WWE Smackdown Review
August 21, 2015
By: Dustin Holland of Wrestleview.com
This Sunday is SummerSlam, arguably the third biggest Pay Per View behind WrestleMania and Royal Rumble. Which would have led me to believe that this show would have been a very strong “go home” show going into this Sunday. What actually transpired was just another mediocre Smackdown episode complete with filler and promos.
This week’s show had some glimpses of a “go home” show as some of the promos were directly influential in progressing storylines, but for the most part it seems they just took a majority of the Superstars competing Sunday and threw them all together in a random collection of matches.
Feeding Time
It was refreshing to start a show with a match this week instead of Seth Rollins rambling about what he has done or what he will do. Ryback looked fresh and ready to fight. A match with Big Show involved does not usually hold my attention, but I couldn’t turn away from this one. Just when it was getting to a climax though, it was over. The Double Count Out ending was obviously an attempt to let Ryback get back in the swing of things without over exhorting himself. The same goes for Big Show as well as we know he can’t last long in the ring anymore. This match helped progress the storyline for the triple threat match at SummerSlam.
New Day “Dominates”
New Day continued their push toward regaining the WWE Tag Team Titles by completely destroying the competition in what was a really good match by Smackdown standards. The highlight of the match was when El Torito was finally tagged in and really took it to every member of New Day. The sad thing is that the Little Bull stole the attention away from Los Matadores. The team has the potential to do some great things as both members are very talented, but with a sideshow act attached to them being the highlight piece will ultimately hold them back from any title hopes. I see the New Day regaining the titles Sunday, what does everyone else think?
Who Else?
The main event was nothing more than a showcase of who was left to feature the show before SummerSlam. I really don’t like this trend lately where they intertwine storylines and just throw guys into matches for the sake of having a match. Just because there are more competitors in one match doesn’t make it better. The quantity does not affect the quality. I would much rather see main events that directly impact storylines and lead into future matches. This was nothing more than a showcase which is held back because they had to have everyone do their finisher. The quality of Smackdown main events is suffering and I hope they can move away from this current way of booking and get back to real main events.
Quick Thoughts
* Neville continues to shine leading into his match at SummerSlam. I don’t want to see this guy get pushed to the side as a novelty.
* The Diva triple threat was decent. There were some moments of actual athleticism in this match.
Favorite Moment of the Night: El Torito getting some pop and cleaning house during the six man tag.
Least Favorite Moment of the Night: The main event lacked any real meaning and was just a showcase of finishing maneuvers.
In the comments below, tell me what you thought of the show. If you leave your Twitter name I will share with my followers.
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend. Enjoy SummerSlam!
Let’s get some predictions going in the comments. Who will win?
Follow me on Twitter: @DustinHolland84