It's the SmackDown Season Premiere! Not Sure If It Means Anything...

A Good Friday to You Enthusiasts!

Are you doing well?  I certainly hope so.  Let’s get right to it shall we?  There’s some stuff going on that makes for good conversation. 

The first bit of info that caught my interest is that RAW Underground has gone on hiatus.  With the COVID threat it simply isn’t safe to hold at the moment.  I think the concept is a good device to break a creative block.  As we can see, the WWE creative department tends to get stuck on repeat.  RAW Underground could be used as a way to inject some fresh energy into the mix when they’re running low on ideas.  Being now, then and forever is taxing.  I can understand that.  As they fish around for a way to account for that, they might as well keep what works on hand.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets reinstated under better circumstances.

Another thing that caught my interest is some talk from Cody Rhodes.  Apparently, he’s been getting some flak for promoting so many former WWE Stars.  It would kinda be a bit hypocritical not to if you really think about it.  Yet, the thing that gets me interested on this is the very existence of AEW.  I’ve voiced in one of my articles that all AEW basically is a culmination of the WWE’s creative mistakes.  Rhodes is the prime example.  I remember when he was with WWE and he was busting his ass with his Stardust gimmick.  He never really got the credit.  I don’t blame him for leaving, he was underappreciated.  Most of those guys were.  We know now that it is due to some negligence on the WWE’s part.  Yet, to be fair, wrestlers did need to have some of their own ideas if they didn’t like what they were pitched.  True, they may not have had a say but, now that we know the creative department doesn’t churn out the best ideas, in theory, they could have pushed back.  It’s all just unfortunate in a way.  I kinda worry about Rhodes because of this backstory.  If there’s any residual resentment, I hope he’s finding healthy ways to let it go.

On a lighter note, some of the recent news segues well into tonight’s action so I’ll conclude the gossip with that.  Goldberg is doing a bit of “trolling” on Instagram.  Seeing how Roman Reigns was a potential opponent and Braun Strowman actually faced Goldberg, his “interest” in tonight’s match isn’t too surprising.  Word going around is that his contract still has a few pending appearances.  We’ll see if that has any influence on Hell in a Cell and/or Survivor Series.

As for tonight’s SmackDown action, we get a little social media lead up as Strowman and Reigns have been taking jabs at each other.  It’s actually funny.  This is a good tone to have in the WWE Universe.  With societal norms changing, the shit talk has to be humorous, not so much scathing, at least not without due process.  I love it, since I too partake in my fair share of riffing.  I’m always pushing for wrestling to be more fun because then WWE can get-away with the plot holes and dumb segments.  If they’re offering a genuine good time, no one cares.  But I digress.  All this shit talk is to hype up tonight’s match between Reigns and Strowman.  Seeing how Strowman got drafted to RAW, people feel this match is a little too predetermined.  Well, we never know.  Something might “happen” and it may not happen at all.  Regardless, Reigns and Strowman have set themselves up for some fun.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  The other big news is that Daniel Bryan is set to return tonight.  We’ll see if that leads to any in-ring action in the future.  Jeff Hardy is going to see if he can do Lars Sullivan a favor.  Good luck with that.  The New Day will bid us adieu and The Street Profits will see if they look good in blue.  It could be a good night.

On a side note, I have a couple articles out.  As some of you may now, it was Jericho Week last week.  This month marks 30 years of Chris Jericho in operation.  I was tasked to rebook his transition to WWE.  It was enlightening.  Kinda wish Booker T still wrestled to be honest.  The other article is more WWE relevant.  I give a little overview of Seth Rollins’ SmackDown history.  It’s been a minute. 

Anyway, I’ll leave you to enjoy the show. As always, funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, well, never thought I’d say this but take a page from Strowman’s and Reigns’ book.  Have fun with it.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)