SmackDown Live Recap & Review – Episode 961
This episode of SmackDown Live was (almost) all about the United States Title, and even though it didn’t feel as impromptu as it was written to be, it was still a nicely entertaining show.
This episode of SmackDown Live was (almost) all about the United States Title, and even though it didn’t feel as impromptu as it was written to be, it was still a nicely entertaining show.
A good main event couldn’t really redeem a show where the first hour was pointless and dumb. There were some good things on this RAW, but not enough.
The team of Mustafa Ali and Akira Tozawa take on Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari, and Dana Brooke battles Alicia Fox in a pretty good pair of matches.
The Undisputed Era is scheduled to defend their tag titles against SAnitY, but Cole, O’Reilly, and Fish have different plans on an entertaining episode of NXT.
TJP tries to continue his comeback winning streak when he takes on Gran Metalik, and Tony Nese attempts to get back on the Zo Train by beating down Cedric Alexander in a good episode of 205 Live.
Despite more of the same with the show’s main story, this episode of SmackDown Live had some entertaining matches a few interesting story moments.
This underwhelming edition of WWE RAW had some potential, but the continuing stories didn’t develop much and the matches weren’t great.
This week’s Main Event was missable, but it did have a pretty good match between Tony Nese and Akira Tozawa.
Goldust joins Cedric Alexander in a rematch from RAW against Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari, and TJP returns to the ring to face Akira Tozawa in a pretty good episode of 205 Live.
The rift between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan widens in a show that featured Kevin Owens being handcuffed to a ring rope and the team of Aiden English and Rusev making a statement.
The RAW Tag Titles are on the line in an show that was a definite improvement over last week’s RAW.
New Day takes on Benjamin and Gable, and Styles faces The Singh Brothers in a good, not great, episode of SmackDown Live.
Despite some highlights, this wasn’t a great show. It felt like people were covering for lots of people who were taking vacation time, both wrestlers and writing staff.
Pete Dunne puts his title on the line against Johnny Gargano, and Ruby Riot attempts to settle things with Sonya Deville on an episode of NXT that is essentially a Takeover wrap-up (with two very good matches).
Enzo Amore sort of promises a title shot to anyone on the Zo Train who impresses him tonight, but can any of them live up to his expectations?
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens serve as the punching bags for SmackDown’s collective disappointment with the outcome of Survivor Series, and NXT continues to funnel females onto the main roster this week.
After winning at Survivor Series, RAW started setting up new story lines with a big return and a big title match. They also jumped back into some other story lines that got put on hold during the buildup to Survivor Series.
This year’s Survivor Series might not have been completely unpredictable, but it was mostly enjoyable to watch.
This was a long Kickoff and wasn’t necessary for watching Survivor Series, but it did have three decent matches which is nice.
NXT provides another great Takeover with a series of fantastic matches leading up to the chaotic and violent return of War Games!