SMACKDOWN SNOREFEST FROM DC

by Tarron Coalson

SMACKDOWN is live from the Nation’s capital this week, Washington, DC & maybe it was the fact that they didn’t want to take anything away from RAW’s upcoming ROAD BLOCK Pay Per View, but this was a pretty wretched episode.

The show starts out with a recap of last week with the Commissioner, Shane McMahon and the General Manager, Daniel Bryan reviewing the main event from last week that James Ellsworth interfered in. A sneezing, sick Ellsworth is with them, sneezing all over them. That chastise Ellsworth saying that he can’t interfere in title matches and announce that his World Title match with AJ Styles is postponed for sickness & send Ellsworth home.

The Miz & Marise open up with MIZ TV & their guest is the WWE World Champ AJ Styles. Styles doesn’t have the walking boot on this week, but still appears to be walking gingerly. Miz & AJ are complimenting one another but then the Miz says that he’s on a level above Styles. AJ takes offense to that & they appear to be heading toward a fight. At this point, Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziglar make their way to ringside and a brawl starts as Styles exits the ring, further fueling my speculation that he’s not one hundred percent yet.

Miz hits a Skull Crushing Finale on Ziglar, Ambrose Dirty Deeds the Miz & then hits it on Ziglar as well. The lights go out & when they come back on, Luke Harper KO’s Dean Ambrose.

Back stage, Styles seeks out Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan asking for protection but instead, they announce that there will be a Fatal Four Way match to determine an opponent for Styles at the December 27th SMACKDOWN, the last SMACKDOWN of the year. The Fatal Four match will have The Miz, Dolph Ziglar, Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper.

Next up is just an awful match between Carmella and Natalya. The match is made even worse as Nikki Bella joins the ringside commentary team (isn’t 4 already too many?). Anyway, if Nikki proved anything, it’s that she shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the commentary microphones. UGH!

Natalya is trying the whole match to plead her case to Nikki Bella that she didn’t attack her at SURVIVOR SERIES and eventually gets caught in a small package by Carmella because of it. That need to wrap this angle up quickly and move on.

Then, it’s announced that fresh off his Saturday Night Live guest host spot, that John Cena will return to SMACKDOWN in two weeks.

Backstage, it’s some dude named Fluffy?? walking up on Apollo Crews (where’s he been?) followed by The Miz and Marise who calls Crews, Apollo Creed (again..) and they all trade insults about wardrobe. I’m serious folks..we’re trending downhill quickly as you can hear the remote’s clicking away.

A Tag Team Battle Royal is up next with the winners becoming the Number One Contenders to the SMACKDOWN Tag Team Titles being held by The Wyatt Family. It’s also announced that The Wyatt Family has invoked “The Freebird Rule” that any two members of the family can defend the titles. Hey, if it works for The New Day, why not?

NEWSFLASH: Ole Anderson got a mention on WWE programming from JBL for creating The Freebird Rule. What’s so strange about that, you ask? It’s well known that Ole Anderson and Vince McMahon are on bad terms, as Ole is with almost everyone:). Why do you think he’s not in the Hall of Fame and wasn’t inducted with The Four Horseman?

Back to the Battle Royal, the teams are: American Alpha, The Hype Bros, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Ascension, Breezango and the Vaude Villains. Strangely noticed by their absence was The Uso’s. Wonder why they weren’t in it?
The first team eliminated was The Vaude Villains. Then, in a surprise, American Alpha. It seems that WWE Creative has decided that American Alpha just isn’t ready for Prime Time yet. I’ve also been critical of them. Not from a wrestling standpoint, but from the view that they have the personality of paint drying and need a mouthpiece to speak for them.

Next, Slater & Rhyno are gone as Slater accidentally caused Rhyno to get eliminated, fueling the trouble between those two. Breezango’s out next, followed by The Ascension as Zac Ryder performed a Hurricarana on The Ascension sending them over the top rope & making The Hype Bros…yes, I’m serious..the Number One contenders. It’s hard to believe they have a snow ball’s chance against The Wyatt Family, but we’ll see.

Another really bad ladies match is next as Alexa Bliss comes out & throws some unnamed lady out which brings out Becky Lynch, who demands her rematch. Bliss says yes, but not tonight and tries to leave. Shane McMahon comes out & informs Bliss that the rematch will happen tonight, infuriating Bliss. During the awful match, Bliss hops out of the ring and fakes a knee injury and gets counted out.

Finally, it’s the Fatal Four Way match, which is OK but I’m already half asleep from the rest of the terrible card. The end comes as Dolph Ziglar super kicks Dean Ambrose as he was trying to get in the ring but was being held by The Miz. So, it will be Dolph Ziglar verses AJ Styles and look for The Miz to face Dean Ambrose.

Check out ROAD BLOCK this Sunday on the WWE Network and look for recaps weekly here at www.SportsCarolinaMonthly.com