SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JULY 2, 2019
SAN ANTONIO, TX. AT THE AT & T CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
Smackdown Viewership Last Week: 1.40 (.13 Increase from previous week)
Arena, Items Advertised by WWE, and Show Start Time
WWE remains in the big state of Texas as they pull into the AT & T Center in San Antonio, the hometown of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. Smackdown last emanated from here in July of 2017. The 2018 offering of Hell in a Cell was here as well. WWE is no stranger to this building, which opened in 2002 and began hosting events eight months later.
We begin the Eric Bischoff era as he starts his role as Executive Director of Smackdown. Last night, we began the Paul Heyman era on Raw as he began his tenure in the same position. Who knows what’s in store after Braun Strowman speared Bobby Lashley through the LED board starting a wave of pyro. As was pointed out here at PWTorch, a local advertisement shows “See what Eric Bischoff has in store for Smackdown Live!” as well as two matches (Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler and Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair).
The arena website shows the same but doesn’t talk about Eric Bischoff. The start time is 6:45 p.m. local time for the house crowd. Here’s what WWE.com is advertising for the show:
Matches & Segments:
None at the moment
Storyline Follow-Up:
- Can Kofi Kingston bounce back from Six-Man Tag Team loss to Samoa Joe?
- Is Bayley ready for Alexa Bliss?
- Will The New Day continue to chase after Bryan & Rowan’s titles?
- Will Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville continue to torment Ember Moon?
Kofi Kingston Readies for Samoa Joe
Last night on Raw we got your garden variety impromptu six-man tag team match between the Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) and Samoa Joe vs. New Day (Big E, Xavier Woods, and WWE Champion Kofi Kingston). Initially it started as a tag between the Raiders vs. Big E & Woods but mushroomed into the six-man tag when Joe attacked Woods.
The “re-started” match went about seven minutes and ended when Kofi passed out to Joe’s Coquina Clutch. Joe is scheduled to face Kofi at Extreme Rules for the WWE Championship, as Joe takes advantage of the wild card rule. Here’s what we didn’t see during the commercial break between the tag match and the six-man match:
We continue to head towards the match tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: WWE did the straight-forward method of making Joe look like a threat to Kofi’s title. I’m glad Kofi passed out rather than submit to the Coquina Clutch, which protect Kofi. They should discuss that tonight and make it a big deal that Joe got the WWE Champion to pass out.
Bayley Readies for Alexa Bliss
Last week on Smackdown, Nikki Cross secured a rematch for the Smackdown Women’s Championship for her good friend Alexa Bliss. Alexa takes on Bayley at Extreme Rules for the title after coming up short at Stomping Grounds.
Here’s a WWE.com exclusive with Nikki Cross regarding her getting that chance for Alexa but being questioned if the title match should go to her instead:
Last night on Raw, Alexa had Nikki as her special guest on a Moment of Bliss. Carmella interrupted and questioned Nikki as she had been in the exclusive, which led to back to back matches between Alexa and Carmella and then Nikki and Carmella. Carmella rolled up Alexa in about five seconds but then lost to Nikki in about three minutes.
Nikki’s winning all the matches, but Alexa has the title match. We’ll get further into this tonight. Here’s what we didn’t see on Raw last night in between matches:
EXCLUSIVE: In case you were wondering what led to @NikkiCrossWWE going one-on-one with @CarmellaWWE on #RAW… pic.twitter.com/Jyk9Y9DUwH
— WWE (@WWE) July 2, 2019
Frank’s Analysis: I don’t see Nikki getting added to the title match at Extreme Rules to make it a triple threat, but we have to be going somewhere with this soon. What would really impress me is if they go in a completely different direction and Nikki turns on Alexa, making Alexa the babyface and Nikki was setting her up the whole time. The obvious direction right now is Nikki realizes Alexa has been using her and eventually goes her own way, but we’ve seen that story told before. We’ll see what happens.
New Day’s Pursuit of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
Last week on Smackdown, New Day members Big E & Xavier Woods had a big week as they picked up two victories. First, they defeated Smackdown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan in a non-title match. They were then attacked by Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn but saved by Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker).
