This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown aimed to further establish the already well-established faction that is The Bloodline. Paul Heyman started calling Roman Reigns the greatest of all time and tossing around names like The Rock to make that claim.
We will continue to believe that this game is coming sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Heyman also took advantage of the opportunity the Usos would have on this show here to become the greatest tag team of all time. He clarified that they become that by defeating RK-Bro and unifying the titles or they just won’t fit into the so-called “relevance island”.
It was one hell of an opening promo from the master himself, putting everyone first while promoting the main event match which already had all the hype it needed. Reigns went further by clarifying exactly what he expected. The pressure was there.
It was a brilliant opening segment.
It was especially brilliant because you wouldn’t know it, Reigns was never just going to let his cousins do the work themselves. He was always going to show up and make sure they won, because The Bloodline has a reputation to uphold and he’s the one upholding it.
So he showed up at the right time, and he cheated, and they won. The details will be lost to history – and it’s written by the winners anyway.
The bloodline stands tall.
And that’s a fucking thing for all of us. SmackDown remains interesting largely because of their presence and it even creates intrigue in Orton & Riddle’s sequel.
I’ll get to it.
I fully understand that WWE is a business and the way businesses are run dictates the powers that be who have to play PR games to keep the business looking as good as possible at all times. Sometimes that means Michael Cole completely burying two of the top stars in the Women’s Division for appearing on a show where they had to work because they were unhappy with the way they were treated.
I understand.
It always sucks.
It’s always ugly.
He still feels bad.
There’s no need for Cole to launch comments like “they let us all down” while claiming that they “disappointed millions of fans and fellow WWE Superstars” with the decision they made. The only reason to do so is to make Banks & Naomi look like the enemy, and all that will do is galvanize the part of the fanbase that is eager to defend WWE’s every move against two stars who will almost surely come back. to finally work.
Whether or not you agree with the decision to leave – and I will at least admit that there are enough valid points about the professionalism of doing what they did – there is something to be said for the number of wrestlers in recent memory who’ve decided they’d better go as fast as their legs can carry them — Toni Storm, Jeff Hardy — than spend yet another second dealing with the bullshit that comes with work for WWE.
How is what they’ve done on the air on this show going to help someone feel better about working there? Does it even matter to them?
Everything else
- Sami Zayn, wearing a Bloodline shirt, still believing he represents the crew, confronted Shinsuke Nakamura in an attempt to deal with Reigns and co. wouldn’t have to. Naturally, he was comically beaten. After continuously trying to win by countout, Zayn had to rush into the ring to avoid being counted out himself. He was quickly met in Kinshasa and pinned down. He is incredible.
- Did I just watch a promo where Baron Corbin went ahead and co-opted the ‘big bald wolf’ name that Madcap Moss gave him and made it work by saying ‘I blew and I blew and put him in an ambulance”? Bah gawd, I think I did. Also, how many years in a row was the André trophy destroyed? I feel like it happens every year.
- GUNTHER beat Drew Gulak before Ricochet made the save. It looks like WWE remembers the Intercontinental Championship and a GUNTHER vs. Ricochet match is intriguing if only for that massive style gap. I’m ready to see how this match goes.
- LA Knight is finally here, and his new name is Max Dupri, the CEO of a male modeling agency. He was pretty entertaining in NXT, so I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he’ll do the job. Stay tuned.
- How can anyone watch Shotzi eviscerate Raquel Rodriguez in the face like she did and think she deserves less than constant TV time? Instead, we get the ever-smiling, uninteresting Rodriguez, with Shotzi replacing her. For my money it should be the other way around, but your mileage may vary.
- Sheamus, Ridge Holland and BUTCH are now known as the “Brawling Brutes”. I’m not crazy about it but it’s okay. Xavier Woods scored a win over BUTCH but heels stood as it was 3-1 and crazy BUTCH got revenge on the way out.
Outside of that shit, WWE had Cole spitting on Banks & Naomi, it was a really good show. But he spat that shit, and it’s hard to ignore.
Category B-
Your turn.