{"id":121077,"date":"2021-06-13T14:20:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=121077"},"modified":"2021-06-13T14:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T19:20:15","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-6-11-the-roman-reigns-show-otis-takes-big-step-toward-serious-sami-zayn-flounders-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/06\/13\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-6-11-the-roman-reigns-show-otis-takes-big-step-toward-serious-sami-zayn-flounders-more\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 6\/11: The Roman Reigns Show, Otis takes big step toward serious, Sami Zayn flounders, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3144172061\" 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>The Roman Reigns Show<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother week and another best-in-show performance by Roman Reigns. At this point, everything that Roman touches turns to gold, and it is now safe to add Rey Mysterio to the list of wrestlers that has seen their standing lifted from ordinary to excellent in the matter of moments. Add Jimmy Uso to the list as well. For the first time since his return, I felt that Jimmy truly stepped up in a way that matched the performances of Jey Uso, Roman and Paul Heyman. In most ways, nothing else on the show matters aside from the Roman Reigns world because the world is expansive enough that it covers enough ground for Smackdown to retain the crown as the best show in the business.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Crownery<\/strong><br \/>\nSpeaking of retaining a crown, there is a lot of clownery involving Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura right now, but it oddly is serving as a fine enough entertainment point for me. Is it a high point in either careers? Most certainly not. It is, however, a relatively light point of a show carried by darker personalities and storylines, and that is fine enough for me. Hopefully after the Battle of the Crown we can move on swiftly to something a bit more important for Nakamura, but it\u2019s good to see him week-in, week-out for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Battle of the Patriarchs<\/strong><br \/>\nGoing back to the Roman world for a second (really do we ever leave it with anything on Smackdown?), the main event program heading into Hell in a Cell really tracks. It would have been way too soon and similar to last year to have Jimmy Uso face Reigns, and Rey Mysterio is a perfect counterpoint to Reigns trying to be the patriarch of Smackdown. I loved the show ending brawl and the foreshadowed kendo stick leading to the attack by Dominik. The camera angle of the throw of Dominik wasn\u2019t exactly my cup of tea, but everything else felt like a fight. That was perfect for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s Otis Time<\/strong><br \/>\nNo I don\u2019t think Otis is necessarily in line for a world championship push, but there is a movement to a more WWF era Vader feel to him that is more serious than I would\u2019ve ever projected a year ago. I think the change in facial hair is a further step in seeing Otis transform into a more seriously used act with elevation potential. Gable is tremendous as well and continues to excel despite Otis feeling more of the WWE priority.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Laugh-In<\/strong><br \/>\nThe meeting of the minds between Bayley and Seth Rollins felt to me like a version of when Ric Flair debuted in WWF and shared the screen with Bobby Heenan. It was two worlds that made sense coming together. The fact, though, that they are both carrying the verbal end of programs against less dependable vocal performing opponents wasn\u2019t lost on me when Cesaro and Bianca arrived. The laughing might\u2019ve also teetered too closely into the later days of Vickie Guerrero for my taste, but in general it was enjoy able chemistry from two pros making the most of what they are working with. \u201cDid you order food\u201d did have me laughing more than anything else on WWE tv in a very long time.<\/p>\n<h3>Misses<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Enough Said<\/strong><br \/>\nIf anyone asks me why I don\u2019t think Big E is main event material, I\u2019m going to show them his entrance on this week\u2019s show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>De-Evolution<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is 2021, and yet we have a female wrestler (not valet, not manager, not side character) insisting on being called the most beautiful woman in WWE. I understand entirely that not every woman on the roster needs to be presented as a world-class championship fighter but this felt reductive to high degree to me. Pair that with a lower end of WWE women\u2019s wrestling match between Carmella and Liv Morgan, and this felt like a definite step back in any so-called evolution we\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Respect for Sami<\/strong><br \/>\nPoor Sami Zayn deserves better. He has been so good for so long that it feels like time that some respect actually begins to truly be put on his name. The intercontinental picture is doing fine enough to fill its spot and I\u2019m glad that Kevin Owens is getting sustained attention and is seemingly treated with importance, but Sami\u2019s day is coming due for sure.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1355041524\" 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<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/06\/11\/6-11-wwe-smackdown-report-hazelwoods-alt-perspective-on-mysterios-seeking-payback-owens-e-vs-crews-zayn-ding-dong-hello-with-rollins-more\/\">6\/11 WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: Hazelwood\u2019s alt-perspective on Mysterios seeking payback, Owens &amp; E vs. Crews &amp; Zayn, \u201cDing Dong, Hello!\u201d with Rollins, more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2258906108\"><div id=\"pwtor-652739827\"><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 The Roman Reigns Show Another week and another best-in-show performance by Roman Reigns. At this point, everything that Roman touches turns to gold, and it is now safe to add Rey Mysterio to the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/06\/13\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-6-11-the-roman-reigns-show-otis-takes-big-step-toward-serious-sami-zayn-flounders-more\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 6\/11: The Roman Reigns Show, Otis takes big step toward serious, Sami Zayn flounders, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":52286,"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":[72,71,117],"class_list":["post-121077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","tag-smackdown","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/12\/ZaynSami_TeschJoel_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121077","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121078,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121077\/revisions\/121078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}