Coming out of last night’s SmackDown Live, there were two major questions on my mind.
The first related to what Naomi could possibly have done to merit the completely disproportional response from Mandy Rose, trying to ruin her marriage. I mean, I understand she’s a heel. But so is Daniel Bryan, and he’s not going around wrecking lives!
As best I can tell, the origins of this blood rivalry date all the way back to two random tag encounters the women had against one another towards the end of last year, back when Naomi and Asuka were the hottest pairing in all of sports. Apparently those largely meaningless losses were enough to spark the vengeful side of Mandy Rose, prompting her efforts at seducing Jimmy Uso.
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And it seemed like that plan might work too, when a paparazzo jumped out of hiding to snap a few compromising photos of Uso and Rose together in a conveniently nearby hotel room. I have absolutely no idea why the photographer’s emergence came as such a surprise to Jimmy – did he not notice the WWE cameraman alongside him tracking his every move? Or the social media guy making sure that all of this found its way to the ‘Gram? This guy is terrible at adultery.
Fortunately it was all a ruse, as Naomi was revealed to be lurking outside the hotel room, waiting to unleash a can of gentle slapping on the blonde seductress. This was a ridiculous, over-produced, confusing mess of a segment, that may possible have been saved if only Jimmy had gotten the room number wrong and accidentally walked in on Otis Dozovic wearing his Mandy Rose halloween costume from last year.
Honey manipulating you mentally was too easy… now I finish you off in the ring 🤛 @NaomiWWE #NaughtyGirl #sdlive
— Mandy (@mandysacs) January 16, 2019
Even stranger than that drama though, is what’s going on between Shane McMahon and The Miz. The latest chapter in this odd tale of unlikely friends saw Miz throw a birthday party for his bestie, Shane. Does anyone know where this story is going?
I understand that it’s destined to end with one man turning on the other. But who honestly cares? The issue is that neither man is particularly sympathetic, with the Miz in constant pompous a-hole mode, and Shane… oh god, Shane.
He’s obsessed with over-priced sneakers, habitually places his partner in harm’s way and has long been utterly delusional. Last night he derided The Bar for daring to refer to themselves as the best tag team in the world. That’s right, he criticised five-time tag team champions for considering themselves the world’s best.
Shane, the Miz has been calling you the “Best Tag Team in the World’ for months and all you’ve got is one victory over the Vegas Boys! … I hate you so much.
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And that’s really the issue with this storyline. When the inevitable turn happens, neither guy will be positioned as the good guy, as both are fairly unlikable. It’ll be like broccoli turning on asparagus. We hate both of you equally.
But that only scratches the surface of what was, for the most part, a very enjoyable episode of SmackDown. We got the customary dropping of a last name, which inexplicably turns an ailing wrestler into a winner, a truly excellent TV match between two unsung heroes in the company and more of Otis just doing Dozovic things. “Yeeeeeah Tucky, pour dit in dere. How ’bout a liddle kerrrbs in dere. Couple eggs, ooh yeaah.”
I love him.
What else happened on last night’s show? Join our WrestleTalk writers as they take you through their personal highlights (and lowlights) from SmackDown and venture a rating of the show overall. Then let us know your thoughts. On with the good.
What was your favourite moment from SmackDown Live?
Steven Lugo
Although I loved the opening segment – that unthinkable mix of New Day, Heavy Machinery, and the Man, which transitioned straight into another fine Becky promo – the best the night had to offer was Mysterio versus Andrade.
Rey somehow feels like one of the fresher acts on SmackDown, and is doing some of his best wrestling. What can be said about Andrade? He’s spectacular. The only thing that took away from this match was the commentary, as each of the announcers tried to hit us over the head with the idea it was going to be the greatest thing we’d ever see. You had a terrific main roster match with moves usually not seen on the main roster. Now calm down, WWE!
Kyle Payne
From the start of the show, the way they followed Becky Lynch as she arrived to the arena, to her interaction with Otis Dozovic, to her in-ring promo, and her eventual match – it was all set up masterfully and you can tell how respected Becky is. WWE did it subtly too, with Xavier Woods wearing her shirt and Otis seeking her appreciation.
The promo itself was great but Asuka managed to hold her own as well, with her angry Japanese ranting something we need more of. She really came across as menacing and threatening. Peyton Royce deserves a special mention here too because she is talented and ably held her own. Overall, SmackDown really allows their women to shine.
The highlight of the show however was definitely the phenomenal match between Mysterio and Andrade. I’m convinced neither of them are capable of a bad bout and they have some of the best chemistry two competitors can have. The match was competitive with great pacing and smooth flow, and ultimately the right finish. I also liked the promo Andrade did post-match. Hearing him speak is the beginning of his eventual separation from Vega and even though it’ll be a sad day once it does happen, it’s good they are prepping him and the audience, by allowing him to speak for himself.
