Mr Shh
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|  #1 Posted on 31.8.16 1200.05
Reposted on: 31.8.23 1200.13 | Daniel Bryan does not address Miz’s comments on Smackdown proper, as advertised (they either changed direction, so as to prevent people from thinking Bryan will come out of retirement, or they are continuing it in worked shoot fashion on Talking Smack). Instead, Ziggler has the honors. A Ziggler/Miz alliance would make sense here, but rather, it’s a match between the two at Backlash.
Wasn’t expecting the tag tournament brackets to shape up the way they did. Sacrificing AA vs. Usos as a semifinal match in the service of the Slater angle is stupid. So, I’m predicting no finish for that match, which will postpone the Hype Bros vs. Slater/Rhyno match to Backlash, where it will be the finals.
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds, but Renee Young was consistently awesome throughout. I don’t know about y’all, but my wife and I use black tape to cover up the trademarked names of all food products in our home. You never know who might be watching!
Hey, look at Corbin mixing it up with the main event guys and getting protected. Yay.
| Promote this thread! |             | thecubsfan
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| #2 Posted on 31.8.16 1220.05
Reposted on: 31.8.23 1220.42 |
Daniel Bryan does not address Miz’s comments on Smackdown proper, as advertised (they either changed direction, so as to prevent people from thinking Bryan will come out of retirement, or they are continuing it in worked shoot fashion on Talking Smack).
Originally posted by WON
Possibly clarifying why Tuesday's SmackDown didn't feature any interaction between the two, Bryan said WWE wasn't letting him and Miz do anything together on TV anymore.
(So, worked shoot fashion.) | SKLOKAZOID
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| #3 Posted on 31.8.16 1500.18
Reposted on: 31.8.23 1503.38 | Renee Young is the best non-wrestler Smackdown got in the draft. I think even more valuable than Mauro as far as getting wrestlers over.
Pretty average show, although a better watch than Raw overall this week. Raw had the highest high by far, but was still pretty tough to watch.
SD is making stars out of nothing. I've never cared about Heath Slater or Rhyno more. Even though Raw got all the better women's wrestlers, I actually see more of a competitive women's scene on SD. Orton/Wyatt is an interesting clash of personalities. AJ/Dean has a lot of potential, though I don't think they're quite where they need to be with that feud yet. | J. Kyle
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| | | Y!: |  |
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| #4 Posted on 31.8.16 1706.47
Reposted on: 31.8.23 1706.47 | The Headbangers were a serious WTF but they looked good. SmackDown needs people, hope they keep them around.
This show is definitely a throwback to the Attitude era or even earlier WCW where everyone exists in the same universe and interacts with each other instead of feuds existing in a vacuum.
Speaking of which really wish Kallisto would have made the save/attacked Corbin to set up a tag match next week. Kallisto/Styles would be fun to see. Styles and Corbin as mismatched ego maniac partners would probably make a fun promo too. | Quezzy
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| #5 Posted on 31.8.16 1726.07
Reposted on: 31.8.23 1726.50 | Man, Styles made Apollo Crews look like a million bucks. Also, I wouldn't say I necessarily think Styles is GREAT at doing in-ring promos but his commentary work was excellent. He's far more natural than anybody else that has done guest commentary in a while.
I think I say something like this every week, but the theme with Smackdown is just using everybody. The Vaudevillains and Hype Bros actually getting to talk made them at least a little bit more interesting and Smackdown is really making sure the new women are taken seriously.
Didn't love Corbin/Ambrose but like that he's in the mix and I loved when AJ got involved and Corbin didn't automatically team with AJ because he's a heel.
Still, they do need another body or two. It now seems Del Rio is gone, Cena going to be off doing projects soon and they lost Shelton and Raw is getting cruiserweights soon? At least give Smackdown Sami Zayn and save him from wrestling pre-shows and wrestling Jinder Mahal.
| Big Bad
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|  #6 Posted on 1.9.16 0102.44
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0102.45 | Originally posted by Quezzy
Still, they do need another body or two. It now seems Del Rio is gone, Cena going to be off doing projects soon and they lost Shelton and Raw is getting cruiserweights soon? At least give Smackdown Sami Zayn and save him from wrestling pre-shows and wrestling Jinder Mahal.
If Owens is going to be Triple H's new protege, I could see Hunter forcing a Zayn trade to Smackdown. It'd be even better if it was for a minimal return (Owens: "Sami Zayn isn't worth anything of value!") thus creating some tension with Steph/Foley that they're losing a great talent for nothing. | dwaters
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| #7 Posted on 1.9.16 0740.36
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0740.38 | Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though. | Toast Jr
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| #8 Posted on 1.9.16 0837.23
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0837.23 | Originally posted by dwaters
Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though.
