By: Keila Cash
Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of The SmackDown Files. Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live emanated from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas. After last week’s Beach Ball Fiasco, a change of scenery will do the blue brand a world of good. After all, Arkansas’ old nickname was the Land of Opportunity. Coincidence much? I think not. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s show in no particular order.
· SD Live kicked off with Jinder Mahal wanting an apology after Shinsuke Nakamura laid him out with the Kinshasa last week. The Singh Brothers groveled like a couple of weasels as the apologized on behalf of the continent of Asia and their homeland of India. They took things one step further by offering to kiss the feet of the modern-day Maharaja, but Nakamura spared the audience from witnessing such a sight.
· He pushed The Singh Brothers aside and went face-to-face with Mahal, but Singh One and Singh Two attacked Nakamura from behind.
· Nakamura tried to fend them off, but the numbers game caught up to him until Randy Orton made the save.
· Orton could only so much as Rusev ran down to the ring and nailed him with a Superkick. With Orton out of the way, the beat down of Nakamura continued with Mahal dropping the King of Strong Style with the Cobra Clutch Slam as the opening segment came to an end with the heels standing tall.
· This was an okay way to start the show. Mahal’s promos continue to bore me to tears which are doing him no favors when it comes to developing a compelling personality. I am begging the creative team to give him better material to when it comes to drawing heat for all the right reasons. Here’s hoping they will catch the hint sooner or later because Mahal’s mic work leaves a lot to be desired at the moment.
· In other news, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura will wrestle each other week with the winner going on to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship. That should be an interesting matchup, to say the least.
· Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin defeated The Ascension when Benjamin pinned Viktor with Paydirt for the win. The match was solid, but it should be noted that Benjamin refused to do a double suplex spot with Gable after he made the hot tag early on. Heel Turn Alert!
· Foreshadowing aside, Benjamin looked sharp as the crowd welcomed him back with open arms. Benjamin and Gable could be a formidable team, but I have a feeling that this partnership is on borrowed time. Just a hunch…
· Tye Dillinger leapfrogged over Baron Corbin and accepted AJ Styles’ US Open Challenge. The Perfect 10 put up a good fight, but Styles made Dillinger tap out to the Calf Crusher in a match that went no longer than 90 seconds.
· After the match was over, Corbin dragged Dillinger out of the ring and slammed him against the barricade before going after Styles.
· Styles nailed him with a forearm which sent The Lone Wolf into retreat as the segment came to an end.
· Styles had an easy night at the office while Corbin continues to find his footing after losing the Money in the Bank briefcase a couple of weeks ago. Will the United States Championship serve as a nice consolation prize? We shall see.
· Bobby Roode defeated Mike Kanellis with the Glorious DDT in a solid showcase match. The Glorious One continues to impress on Tuesday nights.
· Aiden English defeated Sami Zayn after Kevin Owens inserted himself in the match as the special guest referee. He dropped Zayn with a Popup Powerbomb which allowed English to pick up the tainted win.
· This was in response to Owens blaming Shane McMahon for costing him the United States Championship at SummerSlam and SD Live last week. McMahon informed Owens that he picked Baron Corbin as the special guest referee during his title match last week which set off a chain of events that were all on him.
· Shane-O-Mac dismissed Owens and told English to get ready for his match against Zayn. Owens continued to vent on guest commentary until he decided to dip his toe into the world of officiating.
· Shane was none too pleased and removed Zayn’s loss from the record book before promising to reprimand Owens for his insubordination.
· Dolph Ziggler’s Backstage Pity Party continues. For the record, Finn Bálor had more charisma rocking a sling before relinquishing the Universal Title last year than Ziggler has shown in his entire career. No shade, just facts.
· The Usos defeated The New Day when Jimmy Uso pinned Kofi Kingston with a roll-up while yanking the tights for leverage. The win allows Jimmy and Jey to pick the stipulation for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship rematch. It should be a good one to cap off an excellent feud over the silver belts with blue embroidery.
· Natalya has a busy couple of weeks ahead of her as she faces Carmella next Tuesday in a non-title match before wrestling Naomi in a SmackDown Women’s Championship rematch the following week. Meow!
· Tamina defeated a random female performer with a Superkick in a so-so match. It was quick, but Tamina makes the simplest moves seem rough and ragged for all the wrong reasons. The Lana-Tamina partnership continues to baffle me to no end. They are getting the spotlight ahead of Charlotte and Becky Lynch? I call bullshit on that.
· Season two of the Fashion Files kicked off with Breezango making fun of WWE’s refusal to say the word belt when it comes to describing their championships. It was a cute inside joke, but the rest of the segment fell flat in terms of humor. Here’s hoping the Fashion Police don’t fall into the dreaded sophomore slump in terms of creative ingenuity.
· Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev and Jinder Mahal when Nakamura nailed Rusev with the Kinshasa for the win. The match was fine, but it was nothing to write home about.
· Mahal’s in-ring work was sloppy as he missed his spot when it came to Orton nailing him with the Draping DDT from the middle rope. Orton had to improvise by hitting his move the old-fashioned way which didn’t look pretty in terms of execution.
· After the match was over, Nakamura celebrated with Orton only for The Viper to drop him with an RKO from out of nowhere. It was a nice way to forward tension between both men heading into their first-ever one-on-one match next week. Will an extra motivated Nakamura show up and show out against Orton? We shall find out soon enough.
· Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was middling at best. The in-ring action was so-so which dragged down the overall quality of the show.
· The Little Rock crowd was hot in spots, but their enthusiasm tapered off during the second hour. SD Live not having a PPV next month gives them more time to flesh out the Hell in a Cell card for October, but each broadcast should feel important as we head into the fall season.
· WWE is trying to remedy the situation by booking matches several weeks out which should give the show a much-needed spark. Here’s hoping SD Live can find its footing because the blue brand has dropped off in terms of quality since the Superstar Shakeup earlier this year. Fingers crossed!
On that note, this wraps up another edition of The SmackDown Files. I hope you enjoyed it and I will back next week with a brand new installment of The Raw Exposé. See you later, boys and girls!
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