SMACKIN’ IT DOWN…What Happened Last (Tuesday) Night [Sept. 19th, 2014]

Well, well, well…I don’t know about you all but I dig the changes this Steven Guerreri (new head writer) is ushering in.  True, Creative has to get us salivating for the latest pay-per-view in Night of Champions but, I wouldn’t say that was so much done as there was an actual display of clean, entertaining “wrestling” this past SmackDown.  Not only was I entertained and amused, but I got to see that these guys generally know what they’re doing out there. It was nice to see.  Hope it continues.

We began the evening with a half-tag team match with Jimmy Uso and Stardust going at it Singles style. This match was to the point, I only could guess due to time constraints. Just about in the time it takes to reach for your drink, it was over with Jimmy getting the win. Whichever, you’ll get your money’s worth on Sunday they may be thinking.

Next, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler team up to tango with The Miz and Cesaro in a full tag-team match.  It was what you would think, cheesy, a little campy but fun. With R-Ziggler, as we’re now calling him, and Damien Mizdow adding extra cheese ringside. These matches I find fun because they’re so clearly what they are.  It’s like an homage to the 80’s or something where the characters were more cartoony than anything else but that’s fine. It’s “wrestling”.

Then, to up the camp level, we go to a truly surprising match to me between Heath Slater and Adam Rose.  Who knew they could actually “wrestle”.  I mean like Fandango, they’re there for what seems more like filler.  Yet, last night I got to see them execute a very clean match. It was well timed, connections were good…I was impressed.  Good job guys!  I like the Bunny angle too and Rose picked up the win in the end.

After that, the Divas play it up in Paige and Nikki Bella with AJ Lee trotting in to sit on commentary.  She’s funny and knows her role.  I respect that. Yet, what was also surprising was Nikki actually settling into her “Baddie Bella” heel turn.  When AJ and Paige decided to do their next round of “You’re So Crazy”, Nikki stepped in to knock ‘em both down and claim the title, of sorts. For once, she was half-way believable. Imagine that.

What was also a pleasant surprise was the 6 [6½? (^_-)] Man Tag Team match with The Big Show and Los Matadores versus The Wyatt Family.  Now, just looking at this, I would say this is a match you spun a wheel or something to come up with but, nevertheless, I thought it was performed really well. Bray was particularly convincing and furthered my point of him being in a good position.  Don’t expect gold all the time but when he shines, he shines.  He’ll be fine.

Then we get into, Jack Swagger and Bo Dallas having at it.  Dallas got the win but not without Swagger letting him know how he felt about it after. Guess, they’ll keep him a little bit heel for the time being.

And finally for the Main Event, we’re presented with Roman Reigns against Rusev. Now, you know, you can at least expect this to be a “clash of the titans” type match due to their heavyweight dispositions, more or less, but again, this was another well-executed match. It was exciting, not nearly as transparent as I’ve seen Reigns so, he’s listening to somebody.  And I like how Creative and I seem to be on the same page on how to stage Reigns’ fights, as well.  Not that he shouldn’t be able to “wrestle” but what I gleaned from Reigns as a character is that he should be this no nonsense sort of bad-ass and so, naturally shit should tend to “get real” from time to time.  So, when Seth Rollins came out to distract and get into it, I loved how quickly it spilled out of the ring and even out of the arena.  Yes!  That’s how I see this guy getting played.  Shit should happen outside the ring all the time. That should be what happens when someone goes too far.  Shit gets “real” and all bets are off.  It’ll work. It’s a no-brainer, really.  Just sucks to hear that Reigns had to have emergency surgery today.  That puts a wrench in the works. But more importantly, let’s be dears and send our best wishes towards a quick recovery.  Nothing like life happening to ruin a good time.

Nevertheless, to wrap up SmackDown, the action doesn’t stop there.  Rusev loses by disqualification and was suddenly left with no one to play with and time still on the clock.  And so, in comes Mark Henry to pick up the save and get us to remember why we’re all here tonight. AMERICA!

See you Monday…

-Nicole Alexis