The SmackDown Files: How Rusev Won Christmas 24 Hours After The Fact (12-26-2017)

By: Keila Cash 

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of The SmackDown Files. Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live emanated from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It’s the final live broadcast of 2017 which should give WWE extra incentive to end the year on a high note. Did the company rise to the occasion or did they fall flatter than a flapjack prepared and plated by The New Day? The answer to that question can be found throughout this blog. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s show in no particular order.

·        SD Live kicked off with Daniel Bryan announcing a tournament to determine a new United States Champion after Dolph Ziggler relinquished the title last week.

·        Bryan announced Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Roode and was about to make another match when Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin interrupted him. Gable and Benjamin wanted a shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Aiden English and Rusev & The New Day tossed their name in the hat as well which resulted in Bryan setting up a Triple Threat Match to determine the number one contender for the Tag Team Titles which took place immediately due to the first hour being commercial-free.

·        Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable defeated Aiden English and Rusev & The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) when Gable pinned Big E with a Powerbomb/Diving Clothesline combination in a great Triple Threat Match. This bout featured insane action throughout as each team got a chance to shine. Rusev was the most popular wrestler in the match as the fans showered him with “Rusev Day” chants.

·        From Gable dropping Big E and English with a double German Suplex to Rusev nailing everyone with Machka Kicks, there was no shortage of breathtaking spots that popped the crowd something fierce.

·        English had a strong showing as he got a chance to show what he can do in the ring for an extended period of time. His Frog Splash onto Gable was a mirror image of his late father-in-law Eddie Guerrero which put a smile on my face. Viva La Raza!

·        However, the highlight of the match was Rusev putting Gable and Xavier Woods in a double Accolade. Woods was about to tap out when Benjamin broke the hold. From there, Big E was on the brink of winning the match for his team when he set up Benjamin for the Big Ending only for Old Jason Jordan to block it which set up the finish moments later.

·        Gable and Benjamin will face The Usos next week for the Tag Team Titles which should be very good. However, I have a soft spot for Aiden English and Rusev because they are starting to get over as hot babyface act. The Chicago crowd loved Rusev which made my night. WWE has to realize that there is money to be made with The Bulgarian Brute in 2018. He is charismatic and has the in-ring talent to get over as a big-time star. Here’s hoping the Powers That Be read the tea leaves because they should push Rusev and English to the moon next year. Fingers crossed!

·        The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango via disqualification when The Ascension saved Tyler Breeze and Fandango from eating another loss. Their chivalry resulted in Konnor and Viktor putting their “best friends” in another match against Harper and Rowan next week. How sweet…

·        Ruby Riott defeated Naomi with the Riott Kick in a quick match. Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan provided the distraction which allowed Riott to pick up the tainted win. The match was pretty nondescript for the most point.

·        The Riott Squad were putting the boots to Naomi until Charlotte made the save. The numbers game caught up to The Queen as the heels laid her out with ease.

·        Natalya, Tamina, Lana, and Carmella confronted The Riott Squad as the heels left the ring when they no longer had the numbers advantage.

·        A brawl broke out at ringside as Natalya & Company beat down The Riott Squad before the trio ran backstage to fight another day.

·        Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin with a roll-up to advance to the next round of the United States Championship Tournament. The match was solid as Corbin and Roode worked well together in order to put on a show for the Chicago crowd. This was a nice sampling of what both men can do when they are given a chance to shine. Corbin being pushed out of the mid-card title scene is a little jarring since he beat AJ Styles clean as a sheet a few months ago. It’s curious booking, to say the least.

·        Jinder Mahal defeated Tye Dillinger with The Khallas to advance to the next round of the US Championship Tournament. The match was decent and it appears that Mahal is firmly slotted in the mid-card for the foreseeable future. Yippee!

·        Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles with a roll-up thanks to an unlikely assist from Shane McMahon. The Styles-Owens feud from earlier this year has been marred by questionable booking which watered down the quality of their matches. It’s only appropriate that their final match of 2017 ended in similar fashion with McMahon getting involved down the stretch. At least the in-ring action was strong before the shenanigans ensued.  

