{"id":30205,"date":"2016-08-23T21:51:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T02:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=30205"},"modified":"2016-08-23T21:53:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T02:53:08","slug":"instant-reaction-823-smackdown-summerslam-fallout-new-titles-pwtorch-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/08\/23\/instant-reaction-823-smackdown-summerslam-fallout-new-titles-pwtorch-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"INSTANT REACTION &#8211; 8\/23 SD: Summerslam fallout, new titles, more from PWTorch writers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-903664455\" 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>8\/23 WWE Smackdown\u00a0Instant Reaction &#8211; Three-Pack Edition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the spirit of PWTorch contributor <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/btuckertorch\" target=\"_blank\">Ben Tucker&#8217;s <\/a>&#8220;Instant Reaction&#8221; series, we present a three-pack of\u00a0takeaways from Tuesday&#8217;s Smackdown\u00a0from PWTorch staff, contributors, and correspondents.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Greg Parks, PWTorch Smackdown columnist<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>(1) Women and tag teams get their titles: <\/b>When it was announced that the secondary titles would not float from show to show, the question became, would more titles be added to make up the difference? We got the official confirmation <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_352618269\"><span class=\"aQJ\">tonight<\/span><\/span>, with both tag team and women&#8217;s titles set to be awarded at Backlash. The tag teams are involved in a tournament, while the women will compete in a six-pack challenge on that show. Early contenders for the championships would seem to be American Alpha and Nikki Bella, though the women feel like more of a toss-up.<\/p>\n<p><b>(2) A.J. Styles is next up for Dean Ambrose: <\/b>This pairing made the most sense, especially with Styles going over John Cena at Summerslam. Even had that not happened, Styles still would&#8217;ve been the right choice to oppose Ambrose at the next big show. Styles was all over Smackdown and is really in-tune with his heel character at this point. After a disappointing Summerslam match with Dolph Ziggler, it&#8217;ll be interesting to see what Styles gets out of Ambrose at Backlash.<\/p>\n<p><b>(3) What&#8217;s next for Dolph Ziggler?: <\/b>All throughout the feud with Ambrose, Ziggler was told he wasn&#8217;t good enough to be champion. Then, he went out and proved that <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_352618270\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Sunday<\/span><\/span>. Ziggler brooded a bit on this show and was taunted by Styles. At least Ziggler fought back. He went 20 minutes in the main event with Styles trying to earn a spot in the Backlash title match. And once again, he fell short. I liked that they didn&#8217;t give him promo time <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_352618271\"><span class=\"aQJ\">tonight<\/span><\/span>, just letting his actions do the talking. But where does he go from here?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Mike McMahon, PWTorch Impact reporter<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>(1) Sorry, Dolph, but it was fun.<\/b>\u00a0Well, it was good while it lasted, Dolph. There doesn\u2019t seem to be many places for Dolph Ziggler to go now that he lost to A.J. Styles in the main event and is out of the match at Backlash&#8230; unless WWE finds a way to get Ziggler back in that main event. Styles kicked the ropes into Ziggler\u2019s leg before the Styles Clash &#8211; and Otunga seemed to make a point of asking the other announcers if they saw that &#8211; but that\u2019s hardly a reason to overturn a match result. Just looking at the Smackdown roster, there isn\u2019t much for Ziggler. Alberto Del Rio is suspended, Baron Corbin has been done before, and Bray Wyatt is headed off with Randy Orton. Putting Ziggler in a feud with Miz, which has also been done before, would absolutely be viewed as a demotion. There just isn\u2019t another top guy on the Smackdown roster for him to feud with if he\u2019s out of the title picture.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1944808882\" 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><b>(2) Please tell me I didn&#8217;t just see that.