Smackdown Live Review (11/07/2017)

Centered upon a huge tease for a John Cena-AJ Styles feud late into the summer, Smackdown Live was off to an explosive start! Here's looking into the Blue-Brand's offering for this week.

Credits: watchwrestling.uno

Results:

Jinder Mahal (C) defeats Tye Dillinger

Xavier Woods defeats Jey Uso

Natalya Hart and Tamina Snuka defeat Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch

John Cena and AJ Styles defeat Kevin Owens and Rusev

US Open Challenge:

The show opened to a video segment of AJ Styles defeating Kevin Owens at the hallowed Madison Square Garden to capture the US Championship Title. As the WWE Universe started chanting AJ Styles'name, his music hit and the new US Champ entered the arena to address the audience. Reinstating prestige to the overlooked title, Styles declared the US open challenge as popularized by Cena and called upon his first challenger. To his surprise, Cena answered the call and out he came to a thunderous applaud. Affirming his inclusion to be a part of the Open Challenge, Cena called out a referee to begin the proceedings. Just as the bell was going to ring, out came Kevin Owens, the former US Champion, and foul-mouthed both the legendary superstars.He claimed that no one missed Cena and he should just go back to where he came from. Cena shut him up and vowed to run down him and AJ Styles, which incited an ambush from Rusev, as Owens too got involved, leaving the babyfaces lying in the ring.

The segment was amazing. The prospect of Cena battling Styles has always been and will always be exciting. These two stalwarts have brought the house down every time they've gone at it. A much needed bolstering of the show, Smackdown Live went one-up on Raw with their opening segment, in spite of Great Balls of Fire having such a stellar response. As has already been mentioned, the US Title has turned out to hold more prestige than the WWE Championship right now, and it is a welcome change!

Credits: criticalhit.net

Jinder Mahal vs Tye Dillinger:

A dominant show by the WWE Champion, this has been Jinder Mahal's best performance while holding the title. It has been over three months since Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal have been feuding, but facing off with Tye Dillinger allowed the Champion to show off his skill. He was clinical while beating Dillinger down and never once did he allow him any chance to gain momentum. 

The post-match segment was good too as Mahal cut a fresh promo where he promised to give the WWE Universe a feel of the Punjabi Prison next week. Short, crisp, dominating, this segment delivered and quite convincingly too.

Credits: WWE.com

Xavier Woods vs Jey Uso:

A video clip of their rap battle last week opened the segment as both Jey Uso and Xavier Woods were accompanied by their team-mates, Jimmy Uso and Kofi Kingston & Big E, respectively. Jey Uso had the earlier hand in the match before Jimmy Uso tripped Xavier Woods from under the ropes. This incited the referee to send all the supports back into the locker room due to the New Day's protests.

Jey Uso never got it back after the incident. Soon he was reeling between the middle and the last rope as Xavier Woods hit an aesthetic Springboard Elbow to get the pin.

A fine segment with the feud building up to Battleground, New Day ran away with the momentum this week, providing for the fact that they might clinch the titles in the PPV.

Credits: WWE.com

Backstage Segment involving Shane McMahon and the Women's Division:

Naomi asked Shane to give her a shot a defending her title which laid way for a heated argument backstage. To calm the situation, Shane declared a Fatal-5 Way match at Battleground to determine the #1 Contender to face Naomi at Summerslam. Battleground will witness Charlotte, Becky, Tamina, Natalya and Lana (surprisingly) battle it out for the spot. Shane also declared a tag match for the night where Charlotte and Becky would take on Tamina and Natalya. After everyone left, in came Carmella, the Women's Money in The Bank winner, to hand a lawsuit to Shane claiming for the return of James Ellsworth.

It is very doubtful where the division on Smackdown Live is actually heading, given the fact that Raw is banging fortunes with their Women's division. Naomi has not defended her title once  against any legitimate wrestler (barring eye-candy Lana) after winning it at Wrestlemania 33. Never knew that WWE would allow that to happen going into Summerslam after 4 months.

Credits: WWE.com

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin:

Fortunately, Smackdown Live scores better with handling a major crowd-puller like Nakamura unlike what Raw is doing with Finn Balor.

The Artist from Japan, showed an aggressive side when he attacked Baron Corbin even before the match began. An intense brawl broke out as both wrestlers went at it. The Lone Wolf landed as well as dished out a few moves himself before being pulled apart. It was later announced that Baron Corbin would take on Shinsuke Nakamura at the Battleground PPV.

An intense segment, both wrestlers showed off the raw power they possess. WWE should've gone ahead with the match instead of calling it off. It is always a treat to watch these two feud. Hopefully at Summerslam, we will witness Shinsuke challenging AJ Styles for the US Title, while Baron Corbin will look to cash in. From what it seems, Cena will also be involved in the US Title segment at Summerslam.

Credits: thesun.co.uk

Tamina and Natalya vs. Charlotte and Becky Lynch:

Charlotte and Becky had momentum going in their favor in the match before Lana strolled down the ramp causing a distraction for the baby-faces. Natalya, reeling from being punished, sneaked in a tag to Tamina as Charlotte went for the Figure 4 on Natalya. Tamina made most out of the opportunity as she floored the second-generation superstar and picked up the win.

Monotony has become the bane for the women's division on Smackdown Live. It seems as if the Cruiserweight Division has started playing on Smackdown Live. Not long ago, the Smackdown Women's division had amazing feuds going on, eventually coming up better than Raw. Lack of depth has been their foe as they have relied on Lana for Naomi to play squash and look dominant.

Credits: dailywrestlingnews.com

Backstage- Mike and Maria Kanellis with Sami Zayn:

What is happening here? Why are Mike and Maria Kanellis even on the show? They just hug and kiss whenever they want and do nothing else. Sami Zayn being put into this segment shows that Samckdown Live is confused what to do about a talent like Sami Zayn. He makes fun of the couple saying that Maria is the fighter and Mike is the lover, which instigates Maria to slap him as Mike broke a flower vase on his back. Unnecessary fillers!

Credits: wrestlinginc.com

Fashion Files- Breezango and the Hype Bros:

This week, Breezango, dressed as Texas Rangers with a fake horse and a lasso looked to find the culprits behind the attacks a few weeks ago. Zack Ryder was interrogated to which Mojo Rawley came in surprised at what was taking place. Zack and Mojo Rawley argued about Mojo throwing Zack over the ropes in last week's battle royal. Mojo cleared the air saying he did what needed to be done and now they should focus on what to do next.

Credits: WWE.com

John Cena and AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens and Rusev:

Cena and Styles gelled in really well as a team which showed in their camaraderie in the match. Both teams went back-and-forth having their individual moments. Styles was the dominant of the two, as a US Champion should be as he cleared the ring with a Phenomenal Forearm to Rusev and a Pele Kick to Owens. Setting Cena up for the finish, he hit an Attitude Adjustment to Owens to pick up the win. The two legends had already stated that there was a lot of mutual respect between them and it should when Cena raised Styles' arm after the match.

Kevin Owens is losing it. Again! The segment, however, was great due to the sole fact that the stalwarts were in action after a long time. Considering the fact that there was no US Title rematch announced, we will have to look forward to next week whether at all it will be mentioned or not. Otherwise, we might just get a Cena-Styles feud for Battleground.

Credits: thesun.co.uk

* Special Mention: WWE have released the poster for Battleground and it looks amazing! It is great to see that WWE has finally welcomed India as a powerhouse in the Wrestling Entertainment business. The subtle mixture of colors of the national flags of both countries not only seems appealing, but is also set to establish WWE in India. Take a look here:

Credits: WWE.com

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