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Subject: OOfficial Discussion Thread for: SmackDown LIVE (August 23, 2016)
OORick
Intellectual Savior of the Masses
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 12:18 AM
OOfficial Discussion Thread for: SmackDown LIVE (August 23, 2016)
Tonight on SmackDown: SD's top matches at SummerSlam had an air of finality to them: AJ once and for all won his feud with Cena, Ambrose
dispatched Ziggler cleanly and decisively, and Miz retained the IC Title without too much funny business.... all of which is well and good, but also
is a bit suspicious, given that SD now has just 3 short weeks to get its ducks in a row for the SD-exclusive Backlash PPV....
That's a PPV name that used to be in place after WM, as the "clean up the mess and tie up loose ends" show before Extreme Rules was inserted
as the "tie up loose ends with ALL STIPULATION MATCHES" show.... so one can wonder how "final" those SummerSlam matches actually were....
It'd be fairly easy for Ziggler to pull off a full heel turn and squeeze one more match out of that WWE Title feud.... likewise, if Cena really
never gives up, he could press for a rematch, and we could all pretend like he wins the feud, 1 win to 2, when he finally does beat AJ, before moving
on....
But just as easily, you could have Styles step up and be installed as the new #1 Contender to Ambrose's WWE Title, which is clearly the next
step for AJ (all while Cena is scheduled to be MIA for a bit to shoot season 2 of his TV show).... it's just a question of now, or next
month...
A step down, it appears as though they will be prepping Bray Wyatt for his own return to main event heel status, by feasting on his own family: Wyatt
turned his back on Erick Rowan last week, and could turn that into a full blown feud in short order.... and win it in just as short an order...
it'd be a wise time to do the long rumored introduction of Sister Abigail, too, if that's ever gonna happen at all... Bray could have a
very productive couple of weeks, and when Randall Orton returns after selling the beating he took from Lesnar, the two could be paired up for a
long-form feud (remember the staredown from last week?).....
Nikki Bella's return probably means there's a new frontrunner for the eventual SD Women's Title that isn't Becky Lynch.... but
it also means SD now has a nicely balanced 6 woman roster with two very over characters (one heel, one face), two talented-but-underappreciated
performers (one heel, one face), and two up-and-comers (one heel, one face)... but who knows how long that will last once Eva Marie returns, and I
can't really see her and Nikki co-existing on the same side...
The Usos pulled a little dick move on American Alpha last night to steal the pinfall in a 12-man match, despite Alpha doing the heavy lifting... those
two are obviously the two best and most over teams in the division, and if you put a new pair of tag belts out there, they're the two who should
fight over them.... but will there be a heel turn, too?
Miz awaits a new IC Challenger, and while I would personally give Kalisto a shot, WWE seems to think that Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin is A Thing (or,
more specifically, WWE problematically seems to think Baron Corbin is A Thing, and other problems stem from that original source).... I don't
know if a KFC commercial can count as a "spoiler" but if so, we might be in store for Miz vs. Ziggler, with Miz as the Family Guy Chicken and
Ziggler as Colonel Sanders... it feels like we've seen Miz/Ziggler feud ad nauseum, but if they wear the costumes, I'd give them one more
chance on PPV......
And of course, Shane McMahon will have to respond to what Brock Lesnar did, which I'm sure will include an update on Randy Orton's medical
status, and something a little saltier with regards to the F-5 that Brock gave to Shane.... in sillier business, Shane and Daniel Bryan will probably
continue toying with the One Man Brand, Heath Slater.....
That is all. End communication....
The flOOr is yours, OO Nation. Don't wait till after 10pm to post, either. Pre-show previewing and prognosticating is certainly welcome.
So discuss, debate, and rate!
Foxcalibur
Fella
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 12:47 AM
Please don't do Brock-Shane, please don't do Brock-Shane, please don't do Brock-Shane...
... they're gonna do Brock Shane, aren't they?
I for one was hoping for a Dolph Ziggler heel-turn and real-deal title run, but given how hot AJ is, that ain't gonna happen. Maaaybe still the
heel-turn, but it'll be a midcard heel turn to build himself back up. Oh well. Ziggles has kinda been lost product for me ever since he stumped
for Trump. I know, it's not rational to conflate the performer with his political views, but it's been hard for me not to take this
particular election a bit personal.
Seriously, tho, don't do Brock-Shane.
