HEYDORN’S SMACKDOWN RECEIPT 6/17: Vince McMahon pulls a sad stunt to open the show

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

Analysis of this week's WWE Smackdown
PHOTO CREDIT: WWE

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

This week’s episode of WWE Smackdown has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-Ohhhhh Vince McMahon. He deserves shame for the stunt he pulled at the top of Smackdown, but since shame would have zero impact, let’s go a different direction. How sad, right? Like, it’s just kinda sad to see a major figure and genuinely the greatest wrestling promoter of all time relegated to stunts in order to matter. McMahon looked petulant out there with allegations of misconduct public, but his goal getting his ego stroked was pathetically obvious. Maybe he achieved it, maybe he didn’t, but the sad plays either way.

-Once the circus ended, Riddle cut a damn good promo ahead of his WWE Smackdown main event match against Roman Reigns. He tied a lot together – himself, Randy Orton, The Bloodline, and of course the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. It was a go-home babyface promo that made you believe he could win. Reigns and him would cash in on that work later in evening.

-Was that really the last laugh between Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss? I’ll believe it when I see it.

-Moss won the feud, but really, Corbin has the brighter immediate future ahead of him with the program with Pat McAfee. They leaned heavy that way this week and with Summerslam just around the corner, I’d put money on this match taking place.

-Moss is still missing something. The pieces are there, but none of them are being put together properly at the moment.

-Sign me up for The Street Profits vs. The Usos at Money in the Bank. A match of the night contender without question.

-Why is in the hell is WWE branding Shankey the “Sky-scraping, dancing Shankey.” Am I dreaming that nonsense?

-Well, I gotta say. I expected Adam Pearce to not pick Sheamus or Drew McIntyre to be in Money in the Bank, but to announce a last chance match instead. So, it was a bit of a surprise to hear him just add both guys to the match. But like, why do this? Both qualifying independently would have made infinitely more sense and made both guys look stronger rather than this bizarre story.

Drew, ditch the sword. Just ditch the sword.

-Sami Zayn gets the Oscar for the night. Great work outside of Roman Reigns’ locker room. He continues to be an absolute gem for Smackdown. It’s a shame that that level of work isn’t happening inside more meaningful material.

-Yeah, I wouldn’t have Lacey Evans on commentary again anytime soon. Add it to the list. She can’t cut a promo really, she’s mediocre in the ring at best, and now commentary – not allowed. What can she do? Well, win. All that said, she gets my vote at this time to win Money in the Bank simply due to the attention and time she gets.

-Shayna Baszler losing to Raquel Rodriguez isn’t a big deal. Rodriguez is being positioned as a top WWE Smackdown act down the road. Three minutes, though? Look, Baszler isn’t going to be the face of the women’s division like we all thought. She can still get heated up enough to face Ronda Rousey on a B-level PPV or a Smackdown show. Not if she continues on with these kinds of losses.

-A great match between Riddle and Reigns. These guys were crisp and hard-hitting and the match layout made sense. The near falls were believable and Riddle was elevated even in losing. Reigns winning is what should happen until it shouldn’t and I think we’ll feel when that moment is. It wasn’t this week.

-Lesnar vs. Reigns again at Summerslam. Yawn. The return of Lesnar this week was fun, but this Reigns/Lesnar stuff is phenomenally overdone. I get that WWE had injury issues, but go a different route. This match being the main event of the show really throws a bucket of cold water on what WWE wants to be a major weekend in Nashville.


CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S DYNAMITE RECEIPT 6/15: Will Ospreay shines in stellar match against Dax Harwood

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