Opening Segment
Kevin Owens cuts another good promo on Roman Reigns about how his family should be ashamed of him, and Paul Heyman appears on the screen. Owens goes to the back and Adam Pearce tries to talk him out of it. However, Reigns is in the ring wanting to be acknowledged for putting food on Kevin Owens' table. When Owens comes out, Jey Uso and Roman Reigns attack him. Yet another great segment from these guys, and one that took up the first 20-23 minutes of the show and made it feel important. Owens is attacked with a chair backstage during the show.
Reigns is out in the ring with Usos with a bunch of weapons to promote the match Sunday, and Owens hobbles out. He gets his ass kicked really bad. When they get to the back, Owens says he's going to take the Universal title or die trying.
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Titles
Street Profits (c) defeated Roode & Ziggler
6/10
Montez Ford gets worked over throughout the whole match, leading to an Angelo Dawkins hot tag. The highlights of this one were a great double underhook neckbreaker from Dawkins, and an assisted Fameasser from Ziggler and Roode. Montez hits a great frog splash, but they just make him look stupid instead of gutsy. Montez holds the tights to get the win. Charles Robinson screams at Roode & Ziggler and threatens to suspend them if they don't get out of his face.
Riott Squad defeated Billie Kay & Tamina
5/10
Tamina is the mystery partner for Billie Kay tonight. I mean, why not? Tamina got paid six figures to work 11 matches this year, might as well round it up to a whole one on month on average. Billie gets greedy and Riott Squad beat her pretty easily.
Carmella
Carmella keeps mentioning that Sasha Banks can't handle the pressure of being a champion, and can't handle not being "The Boss." This promo was pretty good, but likely won't get any credit because it's super koo to dislike Carmella. Carmella has confidence in herself and it shows. Sasha Banks comes out but gets cracked with a bottle again.
Otis (w/ Chad Gable) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Cesaro)
5/10
Otis controls the match, but Gable stops him from doing the Caterpillar in favor of a suplex. Otis wins with a Vader Bomb in a few minutes. Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the hottest things in wrestling five years ago. Big fan of Gable not wanting the Caterpillar used.
Sami Award
Sami Zayn wins the Sami Award for Comeback of the Year. He wins another award, but the third one goes to Big E, who is behind him. This was a really cool segment on a Smackdown that is blowing Monday Night Raw out of the water.
Bayley defeated Bianca Belair
5/10
Booking decision 1/10
Bayley using the ropes was caught, but her breaking the plane wasn't. Bayley gets the win by gouging the eyes and doing the Rose PLant. This is incredibly frustrating. Frustrating that Bayley didn't win matches leading into this feud. Frustrating that it took them about 8 months to really build a feud for Bianca. Frustrating that Bianca's first loss is to someone who had lost ten straight matches and hadn't won since August.
Where are all the weirdos that told me there was some kind of story being built that Bayley couldn't win without Sasha Banks, as opposed to her just being the subject of really shitty booking since losing the title? Bianca Belair will win Sunday or in a week or two and I'll be told all is okay because she got her win back.
Rating Guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
