Month: July 2020

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 8/6: SummerSlam Go-Home Show, The Best Guest in the World, Kofi Strikes Back, Whodunnit, Sami Gonna Fade to Black, Woooo and Some Stratusfaction

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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.

(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
AUGUST 6, 2019
DETROIT, MI. AT THE LITTLE CAESAR’S ARENA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

Arena and Items Advertised by WWE

WWE Smackdown returns to the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, MI. The arena is just two years old but has already hosted multiple WWE events including Hell in a Cell just one month after its opening. Smackdown last appeared in September of last year in the run-up to last year’s offering of HIAC.

Here’s what WWE.com is advertising for the show thus far:

Matches & Segments:

Kevin Owens invites Shane McMahon to “The Kevin Owens Show”
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston to respond to Randy Orton in exclusive interview

Storyline Follow-Up:

Who tried to run down Roman Reigns?
Will Aleister Black respond to Sami Zayn’s challenge?
Is Charlotte Flair ready for Trish Stratus?

Sometime after this comes out expect WWE to announce more specific segments and matches for tonight.

Kevin Owens Invites Shane McMahon to “The Kevin Owens Show”

Last week on Smackdown, Shane McMahon gave us the sad news at the start of the show that he would not be present. His life coach had helped him get his aura back and he was at peace. Kevin Owens responded happily saying the show could be about the talent and not his “stupid face.” Drew McIntyre came out and told Kevin he talked too much, followed by attacking him. They then had a match which Kevin won clean in about 13 minutes. Here he is talking about Shane in a WWE.com exclusive:

Kevin faces Shane McMahon at SummerSlam. Kevin must quit WWE if Shane defeats him. Talk about irony as he “quit” WWE around this time last year in Toronto following a match with Seth Rollins. We’ll see if he has the same fate. Prior to that, Kevin has invited Shane to the Kevin Owens show tonight.

Frank’s Analysis: I sadly see Shane winning this match given how they’ve built him up since turning on the Miz prior to WrestleMania. There’s a ton of truth to what Kevin says regarding the TV time Shane gets. I understand Shane is good in his character and I can’t take that away from him. I just wish they built up an actual wrestler for that role. It is what it is, and I get it. As far as the potential of Kevin quitting, we’ve seen it before, and they figured out a way to bring him back. They used to do this with Stone Cold all the time where Vince would “fire” him or “suspend” him and things of that nature. Despite my issues with Shane this is overall a good story and I’m intrigued to see the payoff.

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston Responds to Randy Orton

Last week, Randy Orton discussed his upcoming challenge to Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. To sum it up he re-iterated their history and talked about him just needing to be himself to be successful. He talked about Kofi taking on a Jamaican accent and later “flinging pancakes” and gyrating with New Day. He didn’t think Kofi could hang so he “knocked him down the ladder.” Fast forwarding to 2019, he saw the same thing in Ali, and thus the reason for knocking him out. He claimed responsibility for Kofi-mania and the success Kofi has had as the WWE Champion and he can’t even get so much as a thank you.

Kofi did not immediately respond but rather talked about his upcoming unadvertised non-title champion vs. champion match against U.S. Champion A.J. Styles. Tonight however, he will respond to Randy in an interview according to WWE.com. Here’s a little Twitter chatter to paint the picture. I couldn’t help but get nostalgic seeing Cody Rhodes with Randy in the flashback tweet during their Legacy days. (Oh, what could have been.)

 

Frank’s Analysis: Overall, I’m looking forward to this match the most at SummerSlam. It’s not quite the signature win I think Kofi needs, assuming he’s winning, but it’s still a big moment for him given their history and how they’ve booked Randy Orton. Kofi needs to be serious tonight and rebut Randy and not necessarily bring up the borderline racial issues that were coming in the WrestleMania build, but cite how he was overlooked in favor of guys like Randy (and John Cena for that matter). Kofi was there for majority of the Orton-Cena days. Heck he was even there for Roman Reigns, but I don’t think that’ll come up.

Whodunnit: The Mystery of Who’s After Roman Reigns

They should totally get the Scooby Doo gang on this.

