{"id":38614,"date":"2017-02-08T22:26:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T04:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=38614"},"modified":"2017-02-15T16:14:15","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T22:14:15","slug":"talking-points-talking-smack-smackdown-creating-stars-corbin-shines-cena-puts-nikki-natalya-ascension-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/02\/08\/talking-points-talking-smack-smackdown-creating-stars-corbin-shines-cena-puts-nikki-natalya-ascension-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"TALKING POINTS FROM TALKING SMACK 2\/7: Smackdown creating stars, Corbin shines, Cena puts over Nikki-Natalya, Ascension talk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4085933563\" 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>Talking Smack has quickly become must see TV. That is very high praise for a network special that promotes sitting down and talking over wrestling on a wrestling network. It\u2019s smooth, easy viewing that appeals to those who want to know more about what really goes on without ever damaging the overall characters. Every episode gives us a few interesting things that it is definitely with knowing.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m <b>Tom Colohue<\/b> and this is <b>Talking Points From Talking Smack.<\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>Follow <b>Tom Colohue<\/b> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tomcolohue\/\">Facebook<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/colohue\">@Colohue<\/a> for updates.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><b>Talking Points From Talking Smack<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>1. Smackdown is creating stars<\/b><\/p>\n<p>When the brand split first happened and Smackdown viewers were left with the reality of Backlash happening only two weeks after Summerslam, two weeks was not enough time. The card was shallow, the build was nowhere close to adequate, and the only real \u201cstar\u201d on that show was A.J. Styles.<\/p>\n<p>However, Backlash was a pleasant surprise for a lot of people. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler were just beginning their ascendancy, Ambrose performed beyond his usual showing, and Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss were just biding their time waiting to transform. This time around, even with six men in one match, two weeks was more than enough.<\/p>\n<p>Smackdown is creating stars. All they needed was a little breathing room. Meanwhile, Fast Lane is definitely relying on Goldberg and Reigns to sell tickets.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. History repeats<\/b><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-726109762\" 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>Nikki Bella has been pushed hard since her return. She gets beaten up a lot, sure, and almost every segment gets a John Cena and a wedding namedrop, but Nikki reliably wins matches more than any other woman on the roster. Keeping her away from Becky Lynch has been vital to this to keep the heat rising.<\/p>\n<p>Getting attacked on Talking Smack though? Been there, done that. Carmella attacked Nikki on one of the earliest Talking Smack instalments. This looked more authentic, sure, but we need some positive progress for Nikki Bella soon. The big money women\u2019s match for the Smackdown brand right now is Nikki Bella vs. Mickie James. Let\u2019s get there quickly, shall we?<\/p>\n<p><b>3. The tag team rebuild will not be fast<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This time, The Ascension received some attention. Next week Breezango? There are a lot of teams in the Smackdown tag division &#8211; far too many for The Revival to ever come this way, unfortunately &#8211; but there are some very good teams waiting for their chance. A couple of minutes of Talking Smack wasn\u2019t much, but coupled with the match on Smackdown it was more than four of the six\u00a0teams have had in a long time.<\/p>\n<p>With the Women\u2019s Division now firmly established and main event stars emerging in all directions, expect some major TV time to be pumped into the tag teams. Right now though, with WrestleMania coming, it will mostly just be talking about it.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. Corbin is best without the belt<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Corbin enjoyed watching Nikki Bella get beat up. Great character work. Corbin is being built perfectly, with a lot of attention but not too much faith from the management. A little doubt from Daniel Bryan here, a strategic loss there. Yes, it might damage his steamroller image, but it ensures that we\u2019re not seeing another Roman Reigns situation here.<\/p>\n<p>Corbin is clearly a corporate favorite. The End of Days is one of the most protected finishers in the company, the chances are coming thick and fast, and he is one of the most featured performers on Talking Smack. Face or heel isn\u2019t really relevant because he\u2019s playing both sides so smoothly.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-968280984\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>A Corbin with the belt may be the final intention but it is far too soon now and Corbin needs to eat his words a little more before he is truly established as a main eventer. If the company decided face or heel soon, Corbin would likely get exactly the response that they intend but right now he is perfectly undefined.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. The return of humble Cena<\/b><\/p>\n<p>John Cena apparently wasn\u2019t aware of Nikki getting beat up. I don\u2019t buy it. What else would he possibly have been doing? The first few minutes of Cena\u2019s interview were used purely to put Nikki vs. Natalya over. Cena continues to put everybody over as much as possible. That guy really works for everybody.<\/p>\n<p>Cena put Nikki over. He put the Elimination Chamber over and given that Raw has\u00a0Hell in a Cell, the Chamber needs a bit more mystique and viciousness added to it. Cena then added the name of A.J. Styles to the list of people he put over. It\u2019s about time. Since Summerslam, Cena has been nothing but disrespectful to Styles and this was some much needed humility added to his character before the elimination chamber.<\/p>\n<p>That suggests a loss on the horizon.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S ARTICLE:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/02\/01\/talking-points-talking-smack-131-orton-speaks-without-bray-alpha-weak-tag-division-naomi-back-neon-spotlight\/\">TALKING POINTS FROM TALKING SMACK 1\/31: Orton speaks without Bray, Alpha and a weak tag division, Naomi back in (neon) spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-4250370741\"><div id=\"pwtor-2124741408\"><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>Talking Smack has quickly become must see TV. That is very high praise for a network special that promotes sitting down and talking over wrestling on a wrestling network. It\u2019s smooth, easy viewing that appeals <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/02\/08\/talking-points-talking-smack-smackdown-creating-stars-corbin-shines-cena-puts-nikki-natalya-ascension-talk\/\" title=\"TALKING POINTS FROM TALKING SMACK 2\/7: Smackdown creating stars, Corbin shines, Cena puts over Nikki-Natalya, Ascension talk\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5691,"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":[52,27,4645],"tags":[4727,517,116,769,974,3569],"class_list":["post-38614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists","category-talking-points","tag-ascension","tag-baron-corbin","tag-john-cena","tag-natalya","tag-nikki-bella","tag-talking-smack"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CenaJohnWK4_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614","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=38614"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38876,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614\/revisions\/38876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}