WrestleTalk Roundtable – WWE Smackdown Live – December 18, 2018

What was the worst part of last night’s episode?

Dylan Kapisky

Vince and Women. I like Vince McMahon as an on-screen character, but it’s very clear he doesn’t enjoy the spotlight anymore. During the opening segment, Vince fumbled and mumbled his way through a promo before introducing Naomi as the next challenger for Asuka’s newly won championship. It’s painfully obvious that his heart isn’t in his performances, and they’re only done out of necessity. As a result, this segment suffered terribly.

Brian Farrell

Paige being fired. For me, this was confusing and disappointing. Essentially, they fired Paige for helping make Smackdown Live better than Raw. I don’t know why WWE did this. I thought Paige was a very good GM. All we can hope is that this doesn’t lead to more McMahon madness.

Kyle Payne:

I didn’t like how short the segment between Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy was. This feud has a lot of potential. Both men can deliver if given the opportunity. However, for some reason, this felt underwhelming and rushed. The segment when Joe was in the bar giving a public service announcement at Hardy’s expense was absolute gold. This week they missed the mark. Hopefully, next week this feud gets creative and time to progress.  

Jeffrey Bowie Jr.

The Miz & Mandy Rose vs. R- Truth & Carmella. I still don’t care about what’s going on with The Miz and Shane McMahon and this match did nothing to make me get invested into the story. Also, is Miz face or heel? Despite his deceptions last week, he came across as a face in his final segment with Shane McMahon. This week, he was clearly a heel. For the love of god, please get simple character traits correct.

The only reason I’m not putting the opening segment with Shane addressing the entire locker room in one setting is due to Bryan’s priceless reaction through the entirety of it. I hate when the company continues to break characters by putting them together in a room as if it’s all fake.

Yes, I know wrestling is scripted. But so are movies. And television shows. However, when was the last time you saw King Joffery and Tyrion Lannister randomly breaking character mid-episode of Game of Thrones by hold hands and singing kumbaya my lord to promote a charity?

The company has to understand that wrestlers breaking character/feuds for their PR segments damages the performers and rivalries. How can I take a intense feud between Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe seriously when both competitors are standing a few inches away from each other smiling and chanting away. Quick note: Joe wasn’t doing the smiling and chanting but he was near Jeff Hardy in the room.

I was always taught in screenwriting 101 that we shouldn’t tell the audience they’re watching a movie. I wish WWE would apply this logic to their shows. Sure, it worked for Deadpool or The Office, but those rules within those worlds were quickly established.

I don’t care what these guys or girls do once the camera is off, but I would like to get invested in guy X and Y’s intense feud, but it would be very hard to do so if I see them laughing and smiling away next to one another.

• mustafa ali
• SmackDown Live
• Vince McMahon
• wwe

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