SmackDown Will Dutifully Follow Orders to Crown Jewel...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Welcome to the weekend! Well, there have been more eventful weeks but that doesn’t mean we don’t have something to talk about. We got a few things we can go over. I can’t say how long I’ll be but I’ll try to keep to the point. I know everyone has other things they’d rather do. Let’s dive in.

 

In the Realm of AEW it appears some “sea changes” have been put into effect. Most notably, the Face Turn for the Riders of Death looks to be official. After Our Man Jon Moxley had a respectable tussle with Roderick Strong, the tides started to turn. Having defeated Strong, Mox started to make his exit, making it clear that Strong put a dent in him along with all the other matches starting to catch up as the aches and pains are getting harder to ignore. With Strong still in the ring, the supposed allies in The Dogs swarm in and jump Strong. Mox gets himself back in the ring to basically go WTF and the Dogs give him some too.

 

Then Gabe “The Hooligan” Kidd jumps in to back The Dogs off and they hand him a beating as well. Then the Bang Bang Gang shows up and it’s clear the Riders have been doubled crossed. The rest of the Riders show up to back up their team. Claudio Castagnoli does his best to dish out some punishment but they’re just outnumbered. Some of the Conglomeration arrive too to help out but the Heels just want this one more. Jay White appears to be the new “corrupt” sheriff in town.

 

I found this interesting. It’s looking like the Don Callis Family is solidifying themselves as the crew not to be fucked with now as they had Mark Davis and Jake Doyle make quick work of the Young Bucks to start the show. Can’t say I minded that but the fact that they squashed them was quite telling. Davis & Doyle put in a little overtime as well when Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight paired up to take out Uncle Edge and Will Ospreay afterwards.

 

The Dogs turning on the Riders apparently joined up the Riders with the Conglomeration which seems a little odd when you know the history but it does make sense with Marina Shafir and Roderick Strong being a couple and all. Might as well. Besides, we can’t believe that the Riders would take betrayal lying down. They’ll need new allies. It would seem that the Gang are the ones who “decided to move” on the “blood in the water” so things could start to get a little lit which is promising both for the future and The Future.

 

We also have to keep in mind that at some point, Mox will be making his way over to the Empire of New Japan for a stint. Will he cross paths with MJF there? There’s plenty to consider.

 

Given the changing alliances, the new thinking is that Strike 1 and Strike 2 should probably flip. If the Riders are Faces, then The Future has to be “set-up” so to speak. It’s believable to “trigger” it. So, an idea is to have Strike 2 become Strike 1 and it no longer should be carried out by Papa Christian and Uncle Edge. They could be “assailants in black”. We don’t have to know who they are. Just witness the “ambush” complete with “electronics” 1 for people the other allotted for the bovine. That could set Mox on a tear to find out who did it and in that frenzy, he could be more or less gaslit by all those who don’t care for those who ride death, making Strike 1 become Strike 2 and seemingly necessary.

 

It still should come out of nowhere. I hope it’s during one of Mox’s promos or more perfectly after a violent match where he bleeds but the “reason why it was done” should appear obvious. When Mox returns, that’s when the real fun begins.

 

I feel Papa Christian and Uncle Edge could become allies towards the end. They know Mox is 3 buckets full of trouble but he does know where the line is and they should be familiar enough to know that Strike 2 is going too far. They could also be the ones who “open the door” to The Future but we’ll see what happens first. There’s plenty of time to rearrange all the pieces and still have fun. Good job, gentlemen. The Future Looks Bright.

 

Other points of note, I liked seeing Renée Paquette getting into the action. She tried to do her job and interview the Ladies but the Divine Dominion was too busy dispatching of Alex Windsor’s lot I believe to have any time for that, unless Paquette wanted some too. Paquette was smart to get the hell out of there.

 

Shafir also gets an honorable mention for throwing her hat into the Women’s Championship ring by answering Mercedes Moné’s open challenge. Looked like those 2 were gonna kiss for a minute there if you ask me. I don’t blame ‘em for adding a little titillation. It’s about time Shafir got into the Ladies scene more. Get out there and fight instead of just carrying around the Continental Championship.

 

Watching Fletcher and Ospreay dance a bit was fun too. And of course, I had to check out Ilja Dragunov’s in-ring debut. Mike “Speedball” Bailey was commendable in taking the L and Dragunov seemed more measured in his intensity which made it more palatable for me to watch. I don’t mind him having to light the fuse to take it to the next level but to be left on 11 like that just seems tiring and unhealthy. AEW does seem like the better place for him, though so I’m glad this transition seems to be working out. Good luck to him. The WWE Universe just has a hard time taking little guys seriously. Intensity-schmensity, stuff him somewhere is how we think. It was never his fault.

 

In other general news, news broke today that Ric Flair had a health emergency. Sounds like he’s still out there being Ric Flair and though it has already caught up with him, it reared its head again, causing Flair to collapse and suffer a cut to the head. Last I heard, he was hospitalized so if we don’t see Charlotte Flair tonight, we may have an idea of what happened.

 

In the WWE Universe specifically, there are a lot of calls to cancel or move the upcoming Crown Jewel event. Many commenters fear the worst with ongoing strikes in the Saudi region and whatnot.

 

In my opinion, I think it’s a little naïve to think that TKO/WWE would endanger talent. That’s not a good business plan at all. They know they just can’t replace everyone. Developing talent takes time and they simply can’t afford to take that big of a hit to the roster.

 

However, I do agree that they’ll try to make this money anyway possible and I think a lot of what we’re seeing in the press is just them playing cards close to the chest. They should have contingency plans in place otherwise they’re just signing up for a series of civil suits for negligence if the worst did come to pass. Give them a little credit. I know. It’s hard. Why should we? They definitely seem to give a shit more often than not but if they have half a legal team, they should have things covered. We won’t know until closer to go time. Until then, anticipate everything being “business as usual”.

 

However, how they’re playing it seems to concur with my conjecture that promotions will start becoming characters in kayfabe. WWE is a Heel Company and how they play things seems to prove it. I know many feel that kayfabe is dead but many don’t realize how much of what they believe isn’t even real. You have to remember, it’s all fabricated. It’s entertainment. Some may overlap into reality but you have to keep in mind that we only know what they release. Even the behind-the-scenes stuff is authorized. That’s why I don’t watch it. You can’t trust these people and thankfully, I don’t really need to. I just come to be entertained 😉

 

And so, that brings us to tonight’s, SmackDown. It appears to be a Lady-centric evening. We can expect to see the Brothers Tonga take on バクサイ. B-Fab and Mia Yim will try to take the Tag Team Championships off of Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley. Giulia will get her hands on Blake Monroe in a Street Fight. And Chelsea Green will see if Roxanne Perez takes the chance at better at being Champion than she is.

 

I don’t have to cook tonight but I do have to grate some cheese. It’s only fair. Nevertheless, I should be ready to go by show time. We on the West Coast get caught up at 8pm PDT. Swing by if you’re able and/or missed out.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)