Overall
SmackDown last night had a lot of good things to talk about. Kalisto made his long awaited return to WWE television giving reuniting Lucha House Party for the first time since at least December of last year. We also got a lot of really good depth added to the Fiend, Braun Strowman, and Alexa Bliss storyline, as well as Asuka winning the triple brand number one contender match for Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
On the other hand we got some very frustrating Retribution segments that continue to interrupt the show and add very little to this already hard to watch storyline. I really want to see Big E have a great singles run, and I would really hate to see that get hampered by his involvement as the main force against Retribution.
Other than my beef with Retribution as a faction I really enjoyed SmackDown. So let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SmackDown 8/14/20.
The Good
- Sasha and Bayley’s promos before the battle royal were a lot of fun.
- The Sasha and Bayley ring announcing was also good. Very similar to the Street Profits bit from a few weeks back but with a nice spin.
- Asuka is in the battle royal!!!!
- The IIconics and Riott Squad did a good job of continuing their feud with each other as they all fought in and then left the battle royal.
- I liked that Shotzi and Tegan were both featured really well in this.
- Asuka stepping on Sasha and Bayley to avoid being eliminated!
- I’m super hyped for Mandy vs. Sonya hair vs. hair match!
- Shorty G had a really good showing in his match with Sheamus.
- Loved seeing Joseph Parks as AJ’s lawyer, and Jeff Hardy makes it a little TNA reunion!
- AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy should be a lot of fun I just wish it was happening at SummerSlam and not on SmackDown.
- Lucha House Party stealing the tag titles
- Kalisto is back! I also enjoyed the Shinsuke and Metalik match a lot.
- I am actually getting into this Corbin and Riddle feud, that surprises me.
- The Alexa Bliss interview was strange but I liked that it added a new dimension to this feud.
- Sonya Deville cuts a great promo.
- At least Big E got a clean win after all of the hi jinks
- I loved this closing segment with The Fiend, Braun, and Alexa. This might be the match I’m most invested in going into SummerSlam.
The Bad
- Ugh, not more Retribution.
- Could WWE not find some bigger PC recruits to play security?
- I will say that Asuka jumping into the battle royal (despite a good idea for long term story) made the match a little less fun because it was very clear who would win.
- I really thought Nikki was going to turn on Alexa, but I guess they decided not to go with that.
- Braun with a shaved head is silly.
The Ugly
- I really wished that they would’ve let Big E just have his match without all the Retribution nonsense. I want to see Big E seem legitimate but to keep cutting away from his match to show guys and gals in hoodies flipping over tables and using chalk paint is just obnoxious.
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