SmackDown comes at us live this week from Toronto. The blue brand wraps up WWE’s extended stay in Canada with SmackDown Live. There’s plenty to follow up on after the big PPV. So, SummerSlam is over…what next? It’s a fair question, so let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!
Best Match of the night:
Hands down, without a doubt, Buddy Murphy and Roman Reigns. Not even close, this match was great.
It’s not overstating it to say that this match was probably better than half of the matches from Sunday, too.
Worst match of the night:
That main event kind of felt like a hot mess, no? Sure, Dash and Dawson got the pin over the tag champs, and Orton laid out all three members of New Day afterwards…but I could have done without it.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Kevin Owens
@$$hole
you deserved it
Star of the Night
I didn’t think I’d say this…but how about Buddy Murphy?
Sure, he ended up getting pummeled by Rowan later on, but he had a great match with Roman Reigns. It was a great TV match for a younger Superstar, and it was the latest in a line of those (like Ali and others).
The only way it could have gone better (aside from not getting beaten up later), would have been if Reigns had actually taken the loss (and it would have been a not so bad move).
Buddy Murphy could be huge, if WWE handles him right. But we could say that about lots of talent.
Spot of the Night:
No one major high spot, but lots of nice little ones from Murphy and Reigns. Even better, how excellent was Murphy at selling Reigns’ spear? All around a great effort.
Upset of the Night:
This truly should have been Murphy over Reigns. Sadly, we had none.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
I can’t believe WWE is stringing along the whodunnit vehicular assault angle one more week (at least).
Rowan and Bryan intimidated Murphy to say he lied. Then they told Reigns that they know who did it, and that person will be revealed next week. Odds are, they will build it up and say…surprise, it was us!
The fact that WWE is now showing dashcam footage from the car crash last week is also terrible…it’s up there with having the camera inside the car before a certain Superstar was thrown through the window, as if they knew such a spot was coming…(yes, I know they knew…but for God’s sake, pretend as if they don’t).
Noteworthy Moment:
Kevin Owens is getting fined 100,000 bucks for beating up Elias last night. And he’s gotten another match with Elias as the “enforcer” on the blue brand show…one which led to Elias screwing Owens over.
Just a matter of time before these two tango, and I can say that I can get behind such a program. I’d much rather see Elias and Owens over McMahon and Owens.
Overall lowlights:
Maybe after four days, everyone was a little hung over or tired? This show wasn’t bad, but it seemed to be a notch or two below RAW. One gripe I would have is that RAW got the return of Sasha Banks…but there was no similar surprise for SmackDown. This would have been a good show for an NXT debut or big return.
It also seems like that rumored Reigns/Joe pairing, or that possible Joe turn, are on life support.
Overall highlights:
For me, the big one was Buddy Murphy. You knew he could go from his time in both NXT and 205 Live. With his showing tonight, there should be no doubt about his main roster worthiness.
After the final bell:
Well, it wasn’t a terrible show…it was largely buoyed by the impressive SmackDown in ring debut for Buddy Murphy.
The saving grace for this show? King of the Ring is next week, and we’ve got a good stretch between now and the next PPV. so there’s time for a slow burn or three.
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