WWE SmackDown Live – September 17, 2019 (Review)

SmackDown Live found itself in an awkward spot this week. Wedged between a blockbuster (albeit flawed) Raw and the inaugural live edition of NXT, SmackDown faced an uphill battle for relevancy.

Raw relied heavily upon the looming threat posed by The Fiend, as well as the shock return of Rusev. NXT holds number one contenderships and Championship matches in store. How could SmackDown Live possibly hope to match its peers’ level of excitement? Surely with something even more spectacular.

Well, for starters, Shane McMahon would be talking about how he fired Kevin Owens last week…

Okay. Also Baron Corbin gets to sit in a throne and Erick Rowan will have a sit-down interview, presumably with Michael Cole? Oh boy, I’m scraping the barrel here.

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But, naturally, if the blue brand truly had something jaw-dropping in store, it wouldn’t be advertised beforehand. It would be held back as a surprise, concealed until the last possible moment for maximum impact.

So how many major swerves did SmackDown have up its sleeve?

Well, as it turns out, only one. And that one elicited more of a ‘raised eyebrow’ than a ‘jaw to the floor’ type reaction.

But was it enough to carry the Tuesday offering? And did the blue brand surround that moment with enough material to hold the show together? Not if it’s made from the same stuff they used to construct Baron Corbin’s throne.

Let’s get to the review.

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The Best of SmackDown Live

Inside the Mind of Erick Rowan

Michael Cole sat down for a one-on-one interview with Erick Rowan, purposed at better understanding the bearded man’s motivations. What gets him up in the morning? Where does he see himself in five years? Why did he try to murder Roman Reigns? Those sorts of questions.

Rowan came off pretty well here. He was intense, visibly indignant and asserted his independence. He was, however, done absolutely no favours by Michael Cole, who felt more robotic than even Dasha or Charley on their worst days.

Cole labelled Rowan’s attacks on Reigns “attempted manslaughter” (I’m not sure such a crime even exists, considering that manslaughter usually entails some form of negligence.) Rowan explained that he only intended to scare Roman, to make him see that his perceived dominance was a mere illusion.

.@ERICKROWAN sits down with @MichaelCole RIGHT NOW on #SDLive. pic.twitter.com/EO3AAGJ4EQ

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

For far too long, Rowan felt like he had been overlooked and disrespected. He wasn’t a follower, a grunt or a puppet… he was a leader. When discussion turned to Rowan’s betrayal of Daniel Bryan, Rowan claimed that he was far superior – mentally and physically – to “Dan”. And he was tired of being taken for granted.

All around, very effective stuff. Rowan had already shared his “leader” explanation during promos, but it was aided here by the tense atmosphere created by the private interview setting. Although the story is still riddled with inconsistencies, Rowan was excellent.

The Queen of North Carolina and the Princess of Staten Island

Charlotte was seen backstage sharing a laugh with her dad, Ric Flair, before her match. The ‘Queen’ was also introduced by some local hip-hop star. She’s trending worrying close to babyface territory.

Thankfully, that was also the worst aspect of her otherwise very good encounter with Sasha Banks.

Rekindling their memorable (and often show-stealing) rivalry of a couple of years ago, the ‘Queen’ carried the upper hand for most of the contest, only occasionally faltering whenever Bayley interfered at ringside.

.@CarmellaWWE comes to the aid of @MsCharlotteWWE!#SDLive @itsBayleyWWE @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/LtGDAuLB54

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

Charlotte hit a big moonsault off the top rope to the outside and followed that up by locking Banks in the Figure-4. Before she could bridge into the Figure-8, however, Bayley jumped in to cause the DQ. The pair then started to beat down Charlotte, only for… Carmella?… to make the save. How does she figure into this feud? She’s been rolling with R-Truth and the 24/7 Championship for months. This really confused me.

Ultimately, a good match that was never allowed the time to become truly great, and which ended on a rather confounding note.

Well Oiled Machinery

Heavy Machinery defeated the B-Team in a surprisingly competitive outing. I’m always happy to see the large pairing pick up a win, but what caught the eye most of all was Otis’ new look.

