Reverse Hipster What Mattered
5. Rick BOOGZ
Rick picked up another impressive win. This time he put Ziggler down in a pretty quick match.
4. Edge vs. Seth
Seth has followed through on his behavior from last week. He snapped on Cesaro using Edge's moves and almost hitting a conchairto on Cesaro before Edge came out and saved Cesaro. I'm happy to see that the Edge and Seth feud is continuing. Becky's return was horrible, and it sucked the life out of Summerslam. I think Seth and Edge didn't get the credit they deserve for their match because of that. Also, a rematch between them allows them to up the stakes and have a stipulation match at extreme rules. However, for now, they will face off next week in the Garden.
3. Bianca
Bianca shined this week with one of her best promos on the main roster. She made no excuses for her loss at Summerslam. She threw some subtle shade at Becky when she said she wouldn't drag another woman down to build herself up and then said she earned her rematch just like she earned everything she has done. She also compared Becky to Roman, making Becky look extra bad for not defending the title because Roman, who is a star who is the champ, is defending his title. I loved Bianca pulling Becky's card here. Bianca is basically the uncrowned champion right now; every time she shows up, she seems like the champion. Bianca carries herself like a champion, and she is cheered like a champion. She wins like a champion. Becky better watch out because she may have the title, but it's still the EST era.
2. Uso's vs. The Street Profits
I don't think anyone wanted to see a DQ finish. However, I think everyone got what they wanted in this match. Street Profits clearly proved they could beat the Uso's, which is why the Uso's had to get themselves disqualified. The Uso's looked strong cause they beat the street Profits up after the match. Also, we got an awesome preview for extreme rules here. Before the Dq, they had a great match. Also, they had a terrific promo segment before the match. The highlight was Dawkins saying the Uso's needed a permission slip to be on Smackdown without Roman.
1. Roman vs. Finn Balor
Finn Balor was attacked before the match by the Usos. However, that didn't stop Balor from laying the Smackdown on Roman in easily the match of the night. Balor had Roman dead to rights. I thought it was all over for Roman. However, then he kicked out, but he did so in a way that low-blowed Finn. Then he choked out Finn and Won the match. I love the match, and I like the finish. I think WWE did a good job delivering a good match and protecting both characters.
Rob’s What mattered
6. Dolph Ziggler and Toni Storm
Small segments like this are great. It’s fun to imagine the backstage ecosystem of WWE in kayfabe and see interactions between stars that we won’t ever see in the ring together. Dolph Ziggler and Toni Storm give off similar energy, so I would love to see them build on this in whatever story makes sense for both stars.
5. Naomi Will Demand the Spotlight
For the second week in a row, Naomi had a backstage segment with Sonya Deville and was brushed off. Naomi is probably the most underutilized women’s wrestler in WWE history. This should end with Naomi demanding a match and working into the women’s championship picture.
4. Happy Corbin and Logan Paul on the KO Show
If Kevin Owens is the closest we have to a modern Stone Cold Steve Austin, pairing him with Logan Paul is a great decision. Paul in real life is the antithesis to a Stone Cold ideology, a pretty-boy millionaire YouTuber who hasn’t worked blue-collar a day in his life. I still love the evolution of Corbin’s gimmicks, so seeing him used in this segment made me happy. Putting both of these guys with Paul is one of the biggest compliments you can give to their character work. Love him or hate him, Paul is more mainstream than anyone on SmackDown right now. It’ll be interesting to see what they do from here if Paul is a regular on WWE TV.
3. Edge Makes the Save
We’ve seen it a lot this year, but I’m never going to complain seeing Cesaro and Seth Rollins in-ring together. Rollins went through a story of using all of Edge’s moves, showing the feud with Edge isn’t over in Rollins’s head. When Rollins threatened to con-chair-to Cesaro, Edge came out for the save. Whether intentional or not, it was a good rub to Cesaro because I would like to see him and Edge team up or face off in the ring. Rollins and Edge was the best match at Summerslam, and they are doing some of the best storytelling in WWE right now, so I’m not upset to see this feud continue.
2. Bianca Belair rises to Becky Lynch’s level
This week was a step in the right direction for the SmackDown Women’s Championship feud. I still think it was a mistake for Becky Lynch to immediately turn heel, but Lynch worked hard to push the needle toward heel with the live crowd in this segment. More importantly, I think this segment forced Bianca Belair to bring her promo to Lynch’s level, and I think Belair succeeded. The ultimate goal of this feud should be to get Belair moreover as the main event woman, and if they keep doing this, it should succeed.
1. Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor
I’m surprised WWE gave this away on SmackDown. This was a good match, but it was better throughout the night to see the progression of the storyline of the bloodline. Can Paul Heyman be trusted to back Roman Reigns without fail? Or will the return of the beast lure him to his old habits? I think the involvement of the Usos and Street Profits in this match added to the overall feel of the main event. Finn Balor and Reigns have great chemistry, and we should see this match again in the near future with no distractions or gimmicks.
Rob’s What didn’t matter
1. No finish for the Usos and Street Profits
This feud is going to be fire, but booking this match is a mistake for the feud. Booking a number one contender match against the champions by definition gives away the in-ring action that should be saved if this is supposed to be a big championship feud. On top of that, the disqualification finish meant that even though the Street Profits technically won, they didn’t prove they earned number one contender status. The disqualification rules for tag teams are inconsistent and poorly enforced, so it’s just upsetting for fans to see a finish like this. Otherwise, this was a near-perfect show, and this was the only miss at the beginning of the night
Reverse Hipster What Didn't Matter
5. Ko Show
I don't have a vendetta against Logan Paul, but I will say he is 0-2 for me. I just couldn't care about this segment at all. I don't know what they are trying to do with him, but I hope they pick a definite direction soon. If you disagree, I love to hear why you like it.
4. Liv Morgan
Where is Liv? She has the most momentum she has ever had, and WWE keeps treating her like an afterthought.
3. Cesaro
Anybody could have been Seth's sacrificial lamb. There was absolutely no value in making it Cesaro. Already I groaned when I saw the match-up. However, Seth and Cesaro are so talented they overcame the booking and were having a good match until the Dq finish. Cesaro should be campaigning for a world title, not being saved by Edge after being beaten up by Seth.
2. Sami Zayn vs. Dominik
This match did nothing for me. It was a rematch from last week where nothing changed. WWE should have either done better for the Mysterio story or a returning Sami or done a women s division match instead. Plenty of people, including the people in this match, could have made better use of this time.
1. Becky Lynch
Becky Heel run continues to fail. Becky is getting zero heat from the crowd. Even when she tried to be arrogant and get the crowd hot, they just gave her positive chants. Her latest promo should tell WWE all they need to know. The WWE Universe is strongly rejecting Becky as a heel. WWE should do what they did in her meteoric rise, switch their plans, and listen to what the crowd wants. You can still turn Becky heel later, but right now, she needs to be a face. In fact, you can even pretend she has been a face the whole time because nobody has seemed to notice she is a heel.
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