SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
BRYAN-MIZ FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW…
Recap: The show opened with Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella coming to the ring for an interview with Renee Young. After footage of last Tuesday’s ambush, Renee showed a clip from earlier in the day where Miz and Maryse challenged the Bryans to come to the ring in an empty arena. They claimed the challenge was issued before fans were in the building to save the Bryans the embarrassment of a public beatdown.
Bryan informed the fans that he was not yet in the arena during their challenge, and said that challenging them when they weren’t present exposed who Miz and Maryse were as people. He challenged them to come to the ring but Renee informed him that the Mizanins were no longer in the arena.
The Mizanins then came up on the Titantron, informing Bryan that they were taking the night off for a date at a local Italian restaurant.
Andrade “Cien” Almas then came to the ring with Zelina Vega. Zelina thanked Bryan for showing footage of last week’s match. Andrade cut a promo, however as usual it was not intelligible.
Bryan and Almas then had a solid one-on-one match, which Bryan won.
After the match, the Bryans were seen leaving the arena to head to the restaurant to confront the Mizanins.
Later backstage, the Mizanins told GM Paige that they had cut their dinner short to come to the arena to confront the Bryans. Paige informed them that the Bryans were gone, but that Miz would have a match with any person that wanted to fight him. The Miz said he was unprepared and told Paige to be a good GM rather than a bad GM. She initially agreed and told them they were free to go without a match, but then added that if they left, they could never return.
In another backstage segment, R-Truth approached Maryse from behind, thinking she was Carmella. Carmella was incensed to be mistaken for “Staten Island trash.” Miz approached to see what was going on. He told R-Truth to never speak to his wife again. Truth was confused, thinking Miz was married to Carmella. Miz then asked Truth how long ago they teamed together, to which Truth replied seven years ago. Miz told Truth that was the last time he was relevant. Truth told Miz that he didn’t understand what Carmella sees in him.
R-Truth continued to search out Carmella backstage.. Tye Dillinger pointed to the real Carmella, which caused Truth to approach her and ask her if she had seen Carmella. When she responded that she was in fact Carmella, Truth asked her for a one night truce to accompany him to ringside to face Miz and “the other Carmella” (Maryse). Carmella hesitated at first, but seemed to agree when Truth informed her that Maryse had called her “trash.” Tye asked Truth what he as doing, to which Truth responded he was teaching Tye how to get into the main event of SmackDown.
Before the main event, Miz and Maryse again called out Bryan and Brie. Maryse indicated that they wouldn’t appear because they’re cowards. Miz then blamed Daniel Bryan for dragging Brie into the feud, saying it would be detrimental to her business.
During the main event, the Bryans came down the ramp, distracting Miz long enough to allow R-Truth to win with a rollup. After the match, they attacked Miz and Maryse. Almas and Vega interfered, however, allowing Miz and Maryse to escape to the top of the ramp. Bryan and Brie got the better of Andrade and Zelina, locking in a double Yes Lock on both of them as Miz and Maryse watched. The heels started to run back to the ring, but stopped midway down the ramp as the show ended.
Evaluation: Andrade really needs to stop talking and leave the promos to Zelina. I’m a decent Spanish speaker but can’t understand a word of his English promos.
The empty arena challenge was bizarre, and I don’t understand logically how Miz and Maryse thought it would make the Bryans look bad. It just made Miz and Maryse look like idiots.
Bryan’s match with Andrade was solid, as expected.
Forecast: From the commercials that aired tonight, it seems the payoff to the R-Truth/Carmella angle will be their pairing for Mixed Match Challenge. Since MMC exists in a separate universe where the face/heel dynamics of SmackDown and Raw don’t apply, I would not expect Carmella working face with R-Truth on MMC to affect her status as a heel on SmackDown. They were careful tonight to not have Carmella involved in any of the post-match antics, as a physical confrontation with Maryse would position her as a face on SmackDown.
The Bryan-Miz feud has dominated SmackDown recently, and it was never more apparent than tonight. It was nearly the entire show. I expect this intense focus to continue next week, as nothing happened tonight in any other angle to set up anything at all other than the tag match for the Number One Contender slot.
BECKY TAKES A COCKY TURN…
Recap: Around the end of the first hour, the show cut to an interview between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. GM Paige had mandated they be kept in separate locations, so this was shown on a video split screen.
Becky took a very cocky tone, with body language to match. Charlotte was positioned as the reasonable one of the two. Charlotte lamented that Becky had thrown away a five year friendship, and said that all Becky had to do was ask for a title match rather than attack her. Becky responded by telling Charlotte “screw you”, and that she wasn’t a charity case. Becky said that being Charlotte’s friend had been a full time job of managing Charlotte’s insecurities. Charlotte said that Becky was second best. Becky called her delusional and told her to shine up the title for her. Charlotte wondered what Becky’s excuse would be when she lost again.
Evaluation: Becky has taken an angry demeanor over the past couple of weeks, but tonight added a cocky element. She seemed to really nail it both in tone and body language. The segment didn’t get a massive reaction from the crowd, but I believe that was a function of it being a video package rather than in the ring live.
Forecast: Based on Becky’s lack of fan insults since the first week of the turn, I expect this angry/cocky character to be used in a face capacity going forward.
AJ FINALLY GETS THE BETTER OF JOE…
Recap: Samoa Joe came to the ring to again address AJ Styles’ wife, Wendy. We were told that AJ Styles was at home with his family. Joe said he is not a monster. He told Wendy to appreciate that AJ was finally at home with her on a Tuesday night. He told AJ’s daughter Annie that there would be a lot more nights like tonight where AJ would be tucking her in, because at Hell in a Cell he’d be taking AJ’s title.
AJ appeared on the Titantron and said that threatening a man is one thing, but when you threaten a man’s family the talking stops. AJ’s music then played, and he surprised everyone by coming down the ramp and attacking Joe. The attack was broken up by Paige and several referees. Paige repeatedly told AJ that tonight was not the night.
Evaluation: The way that Joe had been exploiting AJ’s emotions over the past few weeks, if was finally time for AJ to get over on Joe. This was a simple segment but it delivered.
Forecast: This feud feels a little less hot than last month. I expect AJ to retain the title.
RANDOM THOUGHTS…
It was good to see Asuka return, but if the plan is a tag feud pitting her and Naomi against the IIconics, she would need to thoroughly dominate to undo the damage done to her before she left….
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – SMACKDOWN 8/28: Becky Cheered Again, King Booker Returns, The Mizanins Take Out the Bryans
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