<\/b>\u00a0For the love of all that is holy in this world, please WWE, do not promote a Shane McMahon vs. Brock Lesnar match. That is one of my biggest fears in wrestling right now. I almost choked when I saw Lesnar give Shane an F5 at Summerslam and here <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_352618274\"><span class=\"aQJ\">tonight<\/span><\/span>, there was another tease of a Shane-Lesnar match during Shane\u2019s backstage segment. It\u2019s pretty clear that WWE is trying to re-brand Lesnar as a monster again. That\u2019s fine &#8211; in fact, it\u2019s necessary &#8211; but Lesnar vs. Shane is not a match anyone wants to see. In fact, it shouldn\u2019t even be a match. There should be nothing competitive about it. Brock Lesnar, if he were in a one-on-one situation with Shane McMahon, should criminally assault him. That\u2019s not hyperbole either. It would result in an actual crime if Lesnar and Shane ever actually fought. If one of WWE\u2019s top stars gets nearly killed by Lesnar, the 46-year-old non-wrestler should be peeing himself when faced with the prospect of confronting Lesnar, not walking around like a man\u2019s man ready for a fight.<\/p>\n<p><b>(3) Who cares about the colors?<\/b> I might be in the minority, but I don\u2019t mind the new WWE belts. The Universal Title being red makes sense if it\u2019s a Raw title, and the debuts of the Smackdown Tag Titles and the Smackdown Women\u2019s Title I liked as well, especially with the blue elements. There are far more important things to complain about than the color of belts.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Chris Wooten, PWTorch reader<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>(1) Something To Fight For.<\/strong> Smackdown Live opened this week by unveiling new championships for both the tag team and women&#8217;s divisions. After seeing the new red Universal &amp; Women&#8217;s Championships for Raw, and now the new blue Tag Team &amp; Women&#8217;s Championships for Smackdown, it appears that WWE is going with branding colors for all of the titles. The new belt colors are a little off-putting at first, coming across like more of a toy than a respectable championship. However, the notion of having a &#8220;Universal Champion&#8221; didn&#8217;t sound like a good idea at first, but like anything else, it just takes some getting used to. Now at least the tag teams and women can have some goals, instead of being placed in meaningless matches.<\/p>\n<p><strong>(2) Stories That Make Sense.<\/strong> Before the new titles were unveiled, we saw a backstage segment with A.J. Styles gloating a little too much to a very agitated Dolph Ziggler about Summerslam. Ziggler proceeded to attack A.J. backstage and then again on the entrance ramp which led to a pull-apart with the tag teams outside of the ring. One thing noticeable here is the style of storytelling. The backstage segment began a simple story, which bled out to the ring, led to a high-energy open, and gave some heat to the match between the two later on in the show. Instead of a cold match, they built on the emotion of this past Sunday. Glaring plot holes have been an issue on WWE TV as of late, and it&#8217;s good to see some care taken with the writing of the show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>(3) The Viper Meets the Buzzards.<\/strong> After the brutal ending of Summerslam&#8217;s main event, I think most were not expecting to see Randy Orton again for some time. To my surprise, he showed up to Smackdown Live just two days after his bloody bout with Brock Lesnar. He commented on Lesnar briefly before he was interrupted by Bray Wyatt, teasing a feud between the two. Due to the nature of the loss by Orton at Summerslam, he could definitely use a big win. It&#8217;s just unfortunate that it looks to be against Bray Wyatt, who could use a big win himself. It does make for a marquee match at Backlash, but the circumstances and timing of this feud certainly do not benefit a struggling Bray Wyatt.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2089819105\"><div id=\"pwtor-1811163405\"><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>8\/23 WWE Smackdown\u00a0Instant Reaction &#8211; Three-Pack Edition In the spirit of PWTorch contributor Ben Tucker&#8217;s &#8220;Instant Reaction&#8221; series, we present a three-pack of\u00a0takeaways from Tuesday&#8217;s Smackdown\u00a0from PWTorch staff, contributors, and correspondents. Greg Parks, PWTorch Smackdown <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/08\/23\/instant-reaction-823-smackdown-summerslam-fallout-new-titles-pwtorch-writers\/\" title=\"INSTANT REACTION &#8211; 8\/23 SD: Summerslam fallout, new titles, more from PWTorch writers\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27171,"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":[52,1324,27],"tags":[3717,72,3573,2872,71,117],"class_list":["post-30205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-instant-reaction","category-specialists","tag-august-23-smackdown","tag-smackdown","tag-smackdown-instant-reaction","tag-smackdown-live","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/Logo_SmackdownLive2016_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30205","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30205"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30208,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30205\/revisions\/30208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}