·        Sami Zayn ran interference on KO’s behalf which led to his best friend picking up a near fall on Styles after he nailed the Phenomenal One with a Superkick.

·        Shane-O-Mac made his way to the ring and told the referee to eject Zayn from the match. The ref acted accordingly, but he missed Styles visually pinning Owens with an inside cradle. Styles confronted the official which led to the aforementioned finish.

·        SmackDown Live went off the air with Owens and Zayn celebrating in the ring while Shane looked on in disgust from the main stage.

·        This was an interesting way to end the show. Shane McMahon’s overzealousness cost Styles the match which could lead to another ass whopping in the parking lot if McMahon continues to stick his nose in other people’s business.

·        Plus, it gives Daniel Bryan more ammo to use against Shane because he’s afraid that his boss is turning into Mr. McMahon 2.0. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will continue to fuel tension between their superiors as the great Power Struggle of 2018 heats up. Who’s turning on who? We shall find out soon enough.

·        Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was solid. This was a nice way to cap off the year as SD Live delivered a late entry for one of the best television matches of the year as the Triple Threat Tag Team Match featuring Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin, Aiden English & Rusev, and The New Day stole the show. The tag team division has been on fire for the past six months and this was a great way to put an exclamation point on things.

·        Here’s hoping 2018 is the Year of Rusev because WWE has a true star on their hands if they don’t screw it up. Aiden English also deserves credit for reinventing himself and finding a kindred spirit in Rusev. After a record number of tag team breakups this past year, their unlikely partnership has been a bright spot in a sea of doom and gloom.   

·        Elsewhere, it appears that Kevin Owens is in line for a WWE Championship match after defeating AJ Styles. Let’s hope their presumed title bout isn’t overbooked to death because both men are capable of delivering the goods if they are given the chance to do so. Rosy optimism aside, expect another bullshit finish from the usual suspects because it’s all about the game and how you play it. We can thank noted philosopher Triple H for giving us those words to live by for over twenty years. 

On that note, this wraps up another edition of The SmackDown Files. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be back next week with a brand new installment of The Raw Exposé. See you later, boys and girls! 

The SmackDown Files: The SmackDown Empire Strikes Back - Part II (8-1-2017)

By: Keila Cash 

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of The SmackDown Files. Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live emanated from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Post-Battleground Apology Tour continued as WWE hyped a double main event featuring AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the United States Championship while John Cena faced off against Shinsuke Nakamura to determine who will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. With the latter being a dream match airing on free television, did the show live up to the hype or did it die on the vine? The answer to that question can be found throughout this blog. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s episode of SD Live in no particular order.

·        SD Live is starting with a match instead of a 20-minute talking segment. Holy crap!

·        AJ Styles retained the United States Championship when he pinned Kevin Owens with a roll-up. However, the ending wasn’t without controversy as Owens had his shoulder up during the pin count. The referee’s view was obstructed due to Owens hitting him in the eye towards the end of the match which led to the screwy finish.

·        KO went ballistic and stormed backstage to confront the ref, Shane McMahon, and Daniel Bryan. Things got physical as Owens continued to lose his shit. McMahon granted Owens a US Title rematch against Styles at SummerSlam. KO wanted a referee that was competent at his job which led to Bryan naming Shane as the special guest ref. Owens scoffed at the idea, but eventually cooled off as the segment came to an end.

·        No wonder Shane has been looking extra jacked lately. He’s getting ready to put in that work at SummerSlam in more ways than one.

·        The US Title match between Styles and Owens was very good. Things started off slow, but the pace quickened after the commercial break. Owens’ signature rest holds were kept to a minimum which prevented the action from hitting a lull in spots.

·        Owens avoiding the Phenomenal Forearm was a nice touch as Styles never hit his finisher to win the match outright. Unfortunately, the questionable booking has prevented their feud from reaching its full potential because each title bout has ended in controversy. I hope their FOURTH outing ends on a better note, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Shane McMahon is going to play a role in the finish which is going to piss off Owens to the nth degree. Just a hunch.

