WWE Had Two Killer Days Of Television This Week
Hey guys! Welcome to the weekly RAW/SmackDown recap. I’m doing these together because since we’ve started the podcast the recaps have had a weird vibe. It’s just me repeating what I said, so I’m trying to differentiate and try some new things. RAW was pretty good this week, which was much needed after Battleground, and while everything wasn’t amazing, Braun made it worth watching. SmackDown on the other hand had the biggest Battleground rebound, when they put on a show much better free show than their pay per view. Let’s get right into it with RAW.
BRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN! Holy shit! Look at those dead bodies! Locker room clearing brawl! I’m honestly not as excited about SummerSlam as I should be, since it’s in Brooklyn and we’re going for the podcast and all that, but half of the card is just…meh. This match makes me instantly over the moon about it. It feels HUGE, not in the hoss size way, but in the big fight feel. Like, Barclays is going to be BUMPING. This feels bigger now than the past few WrestleMania main events have felt, and it was literally just announced.
Next up was the highly anticipated no disqualification match between Finn Bálor and Elias Sampson, and it went exactly as we expected:
Way Bryatt. I know it’s harsh to say and I’ll fully acknowledge that I’m not a huge Bray Wyatt guy, but I think this actually might be a downgrade for Finn. I’d rather him squashing The Drifter every week than him having eh matches and bad promos with “THE EATOR OF WORLDS!”
Crowd was super behind Bálor here though, so something’s working.
I wasn’t a gigantic fan of the Enzo and Cass pay per view match, mostly because of the fact that it was a squash which makes it hard to buy any Enzo offense in the future. This match didn’t improve on that other then a rear naked choke attempt at the beginning. Enzo just got absolutely demolished and The Big Show ran down for the save. Before he got in the ring, Cass threatened to snap Enzo’s neck, ending his life, which I thought was just a bit extreme but people from New Jersey can get on your nerves quickly.
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Didn’t wanna talk much about Nia Jax vs Evil Emma, but just look at that move. Fucking ouch.
Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to earn herself a match for Alexa Bliss’ RAW Women’s Championship at Summerslam in a really fun TV match. No matter how much I criticize Sasha for having one gear and shortening her career intentionally, she’s always great when she’s in there with Bayley. I think one of three things will happen at Summerslam when talking about this match:
-Sasha is added and we get a triple threat match
-Bayley wins in a great match and finally gets her memorable moment
-Sasha jumps out of the crowd and has a savage heel turn on Bayley
Jason Jordan’s push begins! Hey, maybe they’ll let this happen naturally since his first clean win since becoming Jason Jorgle was over Curt Hawkins.
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Shield soft-reboot! How long until Reigns is grouped in here, or they run into a Reigns match? For a guy who’s said they should be kept apart for as long as possible to make the eventual reuniting as good as it can be, the “SIERRA HOTEL INDIA ECHO LIMA DELTA” hitting would pop the fuck out of me.
Now onto SmackDown!
No matter how many times Chris Jericho makes surprise returns, they are ALWAYS special. This one was especially cool because it was ACTUALLY unexpected and not rumored in the slightest. The main event was set, and it started to become very clear that Battleground’s botched finish was going to be rectified. Also…I will never get tired of people making the list.
Shinsuke beat Baron clean here, and it was exactly the match I wish they had at Battleground. It was nice and short, tight, and to the point, allowing Nakamura to showcase some of his signature offense and pose a real threat to the bigger man in Corbin. Hopefully Vince was here and saw how the crowd responded to Shinsuke and will run with match structures based more on this than his previous pay per view matches.
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I’m posting this video and writing this following sentence not as an insult, not as a joke, 100% seriously. Lana and Tamina are two of the worst wrestlers to ever step into a WWE ring and they need to either get extensive re-training or retire. They are a massive danger to anyone in the ring with them, and wrestling is a game where you have to trust your life in your opponent’s hands.
John Cena…will face Shinsuke Nakamura…on Smackdown…to be the #1 contender…for JINDER MAHAL’S WWE FUCKING CHAMPIONSHIP.
WHAT?! I mean, awesome…but…WHAT?! I wish this was the Summerslam match FOR the title, but this’ll do for sure. I’m predicting Corbin screws Nakamura out of a win somehow and we get Shinsuke vs Styles and Cena vs Mahal at the biggest party of the summer.
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Finally, wrapping up the chaotic week in wrestling, AJ Styles recaptured the WWE United States Championship after pinning Chris Jericho in their triple threat match with Kevin Owens. It was a fucking GREAT match, the best match I recall seeing on television in quite a few weeks.
That does it for this recap. If you wanna hear us dive in deeper to this stuff, tune in to From The Top Rope. SUBSCRIBE.