalry between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Sin Cara? What, you didn’t know they were feuding? Exactly.
- So I guess everyone on commentary’s still calling D-Bry’s finisher “The Knee.” C’mon, Phillips. Don’t be a Michael Cole clone. Do better.
- “I’ll show you what loss means!” *plants Nakamura with Dirty Deeds*
Photos from WWE.com
*****
Ricky Jay Publico (@NitPickRick) is a wrestling fan who enjoys watching high flyers and brawlers battle it out in the ring. A frequent 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.