Shinsuke Nakamura stands tall, Zack Ryder returns from injury, and the Fashion Police
might finally have their man!
I’m Oli Davis, and this is the 13th June 2017 edition of Smackdown Live...in about
4 minutes.
New Day & Breezeango beat The Usos & The Colons New Day opened Smackdown Live in quite spectacular
fashion - being accompanied down to the ring by a New Orleans brass band [IMAGE 1], a neat
way to promote next year’s Wrestlemania in the city.
The Usos, Breezeango and the Colons soon all interrupted them, and before you know it,
holla holla, playas - we got an 8 man tag.
Kofi Kingston actually made his in-ring return from injury here, wrestling his first TV match
since early March.
It was Xavier Woods who got the pin on Primo, though, probably meaning they’re losing
to the Usos at Money in the Bank.
Zack Ryder Returns Kingston wasn’t the only returning wrestler
on Smackdown - Zack Ryder, who’s been out with injury since December, turned up backstage
while his Hype Bro Mojo Rawley was being interviewed [IMAGE 2].
The two have unfinished business - the tag team title shot they won in the match where
Ryder got injured.
Naomi beat Tamina Naomi beat Tamina in a five minute match,
but it was only really to set up an angle where Lana beat down Naomi afterwards - where
she did a wrestling move!
A pretty damn good looking wrestling move, at that.
And not just because she performed it barefoot [IMAGE 3], although that has gotten the Lana’s
feet fanpage worryingly excited [IMAGE 4].
A friend told me about that page.
Jinder Mahal Viper Attack The presentation of Jinder Mahal is very good
- from the Singh Brothers introduction to the carpet in the ring.
But he’s still a bit quiet on the mic, and not in an intense, menacing Jake Roberts way.
Jinder got the usual Punjabi promo heat, until Randy Orton ran in from OUTTA NOWH-outta the
crowd actually - and hit an excellent RKO [IMAGE 5].
With Money in the Bank taking place in Randy’s hometown of St Louis, their feud has made
much of The Orton family being at ringside for the WWE Championship match - which makes
it likely they’ll be involved somehow.
Multi-generational wrestling families or not, though, this remains one of the least interesting
feuds on Smackdown.
Charlotte beat Natalya Charlotte looked very good beating Natalya
in a ten minute match.
Fashion Files: Sweet Victory In the latest Fashion Files segment, Fandango
found Tyler Breeze attacked in their office.
Thanks to Fandango’s superb drawing skills, the Fashion Police were able to work out who
their antagonists were...some stick men [IMAGE 6].
AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn beat Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler
Both teams got backstage strategy meeting skits before their six-man tag main event.
Kevin Owens was allowed to show his cold, calculated heel persona, pitching the heels
put their differences aside to take out the faces ahead of their Money in the Bank match
[IMAGE 7].
Sami Zayn, however, got to do his best Woody Allen impression [IMAGE 8].
Zayn plays the neurotic match planner very well, but it is in no way the best use of
his character, making him seem like a dork backstage rather than the plucky babyface
that gets over so well in the ring.
Unfortunately because he’s so good in the role, they’re only going to give him more
cheap laughs like this.
And it’s a shame, because the main event was magnificently orchestrated on Zayn’s
non-hot tag - which was delayed with hope spot after hope spot, and then never needing
it anyway when he hit Baron Corbin with a Helluva Kick to win.
The heels attacked everyone and each other with a ladder afterwards, but Shinsuke Nakamura
ended standing tall [IMAGE 9].
CageSideSeats claim he’s the planned winner, but the bookies still have Corbin as the favourite.
All I know is my original prediction - a late addition of Rusev to the match - has been
Rusev crushed.
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.
As far as WWE go-home shows have been recently, this was a pretty good one.
The bar for measuring that, however, is practically non-existent.
The main event had a really inventive subversion of the hot tag formula, and it was great to
see Kofi back in action, but there was hardly anything else of note on the show - not even
from the tag division, which has been the standout of WWE in recent weeks.
This week’s Smackdown is Smack Bang in the Middle.
A major WWE star has reportedly been cleared to return!
And as great as Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe was, how should it have been booked?
Find out by clicking the videos to the left, press subscribe and support WrestleTalk on
Patreon.
I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.