SmackDown In A Nutshell: Castle Hype In High Gear

It’s another SmackDown In A Nutshell, and Clash at the Castle hype is expected to be in high gear.

With the event two weeks away, Castle hype should be in high gear, so that is a good thing.

Will we have any more returns? Those seem to be a regular thing now, but surely they will eventually peter out, right?

There will be a debut, as it was announced ahead of the show that Toxic Attraction is in the women’s tag tourney.

But, since Castle hype is in high gear, our focal event for the evening: Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns…face to face.

With The Usos and Sami Zayn tormenting the Scottish Warrior, it will be interesting to see how that confrontation goes.

So, with all that said, let’s get into…

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Castle Hype In High Gear

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and kick this hype into high gear!

Best Match of the night:

The fatal five way for the right to fight Gunther.

It was a superb match. Going in, I figured Sheamus would be the call, and he was.

But, there was definitely a point in the match where you could see Zayn getting close…and the crowd wanted it.

Worst match of the night:

Not sure I can ding a single one.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

I cannot single out some of them…the crowd was lively though.

They were behind their favorites, Zayn especially.

Star of the Night

Honorary mention to Sami Zayn, for sure.

But I have to give it to Sheamus, for winning the shot at Gunther and his Intercontinental Championship.

On one hand, I figure Gunther should hold onto it for a while (Gunther versus Lashley looks nice on paper).

But…I also figure Drew is not beating Roman in Cardiff…so having Sheamus get a win is a consolation prize.

Spot of the Night:

Did not see Zayn even sneak in to take the Claymore, at least not until replay.

Jobber of the Night:

Sure felt like Maximum Male Models was jobbed out tonight.

Quickly interrupted by Hit Row, and also quickly sent out of the ring by them.

If not for Maxine dancing to the music, they would have disappeared super fast.

Also, those security guards Ronda beat up.

Upset of the Night:

I don’t consider it a major one, but Toxic Attraction defeated Natalya and Sonya.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Not sure there was one?

I mean, not really sure exactly where they are going with Rousey coming in even while suspended…

Botch of the night:

Cole called Canada a state. McAfee corrected him.

LOL Moment of the night:

Zayn and Reigns with their couch session, with Zayn ripping on Jey and Reigns agreeing.

I mean, it is surely one more wrinkle as we build toward The Bloodline destroying Zayn as he turns face…

Noteworthy Moment:

Canada loves it’s Superstars.

Natalya, long a heel, was cheered.

Sami Zayn, long a heel, was cheered…loudly.

If anyone was debating a possible Zayn face turn, I can’t help but think tonight could go a long way toward reminding them of how fans react to him.

Also, as was revealed before the show, Toxic Attraction replaced Zoey Stark and Nikita Lyons.

Stark was said to be injured during the title match Tuesday. No word on if Lyons is legit injured as well.

But…to be fair…Jacy and Gigi should have always been the NXT team to be in this tournament.

Overall lowlights:

Only gripe, I think, is I don’t know what is going on with Maximum Male Models.

Like, it’s still a thing, but I feel like Hunter is trying to figure out how to gracefully crush it and bring back LA Knight.

I was hoping the Viking Funeral was like, live in the ring, as I figured maybe we’d see some twist there. Alas, it was recorded.

Overall highlights:

Canadian fans brought it tonight, which also gives me a lot of hope for Monday’s RAW. Should be another hot crowd.

The women’s tag title match was strong.

Not as strong as the #1 contender’s match.

Drew and Roman closed strong, with Drew looking strong as Roman had almost no backup.

After the final bell:

All told, not a bad show. I liked it from bell to bell.

No huge surprises at this point, but that is OK. I kind of think that, with Clash at the Castle two weeks away, most surprises will happen there, or after.

But, with the Castle hype in high gear, the card is surely coming into focus.

We knew already of some clashes-Reigns/McIntyre, for one. Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler, for another.

Now, we know that Sheamus takes on Gunther. Can’t help but think we will see Viking Raiders and New Day, too.

And that is just what we know of off the blue brand. Monday is another day!