AJ Styles battles Chad Gable to determine who will enter an Independence Day battle royal, The Usos face New Day in a surprisingly entertaining rap battle, Lana gets another title shot, and John Cena returns on a good episode of SmackDown Live!
This is a very long show, and with any show of this length, there are good and not so good parts. Overall, this is probably a middle-of-the-road Wrestlemania, but there is definitely some fun to be had here. Watching it all in one sitting might leave you a bit exhausted though.
Lots more talking on this episode of SmackDown, but the main event match worked to make this a show definitely worth watching.
Last week, no one was set to face Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania, but with this week’s SmackDown two people have a claim to a title match. Also, John Cena makes the best of a less than ideal situation (for everyone involved), Becky Lynch and Mickie James manage to squeeze three tiny matches into one normal match, Apollo Crews and Dolph Ziggler get really angry with each other, and more on this okay, but less than ideal episode of SmackDown.
This was a SmackDown with potential, but unfortunately the execution wasn’t there.
Bray Wyatt is forced to give both AJ Styles and John Cena a title match in an episode of SmackDown that was entertaining more for the few good matches than the rather forgettable talking segments.
A pretty good show that god better towards the end. A few matches felt like they were looking past this show and towards Wrestlemania, but the last few matches of the night made up for that.
While the results make this show feel like more of the same from WWE, the show itself was entertaining. It wasn’t the best Royal Rumble in history, but the Rumble match itself was fine, and Styles versus Cena stole the show.
This year’s No Mercy was pretty good, with the good matches being very good. The placement of matches seemed odd, but that didn’t hurt the show too much.
On the last stop before No Mercy, this SmackDown was packed with stuff, though it felt a lot like a glorified promo for the PPV. Which I suppose it kind of is.
An overstuffed show with a few really good segments.
A decent episode of SmackDown that fared better in the first half of the show than the second half.
Heath Slater officially signs with SmackDown, The Miz puts himself in the main event, the new “champ that runs the camp” has a hard time finding a friend, Swagger switches brands, and more on a show that was heavy on talk and light on action.
This year’s Summer Slam was entertaining, though for the matches that delivered on the hype, there were others that didn’t quite live up to expectations.
A pretty good show that does well to build (or at least maintain) some interest in Summer Slam, specifically the big matches.
Ziggler wants to prove himself, American Alpha debuts, and a number one contender is decided for the IC Title in this pretty good edition of SmackDown.
SmackDown Live’s debut didn’t live up to the standard set by RAW, but it was a mostly enjoyable show.
A long and entertaining show highlighted by two good matches featuring long histories. There was some down time in the show, but the good outweighed the not as good.
The first live SmackDown was a good show. There were decent matches that did well to maintain interest in Battleground, and the draft itself was entertaining, though maybe not completely shocking.
With excitement building for the draft at tomorrow’s first SmackDown Live, this RAW had an important feeling to it. It was a decent show highlighted by a very good WWE Title match.