WrestleTalk News SmackDown Live Review with Oli Davis: “So much for testicles on a pole…”

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WHY THE MIZ RULES WWE

Is The Miz WWE’s most improved wrestler this year? AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s Money in the Bank stipulation revealed! And Lana is the best, Lana is number 1!

Miz TV: The New Day

Heel Miz opened the show by getting MizTV and Mr and Mrs chants going to promote his new reality TV show premiering on Tuesday 24th July only on the USA Network.

After his guests The New Day said they probably wouldn’t watch it, Miz tried to create dissension within their ranks – asking which member they’ll choose to take a spot at Money in the Bank.

But his Jedi mind tricks don’t work on Xavier Woods, because the New Day are all about each other, the team, while Miz is only out for himself. So rather than reveal which member they’re picking, we got Miz vs Big E instead.

Miz beat Big E

Which brings us onto The Miz Effect: the theory that whichever brand Miz is drafted to immediately becomes the superior show. SmackDown in 2016, Raw in 2017 and now back to SmackDown here again.

Coincidence or not, I’d still argue Miz is the most improved WWE in-ring wrestler of the year so far. He doesn’t just rely on his promo ability anymore. Ever since his program with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor earlier this year, his match construction and ring psychology has become significantly more engaging. There’s only so many great TV matches Miz can be ‘carried to’ before you start giving credit to the A-Lister himself.

Once upon a time I was only excited about seeing the Miz and Daniel Bryan’s battles on the mic. Now I can genuinely say I’m very much looking forward to the match itself.

Miz beating Big E thanks to a distraction from the Bar was just the latest instalment in the A-Lister’s string of fun and heated matches – which included Kofi Kingston awesomely leaping off Cesaro’s shoulder to attack Sheamus.

Lana beat Billie Kay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1huplTTdfm0

There’s also a kayfabe argument that Aiden English is the best hype man in WWE  – not only leading Rusev Day to success, but now the Bulgarian Brute’s wife Lana, too. English did a great job in getting the crowd invested in the match, and his Lana Day sign and chant actually helped her beat Billie Kay and advance to Money in the Bank.

Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas Beat Local Talent

Zelina Vega was so disappointed with the local talent competition she was given for Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas’ debut, that she went straight to management… and got another one for this week. Props to the jobber here, though. He made Almas look fantastic in their squash match.

Shinsuke Nakamura Vs AJ Styles Stipulation Revealed

Renee Young got no such chance in the following segment, where she started to conduct an in-ring interview with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles, before being told to go-away mid-sentence. I stand with Renee.

That and the whole Nakamura forgetting English gag being dropped aside, though, the rest of the segment worked very well – with Shinsuke first revealing their Money in the Bank stipulation as a Pillow Fight, before beating up AJ, leaving him down for a ten count, to then neatly announce it’ll be a Last Man Standing match. So much for that testicles on a pole stipulation.

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson beat The Usos

Call off the search, I’ve found the SmackDown tag division. Turns out Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and The Usos are fighting to become its No. 1 contenders. After a decent promo, Galanderson beat the Usos in a fun match that was mostly commercial break – setting up them vs the Bludgeon Brothers at Money in the Bank.

Naomi beat Sonya Deville

Smackdown’s Women’s division was equally fleshed out, with Charlotte and Becky Lynch watching Naomi roll up Sonya Deville to qualify for the ladder match.

Daniel Bryan beat Jeff Hardy

With Big Cass injured from all the backstage heat on his knee, SmackDown’s main event was a qualifying qualifier match. In that the winner here would go onto face Samoa Joe, where that winner would go onto Money in the Bank.

Daniel Bryan vs Jeff Hardy was rightfully built up throughout the night as a big deal – with this being their first ever encounter.

The match itself was decent, with both men really throwing themselves into their moves, which Bryan won by tapping Jeff out in what seems to be his new finisher – the heel hook. Meaning we’re getting Daniel Bryan vs Samoa Joe next week. SmackDown is now Ring of Honor from a decade ago.

While there were no standout moments from this episode, all the matches had stakes, and all the segments advanced storylines. Which is exactly what a wrestling show should do. This week’s SmackDown is a very respectable Smack Bang in the Middle.

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• Naomi
• kofi kingston
• Rusev
• billie kay
• Jeff Hardy
• The Usos
• aiden english
• Carmella
• AJ Styles
• Bludgeon Brothers
• big e
• andrade cien almas
• sonya deville
• karl anderson
• luke gallows
• charlotte
• The Miz
• Xavier Woods
• Finn Balor
• the new day
• the iiconics
• Seth Rollins
• Lana
• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Becky Lynch
• peyton royce
• Daniel Bryan
• Asuka
• Zelina Vega

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