NXT: It's like WWE, but fun!
the goon
Sister Act
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 12:56 AM
quote:Originally posted by Foxcalibur
I for one was hoping for a Dolph Ziggler heel-turn and real-deal title run, but given how hot AJ is, that ain't gonna happen.
Yeah, it's bad luck for Dolph that he's on the same show as AJ, who is really on a roll right now. You have to figure that Ambrose/AJ is
planned at some point for the title, which means we won't be getting "Dolph Ziggler: heel WWE champion."
I am curious to see where Ziggler, AJ, and Cena all go though after their matches on Sunday.
Foxcalibur
Fella
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 12:59 AM
quote:Originally posted by the goon
I am curious to see where Ziggler, AJ, and Cena all go though after their matches on Sunday.
To go spin his wheels in the midcard, to challenge for the belt, and to film American grit, respectively.
NXT: It's like WWE, but fun!
janerd75
The Rowdy One
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:09 AM
I am a Heath Slater mark, baybay.
ETA: NXT > Smarkdown > RAM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Moolah's Pimpin' and Rapin' Festival
of the Damned OO Argument and Yellfest Emporium
[Edited on 8-24-2016 by janerd75]
The science is settled: Fuck Everybody
Old Man Crunk with an early candidate for line of the night re: Nia Jaxx. "Face like Pam Grier, body like Rosey Grier."
Slick
Creepy Little Bastard
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:15 AM
It's bury Becky time baybay!
Come on Alexa!
bigfatgoalie
The Man
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:18 AM
Do people not know Becky was buried and her career is over? Why are they chanting for her?
lz4005
Man of a Thousand Holds
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:22 AM
6 women is not a deep enough roster by half to deserve it's own title.
There are literally only 15 different possible matchups.
There are so many other ways they could have done it.
All women on one show. Balance it with all cruisers on the other show.
Let the title holder float between shows.
Title on one show, have the women on the other show concentrate on #1 contender status and an automatic title shot at the next pay per view.
Hell, just have all the women on both shows FFS.
Dyn-O-Mite
And I am AWESOME
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:32 AM
quote:Originally posted by lz4005
6 women is not a deep enough roster by half to deserve it's own title.
There are literally only 15 different possible matchups.
There are so many other ways they could have done it.
All women on one show. Balance it with all cruisers on the other show.
All of this. I'd have even taken it a step further -- all tags/women on the 3 hour show + US title + Universal (assuming that name isn't
negotiable)
Other show
Cruiserweight + IC + WWE Title.
3 hours - 4 titles, plenty to keep interested in.
2 hours - 3 titles, plus fresh new division -- makes Smackdown unique and in line with Daniel Bryan being the commish.
Instead, SD already feels like the easiest show to catch a recap of, at best, to stave off fatigue.
Quentil
Showstopper
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:32 AM
I see we're back in an era of too many championships again. Ah well.
CCharger
The Rowdy One
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:42 AM
quote:Originally posted by janerd75
Moolah's Pimpin' and Rapin' Festival of the Damned OO Argument and Yellfest Emporium
[Edited on 8-24-2016 by janerd75]
It's OK, we've decided to turn internet outrage into a fundraiser! All proceeds to buy Kareemoftweet a fedora and Paddlefoot some lavender
bath salts.
When it Reigns, it bores.
janerd75
The Rowdy One
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:50 AM
Bath salts, you say?
My beloved Poopiefeets ain't scurrd a' no bath salts. I'mma get y'alls some bath sluts to take the edge off.
The science is settled: Fuck Everybody
Old Man Crunk with an early candidate for line of the night re: Nia Jaxx. "Face like Pam Grier, body like Rosey Grier."
Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:50 AM
Angry Ziggler needs a haircut. A ferocious Sammy Hagar look just doesn't work.
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
G. Jonah Jameson
Showstopper
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:52 AM
Looks like Vince McMahon just found out about Chuck Norris Facts.
bigfatgoalie
The Man
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:58 AM
quote:Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Angry Ziggler needs a haircut. A ferocious Sammy Hagar look just doesn't work.
By haircut you mean a wellness suspension? Vacation? Release?
The truth is Ziggler isn't that much better than Breeze. And he peaked years ago. He's not believable as a top guy, and it makes no sense
to use him as s mid card talent over guys who may have a higher upside.
Outside of bring off tv for an extended period I just don't see anything that will make the guy worth having around.
Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 01:58 AM
(a lot of that red liquid is no longer) In My Veins
Ziggler is good to keep around. Unfortunately when it's over for him it'll probably be a case of, for whatever reason, they just
couldn't pin down a successful character for him.
