WrestleTalk Roundtable – WWE Smackdown Live – September 4, 2018

I went on a pretty long-winded, Raw-focused rant in yesterday’s Roundtable. For those who missed it, you probably dodged a bullet. I was done. Worn out. Frustrated by the character inconsistencies and illogical storytelling. For the first time in a long time, I let an episode of Raw make me so actively angry that I went to bed irritated, and dreading having to sit through more WWE wrestling today.

In retrospect, I should’ve known better. Because SmackDown Live was a lot of fun. As usual.

Like a cup of tea after a heavy day’s work, or a slice of pizza on the way out of a beer garden, SmackDown has positioned itself as the palate cleanser we need – nay, deserve! – after sitting through three hours of Raw the day before.

Between the Bryan / Miz feud evolving to include Detroit’s finest Italian eateries, a heated exchange pitting two former best friends against one another, and a tag team triple threat match, there was a lot packed into two hours of SmackDown Live last night.

Join us as we run through our favorite moments from the 994th edition of SmackDown Live, as well as pick apart those angles that didn’t quite hit the mark (there’s always a few). Then share your thoughts with us, so that we can bask in the positivity together! (Can you tell that I’m feeling much better today?)

Let’s kick off with the good!

What Was the Best SmackDown Moment?

Nate Craver

Tough call for me this week. I thought the AJ / Joe segment was good and R-Truth’s promo was funny – but I’m going with Almas vs. Bryan. I like watching high quality in-ring action and this was the best we got on SmackDown Live. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and Daniel Bryan have put on really good matches two weeks in a row. The best part though is you know they both have more left in the tank. If and when they are actually the focus of a program, the wrestling should be fantastic.

Brian Farrell

The Charlotte and Becky promo. I love this badass Becky, and Charlotte who has just had enough of her. I love the dynamic between the two and am excited for their match. SmackDown Live is giving us a women’s division to care about.

• Related Content: Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch made official for WWE Hell in a Cell

Nicholas Holicki

I can’t believe I’m saying this in 2018. Heck, I can’t believe I’m saying this EVER. But R-Truth was on top of it last night. I mean, his character is basically just an extended cut of America’s Funniest Home Videos at this point – but in small doses that’s comedy gold. He managed to bumble and stumble his way into the SmackDown Live main event (while sharing some wisdom with Tye Dillinger), and I have to admit that I loved every second of it. Packaging him with Carmella was unexpected genius. Keep it up, R-Truth… for no more than five to ten minutes a week.

Kris G. Hamlyn

After All In fever this weekend, it was difficult to shift my spoiled palate back to WWE’s routine scheduling. I was prepared for my wrestling tastes to take the turn from a weekend of exceptional culinary indulgence back to the bland budget stay-at-home meals from the predictable contents of my everyday fridge. While the amount of screentime the Total Bryans / Miz & Mrs program has been getting is beginning to get annoying, the angle of the night not only got an effective pay off in the end, but it ultimately delivered another good show-opener with Bryan and  Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas. Bryan and Almas put on another acceptable bout that merely grazed the surface of what the two could be capable of if they were permitted to steal the show. It was more of an honourable mention than a match of night.

Ultimately it would be the tag team triple threat featuring Rusev Day, The Usos and SAnitY that would be my top takeaway from SmackDown Live. The match was a solid showing all around, and the booking potential of Rusev Day finally making the SmackDown Tag Team Championships reflect the fans’ overwhelming nomination for the top of the division is an idea that truly excites me.

What Didn’t Work In Last Night’s Episode?

Nate Craver

Another tough call. Is it bad to say Andrade’s pronunciation of the English language? I thought about going with the empty building promo by Miz and Maryse which was pretty awful. However my pick is the IIconics pre-match promo. Normally, I find them entertaining, especially when they are cutting down the hometown crowd. The “no, me” shtick was bad and the crowd wasn’t having it. I guess the good news is we got the return of Asuka. I’m sure we’ll find out next week that Asuka’s been BFF’s with Naomi this whole time.

Brian Farrell

I still don’t really understand the Jeff Hardy / Randy Orton feud. I don’t get it. Does Orton want to destroy our heroes by… pulling on their earlobes? Is Jeff still of this Earth? What the hell is a fifth eye?! Admittedly, I’m mostly a grumpy old man who yells at the neighbourhood kids at this stage of my life, so maybe I’m not the target demographic for this type of thing. But this entire angle just feels like little more than a contrived way of giving Jeff that Hell in a Cell match he’s always wanted. (You can’t see this, but I just shrugged with indifference.)

Hell awaits @JEFFHARDYBRAND & @RandyOrton. #HIAC #SDLive pic.twitter.com/Au3cRAfwrG

— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2018

Kris G. Hamlyn

The anti-climatic nature of the women’s division midcard is no fault of the talent involved. While The IIconics and Naomi may create a lull in the middle of each SmackDown Live card, Asuka coming to Naomi’s aid to save her from an outnumbered beatdown at the hands of Royce and Kay speaks volumes to a growing need for a women’s tag team division. These slots in the card would mean a lot more if they gave us a tangible reason to care.

Midcard woes aside, it may ultimately be the excessive force behind the Bryan / Bella / Mizanin family affair that has started to sour me on Tuesday nights. The Bryan / Miz program had WrestleMania potential, but it is continuously being bogged down by storyline stunts that are becoming a lot less cute in their series of shameless plugs that pit two WWE produced reality shows against each other.

How Would You Rate The Show Overall? (From best to worst: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, Ellsworthy and A Smack In The Face)

Nate Craver

I’m not sure if I’m in an All In hangover, but I didn’t really love or hate this week’s show.  I’m going with Smack Bang in The Middle. I liked Almas and Bryan, but I don’t love Almas and Vega being throw away characters in the Total Bellas vs. Miz and Mrs feud. R-Truth was humorous, but why is Carmella all of a sudden a face? No offense to the women’s evolution and all, but we got a lot of talking out of ladies tonight and it wasn’t particularly good. Becky being the exception. To quote Luke: the three way tag match was… fine. I am looking forward to SmackDown Live’s Hell in a Cell lineup. Hopefully, the go home show will be a little more exciting.

Brian Farrell

A high SmackTastic. SmackDown Live was so enjoyable this week. I was amazed at Bryan vs. Almas, interested in Charlotte vs. Becky, laughed at R-Truth, and am excited for Miz / Bryan. And I love how they are putting Almas with those two to show he’s good enough to be a top star. Nothing huge happened, so no SmackDamn, but this episode flew by and I was never bored.

Nicholas Holicki

SmackTastic all the way for me. Everything chugged along really nicely heading towards Hell in a Cell. There were no unnecessary promos, no shameless plugs for merchandise or pay-per-views months down the line. Everything had a purpose, and bar a few minor hiccups, I thought it was a really entertaining show.

Kris G. Hamlyn

I’d generously give this episode of SmackDown Live the very top rung of Smack Bang in the Middle. Even though nothing exceptional happened, and especially considering my enhanced taste buds for wrestling coming out of All In weekend, SmackDown Live once again benefitted in comparison to its bloated three-hour counterpart, Raw. The midcard stuff was fine, the Bryan / Miz shenanigans were acceptable, the AJ / Joe and Charlotte / Becky pull-aparts made sense, and it always warms my heart to see R-Truth getting some screentime.  All I hope is to see Rusev Day plough through The Bar next week, so the latter team can begin the dissolution necessary for Cesaro to get the singles run he absolutely deserves. Road Dogg, your job depends on it.

That was our recap of SmackDown Live. But what did you think? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter. Then join the conversation with the entire WrestleTalk team and the Swaft Nation on Discord.