The night was about two people in particular: Bray Wyatt and Naomi, two people who have worked their asses off for five plus years to overcome bad first gimmicks and become champions. Their victories are a beacon of hope for everyone toiling away in developmental, or at the bottom of the main roster or even outside the wwe altogether.
Wyatt used to be Husky Harris, a low end member of the Nexus back in 2010-2011, a guy known for being chubby and the son of former WWE and NWA midcarder Mike Rotundo. The main thing I remember about Husky Harris was that he was on the WWE 2013 videogame and I never used him once because there was absolutely nothing interesting about him. And now after creating a new character on his own and working it to the fullest, he’s the WWE World Champion.
Around the same time Husky Harris was underwhelming fans everywhere Naomi was in NXT, before it became a WWE Network favorite show. She got called up to the main roster to be a dancer/cheerleader for Broadus Clay, the Funkasaurus……ugh. That went on for a few years until Clay got released, leaving Naomi to try her hand in the ring as a wrestler again. And after being largely forgotten in the Women’s Revolution in 2015 she got her chance after the brand split. Now she’s the Smackdown Women’s Champion.
You should be happy for this even if you’re not a WWE fan. Every time a homegrown talent succeeds that’s one less person from your favorite company or indie fed Vince will come to woo with more money than what they’re getting. And that makes the whole business stronger.
As for the show as a whole? A very good effort all around in my book. The opener between Becky Lynch and Mickie James was a really good back and forth match that made both ladies look good and showed what they can do with some real time (11 minutes) to work.
The handicap match between Dolph Ziggler and Apollo Crews/Kallisto was ok for what it was. Nikki Bella and Natalya had a good 13 minute match with a double countout ending that suggests they’re not done with each other just yet. Randy Orton and Luke Harper had a good match that went 17 minutes; Orton won clean which says to me that this aspect of the Orton/Wyatts program is done. And then there was the tag team turmoil match….
The match was good, but I didn’t like the finish. American Alpha was in dire straits after getting beat down by the Usos, and out came the Ascension. The scene was set for an upset win and would have made for a great trifecta of perseverance. But then American Alpha pulls a Hulk Hogan and comes back fron all that to pull out the win. Why go that route just to have the champs prevail? Makes no sense and just makes the Ascension look worse.
As for the main event, great match. Everyone got all their good stuff in as well as getting some showcase sequences. We also got some setup for what is a likely match between Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin.
Hopefully, AJ Styles won’t be the odd man out in the aftermath as he did another great job in this match. He and Cena are gold every time out.
Final Verdict
Smackdown does it again. Good show with some great moments and some real, inspirational history. Definitely check it out when you get a chance.
Stroke of Genius 