The Smackdown Smark Report – October 4th 2016 – Suicide Spirit Squad

It was a busy Smackdown this week as WWE tried to get all its ducks in a line for its third Pay-Per-View since Summerslam. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t. Fortunately, everything that was half baked still managed to sell us on this Sunday’s big event. Everyone’s in a position to make No Mercy another unexpectedly fun show for the blue brand.

Heading into Sacramento on Sunday, Smackdown has a very real chance not just to be better than Raw, but to embarrass WWE’s flagship show. What’s most surprising though is that Smackdown has managed this with a much smaller roster.

 

The Fun Stuff

 

Bray Wyatt Vs Kane

The show this week opened not with a fifteen minute talking segment, but an actual wrestling match. Bray took on Kane in a rematch of the pair’s fight at Backlash. What action we got here was decent television wrestling, but naturally the whole thing ended in a screwy finish thanks to Randy Orton. Just as Wyatt went for that creepy upside down spider thing he does, Orton appeared on the Titantron. Upside down.

In a reversal of last week, this was an excuse for Wyatt to leave the match and go hunting Orton. Somehow, this time it worked. Maybe it’s because Wyatt is simply more comfortable and compelling in these Final Deletion type bits. Once the Eater of Worlds was trapped in a shipping container, things were quite entertaining. As Smackdown kept cutting back to a closed circuit security camera of an imprisoned Wyatt talking to himself, I finally found myself invested in this feud.

Orton is still going to win of course, but Wyatt might have rubbed off on him a little bit. Which is good, because this is the first time I’ve ever found the character of Randy Orton at all interesting. My only problem with any of this was the DQ finish to Wyatt’s match with Kane. What was the DQ for? If it was a count out, shouldn’t the ref have counted to ten before having the bell rung?

The upside of course is that they’re holding off on giving Wyatt-Kane a clean finish because it’s what’s next once he’s done jobbing for Orton. It’s not much, but having Wyatt dominate the Big Red Machine for a month or two is the start of something.

 

Alexa Bliss and Carmella Vs Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch

While I can’t help but feel the Smackdown Women’s Division has earned more than one weekly segment, there was a lot to like here. Initially a singles match between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Bella, things ended in a DQ when Carmella left her guest position on commentary to attack her rival. Luckily, Daniel Bryan just isn’t the kind of guy to let that slide. It was tag match time, and the women delivered some pretty solid wrestling.

Everyone in this match had a handle on their characters. Carmella’s bronco buster and the showing off that comes with it was a particular highlight. Small things – like Bliss and Carmella never acting like real buddies because of their NXT history – make this division a quiet highlight of Smackdown every week. I’m not sure the match quite got Bliss over as a threat to Becky, but her top rope Twisted Bliss was a sight to see. Meanwhile Bella and Carmella have me fully sold on their match, wherever it lands on the No Mercy card.

 

Miz TV presents the Dolph-umentory

Can Miz and Ziggler just do ten minute promos every week? This was great. Not as outstanding as last week, but just as entertaining. With Miz and Maryse in the ring for a special edition of Miz TV, the Intercontinental Champion presented a special documentary – or Dolph-umentary – on his No Mercy opponent. Surprisingly it covered Ziggler’s entire WWE career: not just his pre-Ziggler days in the Spirit Squad, but his rookie run as Chavo Guerrero’s golf caddy. The whole thing was titled Dolph Ziggler: The Success of a Failure, so take a guess what it was like.

Afterwards Ziggler came to the ring to deliver another heartfelt speech on the mic. Miz matched this with an expression of sadistic glee at the idea of ending Ziggler’s career. He also had another surprise: the Spirit Squad showed up.

Well, it was the two members of the Spirit Squad WWE were able to convince to come back, and they looked like they had some city miles on them. After the pair delivered a cheerleader routine to stony silence from the crowd, they eventually attacked Ziggler. Take a wild guess who came out of this exchange on top?

 

AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose berate John Cena

I’m not the biggest fan of putting talking segments at the end of the show, but this one was at least entertaining. First entered Styles, making a point of reminding us he’d beaten both his No Mercy opponents one on one over recent weeks. Next up came Ambrose, who said Styles had only beaten him by taking the low road. Ambrose’ bigger complaint though, was over the shade Cena had thrown him on Talking Smack last week.

When Cena came out, we were ready to hear his thoughts on the whole situation. What will being the sixteen time champ mean to him? It wasn’t to be though, as he was cut off first by AJ Styles and then Ambrose. They both had beef with Mr. Hustle Loyalty Respect – in particular Ambrose, who managed to make Cena come off as kind of a dick. With veiled allusions to Cena’s backstage politicking, Ambrose gave a compelling reason that he would hate the guy. Here’s hoping we get a singles feud between the two down the line.

Naturally it all ended in fisticuffs. Finally given the chance to talk Cena instead attacked Ambrose and let his punches speak for him. Things descended quickly into the usual  last episode before a pay-per-view chaos. Everyone got their moment to look strong, getting us all excited for this Sunday’s triple threat. Not edge of your seat stuff, but it was enough to remind us these guys can go in the ring. Here’s hoping it’s a good main event.

 

The Meh Stuff

The Vaudevillains Vs The Hype Bros

I’m probably in the minority that sees potential in The Vaudevillains, which is why this match was such a big disappointment to me. Watching Mojo Rawley and Aiden English do character work in the same ring is a little like watching Adam Sandler trying to be as funny as Bill Hader. When given time on the mic, English has proven himself surprisingly compelling, and with a few gimmick tweaks, him and Simon Gotch could be a real asset to Smackdown. Instead, they jobbed out to Mojo goddamn Rawley.

And Rawley is fine. This was a decent match, with some good work from both teams. The Ascension showing up was a nice twist, teasing a challenge to the Hype Bros. I’d just rather see The Vaudevillains in the spot currently filled by Rawley and Ryder. Perhaps it’s just me but I’m convinced they can be more entertaining, like Team Rhodes Scholars were a few years ago. WWE never did appreciate what they had in Damien Sandow though, so maybe I shouldn’t really expect any better from them.

 

Jey Uso Vs Jason Jordan

I won’t say there was anything really wrong with this match. What I will say is that it left me a little bored. With a handful of days left until No Mercy it felt like the tag team title scene was being kept in a holding pattern. I should be pumped for this, but I’m not. While we saw a singles match this week, it was still essentially more of the same between American Alpha, the Usos and champs Heath Slater and Rhyno.

Perhaps I’m being a little too harsh. The Usos continue to fit well as ruthless bad guys and American Alpha are going through the trials and tribulations which will eventually make their capture of the belts all the more sweet down the line. The problem is we’ve seen these two teams face off in some form or other three weeks in a row. This one also ended quite abruptly with Jason Jordan getting a pin seemingly out of nowhere. Perhaps it’s time to mix in some of Smackdown‘s other tag teams to keep things fresh.