WWE SmackDown Live – August 13, 2019 (Review)

WWE SmackDown Live – August 13, 2019 (Review)

There was one aspect of an otherwise entertaining Raw that really bugged me. One that isn’t shared by its blue counterpart on SmackDown Live.

And that is the issue of the show’s main babyface.

On SmackDown, the issue has recently become trite, with Kevin Owens clearly established as Tuesday night’s top protagonist. But on Mondays, things are far from settled.

On the face of it, Seth Rollins appears to have grabbed the reigns. But perhaps that isn’t even telling the whole story. I say “grabbed”, but in reality it’s more accurate to say he was “handed” the reigns. And that’s likely the problem.

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No one would dare suggest that Rollins isn’t a terrifically gifted performer – one deserving of sitting amongst WWE’s finest. But when has WWE ever been about giving people what they deserve? How many times has a phenomenal star risen through the ranks, accumulated rabid fan support, only to inexplicably – frustratingly – run into a glass ceiling?

And so it is that WWE have decided to go the opposite way with Seth Rollins this time. No longer will they vacillate in their pushes, jumping from one guy to the next, trapped in a system of analysis paralysis. Seth is unquestionably their guy… and they’re gonna let you know it.

Whereas Kevin Owens has the biggest villain in the company placed before him, Seth has a plethora of WWE legends behind him. While KO is forced to place his career on the line, Rollins gets to share a laugh with the Street Profits. And while Owens toils away in the middle of pay-per-views, the current Universal Champion remains exclusively in the main event.

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That is the problem. The greater the WWE push, the more we resent the wrestler. It’s become ingrained in our DNA, it’s second nature. As Triple H became John Cena became Roman Reigns, we railed against WWE’s chosen heroes in favour of the overlooked stars. Because above all else, fans want to feel like they are in charge – that they have the power to influence matters and direct the flow of the company.

And so fans have anointed Kevin Owens “the guy”, and started to turn their backs o Seth Rollins. And having all the old white guys in the world insist that Seth Rollins is cool won’t change that. The harder they push, the more we resist.

Let’s get to the review.


The Best of SmackDown Live

This is the KO Show

The night started with an appearance by Kevin Owens in front of a rapturous Toronto crowd. Much of KO’s recent elevation to the top of the SmackDown landscape – and the benefits that go with it – have been addressed in the introduction.

Owens recapped his victory over Shane McMahon at SummerSlam, sharing his fondest memories of the night.

He then turned his attention to the recently announced King of the Ring tournament, vowing to claim victory to have his name immortalised alongside the likes of Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Steve Austin and Edge. In other words, none of the winners from the last 18 years.

Owens was however cut off by Shane McMahon, who raised the legitimate criticism that KO kicked him straight in the McMahon-icles and slugged Special Enforcer, Elias, with a steel chair prior to winning on Sunday.

Shane pointed to Elias being an official for their pay-per-view contest, and assaulting an official can never be tolerated. In consequence, Shane fined Owens $100,000, which left KO feeling rather aggrieved seeing as he has a family to support.

This was a fun segment until the end. I thought McMahon had something far more ominous in store for Owens – perhaps a handicap match, a suspension, a gauntlet with his career on the line! But nope, just an imperceivable fine that no one at home could ever care about.

The ‘Queen’ and The ‘War Goddess’

Charlotte took on Ember Moon in an excellent match that was sadly all about the ‘Queen’. And I mean ALL about Charlotte.

The commentary team spent much of the contest debating her accolades, the audience couldn’t agree on whether the ‘Queen’ “sucked” or not, and Charlotte for her part devoted significant time to antagonising those in attendance.

It was a real shame, because I personally think that Ember is an incredible wrestler – as evidenced by her showing last night. Yet she was constantly made to look like the inferior talent, as if she could possibly get lucky and pull a rabbit out of the hat against Charlotte.

Of course, ultimately she couldn’t and Charlotte won with the Figure-8. But I don’t think anyone wins by having Moon look second-rate. Still an incredible match though nevertheless.

Daniel Bryan Had Nothing To Do With It

An irate Daniel Bryan was next to confront the SmackDown fans, and answer the very serious allegations made against him.

He labelled Buddy Murphy a liar for pointing the finger at Rowan, emphatically stating that he and his cohort had nothing to do with the recent attacks on Roman Reigns. And last night, he would prove his innocence.

This typical excellent delivery was not only captivating but also deepened the mystery surrounding Roman Reigns’ close shaves.

The Secret is Out

Since being moved to the blue brand in April, Buddy Murphy has been conspicuous only in his absence.

But last night, on his Tuesday night debut, SmackDown’s ‘Best Kept Secret’ demonstrated precisely why fans were so excited when he joined. In a match against Roman Reigns, built off the events of last week, Murphy pulled out all the stops.

The young Australian surprisingly took most of the match, hitting a succession of V-Triggers, tope suicidas and a vicious brainbuster. Reigns on the other hand did his best just to weather the storm and stay alive in the contest.

And survive he did. Long enough to finally hit a spear to pick up the pin.

It would’ve been great to see Murphy actually win his debut match – especially having waited so long to make it. But given the quality of the bout and the fact that the narrative dictated a Roman win, it’s hard to complain here. This was a phenomenal match, one that Buddy can hopefully parlay into a larger role on Tuesday nights.