[Edited on 8/24/2016 by Paddlefoot]
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
Count Zero
Man of a Thousand Holds
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 02:04 AM
quote:Originally posted by Quentil
I see we're back in an era of too many championships again. Ah well.
We were in a position of having 8 or 9 viable holders of 4 (eta:
5? I may have forgot about the IC or US originally) championships (I'm talking about tag-teams as a "single" viable holder, in my accounting).
Now we have 8 championships for 9 viable holders. But we needed to split the brands, because we had ...something.
[Edited on 8-24-2016 by Count Zero]
janerd75
The Rowdy One
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 02:15 AM
Fine, I'll say it here. I get Bork Borking people. He's a m-m-m-monster. Neat. I do not like him coming in and fucking up my hot sweaty
men fantasy comic book hero stories grapple fest by interjecting 'real world' MMA into the fantasy world of pro wrestling.
Popularity or at least societal awareness of MMA and WWE are as high as they've ever been. People know the difference betwixt real and fake.
Bork coming in and fucking guys up (or making it look like they are as was the case with RKO) that otherwise are at the top of the pro
wrasslin' world is fucking dumb. Especially when Brock never shows ass. Ever. At least in recent WWE event memory.
Possible poor analogy alert, but what if Bork showed up on set for the Justice League movie cast as Bane and started fucking up Henry Cavill, Ben
Affleck, and Jason Momoa while they were dressed up in costume with no comeuppance? Kinda would plant the seed of taking the luster off them being the
badass Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, yes? No?
Yeah, that's a shit analogy, but damn shoot hell, I dunno, I just don't like the blurring of lines between a real fighter and/or brute
that is Bork with a realistic skill set of deadly moves intended to actually injure people vs. the stylized acrobatics of pro wrestlers that are
trying to tell a story while not hurting people.
The science is settled: Fuck Everybody
Old Man Crunk with an early candidate for line of the night re: Nia Jaxx. "Face like Pam Grier, body like Rosey Grier."
Count Zero
Man of a Thousand Holds
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 02:31 AM
That's a very funny
hat Dean was wearing. Also, Dean Ambrose is no longer his name.
Quentil
Showstopper
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 03:21 AM
Holy shit, Talking Smack is amazing.
GodEatGod
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 03:32 AM
It's kind of hard for me to accept the argument that Dolph Ziggler isn't worth a damn when he can have that kind of match with AJ Styles.
God damn, those two were bumping like maniacs for each other and I was loving the hell out of it.
AJ's the monster now, he's like a shark swimming through Smackdown. Dean Ambrose is one of my favorite wrestlers of the current moment. AJ
Styles is one of my top five favorite wrestlers of all time. He's the only reason I watched TNA for as long as I did (and it's no
coincidence that my interest in that product descended quickly after his departure). Right now, he's on that kind of golden, do-no-wrong run
you want out of your champion.
The other stuff was kind of up and down:
- Carmella heel turn is good because her patter was annoying as hell and she'll be better suited in this role.
- Becky/Bliss was a very good little women's match that was hard to watch because Naomi and especially Natalya were stinking it up on
commentary.
- Breezango should be the top heel team on Smackdown, not jobbing in the first round to anybody. Good match, though.
- Heath/Rhyno is a team I like. And I'm glad to hear chants for Heath and see him genuinely get over.
- Bray/Orton is a feud I've wanted to see for a while - I only worry that Bray gets jobbed again because they want to rebuild Randy
post-Brockination.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
OORick
Intellectual Savior of the Masses
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 03:36 AM
Credit where it's due: that was a very strong SmackDown, their best since going live (well, not counting the Draft itself).
Styles/Ziggler was the through-line from the very opening pre-tape, to a mid-show promo, until the very end of the main event (which was just an
outstanding match), and on the strength of that 40 minutes of content tent-polling a 2 hour show, everything else came off well, too.
I can't believe it I'm saying this, but I'm genuinely convinced that AJ Styles is now less than 3 weeks away from becoming WWE
Champion. They threw Ziggler out there in a context where the good guy ALWAYS wins to make it a 3-way, but instead, they totally reverse
psychology'd us, and Styles goes over clean (after going over Cena twice).... that's Reigns Strength Power Booking, folks!
I never quite understood all of the Ziggler love 5-6 years ago... but now, I don't get the Ziggler hate. Dolph is a fringy proposition at the
main event level, but not all of that is on him. Twice, he actually had me sold that he was ready to headline: once, an untimely injury derailed him,
and the second, WWE just flat dropped the ball after Survivor Series 2014 when Dolph was red hot. Less than 2 years ago, he had "it" (tm, Jericho),
so I refuse to buy into the notion that he no longer belongs on TV in a meaningful capacity.