OHHH YEAAHHHHH!!!!#HeavyMachinery battles The #BTeam RIGHT NOW on #SDLive! @otiswwe @tuckerwwe @TheBoDallas @RealCurtisAxel pic.twitter.com/8n0q0hz5w6

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

Gone was the traditional singlet, replaced by a far more revealing pair of briefs – presumably in an effort to accentuate Otis’ comedic jiggling. Hey, I’m not complaining.

Daniel Bryan Responds

The major hook throughout the show was the promise that Daniel Bryan would address the betrayal he suffered at the hands of Erick Rowan two weeks ago.

And, after claiming total exoneration from being behind the attacks on Roman Reigns, Bryan did just that. He hadn’t just seen his former compadre as his equal, he had considered Rowan his friend.

"I will NOT be disrespected." – @ERICKROWAN#SDLive pic.twitter.com/128GLb77nC

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

This brought out Rowan, who charged that Bryan had only ever seen him as his follower. And this treatment, Rowan claimed, had made him feel disrespected. Daniel Bryan angrily challenged him to do something about it, because nothing Rowan did to him physically could match the betrayal he felt by being lied to or losing his friend.

Just then, Luke Harper flattened Bryan from behind. Before the ‘Planet’s Champion’ could face a further battering though, Roman Reigns ran down. He had a score to settle after being ambushed by Harper at Clash of Champions.

But the numbers soon overwhelmed Reigns. Harper and Rowan started tearing apart ringside, ripping up mats and dismantling the barricade. They savagely dealt with Shane’s security, who tried to intervene, before ruthlessly slamming Daniel Bryan through the announce table.

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This was a perfectly acceptable way to end a show, and served to establish Rowan and Harper as a force to be reckoned with. But it lacked the kind of impactful angle that makes next week feel like must-see TV, and arguably shortchanged Bryan slightly. He felt really vulnerable here – far from the dominant force we’ve become accustomed to in recent times. Hopefully he’s able to snap out of it soon.

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The Worst of SmackDown Live

The New Day revisiting Old Feuds

The New Day came out to start the show, gyrating and tossing pancakes all over the place. Immediately I felt like none of the events of Clash of Champions mattered.

DON'T YOU DARE BE SOUR!!!

The #NewDay kicks off #SDLive RIGHT NOW on @USA_Network! pic.twitter.com/3z32dtnjwz

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

At various points, commentary remarked that New Day must be furious after losing the tag belts on Sunday and that Xavier Woods still hadn’t recovered from the beating he took. Neither was apparent from the in-ring display. Xavier was fine (at least initially) and New Day had never been happier.

They battled Randy Orton and The Revival in a feud that feels like it’s been going since the beginning of time. As in Adam and Eve’s first date was to a wrestling show, and they watched this exact 6-man match.

After a quick opening, the heels started to target Woods’ knee. Eventually Kofi got the hot tag, everything kicked off for about a minute, and then New Day won.

👀👀👀#SDLive @DashWilderWWE pic.twitter.com/AvfbpXW5RA

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 18, 2019

I had just started to get my hopes up that this marked the end of a pretty dull feud, and then —

The ‘Beast’ Meets The Power of Positivity

Brock Lesnar came out! This was a moderate surprise. I mean, we’ve all become accustomed to seeing Brock suddenly materialise in the title picture, but not for the WWE Championship. And certainly not on SmackDown Live! I really appreciated Kofi asking his New Day brethren to clear the ring, so that he could face the ‘Beast Incarnate’ alone. It made him feel like a true champion.

Through Paul Heyman, Lesnar issued a challenge for the October 4th episode of the blue brand. Which also happens to be the first episode of FRIDAY night SmackDown, following its move to FOX.

Kofi accepted and then was immediately F-5’d into oblivion.

Is this a glimpse into the future???@BrockLesnar has challenged @TrueKofi to a battle for the #WWEChampionship on #FridayNightSmackDown's Oct. 4 debut on FOX! pic.twitter.com/8PU2r10Dw0

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

I’m not sure what to think about this. If Kofi wins clean, then it will certainly add some heft to his title reign. But I have a sneaky suspicion that either Brock will claim the belt on SmackDown’s Friday night premiere, or the match will end in some kind of schmoz, leading to a pay-per-view meeting. Neither of those options sound intriguing.