Buddy Gets Cornered Again

In an eery similar segment to last week, Buddy Murphy once again found himself alone and cornered in the locker room. This time, however, it was Rowan and an increasingly unhinged Daniel Bryan who trapped him.

Confronting Murphy, the former SmackDown Tag Team Champs then proceeded to play a game of bad cop / insane cop, demanding that he admit to having lied about seeing Rowan attack Reigns two weeks ago.

When Murphy made the mistake of smirking, Rowan started tossing the Australian around like a rag doll, while Bryan relentlessly berated him. Eventually, and with Rowan’s arm pressed against his face, Murphy admitted to having lied.

This was a neat piece of storytelling, as both the reveal last week and the retraction this week were secured under significant duress. With Roman and Rowan threatening physical harm, who wouldn’t simply tell them what they wanted to hear?

So, which version is the truth then? Did Murphy see Rowan manning the forklift responsible for Roman’s near-death experience, or was it all an elaborate lie?

The Mystery Deepens

Roman Reigns confronted an exceedingly smug Daniel Bryan in his dressing room. Bryan demanded an apology from the ‘Big Dog’ for falsely accusing him and Rowan of being responsible for the “incidents” which have befallen Reigns.

When Roman appeared less than impressed and menacingly tossed aside his little sweat towel, Bryan revealed that he had been conducting his own investigation. An investigation which had uncovered the real person behind the attacks.

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And he would share that information with Reigns… next week. Tuesday at 8pm ET, to be precise. How convenient.

As melodramatic as this moment was, it nevertheless provided an intriguing hook. One that should make people tune in next week to find out who the real culprit is – that is, if Daniel Bryan can even be trusted.

You see, this segment was like an ogre: many layers. And despite my earlier reservations about this storyline, I’m fully invested now.


The Worst of SmackDown Live

Aleister Black Blabbering Promo

Remember when Aleister Black was just a largely silent, yet deeply ominous, presence on NXT? Someone who chose to forego talking in favour of kicking heads off? The champion who never – eeeeeeever – would’ve dreamt of using the phrase “pay the boatman’s toll“?

I miss that guy.

A Special Enforcer Screws Owens

Earlier in the night, Samoa Joe had volunteered his services to handle Kevin Owens on Shane McMahon’s behalf. And so a match was set between the pair for later in the evening.

Mere seconds before that bout was due to get underway though, a last-minute change meant that Elias would be the Special Enforcer. Luckily, he had held onto his referee tank-top from Sunday.

So, with the deck stacked against him, KO was forced to battle not just Samoa Joe but also the mischievous Elias at ringside. Just as Owens looked to have the match won, Elias pulled the referee out of the ring, distracted KO and made the ludicrously fast count when Joe rolled him up.

This was broadly fine, but suffered from too many shenanigans. An overbooked mess such as this rarely works, and in this case it didn’t really serve to accomplish much of anything. Elias remains the obedient lapdog, Samoa Joe secured a dubious pinfall and KO got screwed over in a match that meant precisely nothing.

The Viper Returns

Following on Kofi getting himself disqualified on Sunday, Randy Orton accused the WWE Champion of being a coward. He claimed that Kofi knew he couldn’t beat the ‘Viper’ and so resorted to cheating. Kingston took the easy way out, he contended, and one day he’d have to explain that decision to his son.

I suddenly care a lot less about this feud. For some reason, I start to lose interest once people’s families get brought into the frame. I once saw Rey Mysterio beat Eddie Guerrero for custody of his son… ever since, everything else just feels rather trivial by comparison.

Either way, this led to a six-man tag match pitting The New Day again The Revival and Orton. Half of the contest saw Xavier Woods getting worked over, followed by a brief flurry by the babyface team and then The Revival hit a Shatter Machine on Woods for the victory. VERY run-of-the-mill WWE tag team action.

They then returned to beat up Big E, only for Kofi to come to his brother’s aid. Just as the WWE Champion appeared to have things under control though, Orton pounced, flooring the champ with an RKO. He then dished out several more to Woods, Big E and Kofi again, while the crowd loudly chanted “one more time” in approval.

This was not a good finish and, based on the audience’s response, worryingly demonstrates how damaging the SummerSlam finish may have been to Kingston’s image.


Overall Rating for the Show (From best to worst: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner and A Smack in the Face)

This was an excellent night of wrestling – perhaps the best in recent memory.

Charlotte and Ember Moon had an incredible showing. Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe put on a decent – if screwy – match. And, head and shoulders above all else, was the clinic put on by Roman Reigns and Buddy Murphy. It was such a relief to finally see the former Cruiserweight Champion in the ring, and he ably demonstrated why anticipation was so high when he first joined the blue brand.

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Bookending the excellent in-ring display was some largely entertaining promo work and a deepening mystery. With the usual exception of a trip to Aleister Black’s moody babble-shack and the flailing Kofi Kingston / Randy Orton program, there was real quality to enjoy. Kevin Owens remains great, to the point of even keeping Shane McMahon above water. And Daniel Bryan’s tour de force as a man slowly unravelling amidst mounting accusations was something to behold. I’m genuinely intrigued to see what happens next week.

Boasting a good night both inside the ring and out, this was a worthy show to round out a phenomenal weekend of wrestling. With a truly blockbuster angle to close the night, there’s no reason not to be impressed. SmackDown this week was SmackDamn.

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5 years ago by Nicholas Holicki

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