APOLLO CREWS vs. BARON CORBIN (9:55): Corbin, the king of the pre-show. I was watching the U.S. Open final so I didn't see this (Wawrinka beat Djokovich in 4). Since the ppv ended at 10:38...why did they even have a match on the pre-show?
BECKY LYNCH vs. ALEXA BLISS vs. CARMELLA vs. NAOMI vs. NATALYA vs. NIKKI BELLA (14:40): Well, this is the Smackdown women's division. So...get used to being sick of seeing the same six women wrestle each other every week. If you weren't sure if splitting the company again was good or bad just look at this card and you're mind will be decided. Seriously, the split has made both shows worse and we're stuck with lame B-level ppv's like this. RAW is already worse and the ratings are low. I never even watch Smackdown (they did the split because USA was unhappy with the Smackdown ratings). This match was fast paced and entertaining but a bit too sloppy (Naomi, I'm looking at you). Lynch won the title. **1/2
THE USO'S vs. THE HYPE BROTHERS (10:11): This was the first match in the tag team tournament, a tournament that wasn't helped when Chad Gable was injured last week and his team, American Ultra, wouldn't be competing on this show. The split would work if one show had all the women and one show had all the tag teams. I guess the WWE isn't interested in logic so we're stuck with weak women and tag divisions on both shows. This match was forgettable. *
THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (18:22): The Miz had his best moment in years when he confronted Daniel Bryan on the post-Smackdown show, Talking Smack, a few weeks ago and said that if Bryan cared so much about wrestling then he should quit and go wrestle in bingo halls. The Miz was on fire in that promo. The problem? Bryan is retired...so any heat or great story line will never result in a match, so what's the point? And as for Ziggler...the new split seemed to bring up the idea that lower-card workers would get their deserved pushes. Ziggler was immediately put in the title match at Summerslam. The problem is that this Ziggler push so far has resulted in him losing to Ambrose for the title at SS and now losing to The Miz for the IC title. More like an anti-push. A burying push. And why was Smackdown's biggest star, Cena, not even on their first ppv? Questions, questions. Ziggler, anyway, was energetic. This was semi-entertaining. It didn't help that the WWE obviously added fake crowd noise to this ppv like the Yankees do on their Yes network. Lame. **
KANE vs. BRAY WYATT (10:55): Randy Orton was supposed to wrestle Bray. Instead we got a No DQ match with Kane and Bray. They used a chair and Wyatt jumped onto Kane through the Spanish announce table. Orton came out at the end to give Wyatt an RKO. *
HEATH SLATER & RHYNO vs. THE USO'S (10:02): So you want a reason why this split sucks? Your new Smackdown tag team champs are Heath Slater and Rhyno. Why they're even a team boggles my mind. And does Rhyno age? He's like the Jonas brothers in that classic SNL skit where they had a wizard that gave them the secret to youth. I swear if I go on youtube I'll find Rhyno matches from the 70's where he looks the same. *1/2
AJ STYLES vs. DEAN AMBROSE (25:01): Excellent match. It started slow but built up to a frenzy of big and sick moves culminating in a ref bump, an AJ low blow on Dean, and an AJ victory. He's the champ! Of Smackdown...which isn't all that great, is it? I remember two years ago when the WWE finally condensed the titles into one main title. I was so happy. Now we're back to two lesser titles. How far are we from them going back to Super Smackdowns and Cena showing up on RAW for no reason? I guess amidst the suck we did this great match...so there's that. ***1/2
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