{"id":105110,"date":"2020-09-26T12:39:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T17:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=105110"},"modified":"2020-09-26T12:43:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T17:43:30","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-8-25-era-of-the-uce-nakamura-renewed-a-better-bayley-bliss-breaks-failed-riddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/09\/26\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-8-25-era-of-the-uce-nakamura-renewed-a-better-bayley-bliss-breaks-failed-riddle\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 8\/25: Era of the Uce, Nakamura Renewed, A Better Bayley, Bliss Breaks, Failed Riddle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1000494431\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>HITS<\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u2022Era of the Uce<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am firmly of the belief that this storyline of Roman Reigns and Jey Uso is the best main event program in the WWE in years.\u00a0 There are just so many components that are perfectly coming together including the absolutely phenomenal shift in the Reigns persona and Uso more than holding his own with a star-turn of his own.\u00a0 Yes, Uso seems to get ahead of himself with his promos, but they feel more authentic than the stiff, scripted delivery that populates these shows anymore.\u00a0 Last night\u2019s chapter only added to this quality episodic program.\u00a0 The inclusion of the video testimonials from the previous generations was a terrific addition and the ending of seeing the next gear of the heel Reigns was perfection.\u00a0 I\u2019ll say it again, this could also be the start of Jey Uso being wrestlings next big thing as the counterpoint to Reigns.\u00a0 Sunday may just be make-or-break for all of these advancements.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Nakamura Renewed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the pairing with Cesaro was exactly what the doctor ordered.\u00a0 An inspired Shinsuke Nakamura showed a fire and quickness last night against Gran Metalik that I have not seen previously in his WWE run and made me wonder where this was during his main event run two years ago.\u00a0 With less pressure on him, Nakamura is able to deliver in a big way, and Cesaro himself looked like the star we all know he can be right at his side.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to think about how great Cesaro has been with so many tag partners, and his impact on Nakamura is tangible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Title Triangle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was not my favorite choice to have Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn, and A.J. Styles meet ahead of their match on Sunday, but actually it all turned out to be a better promotion for the bout than anything else.\u00a0 For all anyone knows, the Smackdown crew might\u2019ve been a smaller one this week bringing this match to fruition, but the high quality here made me look forward to Sunday to see the ladder element infused and the championship on the line.\u00a0 Zayn also left in a better place than he was last week, which is only a help to the Intercontinental Division which features some of the best talent that it has had in years.\u00a0 Hardy, to his credit, is showing a crispness in his matches that he hasn\u2019t displayed in quite some time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022A Better Bayley<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This shorter presentation of the Bayley promo worked for me more than her previous center stage two weeks ago.\u00a0 Bayley strikes me as being on the cusp of really figuring out who she is as a character.\u00a0 That is both good in that the areas that Sasha was able to shield in her previously seem to be coming together as a solo act and bad because there are flashes of Bayley being underdeveloped. Either way, the Clash of Champions women\u2019s program is not something to dread, which alone is a win.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1367592323\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u2022Bliss Breaks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The evolution of Alexa Bliss has taken a bit too long for my taste overall, but tonight\u2019s next steps worked beautifully.\u00a0 The physical transformation and acting of Bliss was exactly what was needed to feel like we are starting the next chapter and felt interesting enough to not have been a channel-changing moment.\u00a0 The staring-at-Roman Reigns moment went on a beat too long into awkward territory &#8211; as many WWE moments seem to be lately &#8211; but otherwise Bliss left in a better place than the she was coming in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Best in Show<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the past month, Smackdown has become the best wrestling show on television. The combination of the fresh main event program, nicely developed mid-card storylines, and the Thunderdome have created a show worth genuinely looking forward to watching.<\/p>\n<h3>MISSES<\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u2022Failed Riddle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The type of miss that anyone would dread for a newly introduced act, and especially outrageous considering that it is Matt Riddle.\u00a0 A loss to King Corbin alone could be a kiss of death, but pair that with a long, competitive match and Riddle was absolutely defined down by it all.\u00a0 Thankfully, his inherit charisma and star quality seemed to still shine in the post-match promo, but I would attribute that more to the man than the intent of the moment.\u00a0 This all feels like a blatant, unnecessary self-inflicted wound, and if the WWE is committed to pushing Corbin, it should be in concert with Riddle not at his expense.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/09\/25\/leclairs-wwe-smackdown-report-9-25-alt-perspective-detailed-coverage-of-reigns-interview-zayn-vs-hardy-bliss-vs-evans-more\/\">LECLAIR\u2019S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9\/25: Alt perspective, detailed coverage of Reigns interview, Zayn vs. Hardy vs. Styles, final Clash hype, more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3941627706\"><div id=\"pwtor-3506765668\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>HITS \u2022Era of the Uce I am firmly of the belief that this storyline of Roman Reigns and Jey Uso is the best main event program in the WWE in years.\u00a0 There are just so <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/09\/26\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-8-25-era-of-the-uce-nakamura-renewed-a-better-bayley-bliss-breaks-failed-riddle\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 8\/25: Era of the Uce, Nakamura Renewed, A Better Bayley, Bliss Breaks, Failed Riddle\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Uso_WK4_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105113,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105110\/revisions\/105113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}