SmackDown Breathes a Sigh of Relief as Hurricane Isias Misses MITB...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Happy Friday! This wasn’t a bad week for me but it’s just nice to have a couple days to relax. Well, this weekend will have me occupied but at least not with the usual work. As for the Wrestling World, I would say it was a fairly quiet week. Nothing dropped my jaw and given the recent happenings, I kinda appreciate it. That said, this post should be to the point so, I won’t keep you long.

 

We’ll start in the Realm of AEW who generally went on a field trip this week. They took themselves to France and got to experience the joy that is the French Crowd. Per usual, my focus was on the Riders of Death. Though I am not going to speak directly on The Future for the rest of this month, that doesn’t mean I’m not monitoring its progress.

 

I noticed that PAC has been “canonized” as they appear to have started to initiate their entrances by placing a chair and towel in his honor. Jon Moxley even went so far as to perform a brief prayer before heading out with Gabe Kidd as they went to face the Don Callis Family members in Mark Davis and Jake Doyle.

 

Davis and Doyle were the larger gentlemen so Kidd and Mox had their work cut out for them. Those familiar know that Davis prides himself in being mean and this week was no different. He seemed to let the Riders’ grief be their crutch and gave them a walloping. Mox did his best to run defense, but with Doyle having just had a taste of him last week, Doyle kept Mox at bay while Davis piledrove Kidd into the pin. Guess Kidd should have asked for protection 😉

 

I’ll give it to Doyle that he seemed a bit more impartial in the matter. He seemed to just be doing his job and getting the win. Could he be a future defector? 🤔 In any case, rather than get heated, Mox remained positive. Giving Kidd more of a “better luck next time” consolation than upset at the loss. If I heard right, it will be Davis and Mox battling next for the Continental Championship. We’ll see how that goes.

 

There’s not much to comment on here and that’s fine. With them abroad and the passing of PAC still fresh, I’m not expecting much in terms of story advancement. It’s understandable, which is why I’m refraining myself. Grieving is a process. It’s unrealistic to expect them to just get over it like that.

 

I took a look at a few other matches as well, I heard Kyle Fletcher vs. Darby Allin was a solid affair and it was. Allin bled for it so I’m glad it was well-executed. Samoa Joe also demonstrated that he’s got plenty of life in him by whooping Jack Perry. Kid still has a lot to learn.

 

I felt obligated to check in on Will Ospreay as well in his Championship Match against Kazuchika Okada. That was a fine showdown as well. Kind of a foregone conclusion but I won’t knock it. I don’t see much of Okada so it was nice to see what he brings to the table.

 

As for Ospreay, I’d say I hope he loosens up in time. I know it’s all a lot to account for at the moment but he’s still gotta entertain out there. That’s the crux of this industry. If you just want to come out and be the GOAT then you gotta go do it for real in the Olympics or something. However, as I said, grieving is a process. I won’t nitpick.

 

In the WWE Universe, what caught my attention is all the resentment this guy Conrad Thompson has for Roman Reigns. Now, I can sympathize to an extent. My first post was a complete bitch-fest on how much Reigns sucked. I get it. Early on, what the fuck? Then it took like 10 years to get him to speed. Oh, I know. I was right here watching. However, it’s hard to say what exactly was going on in that respect.

 

At a glance, it just looked like an ill-thought out approach. WWE just decided to put him on top. There were certainly more talented options…but were they more marketable ones? You have to remember that the WWE Universe is the 15^th Grade. Maybe we’ve advanced to the 16^th but it’s essentially adult high school. And so, this Thompson guy is coming off more like a pissy incel than anything else right now ‘cause he’s sick and tired of Reigns being “Homecoming King”. When’s he gonna fucking graduate already? Is this dude’s vibe.

 

WWE is about putting asses in seats and they don’t care if those asses are wrestling fans or not. Reigns has crossover appeal. Just accept it. Superficially, I just think WWE was just leading with their hottest topic. Unfortunately for Reigns, with all the shit talk online and booing at shows, he had to retroactively get up to speed.

 

If you ask me, given what we all witnessed, they pulled the trigger on him too soon. They really made the guy learn to swim. It was a sloppy mess. I will give Thompson that. But in recent years, Reigns finally seems to understand the assignment and I don’t mind what he does out there. Is it the best? No. But we’ve witnessed worse. He learned how to put on a good match and remains the top attractive option. What are you gonna do?

 

As for merchandise and all that, I can’t say I’ve seen much of anyone’s stuff out in the wild, so to speak. The only shirt I’ve seen out and about was a Bálor Club shirt and I doubt many knew what that was referencing.

 

Personally, I’m not that kind of fan. I think generally speaking, most of the Western populous has accepted pro-wrestling but I doubt they know AEW exists. And most probably only know about The Rock and maybe Stone Cold Steve Austin. They probably get Reigns mixed up with Jason Mamoa. And these days, I bet a lot of people don’t realize Dave Batista started out in wrestling. So, this Thompson dude is spilling more he’s got some sort of personal issue with Reigns than any real general one. Reigns basically is just another example of capitalism. Get that hot shit out there and make some money. Thompson is overthinking it, if you ask me.

 

In any case, that brings us to tonight’s SmackDown. It is the Go-Home Show on this Money in the Bank Eve. And so, we can expect a Tag Team Championship Match featuring Charlotte Flair and Tatum Paxley taking on the Champs in Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Then everyone in the MITB Ladder Matches on both the Men’s and Women’s side are in the building to hype it up just one last time.

 

I don’t have to cook tonight but I do have to assist. I’ll have the Matches of Interest post out early tomorrow afternoon. Party gets started at 3pm PDT on the West Coast. As for this evening, I’ll be catching up at 8pm PDT as always. You know the drill.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)