Chris Jericho makes his Smackdown Live debut!
Chris Jericho most probably makes his Smackdown Live exit!
And watch out, badly dressed people - the Fashion Police are on the case.
I’m Oli Davis, and I should’ve won the denim jacket again to get in with Breezeango.
This is the 2nd May 2017 edition of Smackdown Live...in about 4 minutes.
Chris Jericho Debuts Shane McMahon kicked off the show by introducing
the latest addition to the Smackdown Live roster, the new United States Champion Chris
Jericho.
Showing how much of a placeholder Y2J is, the segment was mainly built around AJ Styles
and Kevin Owens brawling over his US title.
Jinder Mahal beat Sami Zayn Shane McMahon has a new gimmick: appearing
behind heels doing naughty things.
In a clip from earlier that day, Jinder Mahal was getting a photoshoot with the WWE Championship
belt, for McMahon to emerge from OUTTA STAGE LEFT and say titles are earned round here.
Jinder later took on Sami Zayn in his first real test since becoming Smackdown’s No.
1 contender.
Despite a few sloppy spots, Mahal carried himself well, and the Singh Brothers do make
him appear like a bigger threat.
Jinder won with their distraction, as he should have.
Tye Dillinger beat Aiden English Now he’s free of losing quick matches as
part of the Vaudevillians, Aiden English can now lose quick matches as a solo act.
Tye Dillinger squashed him in just over a minute, prompting Aiden to breakdown in tears.
Natalya & Carmella beat Charlotte & Naomi My worst fears have been confirmed.
WWE are calling the new Natalya, Tamina and Carmella faction The Welcoming Committee.
Completely unthreatening name aside, this was the best segment of the show, with Charlotte
being taken out before their tag match, leaving Naomi against Natalya and Carmella by herself.
Charlotte limped down eventually, but her and Naomi couldn’t overcome the previous
advantage.
The heels beat them down until Becky Lynch slowly walked to the ring, brilliantly teasing
she’d side with The Welcoming Committee.
Instead, she took them all on, but unfortunately also couldn’t overcome the numbers game.
This continues to be a very good storyline, despite The Welcoming Committee’s lack of
star power and god awful name.
Dolph Ziggler beat Sin Cara Before beating Turquoise Cara in a short match,
building him for Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash, Dolph Ziggler was trashtalking The King of
Strong Style backstage (I refuse to call him ‘The Artist’).
This, of course, led to Shane McMahon emerging FROM OUTTA STAGE LEFT to remind Ziggler of
Shinsuke Nakamura’s name.
The Fashion Police To build up Breezeango for their tag team
championship opportunity, Smackdown is giving them the Rhyno and Heath Slater treatment
- pre-taped comedy sketches.
Their Fashion Police skit was a pretty funny parody of Law and Order, but instead of investigating
various sexual crimes while making insightful pieces of social commentary, they went after
people who dress bad.
The skit had some cracking jokes, like accusing the Usos of jaywalking - and Jimmy walking
- and a picture in the background with the Colons wanted for real estate feud.
Kevin Owens beat Chris Jericho Finishing their trilogy of matches, with one
win a piece, Kevin Owens took on Chris Jericho again for the United States Championship.
The two went ten minutes in a decent match, but they haven’t been able to transition
the magic of their segments and angles into their in-ring action.
This main event proved just that again, with KO’s psychotic and emotional beatdown of
Jericho after regaining the US title being better than their actual match.
This is surely a way to write Y2J off television while he leaves to tour with his band Fozzy.
You know what happens, Chris Jericho?
You know what happens when you have one of the best runs of your career, getting us all
through several months of terrible, terrible Raws?
You know what happens when you have one of the most emotional WWE segments of all time
with the Festival of Friendship?
Chris Jericho - you just made The List.
So that was this week’s Smackdown Live in about 4 minutes, here’s the usual ratings
recap from top to bottom: SmackDamn, Smacktastic, Smack Bang In The Middle, Ellsworthy and Raw.
I’ll reveal my score very shortly, but first, vote in the poll above my head to give it
your own rating.
I’ll announce the results in tomorrow’s WrestleTalk News.
This episode was a perfectly fine two hours of WWE, with decent enough wrestling and its
angles being steadily built.
But with Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura and Luke Harper all left off the show, with Styles
only briefly in the opening segment, the night felt heavily lacking in star power.
This week’s Smackdown is Smack Bang in the Middle.
Watch my review of this week’s episode of Raw, where I mostly ask - where is Brock Lesnar!?
And find out a whole load of backstage details from Payback, including what vince McMahon
thought of the House of Horrors match, by clicking the videos to the left and subscribe.
I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.