That said, a heel turn is needed if for no other reason than to freshen up the character so that people don't find it quite as easy to be as
dismissive as they are right now.
Concur that the new titles are not necessary, but at this point, I see no reason to complain about something that's been a foregone conclusion
for over a month. I/we already won that argument back in July with our common sense, but WWE's deadset on doing the wrong thing, anyway.
Good for Heath Slater. Not the pointless tag team with Rhyno. Just in general: good for him, WWE's undisputed champion of turd polishing (now
that Sandow is gone)....
Rick
anglefan85
Man of a Thousand Holds
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 04:10 AM
Excellent show tonight. Easily a 9 out of 10 for me.
Also, if people here don't watch Talking Smack, try to find a way to find Miz's promo that he cut on there. That may have been the best
promo that Miz has cut in his entire career.
The WWE: Where no one wins, unless you like Cena, in which case you are a sad little fanboy who will never get laid, but we are happy to take your
money away-Moosehead Jack
"She is an estrogen molotov cocktail. It'd be in your best interest not to piss her off."- My thoughts on Firewoman
"Kurt Angle is like a living vortex of the surreal. On the off chance he's not doing, saying or thinking crazy things, people connected to him
act crazy by association, caught in the gravitational pull of his insanity."- Ringout from FAN Forums
the goon
Sister Act
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posted on 8-24-2016 at 04:50 AM
quote:Originally posted by GodEatGod
It's kind of hard for me to accept the argument that Dolph Ziggler isn't worth a damn when he can have that kind of match with AJ Styles.
God damn, those two were bumping like maniacs for each other and I was loving the hell out of it.
quote:Originally posted by OORick
I never quite understood all of the Ziggler love 5-6 years ago... but now, I don't get the Ziggler hate. Dolph is a fringy proposition at the
main event level, but not all of that is on him. Twice, he actually had me sold that he was ready to headline: once, an untimely injury derailed him,
and the second, WWE just flat dropped the ball after Survivor Series 2014 when Dolph was red hot. Less than 2 years ago, he had "it" (tm, Jericho),
so I refuse to buy into the notion that he no longer belongs on TV in a meaningful capacity.
Totally agree with these statements and I don't really understand the big "meh" response Ziggler's been getting here lately. Okay, I do
get that his onscreen character has gotten a bit stale and a heel turn would probably do a lot of good for the guy, but otherwise it's not
Ziggler's fault that he's been stuck in shitty angles like the Rusev/Lana thing and jobbing to Baron Corbin. The guy is still more than
capable in the ring, so I'm fine with him hovering around the main event/WWE title scene.
Speaking of titles...I really, really don't get what they're doing with the title belts right now. Why are the new titles introduced
tonight show-specific (Smackdown Tag Team titles and Smackdown Women's title), but on RAW it's still the WWE Tag Team titles and WWE
Women's title? Does that mean that Charlotte is the women's champion of the entire WWE, but Becky Lynch would only be the women's
champion of Smackdown? And the fact that the belts all look identical minus the coloring makes it even weirder to me...it's like the WWE decided
to make the whole title picture as non-streamlined and illogical as possible.
Okay, now that my title belt rant is out of the way, that was a really good Smackdown. I was kind of hoping they would find their footing once
SummerSlam was out of the way and it looks like they are. And the rise of AJ Styles in the WWE has been awesome to watch and he really has a chance to
be the top guy on Smackdown (and it sounds like he's already getting a 50/50 crowd reaction, so I'm wondering if he'll be turned
back face at some point).
And part of me wonders if Ziggler interferes in the main event of Backlash. After back to back losses to Ambrose and AJ, I just kinda feel like we
haven't seen the last of him being involved with those two.
janerd75
The Rowdy One
Posts 2878
Registered 1-28-2013 Location House of Tards Member Is Offline
Mood: Weiner-tastic
posted on 8-24-2016 at 04:56 AM
I am a Miz mark, baybay. A Mizark, if you wheel, daddeh. Also, here's Miz going salted fucking ham on D Bry. Absolute Certified 100% Grade-A
GOLLY!!!
The science is settled: Fuck Everybody
Old Man Crunk with an early candidate for line of the night re: Nia Jaxx. "Face like Pam Grier, body like Rosey Grier."
