WWE SmackDown was the final show before The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
WWE SmackDown had a huge main event featuring Matt Riddle and AJ Styles battling. This was for the WWE Intercontinental Title and Riddle already had a win over Styles prior to this clash.
There were some other big moments which clicked on SmackDown while some didn’t actually work and here are the hits and misses from the show.
Misses
1) A moment that missed
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross held their Moment of Bliss segment and it just didn’t work. Even after they brought in Bayley and Sasha Banks, the segment just didn’t feel any different to the other talk shows in WWE.
The MVP Lounge, Miz TV and even The Kevin Owens Show are other talk shows in the promotion, and WWE has to find something that makes each of them standout.
2) No heat from Wyatt
Bray Wyatt is back in his Eater of Worlds persona and will take on Braun Strowman at Extreme Rules in a Swamp fight.
SmackDown featured a Firefly Fun House segment with a twist but even that wasn’t enough to get the wheels working.
For some reason, the build-up to Wyatt vs Strowman hasn’t worked all that well, and this was another segment that fell flat, which is surprising given how great Wyatt is.
3) Naomi vs Evans
We wrote about the Karaoke session last week and where it didn’t make sense, and WWE decided to keep continuing with this rivalry.
That segment was put together on a whim it seemed, and this match just didn’t cut it. Naomi and Lacey Evans deserve better on WWE as they are good performers but are being sandbagged with a poor story.
Hits
1) Tag team mayhem
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura seem to have a number of Big E and Kofi Kingston. The two teams will meet for the SmackDown tag titles and it was made official that this match would be a tables one.
Cesaro and Nakamura hinted at that last week, and they brought out the tables again. However, the challengers couldn’t put E and Kingston through a table this time.
However, Cesaro and Nakamura looked great again, and it will be interesting to see how their clash at Extreme Rules goes.
2) Surprise appearance
The one saving grace from the Moment of Bliss segment was seeing Asuka make an appearance. Bliss also changed a tag match which pitted Asuka and Cross against Bayley and Banks. The two Women’s champions were on opposite teams and they teamed up with contender’s for the other title.
(WWE)
This was smart booking and we got to see some quality moves without Bliss being involved. Normally, Raw stars coming on SmackDown don’t work and vice versa but this worked a treat.
3) The main event
Riddle vs Styles delivered, although it could have been better, this was a good way to end SmackDown. The ending was great too as Styles offered a handshake to Riddle as a sign of respect but that was an ambush for Baron Corbin to attack him.
This sets up Corbin vs Riddle for now and the Original Bro could take on Styles at a later date. The Phenomenal One is possibly the best worker in the ring now, and he needs to keep the IC title for a while.
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