The Smackdown Smark Report: October 11 2016 – The Return Of James Ellsworth

Coming off a No Mercy which delivered more than one Match of the Year candidate, it’s hard to argue Smackdown Live isn’t on fire right now. It’s been a slow build since the brand split, and it was a shaky start. But Smackdown has used all its pieces – from a Dolph Ziggler to Heath Slater, Becky Lynch to Naomi – in a way that has maximised their potential storytelling ability. This week, for the most part, was no different.

This week’s Smackdown picked up where No Mercy left off, with the fallouts from both the Intercontinental and WWE World title bouts providing the most entertaining moments. Want the highlights? Here’s what was good and what was lame.

 

The Fun Stuff

Ziggler opens the show

Who would have thought fans would still be popping for Dolph Ziggler as Intercontinental Champion in 2016? Ziggler, new championship on his arm, talked about how he put everything on the line and how he had been starting to doubt himself. It was an effective way of selling us the importance of the Intercontinental belt, and this was only magnified by the arrival of the Miz and Maryse.

The former champ and his wife were in full funeral attire, and stood for a moment of silence to mourn the death of the Intercontinental Championship. It sounds contrived, but Miz sold the hell out of it. He talked about how he had bought prestige back to the belt, only for it to be ‘tainted and dragged down by the mediocrity’ of Ziggler. The showoff’s rebuttal of course, was to show the footage of the Miz crying after his No Mercy loss, even getting the crowd to cruelly chant ‘You were crying’.

It was a well thought out, tight segment which gave both guys direction going forward. Amazingly, it’s building to the fourth Miz-Ziggler match in a month and it’s the hottest feud on the brand. Ziggler brought the passion that’s given him a career revival, while Miz carried on the heel work that’s made him the absolute winner of the brand split. The whole segment ended with the set-up for our first match: Ziggler in a handicap match. Against the Spirit Squad.

 

Dolph Ziggler Vs The Spirit Squad

Ziggler facing off against his former stable mates did not deliver a classic bout, but it was definitely entertaining. Set up as a tag match, Ziggler stood alone in the ring as Kenny and Mickey were able to switch in and out. This allowed Ziggler to look dominant and enduring, and there were a couple of neat spots – such as reversing a double team suplex into a double DDT.

Ziggler looked legitimate as the new champ, but after the showoff pinned Kenny it was Miz who wasted no time in attacking his rival. The beat down was cut short however by the arrival of Heath Slater and Rhyno to make the save. Once again everyone comes out of this with motivation and story – even the Spirit Squad, no less – which is all you can ask for on television.

 

Carmella Vs Naomi

Another decent match from the women’s division, and another entertaining entrance from Naomi. Seriously, if you’re not on board with the ‘feel the glow’ thing yet, get on the bandwagon. Anyway, as much as I’d like the Smackdown Women’s division to be afforded two segments per show, this week did a good job of intertwining all their active talent into one match. Naomi and Carmella put on a decent television match as Alexa Bliss watched on backstage.

The finish saw Carmella distracted by a furious Nikki Bella on the ramp (she’d suffered another attack earlier in the day from Carmella in a pre-recorded promo), and Naomi caught her in a creative roll up pin. With Nikki giving chase Carmella escaped through the crowd. Oh, and backstage Alexa Bliss was talking so much smack about Naomi that Daniel Bryan set up a rematch between the two next week.

This kept everything rolling for the Women’s Division, which could have been all over the place with Becky Lynch suddenly out of action for a while. Carmella and Nikki look set to continue their feud, while Naomi and her new gimmick finally have some momentum going. Meanwhile Alexa Bliss was able to show off her promo skills backstage, setting some things up with Naomi in the next few weeks. I’ve got to say, Bliss’s non-verbal acting and facial expressions are the best on Smackdown outside of maybe AJ Styles.

Speaking of…

 

AJ Styles Vs Mystery Opponent

Just when you think WWE were stuck in the mid 90s, they do something that convinces you they’re paying attention. What am I talking about? Was it AJ’s great work running down the crowd? Or the return of Ambrose with his lame antics? Neither, I’m afraid. It was James Ellsworth you guys.