See you soon!! Amigo 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼 https://t.co/QpfACLetCH
— “EL IDOLO” ANDRADE (@AndradeElIdolo) January 16, 2019
Brian Farrell
Almas vs Mysterio. Hot take, I know, but this match was extremely entertaining. The match started out slow but interesting, and built up to a fast paced match with spots a plenty. Everyone and their mother will probably go in depth into this match, so I’ll keep it simple: cool flippy stuff.
Nate Craver
I’m sure most of my fellow writers are probably going with Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio. However, I am picking Becky Lynch. The Man is just plain awesome. Becky had a span of great moments in just a matter of minutes. I loved the interaction with the backstage interview, her promo, drinking Otis’ shake, and the throat punch. To me, Becky isn’t just the best thing on Smackdown, she’s the best thing in WWE.
https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1085357719652057088
What was the worst part of last night’s episode?
Steven Lugo
The Mandy Rose home-wrecker storyline. I seem to remember Enzo and Lana having this exact same hotel room angle a while back (although Enzo didn’t have a home to wreck).
I’m not sure if it’s an attempt to bring back part of the Attitude Era, or if they really can’t think of anything else for Mandy to do. At any rate, I thought she was robotic and unexciting in her segments. Would love for this to end, and put the focus on the tag team title chase with Sonya Deville.
Kyle Payne
The only real negative I found with the show was the whole infidelity storyline involving Mandy Rose, Naomi, and Jimmy Uso. I don’t like these types of storylines; I don’t think it’s a subject anyone should be playing around with.
Brian Farrell
Shane McMahon’s birthday. If this was in the middle, or even the beginning, it would be passable. But after a solid show, the ending fell kind of flat for me.
The match and post-match was fine, but the promo before I found to be a waste of time. It did more to advertise Jordan 33s than to advertise the actual Royal Rumble match. The birthday song was rather cringe and the video package felt kind of pointless. Not terrible, but not a good main event by any stretch.
Nate Craver
The Bar and Co-Besties confrontation was the worst for me. The Bar are your tag team champions. While they are okay at comedy, I just feel your champions should be treated more seriously, especially if those champions are Sheamus and Cesaro.
It seems anytime there’s food around the ring, Cesaro and Sheamus are going to land in it. They are supposed to be heels. You want to see heels get theirs, but they constantly look like idiots. I don’t take them seriously. It’s just not working for me.
Of course, at least they are going to lose their titles to two guys who could use the rub. I mean Shane and Miz are guys who need these kinds of things to get over. Also, the payoff is going to be huge. When I heard “fresh matchups” as part of the new era of WWE, I immediately thought Miz and Shane would be perfect champions. It’s not like SmackDown has any other tag teams that could use a bit of the spotlight.
How would you rate the show overall? (From best to worst: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner and A Smack in the Face)
Steven Lugo
SmackTastic. I was going to give that rating last week, but one always worries if a WWE show is genuinely good or if it’s just relative, and we’re happy not to have a bad show. Let’s see here.
I really enjoyed the opening segment and matches, even if I wanted Billie Kay to hang in there a little longer against Asuka. The crowd was really into AJ Styles and Bryan at the concession stand; if AJ tried to force feed Bryan a hotdog I think the roof would have blown off the place. I’m normally not a Shane fan, but his bestie birthday bash made me laugh, and it’s almost as if Miz is a full-on face. Hmm, curious.
Anything that might have brought the show down was counter-balanced by Mysterio / Andrade.
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Kyle Payne
This was a solid SmackDamn! The show flew by and was fun from start to finish. We had great wrestling, story progression, and the crowd was really into it. Adding to what I liked, Samoa Joe and his vicious attack on up-and-coming Mustafa Ali was great and I look forward to seeing them mix it up.
The AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan stuff was great as well and, for some reason, I loved the segment with The Miz and Shane McMahon. A great show that Raw could learn from.
Brian Farrell
SmackTastic. I really enjoyed SmackDown this week. There was a fantastic match, I enjoyed the Joe attack on Ali too. Bryan and AJ’s brawl was pretty good, and I didn’t hate the Mandy Rose / Naomi / one of the two Usos storyline.
The solid beginning with Becky and Asuka started a great show that fell a bit flat at the end, thus leaving it at a very respectable SmackTastic for me.
Nate Craver
I’m giving this one a low Smacktastic. Almas and Mysterio, Joe and Ali, Bryan and Styles, and Lynch and Asuka all had good segments. They made the show very enjoyable.
Obviously, I didn’t love Shane and Miz, but I almost chose the Mandy Rose segments for worst. The good outweighed the bad and made the show very enjoyable. If I had stopped watching after an hour and a half, it might have been a SmackDamn.
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