{"id":108812,"date":"2020-11-28T14:36:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T20:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=108812"},"modified":"2020-11-28T14:36:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T20:36:21","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-11-28-kevin-owens-awakened-sami-soars-thanksgiving-leftovers-too-much-reigns-usos-hit-and-miss-acting-belair-as-banks-body-double-corbin-seems-relatable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/11\/28\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-11-28-kevin-owens-awakened-sami-soars-thanksgiving-leftovers-too-much-reigns-usos-hit-and-miss-acting-belair-as-banks-body-double-corbin-seems-relatable\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 11\/28: Kevin Owens Awakened, Sami Soars, Thanksgiving Leftovers, Too Much Reigns, Usos hit and miss acting, Belair as Banks body-double, Corbin seems relatable"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-478827416\" 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><p><strong>\u2022Owens Awakened<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We were always headed to this collision course between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns.\u00a0 Chalk it up to a shallow talent roster, a non-existent upper midcard, and underdeveloped characters, but it has always felt inevitable that Owens would be a stop on the way on Reigns\u2019s path of destruction.\u00a0 Thankfully, though, when the moment arrived, Owens rose to the occasion.\u00a0 I will never feel totally comfortable with him using the stunner as a finisher, but the fiery attack on Jey Uso and calling out of Reigns felt like the most important work that Owens has done in years.\u00a0 I do not expect Owens to be a serious threat for taking the Universal Championship, but this will be an important program to re-establish a credible second tier of Smackdown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Sami Soars<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sami Zayn has been brilliant since his return.\u00a0 He is fully committed and immersed in his character, and Zayn never feels like he is playing a part when he is doing his most goofy, despicable work.\u00a0 Pairing Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan together is always going to produce beautiful work, and I was glad to see that both walked away tonight without a loss. \u00a0 Zayn and Bryan are both at interesting parts of their careers where they are established enough to recover from losses easily but also are in danger of having those same losses be too commonplace.\u00a0 Regardless, Zayn is tremendous and is due for a meaningful feud for his championship.\u00a0 Perhaps Big E will be just what the booker ordered.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Thanksgiving Leftovers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Much of this week\u2019s Smackdown felt like a place holder to a week when WWE will not have to compete with travel and family time, but the leftover elements from what we know this era of the show to be were very good.\u00a0 I liked the Street Profits vs. Dolph\u00a0 Ziggler &amp; Robert Roode progression (enhanced by Montez Ford\u2019s losing facial expessions), Jey Uso\u2019s attack on Otis, and Bayley being Bayley.\u00a0 There is enough goodwill built into the show at this point that the misses (and there were plenty) were not so devastating.<\/p>\n<h3>MISSES<\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u2022Rein-in Reigns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Roman Reigns is an undeniable, slam dunk hit week-in-week-out, so this is only a half-hearted miss.\u00a0 His acting has been top notch and the character is pitch perfect.\u00a0 With that said, Roman Reigns has been at his best during this run when he was not seen so frequently throughout the show and instead feeling like a genuine main event, special attraction.\u00a0 That increasing frequency is leading to the inconsistencies of his characters motivations seeming to change from being a gaslighter to instead just being poorly written.\u00a0 The mystery of Reigns is what should have the entire roster afraid of him, but as just another guy in the locker room, it feels reductive.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3563272683\" 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>\u2022Uso Out of Range<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I continue to be a strong fan of the work Jey Uso has been doing, but tonight was a mixed bag.\u00a0 His worst mic habits were on full display including getting ahead of himself, relying too much on the word \u201cUce,\u201d and just shouting.\u00a0 His attempt to cry wasn\u2019t exactly going to threaten Sterling K. Brown for an Emmy either.\u00a0 Jey Uso is at his sweet spot when he is working opposite someone (namely Paul Heyman and especially Roman Reigns) and thankfully he was able to regain traction as the show went on, beginning with his sensational attack on Otis.\u00a0 Uso is still the surprise breakout star of the year, but it\u2019s time for him to calm down and fully commit to an individual character that exists on its own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Hall of Mysterio Mirrors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Baron Corbin vs. Murphy match might have been the most awfully booked match of the year.\u00a0 After all the work and effort put into the extended program with Seth Rollins, the Mysterio Family and Murphy somehow looked completely unlikable and managed to make Baron Corbin look like the most relatable person ringside.\u00a0 The writers need to stop being too-cute-by-half with the Mysterio storylines and just let them be.\u00a0 The ensemble of the entire family being together is turning into a real negative for all involved, and Buddy Murphy is too talented to be saddled with the storyline that he needs all of them to win &#8211; against Baron Corbin no less.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022Belair as Banks Body Double<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bianca Belair looked like a carbon copy of Sasha Banks last night.\u00a0 The entirety of her entrance including her strut and poses all through the match felt like an unintentional duplication of Banks.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem to be acknowledged in any way that felt like an overt start of a program, but is something that WWE should look to update immediately.\u00a0 Belair is the brightest rising star on the Smackdown women\u2019s roster and she needs her own personality to shine to match her talent level.\u00a0 A Royal Rumble win and subsequent Wrestlemania program with Banks feels like a natural progression here, but Belair is first in need of her identity and a character worth investing in.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/11\/27\/leclairs-wwe-smackdown-report-11-27-alt-perspective-detailed-coverage-of-survivor-series-fallout-pivot-to-tlc\/\">LECLAIR\u2019S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11\/27: Alt perspective, detailed coverage of Survivor Series fallout, Zayn vs. Bryan, Owens vs. Uso, more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-4292304918\"><div id=\"pwtor-2412479880\"><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>\u2022Owens Awakened We were always headed to this collision course between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns.\u00a0 Chalk it up to a shallow talent roster, a non-existent upper midcard, and underdeveloped characters, but it has always <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/11\/28\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-11-28-kevin-owens-awakened-sami-soars-thanksgiving-leftovers-too-much-reigns-usos-hit-and-miss-acting-belair-as-banks-body-double-corbin-seems-relatable\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 11\/28: Kevin Owens Awakened, Sami Soars, Thanksgiving Leftovers, Too Much Reigns, Usos hit and miss acting, Belair as Banks body-double, Corbin seems relatable\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49486,"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-108812","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\/post\/2017\/10\/CorbinBaronTeschJoel3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108812","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=108812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108813,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108812\/revisions\/108813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}