·        Fashion Peaks paid homage to Twin Peaks in the best possible way. It was bizarre, psychedelic, and batshit crazy. Most importantly, The Ascension continues to shine as supporting players who are maximizing their minutes on television. Who knew they had a dark sense of humor?

·        Aiden English defeated Sami Zayn with a roll-up in a decent match. This is not a typo. The crowd heat was pretty nondescript which is not surprising since they had to follow Owens vs. Styles.

·        Becky Lynch and Naomi defeated Natalya and Carmella when Naomi made Carmella tap out to the Headscissors Crucifix Choke in a solid match. This was a nice way to forward Naomi vs. Natalya for the SmackDown Women’s Championship while Carmella lurks in the background holding her Money in the Bank briefcase. Lynch doesn’t have a feud to sink her teeth into at the moment, but she has been trading tweets with Cyborg from UFC which might hint at some kind of confrontation at the PPV in a couple of weeks. That’s pure speculation at this point since WWE hasn’t discussed their interactions on television yet.

·        Rusev defeated Chad Gable with The Accolade in a really good match. Gable is a gem that WWE shouldn’t sleep on. He held his own against Rusev and put on an offensive display by dropping the Bulgarian Brute with a serious of suplexes that showed off his crazy strength.

·        Rusev was no slouch either as he had his working boots on as well. Gable eating the loss sucks, but he won the crowd over that would’ve been dead otherwise. That’s what I call a miracle worker. Plus, he won custody of the American Alpha theme song which makes him 10% more awesome. Here’s hoping the Powers That Be gives Gable more opportunities to shine because he can get over if he’s given the chance to do so.

·        After the match was over, Rusev complained that he didn’t have a match at SummerSlam and claimed that he was unbeatable when Randy Orton made his way to the ring. Orton challenged Rusev to a match at the PPV, but his opponent shamed him in his native language before eating an RKO for his troubles as the segment came to an end.

·        Orton vs. Rusev sounds like fun. It’s a step up from Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal: Part 67.

·        Shinsuke Nakamura defeated John Cena with the Kinshasa and will move on to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. This dream match lived up to expectations, but it had a scary ending when Cena landed on his head when Nakamura dropped him with an Inverted Powerslam prior to the finish. It’s amazing that Cena was able to stand up and shake Nakamura’s hand as a show of respect as SD Live went off the air. Here’s hoping Cena doesn’t have a concussion or serious neck injury because that was an ugly spot.

·        Botch aside, this was a very good match that had the crowd hyped from start to finish. Cena and Nakamura have good in-ring chemistry that should be further explored in the future. The counters and near falls had the crowd sitting on the edge of their seats which heightened the drama even more.

·        Cena hitting the AA a second time and rolling through for number three was a nice callback to his match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble earlier this year. However, Nakamura was able to escape which led to the scary finish. This is the King of Strong Style’s biggest win to date and his match against Mahal will be very interesting, to say the least.

·        As for Cena, it appears that he is Hollywood bound after landing a starring role in Bumblebee which drops next year. La La Land aspirations aside, I hope he’s okay after taking that bump. It was very uncomfortable to watch, but he finished the match like a boss. He survived a broken nose from Seth Rollins a couple of years ago and powered through. I am sure he will bounce back from this as well. Fingers crossed!

·        Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was very good. WWE hyped this show a week in advance and it lived up to expectations. The United States Championship Match featuring AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens was the appetizer while John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was the main course. The broadcast was bookended beautifully which made everything click from top to bottom.

·        As an added bonus, Chad Gable vs. Rusev was a side dish that over delivered in the best possible way. All in all, this was a great night to be a professional wrestling fan. After questioning whether or not SD Live could hold up their end of the bargain heading into SummerSlam, my fears have been quelled. For now.

·        With two more episodes to go until the Biggest Party of the Summer, the blue brand better be locked and loaded as the show emanates from Toronto next Tuesday. Fingers crossed 2X!

On that note, this wraps up another edition of The SmackDown Files. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be back next week with a brand new installment of The Raw Exposé. See you later, boys and girls!