An Intercontinental Title Defence

Ali was introduced, seemingly to take on Shinsuke Nakamura. The Intercontinental Champion was preceded by his mouthpiece, Sami Zayn. Sami spent several minutes moaning about his neck injury (sustained after being chokeslammed by The Undertaker last week), Shinsuke’s apparent excellence, and the idea that Ali will never be a champion in WWE.

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He then distracted Ali momentarily, which allowed Nakamura to get the drop on him. Shinsuke delivered a Kinshasa to the former Cruiserweight and celebrated with Sami and his title. So, inexplicably, there was no match in the end. And Ali was made to look like a bit of a chump. Not good.

Kevin Owens is in the Building

A recently unemployed Kevin Owens, despite not having enough money to support his family after incurring a $100,000 fine, travelled to Atlanta and bought a ticket to the SmackDown Live broadcast. I’m being facetious, that part was actually pretty fun.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2iJbHOhrMN/

What I didn’t enjoy though was Shane McMahon immediately being served a summons. The anarchic side of me desperately hoped this related to the paternity of Maria Kanellis’ baby. But deep down I knew this was so much worse.

Seconds later, Shane came to the ring, flanked by a platoon of security. He invited Owens into the ring, to discuss the matter filed against him. Apparently it related to a wrongful termination suit, in which Owens claimed $25 million in damages.

His grievances included malicious fines and inconsistent enforcement of precedent – such as when Shane put his hands on Owens, when the latter was a referee. KO conveniently forgot that time he head-butted the CEO of the company. That would probably harm his case.

This is exactly what we want our babyface doing… exploiting legal loopholes in an effort to extract money from his employer. Apparently, should KO win the dispute, he’ll also somehow be given the authority to fire Shane McMahon. I’ve never heard of that remedy before.

So with any luck, given the pedestrian pace at which the wheels of the justice system slowly grind along, we should see some resolution to the matter in 12 to 18 months. This was utter garbage.

The Coronation of the King

Baron Corbin finally got to don his cape, carry a sceptre and sit on his throne after winning the King of the Ring tournament on Monday. Sadly, doing so immediately sent him into stereotypical wrestling king mode, as he spoke about being a forgiving monarch who could rule with an iron fist if he was forced to.

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His first proclamation was to recognise the efforts of the man he beat in the tournament finals. Chad Gable came out, Baron Corbin made far too many jokes about him being short, and then Gable attacked him. Much to Baron’s devastation, Chad tore up the cape, collapsed the throne like it was made out of matchsticks and then stomped on the clearly plastic crown. The entire set – for being a crowning ceremony – felt bargain basement.

I have no objection to the Baron / Gable feud continuing – Monday showed us how great their matches can be. But this segment was fairly uninspired.

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

As the dust settled, the inescapable conclusion was that SmackDown Live felt a little underwhelming this week. Given the buzz generated by a jam-packed Raw, much was expected from its Tuesday counterpart. Unfortunately, it turned out that the show really only had one major surprise (not counting Carmella’s decision to involve herself in the Four Horsewomen feud) up its sleeve.

Perhaps it was unfair to expect massive show-stopping moments from the blue brand. After all, it has traditionally been a show built on solid character work and awesome wrestling.

But even on that front, SmackDown Live faltered. Baron Corbin’s regal coronation felt cheap, Kevin Owens took the next shaky step in his stuttering run, and the best match on display was Heavy Machinery’s semi-competitive squash of the B-Team.

.@BrockLesnar battles @TrueKofi for the #WWEChampionship on Friday Oct. 4 on #FridayNightSmackDown! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/BQuDRkO3ix

— WWE (@WWE) September 18, 2019

Ultimately, the only talking point of an otherwise uneventful SmackDown Live was the return of Brock Lesnar. The ‘Beast Incarnate’ made his first appearance on the blue brand in 15 years, to challenge Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship at the show’s Friday night debut next month.

I suppose your level of excitement entirely depends on your feelings towards Lesnar. If you’re a fan of the giant suplex-machine, then you’re likely intrigued. I, sadly, don’t share that same enthusiasm. And the concern is always that the company may decide to put the belt back on its pet project. Which would be awful.

On its merits, SmackDown Live was an underwhelming experience, with mediocre wrestling and uninspired storylines. If not for Erick Rowan and Daniel Bryan, this rating may be lower. But for this week, the show was a low Smack Bang in the Middle.

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• review
• Brock Lesnar
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