Welcome back to The Super Network’s weekly review of WWE’s Thursday Night Smackdown, with Super Marcey.
It all feels great as Mauro is commentating …
Miz TV with The Miz and Maryse
Naturally The Miz has his wife as his guest on Miz TV, and why wouldn’t he? He is married to the goddess Maryse! Just remember Miz, I saw her first. Anyway they both basically just talk about how great they are, and the only truth to that is how great Maryse is. I love her on the mic, she has always been good at being a heel and nothing has changed. Zack Ryder is prompted to come out and I am glad he has not been forgotten about. He insults The Miz, and why not? It’s too easy, and that’s what makes The Miz a great character, he does his job right. Maryse tries to hype up a rematch against the two but they pull a swerve and instead Ryder is facing …
Zack Ryder vs. Baron Corbin
Not the squash match I was expecting, it was a short match but Ryder actually got in some offense and didn’t look completely weak or anything. Corbin was showcased here though, and it was nice to hear actual play by play of this match by Mauro. There was good back and forth action, and the end came with Ryder ran straight into the End Of Days. Post match Corbin goes to beat down Ryder, and Dolph Ziggler’s music hits and he attempts to make the save. Corbin gets away with a smirk, and this feud continues and Ryder isn’t left out of the picture. No issues from here, I think this helped progress things well.
Backstage with Renee Young who is with Kevin Owens, his little delightful attitude was pretty funny. Basically this is hyping the feud between himself and Sami Zayn, and the question is up in the air if he will interfere with Zayn’s match later.
Paige vs. Emma
Can I just say how happy I am that Emma is back on the Main Roster and in her heel gimmick. She has been fantastic in NXT with the character and it works well on the Main Roster, I am glad she has been given a program to work with Becky as well. Oh look its Paige, it feels like creative have no idea what to do with her anymore. This was a fairly decent match, it was definitely in place to give Emma a chance to shine and to reintroduce her to those who may not have seen her or have forgotten about her. Whilst not their best match it was a good one, and I just want to see more of badass Emma. Props to Mauro for his Aussie injection during the match, I liked that.
Hype for the Tag Team Tourney …
Raw Rebound of the Tag Team Main Event
Tag Team Tourney Qualifier Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. The Ascension
Naturally the boys come out and do some mic work and I am thoroughly entertained, how you doin’? Just occurred to me this is their first match on Smackdown (or Raw) since the call up. Pretty entertaining match I have to say, and wow the Ascension getting used. Clearly it wasn’t a surprise as to whom was going to win but they played up the suspense and had Enzo getting the beat down. A really good showcase of what these two are about and they are extremely over. If creative does right by these guys they will be huge, and a feud with The New Day would be entertaining as hell down the line. Big Cass cleaned house at the end and got the win, and I spent half the match laughing at Enzo’s poo emoji.
Backstage Jojo interviews A.J. Styles, and Alberto Del Rio shows up and their upcoming match gets hyped up.
A.J. Styles vs. Alberto Del Rio
Isn’t it all sorts of awesome that A.J. Styles is the number 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Title? It’s good that A.J. is getting some 1 on 1 matches to get some wins under his belt and build his profile for Payback against Roman Reigns. Having him go up against Alberto Del Rio and looking good while doing it is a smart booking move. I know a move got a little botched at the end of the match and A.J. got hurt but unfortunately accidents happen in the ring, and he was able to get back up and go on their tour. This was a pretty good match up, Alberto really did take it to A.J. it is unfortunate that the ending didn’t come together as planned with A.J. badly. Curious to see what else they will do with A.J. to build him up, two wins in a row is excellent so far.
R-Truth and Goldust are backstage, Fandango shows up to apparently join the team or be a team with Goldust. I am confused …
Tag Team Tourney Qualifier The Vaudevillains vs. Goldust & Fandango
Have I mentioned how much I just love The Vaudevillains, and how much I really want them to succeed on the main roster? This was a solid match, although a little short. The Vaudevillains looked strong and delivered, Goldust and Fandango made a weird team and it is odd even seeing Fandango and he has become a bit of an after thought these days. I liked the booking of this match, with Fandango getting pinned it leaves things open for this strange storyline to continue.
Jojo is backstage with Chris Jericho after they show footage from Raw. Jericho isn’t happy about Ambrose hijacking his show, and seriously this a feud that I am so pumped for. I love heel Jericho, it is the gift that keeps on giving.
Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
Sami Zayn in the Smackdown main event makes me really happy, please WWE keep this up. Use this man to his full potential, he deserves to be there. The match barely got to get started when Kevin Owens music hits and he starts walking down the ramp with that smug look. However Dean Ambrose’s music hits and out he comes with 5cent flyers for the Ambrose Asylum. Both get down to the commentary area, and their back and forth was hilarious. Can they both just commentate Raw? The match itself between Zayn and Jericho was fantastic, great back and forth action, Zayn wasn’t the under dog, he got in some moves and it was very even handed. It was good to see Zayn in a good high profile match and to be booked well, not just having his ass handed to him.
Of course the action sprawled out to the announce table, and Jericho attacked Ambrose. Owens trash talked Zayn, and out of nowhere Zayn smashed Jericho into him. I laughed way too hard over that. Back in the ring the match didn’t get to finish as Owens jumps in and gets Zayn. He and Jericho attempt to double team but Ambrose runs in. They clear those two out, and they are standing tall at the end. Will we see Zayn/Amrbose vs. Jericho/Owens on Raw? I really bloody hope so, along with the Ambrose Asylum.
I really enjoyed this episode of Smackdown, a nice follow up to an extremely strong and entertaining Raw. Please keep this up WWE!
Overall Rating