Anyway, last night on Raw Samoa Joe held up Raw in order to confront Roman Reigns in regard to accusing him of the lighting equipment attack on Smackdown last week. When he was advised that Roman had arrived, he decided not to wait but rather meet him in the parking lot. As Joe was approaching his car and Roman was getting out, another sideswiped Roman’s. Joe told Roman to stay still and called for a medic. Triple H would later tend to Roman Reigns.

WWE ruled the attack on Smackdown last week was a forklift accident. Last night was certainly not. Here’s Roman on Twitter and Joe in a WWE exclusive:

Sometimes you want to believe people can’t do what others say they’re able to…I hear y’all, I really do…I’m gonna find out the truth about this “accident.” #SDLive

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) August 5, 2019

We’ll see if they get to the bottom of this tonight. SummerSlam is this Sunday and Roman does not have an opponent.

Frank’s Analysis: It was interesting to see Joe be genuinely concerned and what he said in the interview. I don’t sense he was necessarily concerned for Roman per say, but rather he’s not going to do something like attack Roman with lightning equipment or try to run him over. The problem with him saying “I always tell the truth” is that he constantly says he’s going to win and things of that sort but doesn’t. That’s not on Joe entirely. That said we’ll see if they reveal the attacker tonight. They may or may not do so. They could have a Roman vs. Joe match at SummerSlam and have the attacker reveal himself then, creating a sense of mystery. Said attacker could interfere and set up a program going forward. My money is on Daniel Bryan, or at least Rowan doing the dirty work on his behalf. We still haven’t heard Bryan’s “career altering” announcement.

Sami Zayn’s Challenge to Aleister Black

Aleister Black recently challenged anyone to a fight and was accommodated by Cesaro. He defeated him both at Extreme Rules and the Smackdown that followed. Black has moved on and last week, expressed his desire to write the next chapter of his book and said he was a little less patient this time.

Later on, Sarah Schreiber interview Sami Zayn. He once again talked about the fans being parasitic and complaining and feeling sorry for themselves, in line with most of what he’s said in recent times. In regard to Black he said he would expose him so the hype would end, and he can begin the “healing process,” and would do so at SummerSlam.

We find out tonight if Black accepts the challenge.

Frank’s Analysis: There’s a nice contrast between these to that should make the program fun to watch. Sami has been great in his role and I like how special and different they are treating Black. I hope this isn’t a one-off.

Charlotte Flair and Trish Stratus Head Towards SummerSlam

Last week on a special edition of the returning King’s Court, Trish Straus was a guest of Jerry “The King” Lawler. The fellow WWE Hall of Famers discussed her career and Trish’s desire to have one more match. Trish talked about WWE being in her blood, but she has duties as a mother. Charlotte Flair interrupted and talked about being a mother not being an excuse not to wrestle…since everyone has a mom…no I didn’t type that wrong.

Last night on Raw, Trish teamed with Natalya to face Charlotte and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch in a previously unadvertised match. Becky and Charlotte won when Natalya refused to release the Sharpshooter while Becky had her hand on the ropes. Trish never tagged in and pulled Natalya off Becky.

That was last night, and we head towards SummerSlam where Charlotte takes on Trish in Trish’s hometown of Toronto. Here’s Trish and Charlotte in separate WWE.com exclusives:

Frank’s Analysis: This should overall be fine. I am concerned about who will lead the match, as Charlotte has never been one to elevate anyone or carry a match for that matter. See her match against Lacey Evans on Raw recently. Nonetheless she is still a big enough of a star and I would think wrestling is like riding a bike for Trish. It was odd she never tagged in last night. I’m not sure if there’s anything into which we should read there.

Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week

In the build-up to his match with Finn Balor later in the evening, Dolph Ziggler called out Goldberg for his bad match at Super Showdown. Ziggler defeated Balor with the help of interference by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Last night we learned Goldberg will take on Ziggler at SummerSlam. Balor heads towards a match with Wyatt.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Ember Moon and Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley. Bayley gave Moom a Bayley-to-Belly after the match. Last night Bliss & Cross won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship by way of winning a fatal four-way elimination match.

Daniel Bryan, accompanied by Rowan, did not make his career altering announcement.
Ali defeated Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match in two minutes.
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defeated U.S. Champion A.J. Styles in a non-title champion vs. champion match. The O.C. and Gallows & Anderson got into it outside of the ring.

Overall Thoughts on Tonight’s Show

What’s the over/under on what time Vince McMahon comes in and re-writes the show?

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!