Yes, you guessed it, the two teams paired up in an eight-man tag match after the commercial break via the “reset & restart” formula. Heavy Machinery helped secure the victory for them and New Day as Zayn was pinned after their signature Compactor. As a side note, Owens walked out on Zayn as he was about to get Otis’ Caterpillar.
There’s certainly room on the card at Extreme Rules. We’ll see if these wins launch New Day into a championship match (I’m refusing to say opportunity).
Frank’s Analysis: I figured they’d hold off on New Day vs. Bryan and Rowan for SummerSlam, but if it’s time to do the match between them then go for it. The first match between them on Smackdown featured some good action, and thus if they go in this direction for Extreme Rules it should be fine. I still have a potential New Day break up in the back of my mind. It would certainly feel like a big deal considering how long they’ve been together.
Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville Tormenting of Ember Moon
Last week on Smackdown, Sonya Deville scored a quick two-minute victory over Ember Moon. Ember was distracted at ringside by Mandy Rose early on and was shoved into the ring post by Sonya which is how she got the victory.
There has been an ongoing issue with Mandy & Sonya and Ember for weeks now. Ember ripped up the Muscle & Fitness magazine with Ember on the cover. Mandy & Sonya broke Ember’s Nintendo switch. They got into a brawl when Mandy offered Ember a donut. Here’s a WWE exclusive from several weeks ago suggesting where the relationship is between these women:
We’ll continue this story tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: I couldn’t help but feel like I was back in high school going over this feud. The big picture issue is how WWE has treated Ember Moon. She’s been pinned quickly several times recently. I wonder if this is leading to a heel turn in which she would show a more dominant side of her. I don’t know about everyone else, but her look to me certainly screams heel.
Andrade and Apollo Crews
This feud isn’t advertised for tonight, but several weeks ago Andrade and Apollo Crews had a match which never got under way, and Apollo was saved by Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor. A few weeks ago, Andrade attacked Apollo in the back after he was “flirting” with Zelina Vega, Andrade’s business associate. Here’s some WWE.com exclusive videos as they have furthered their feud “outside of television” if you will:
We’ll see if this leads to a match tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: This is definitely something different and I like it. Apollo seemed very real when he said I’m going to come at you face to face, “you don’t have to worry about that.” He is certainly an untapped asset. I’m not saying he’s a main event guy, but there’s something there and WWE should use it. There’s really usually something with most talent if you just let them tap into their real personalities and let their character been an extension of that.
IIconics Kabuki Warriors
Here’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) on the potential of facing the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) for the championship:
It was reported that in Tokyo this past weekend, Asuka & Kairi defeated the IIconics in a non-title match. Nothing has been announced as to whether or not they’ve earned a championship match. Asuka & Kairi have rarely been on TV as of late but could been slotted into Extreme Rules if not sooner for that match.
Frank’s Analysis: They always need a match for the kickoff show.
Not Advertised for Follow-Up:
The Miz lost to Elias in a two-out-of-three falls match last week, thanks to Shane McMahon beating up another babyface for the 10,000th time it seems as of late. The Miz got his retribution last night on Raw, defeated Elias in another two-out-of-three-falls this-is-the-one-of-the-ways-we-avoid-stopping-matches-for-commercial-breaks matches.
Drake Maverick is now 24/7 Champion after defeating R-Truth on the way to his honeymoon last night.
Aleister Black continued to beg for someone to pick a fight with him last week. This time, someone knocked on the door. They did not reveal who knocked.
Overall Thoughts on Tonight’s Show
As I felt yesterday with the Paul Heyman era beginning, I look forward to seeing the flow and nature of the show as Eric Bischoff takes over as Executive Director. I do NOT need to see anymore pyro or LED boards being destroyed. My wife came across an article that said WWE is looking to change their stage set, and thus last night’s fiasco with Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley may have been a way to “write off the stage.” (You couldn’t just change it?) I’m skeptical at best as to how this is going to work, given how things went during Bischoff’s days running WCW Monday Nitro. He can tout how he beat WWF in the ratings 83 weeks in a row, but the show fell off a cliff after that. It was not built for long-term success. That was then and this is now, and we’ll see how an “older and wiser” (is he?) Bischoff steers the ship, and how much say he has over the finished product. Watching last night’s show, I could see some Heyman influence, but Vince is definitely still making the final decisions. We need more time and shows to have better opinions.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!
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