Smackdown Live is suffering at the hands of the Wildcard Rule. Well, if there are actually any rules associated with the so-called wildcard rule.
As Nick wrote last week, Shane McMahon is the sweaty face running the place. We got another heavy dosage of Shane McMahon on Smackdown Live in a talking segment and a backstage segment. Strangely enough, The Miz and Shane McMahon somehow managed to represent the go home angle between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.
Wild Card Rule? Somehow, Roman Reigns, who is a SD Live star, wasn’t on the go home show for Stomping Grounds. I DON’T UNDERSTAND. WHAT ARE THE RULES?
However, we did get a promo from the Miz where he basically quoted every fan on twitter. Miz told Shane he’s sucking the life out of WWE by being in every segment and is not allowing more talented performers to shine. Great! However, this means someone knows Shane McMahon on our television is bad for business, but they are doing it anyway.
Otherwise, this was the go home show for Stomping Grounds. To hype the show, we got Bayley on A Moment of Bliss, Ziggler and Kofi Promo, a tag team match between Drew/Elias vs. The Awesome Truth, and a 2 out of 3 tag team match between KO/Zayn and Rollins/Kofi. Are you ready to kick ass and take names now?
The Best of Smackdown Live
A Moment of Bliss
As bad as some of the Moments of Bliss have been, I actually quite enjoyed tonight’s. I’m still not 100% what’s going on with Alexa and Nikki Cross, but Bayley called out Alexa for doing the same thing to her as she’s done to other “friends.” The two competitors in the Smackdown Women’s Championship had a pretty intense back and forth.
Oh, @itsBayleyWWE has heard ENOUGH!
The #SDLive #WomensChampion & @AlexaBliss_WWE don't want to wait till #WWEStompingGrounds! pic.twitter.com/hPb6gXGdQr
— WWE (@WWE) June 19, 2019
Bayley called out Alexa for being entitled. Bliss called Bayley a fake. This result in a brawl between the two. Nikki broke it up by pulling Bayley off Bliss. Bliss then takes a cheap shot at Bayley garnering a weird look from Nikki. This was the most intensity we’ve seen from these two and actually did provide some anticipation for their match on Sunday.
Xavier Woods in Singles Action
After a promo by Dolph and Kofi, Ziggler and Xavier Woods faced off in singles action. While the match won’t have scored 5 stars by Dave Meltzer, it definitely reminded those of us who are fans of Xavier Woods why we like him. He has a great move set, he’s athletically gifted, and he is a tremendous seller.
The highlight of Woods’ selling was when he was on the outside on the ring apron. He took a superkick from Dolph and fell to the outside. He sold it beautifully. Ziggler tossed him back into the ring. It looked like he was going to try to tie Woods in the ropes, but wasn’t successful. Eventually he hits an unconscious Woods with a second superkick. Ziggler picks up the win heading into Stomping Grounds. This makes a lot of sense from a booking standpoint. Book the challenger strong against someone who isn’t the champion.
Drake Maverick is The New 24/7 Champion
Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the 24/7 championship. However, I think Drake Maverick is a great choice for holding the title. He’s really talented and very funny. Last night, Drake pulled a move right out of R Truth’s playbook. He dressed up as Carmella and was quite convincing in disguise. Truth was trying to escape the building and Maverick was waiting by the car. The ref hops out as the Uber Driver.
.@RonKillings just got HOODWINKED by @WWEMaverick! #AndNEW #247Championship #SDLive pic.twitter.com/fARVKJVCCC
— WWE (@WWE) June 19, 2019
Maverick rips off the disguise and rolls up Truth for the win. He then drives the car off. Maverick has already been great on Twitter as the 24/7 champion. He’s getting married this week and I look forward to the shenanigans to come.
The Worst of Smackdown Live
Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre’s Go Home Angle
Shane McMahon brings out Elias and Drew McIntyre to the ring. He cuts a promo. I listened, but I tune out when Shane talks. He’s not charismatic and doesn’t deliver promos well. Basically, Drew’s going to beat up Roman. Out comes Miz, not Roman.
Miz cuts a promo about how bad Shane is for television programming, how he has no talent, gets everything because of who his dad is, and says it’s his fault for getting hurt at the World Cup. Shane ultimately makes a match between Drew and Elias and Miz and a partner of his choosing. R-Truth then pops out from under the ring where he was hiding with his 24/7 Championship. We are getting The Awesome Truth vs. Shane’s cronies in an elimination tag.
The 24/7 Championship rules were halted during the match. Why? WHAT ARE THE RULES? After truth is eliminated, Shelton Benjamin and 205 Live run down to grab the title. Apparently, Shelton doesn’t understand the rules. Drew and Elias then beat the heck out of Miz for the win.
Soooooo, you can't just "take" the #247Title, @Sheltyb803.
Yeah… #SDLive #247Champion pic.twitter.com/aTkbMNE71y
— WWE (@WWE) June 19, 2019
What good does the promo do? What good did the match do? Miz and Shane aren’t fighting on Stomping Grounds, at least, not yet. It does nothing to get us excited for Roman and Drew. Why would Roman care about Miz? Why would you put a comedy act in the middle of your main event angle that’s been dominating two shows every week? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Dolph Ziggler in the Title Picture
The show started with the New Day in the ring. Apparently, Dolph Ziggler wants to be the one cutting the 15 minute promos at the beginning of Smackdown. He came out and cut his it should have been me promo. While both men delivered the promos well and the content didn’t suck, we’ve heard this before. In fact, we more or less heard it on Raw two weeks in a row. Stupid Wildcard Rule.
Kofi is a guy who needs to face stars to be elevated up. Dolph Ziggler is bring him down. It doesn’t feel like a main event program. It feels like a US Title program. A guy like Randy Orton would have been so much better for his first feud after the title win. Kofi’s still over, but WWE needs to end this feud at Stomping Grounds. Hopefully, for the love of everything, it won’t be to move onto a storyline with Shane McMahon.
Overall Rating:
SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner and A Smack in the Face
Damn you, WWE. You’ve lowered my expectations. In terms of an actual wrestling show, I’ve seen a lot more interesting and entertaining shows. However, if I’m just comparing this to WWE main roster shows, I’ll give this one a high Smack Bang in the Middle.
There were a lot of positives. The Alexa Bliss/Bayley segment was really, really good. Drake Maverick has a title in WWE. Xavier woods wrestled a singles match. Daniel Bryan was fantastic on commentary. Asuka and Kairi Sane made an appearance and will be wrestling again on TV soon for a shot at the Women’s Tag Titles, which means another TV loss for the IIconics. Ember Moon took out some doughnuts. Who likes plain doughnuts? Chocolate covered all the way.
On the flip side, there were a lot of negatives. I feel like I’ve seen the Shane McMahon segment every week for a month. No one still has stepped up to Aleister Black. We didn’t get to see Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev, Andrade, or Mustafa Ali wrestle. Buddy Murphy is truly becoming WWE’s best kept secret. Hell, I’d even take a Randy Orton RKO out of nowhere. I also just don’t buy Dolph Ziggler as this jealous, crazed guy who is now claiming to be this ass-kicking guy out to prove something. He dropped a title and walked out of the company last year. Now, we’re supposed to believe he has all this passion.
Anyway, I’m hoping some names are taken and asses are kicked this Sunday. Well, mostly, I hope someone takes Shane McMahon’s name off the weekly booking list and whoever’s been responsible for having him on my TV this much gets their ass kicked.
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