WWE Smackdown Review
June 19, 2015
By: Dustin Holland of Wrestleview.com
I would like to begin by wishing every Father out there a Happy Father’s Day this Sunday.
Now let’s get to my review.
Roman Reigns’ Puppets
Ambrose is great on the mic, don’t get me wrong, but I wish this interruption would have been more about him and Sheamus going into Battleground instead of using those skills to hype another Superstar. I know that in doing this the WWE brass sees an opportunity for someone to give Roman Reigns the push he needs to be “the guy” instead of pushing Reigns to become better on the mic like they should be doing. Ambrose is by far gaining more fan support at the moment and if the feud with Sheamus, who is quickly becoming the best heel on the roster right now goes on this summer, Ambrose should be riding high come time for WrestleMania. I am looking forward to seeing what is in store for Ambrose with guys like Neville, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor on the rise and making their way to the main roster. He might need to enjoy this push while it lasts before the locker room gets crowded.
Paige vs. The World
I watched NXT this past week and saw some of the female performers give a great in ring performance and I thought, man it would be nice if the current Diva roster could actually entertain like that. The storylines with the Divas is old and tired. We don’t need to know whose hair looks better or who is dating who. We need a Divas division with IN RING performers. They can save the cattiness for the WWE Network reality circuit. Paige is ready to take it to the next level. She is trying to rid the world of The Bellas (thank you Paige) and she is ready to perform in the ring. I think the storyline of her trying to change the world on her own is great because on her own she stands head and shoulders above the current Divas as far as in ring capabilities goes. I would like to see everyone turn on Paige and she alone takes out the Bellas while everyone else fades away making room for the future Divas such as Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to come in and start taking the Divas into the future. I have a vision of actually watching a Divas match in whole at a PPV. Usually the Divas matches are my designated snack time. They are usually just long enough to grab some nachos and a drink, take a bathroom break and sit back down. I would like that to change, not the snack part, but the entertainment factor as the Divas division evolves. Paige’s match on Smackdown was just another filler type match, nothing special except to showcase her abilities as being far superior to her peers.
Swiss Mister
The return of Cesaro was a breath of fresh air. That guy has more talent in his thumb than many Superstars combined. Tyson Kidd is reported to be out for at least a year so the tag team is done for now. Having Cesaro come right in to provoke Owens does two things for me. First it gives Cesaro a good tough guy face gimmick to carry over to singles competition giving him crowd support, which quickly makes Kevin Owens even more of a heel when he beat him in their match Thursday night on Smackdown. Secondly it provides him with a quick way to get back in the mainstream instead of being forced to start again from the bottom facing guys like Zack Ryder. Cesaro is an A talent ready to take it to the big name guys. I just hope he gets an opportunity to shine.
Happy Father’s Day?
The upcoming Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns series was well timed and well played by all involved. The writer’s ability to use Reigns and his daughter as a subject of torture right before Father’s Day deserves them a big time pat on the back and promotion to head writer. The torture in the eyes of Reigns as he sees Wyatt sing to a picture of his daughter is real. That cannot be pretended right there. This feud will do wonders for these two Superstars. Both of them were supposed to be the next big thing and quickly they have faded. I can see this leading to more main event type opportunities for them in the future.
Quick Thoughts
* I still don’t know what to think of the Lana love triangle. I would love to see Lana turn on Ziggler at some point when Ziggler may hold a title of some kind, giving Rusev what he wants. Will she submit to her man?
* Bo Dallas is really doing a great job in my opinion. He makes other people look bad by using positivity. Come on that is a hard thing to do. Seriously though I would love to see him get a push sometime this summer and showcase his in ring skills more than his gimmick.
* The Prime Time Players as Tag Team Champions made The New Day look good again as the great heels they are meant to be by interfering in the Neville and Xavier Woods match. Neville is already being used as a novelty and I hope he doesn’t end up with the same fate as a guy like Matt Sydal who has to go somewhere else to be showcased.
* I don’t know what to take of Kane right now. It seems to me that he is just a third wheel to multiple parties. I don’t see him getting involved with Reigns and Wyatt, or Rollins and Lesnar, or Ambrose and Sheamus. Will this force him to retreat to darkness with no place to go leading up to a brother vs brother battle at WrestleMania? I hope so. I miss the Monster and maybe he can go out on top with him and Taker giving us one more family feud. It will probably never happen though as most reports have Undertaker and Owens being the hype so far. It will be fun to see what pans out before then.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and tell me what you thought of the show. Have a great weekend!
Follow me on Twitter @DustinHolland84