Yes, internet sensation and Braun Strowman victim James Ellsworth, scrawny yet double chinned, swaggered down to the ring. Why, you ask? Because Styles, the gracious champion that he is, wanted to give someone an opportunity to fight him. He’s a fighting champion, but only if it’s someone he knows he can beat. Putting his arm over Ellsworth’s shoulder everything Styles did from this moment was golden.

What set this match apart, however, was the moment Daniel Bryan appeared to sanction the match, with one small catch – Dean Ambrose was to be special guest referee. And right there everything was set up for the most entertaining match of the night. Ambrose was the biased ref more interested in answering his cell phone than seeing Ellsworth tap out. Styles was the frustrated straight man getting more and more angry as the ref messed with him. This left Ellsworth in the middle as the scrappy everyman; hopelessy outmatched but grasping every tiny chance he could find. It was like a silent comedy routine in wrestling form.

Much respect must go to Ellsworth for taking the Styles Clash like a pro. It didn’t get Styles the win, however, with Ambrose giving it a two count only to drop the pretence of impartiality altogether. Two Dirty Deeds later and Ellsworth had a win over the WWE World Champion under his belt.

Whether or not Ellsworth sticks around for future editions of Smackdown, this segment succeeded in its most vital job: making us care about this feud again. Ambrose has looked lethargic on the blue brand in recent weeks, and when he first appeared in this segment I almost groaned. By the end though, I was back on board. If this is the direction Styles and Ambrose are going with their rivalry, who am I to complain?

 

Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper Vs Randy Orton and Kane

I’m still not sure how sold I am on this feud. Every time they seem close to pushing the envelope with the Wyatt weirdness, they decide to reign it back in. We started here with a Wyatt promo, and I have to admit my brain tuned out when he started talking.

The match was decent enough, with Harper and Kane seeming to match up the best. There were a few good spots (Orton’s superplex) and false finishes (Harper delivering a superkick to the Viper behind the ref’s back) and Orton took a hot tag at one point that the crowd were super in to. In the end though, just as Orton and Wyatt were both looking for the tag, the lights went out.

When they came back on Kane was gone. In his place Harper stood with a huge grin on his face, teasing Orton with a tag. Without further ado Wyatt delivered the Sister Abigail for the win, and the mystery of what happened to Kane became the cliff hanger of the show.

Overall it was a solid main event, but I’m just hoping it gets weirder. Maybe Kane has been taken prisoner at the Wyatt compound. Maybe we’ll get another Final Deletion style segment, with Orton looking to rescue his ally. If you’re telling me you wouldn’t watch the hell out of that then I don’t think we can be friends anymore.

 

The Meh Stuff

Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon Talk Survivor Series

I don’t want to linger on this one too long, but it was pretty bad. Shane and Bryan talking to the camera looked and sounded like an early morning infomercial, and their challenge was pretty depressing. Smackdown challenged Raw to not one, not two, but three traditional five on five Survivor Series matches. Each one might be fun on its own (especially seeing both women’s divisions competing) but three in one long night will be exhausting.

 

Jimmy Uso Vs Chad Gable

This match fell flat for a couple of reasons. First, it was too short. Second, it feels like we’ve seen it before. Jimmy Uso and Chad Gable have not technically locked horns one on one in this feud yet, but it’s still essentially the Usos Vs American Alpha. The finish here was neat – Jay Uso leveraging  his weight to help his brother get the quick win – but once again it feels like this rivalry is stuck in a holding pattern.

Perhaps no one here has the promo skills to deliver something like the Ziggler-Miz opening segment. But still, the women’s division did a good job of mixing all it’s feuds together in an entertaining way. This one needed something else to make us care and get us invested in the story.

The Hype Bros

Speaking of the tag division, we were treated to a backstage segment with Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley that can at best be described as incomprehensible. Seriously, I’m pretty sure Mojo was saying actual words, but the order he was stringing them together in were not sentences. Whatever. Ryder looked miserable and it’s clear now the Hype Bros are going to have a programme against the Ascension. Yippee I guess.