Wrestling with SmackDown- 9/17/2019

Atlanta, GA

King Baron the Brute about to become King Baron the Broken

Quick Results:

-The New Day defeat The Revival and Randy Orton in a 6-man tag team match

-Nakamura defeats Ali in a non title match? (did not hear a bell, though)

-Charlotte defeats Sasha Banks (DQ because of Bayley interference)

-Heavy Machinery defeats The B-Team

Comments:

-This show opened with some action instead of just talking. It was a welcome change to the way things have been in RAW and SmackDown recently. What made this curtain jerk so interesting was not the match (a solid performance by all) but what came after. Brock Lesner reappeared with Paul Heyman in tow and challenged Kofi for the WWE Title on the first Friday Night SmackDown show on October 4th. Its nice to see WWE at least trying to give people a reason to tune in on Friday by giving them a Hell In A Cell level match on a Friday night "for free".

-Erick Rowan and Bayley need to get more practice on the mic. It seems clear that they both have decent things to say, but they are having trouble finding their unique voices and style. This situation makes them come off as if they don't know what they want to say.

-Someone must have fallen asleep while writing the Nakamura/Zayn story this week. It seemed as though there would be a match between Ali and Nakamura, but Ali ended up taking a job and the bell never even rang. In this instance, its a good thing WWE doesn't track win-loss records. Nakamura and Zayne are talented enough performers that this story could be saved, but its on life support. To start the recovery, just treat it like the Godzilla movies, "Let them fight."

-The KO storyline has been a real dud so far. The verbal SmackDown KO laid on Shane McMahon tonight is a good start on the road to recovery, but the legal papers were a bad angle. As Matt Lambert said, "When Stone Cold got fired by Vince McMahon back in the day, I don't remember him returning with legal papers." True enough.

-Bayley has really been improving her heel angle in the ring. However, WWE needs to do something about her entrance. Her gimmick turn lends itself well to a spoiled rotten you-know-what angle and no one wants a hug from a spoiled-rotten you-know-what. Make the commitment. If she is heel, she needs to be heel. Again, Sasha Banks at least changed her hair color.

-King of the Ring is over. Baron Corbin was crowned, but doesn't even get to sit on the throne before he calls out Chad Gable to make fun of him. After about a half-dozen bad height puns, Gable destroys the throne, scepter, crown and cape. Definitely not making Baron Corbin look very strong after such a significant win. The shot of the night has got to be when Gable crushes the crown and kicks it out of the ring and it lands right at Baron Corbin's feet as Corbin looks on in horror. That's good TV.

-Heavy Machinery needs to take on someone of actual significance. The Viking Raiders or Authors of Pain (AOP) would be great options depending on how the WWE draft works out.

-The trio has become a quartet! Now that Bryan has turned face and Luke Harper has joined the mix, it will be interesting to see how things play out after Hell in a Cell. Will Harper and Rowan join together and become a formidable tag team? Could we see something with the fiend? Either way, hopefully we will see more actual wrestling once this terrible storyline is over.