SmackDown In A Nutshell: Who’s Been Naughty, Who’s Been Nice?

It’s the smackdown before Christmas, and all through the ring, Santa Vince is aiming to give us bigger and better shows, but who’s been naughty or nice?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s the last SmackDown before some major holidays are upon us. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukah or any other joyous occasion, it’s the last blue brand event before they arrive. And, for those of you keeping score at home, that means it’s the last chance for the SmackDown roster to make their best-or worst-impressions. Who’s been naughty, who’s been nice? We are going to get to find out all that and so much more as the year winds down. Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

This isn’t just here because the rest of the card was unimpressive…but it did not hurt.

This one, for me at least, was the main event. Miz, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin were good here.

Worst match of the night:

I can’t just pick one…but  I’d go out on a limb to say that most of the card wasn’t as good as you’d want.

Star of the Night

I have to give this nod to both Daniel Bryan and The Miz. Strong performances from them this week.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

The savagery is on full display…Otis fetched LEGOs for a match!

LOL Moment of the night:

I can’t say I disagree with the sentiments of this particular tweet:

Also…this one…could be LOL, could make you cringe. Depends on if you’ve ever had the misfortune of stepping on one of these dastardly plastic building blocks.

Noteworthy Moment:

WWE is going the extra mile to make sure folks are behind the newly turned babyface Lacey Evans. To the point they’ve got her daughter and husband at ringside, and that gave us this…

The big news of the evening perhaps? How about the last SmackDown of the year giving us a triple threat match between Daniel Bryan, The Miz and Baron Corbin. Winner of that match gets a shot at The Fiend and his Universal Title next month at the Rumble.

Overall lowlights:

Compared to past WWE shows from the NYC area, this one kind of fell flat in a lot of spots. I don’t know why…perhaps the proximity of the show to the holidays? Perhaps there is a different reason entirely, but I came in with high hopes for a NYC show…and was summarily disappointed. Sure, some bright spots existed…but they felt few and far between.

Overall highlights:

It wasn’t all bad…

I actually liked making Lacey more relatable. Having her husband and daughter on the show certainly helps.

The main event was decent enough. Plenty of action and plenty of chances to make fans think they’d miss something big. You can sense the foundation for another Miz/Bryan feud being placed now. I’ll go on record as saying I would not be opposed to that program, especially if we can get them to battle over the Universal Championship.

After the final bell:

Certainly not the best show-lots of short matches, some gimmick holiday fun, and a decent main event. The year is nearly in the bag, but we have a big main event set for next week. Not bad for a couple hours of TV before everyone scatters to enjoy the holidays.