SmackDown Respects the Departed but MITB Is Next Week...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Finding some sense of peace? Yeah, it’s going to take some time. We lost a good one. As we all know, life must go on and the Wrestling World is no different. Nevertheless, there isn’t much to report yet, I took look at AEW’s Tribute Show and have some thoughts on how they might proceed and so, let’s just get into it. I shouldn’t take up too much of your time.

 

The Realm of AEW turned this week’s Dynamite into a tribute show for PAC who we now know as Benjamin Satterley and I have to say I had no idea how much of an impact he had. He seems to have had a “Clark Kent” quality to him in a way. In his day-to-day life, he seemed quiet and mild mannered. Very sweet and humble and just a great person to have around. If you didn’t know what he did for a living, you’d might have thought he was an Olympic Weightlifter or something. You would never have guessed he transformed into the Bastard PAC on a weekly basis.

 

His loss gut wrenched the AEW roster. There was no dry eye in the house. Bryan Danielson became an honorary Rider of Death. Ricochet and Will Ospreay honored PAC with a high-flier’s delight of a match complete with Ospreay bawling at the end. I’ll continue to give Ospreay a pass but I hope in the future he starts to make fun of himself. There is no crying in wrestling 😉

 

In my opinion the Ladies did the best homage. They seem to have an easier time pulling off PAC’s moves. Shows us the benefits of a compact stature. Easier to do all the “flippy shit”. That’s why gymnasts often aren’t over 5’9. Just too hard to get the body around.

 

It was no surprise that the Riders of Death were prominent and how Jon Moxley handled being the unofficial crisis manager of the evening should be commended. He seems the type to shrug off that sort of attention but with everyone a mess that night, a rudder was needed and it was comforting to see him rise to challenge. Good job, mate. I’m sure Mr. Satterley is proud.

 

And now that flowers are on the proverbial grave, now what? I will adhere to respecting the dearly departed by not critiquing for The Future until November but that doesn’t mean I can’t speak on the future in general. How does the realm proceed from here?

 

Word is that the Riders of Death will turn a corner and be BabyFaces from here on out. Hopefully, that means they’ll leave behind trying to “murder people” now that it’s clear just how precious life is. It should be all too obvious that to lose a life over this stuff would be utterly ridiculous. However, they still need rivals and the blatant option appears to be the Don Callis Family. Going forward, when it concerns kayfabe/story everyone should consider the current state of affairs. Be one Heel or Face, PAC touched everyone deeply and this can be used as a catalyst for the landscape to change.

 

The Callis Family being large and predominantly Heel, it’s fair if some of them begin to question their affiliation. Personally, I was glad to see Lance Archer back in action as I feel he could be used to fill the void so to speak. He gets the assignment out there and can be big and mean when necessary. Perhaps he could defect to the Riders in good time? I’m not sure what kind of chops he’s got but now would be a good time to start finding out.

 

He doesn’t have to be the only one but this loss could definitely bring a new side of a rivalry out. Callis now has to consider retention. He may have to become more cunning in pursuing his “self-serving ways”.

 

As for the Riders, I think for the time being they can seem too gutted by PAC’s passing to consider dissension. What would PAC want after all? But over time, if the plan is for there to be a break in philosophy at some point, how to best honor PAC and subsequently the Rider Way may be the opening point of contention. I can easily see Gabe Kidd going off about something when the time comes. Would Mox start to “get soft”? Would Kidd go too far? Would others lose their edge or perhaps get too hard? All things that can currently be considered.

 

For now, no one would blame anyone for simply focusing on putting on a solid show. There are Championships to be defended and talent to display. While everyone settles, now is the time to consider what’s next and where everyone wants to go. From there the stories can develop. I’ll keep checking in on Rider action and throw in my 10¢ when I feel there’s a need. At the moment, let’s just give everyone space to come to terms with the new normal. Godspeed.

 

In the WWE Universe, there was some mild controversy as the question as to whether it was in good taste to air the Worlds Collide event on the same night as PAC’s tribute special became a social media talking point. Many commenters thought WWE should have been the “bigger company” and moved it but they maintained their 7pm EDT slot on this past Wednesday night. I was never planning on watching and don’t watch AEW programming when it airs so it was never a problem for me but if there were those who felt torn, I feel the easy way to go is just watch the tribute show. You could always catch up with Worlds Collide later and I believe it was pre-recorded so, it’s not like you were really missing anything. It’s a bit of a non-issue if you ask me but we like to grumble in the IWC.

 

In any case, that brings us tonight’s SmackDown. Despite the tragedy that is the loss of PAC, RAW was quite fun this week and respectable so hopefully SmackDown honors the profession with an upstanding follow-up. For tonight we can expect, Giulia and Blake Monroe to finally throwdown in the ring. The Ladies will have what I think is the final Qualifying Match for Money in the Bank as Candace La Rae, Tatum Paxley and Tiffany Stratton try to secure a shot at the contract. While the Men will have Johnny Gargano, Kevin Owens and the now Title-less Cody Rhodes vie for a chance. This should be interesting.

 

I don’t have to cook per se tonight. It’s more like heat up and eat so, I should be nice and settled come showtime. Continue to let your loved ones know that you love them and remember it’s okay to have a good time. There’s always more to life.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)