You didn't like Rhyno making a sad face with his EZ-Cheese? Is your heart made of stone? | dwaters
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| #9 Posted on 1.9.16 0840.10
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0840.10 | Originally posted by Toast Jr
Originally posted by dwaters
Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though.
You didn't like Rhyno making a sad face with his EZ-Cheese? Is your heart made of stone?
That may have been part of the funny 30 seconds.
Off-topic: Meeting Hall, Nash, and X-Pac Friday at an event. Anything witty I should say? | Stefonics
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| #10 Posted on 1.9.16 0850.11
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0850.13 | Originally posted by dwaters
Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though.
"They're out back picking up cans and bottles." Done. | Dr Unlikely
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| #11 Posted on 1.9.16 0850.33
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0850.40 | Originally posted by dwaters
Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though.
Yeah, this was absolutely a case of "Oh, that got over? Let's help!" ruination. Slater, to his credit, was still likeable because of how earnest he was, but he's clearly better not doing someone else's jokes. Rhyno not saying anything was funny, but I worry about instantly turning him into a trailer park weirdo when "actual ECW murder machine Rhyno is really just a dude who needs to make payments on an above ground pool" was simple enough to almost be charming. The constant food jokes and belching they gave the poor wife, though, that was brutal.
To back up SKLOK, Renee is the best. It's been clear she's the ace they've needed as a backstage interviewer since she started, but seeing her do a remote reinforces that, against all odds, Renee is the Mean Gene Okerlund they've needed for the last 25 years. I realize what a weird comparison Renee Young/Gene Okerlund sounds like on its face, but I mean it: prime Okerlund was GREAT at his job, he treated his role like he was an actual TV sports correspondent and...well, subtle's not the word, but effortlessly demanded respect from the wrestlers and got it. It made his segments feel important, it dialed the wrestlers and managers in on treating the idea of winning and losing as important and it provided a jumping-off point of reference for when things got really weird/dumb/out-of-hand. He could be a goofball, but only was after he established himself as a three-dimensional Cosell-esque shyster the talent was obligated to respect, and paid it back by investing in what they were saying.
Renee handles all of that like nobody has since. She actually pays attention to the answers and reacts to them instead of just waiting for the next cue or simpering. She's in the moment as a fully-realized broadcaster character. And now she's out there doing the same in the weird world-outside-the-arena that used to be a thing back in the Hogan era, and it lends...again, I can't use gravitas for any of this, but it gives the segments and the performers an actual human context around which they can exist, and it's amazing the difference that makes when it comes to actually trying to invest in these dipshits, weirdoes and sociopaths as a viewer. | Hokienautic
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| #12 Posted on 1.9.16 0852.19
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0857.17 | Originally posted by dwaters
Off-topic: Meeting Hall, Nash, and X-Pac Friday at an event. Anything witty I should say?
"Your career now consists of meeting schmucks like me and forcing a smile for dozens of photos in crappy little places like this. Is it still 'too sweet'?" | dwaters
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| #13 Posted on 1.9.16 0903.47
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0904.02 | Originally posted by Hokienautic
Originally posted by dwaters
Off-topic: Meeting Hall, Nash, and X-Pac Friday at an event. Anything witty I should say?
"Your career now consists of meeting schmucks like me and forcing a smile for dozens of photos in crappy little places like this. Is it still 'too sweet'?"
Holy snark! | Lexus
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| #14 Posted on 1.9.16 0939.20
Reposted on: 1.9.23 0940.33 | More of Slater and Rhino did get cleared up on Talking Smack, where it was revealed that Rhino's motivation is the fact he's never held WWE gold.
Don't be a douche to Hall, Nash, or X-Pac. | Spiraling_Shape
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| #15 Posted on 1.9.16 1025.23
Reposted on: 1.9.23 1026.47 | The main reason Renee is so great is that she comes from a comedy/improv background. She told Jericho all about that on her podcast a few years ago... IIRC, she got her start in Toronto's Second City, which is literally around the corner from Canada's main sports network TSN and segued across the street and the rest is history.
Originally posted by Lexus
More of Slater and Rhino did get cleared up on Talking Smack, where it was revealed that Rhino's motivation is the fact he's never held WWE gold.
I think he said Tag Team Gold...he was the Hardcore Champ...who knows how many times? | Tenken347
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| #16 Posted on 1.9.16 1055.19
Reposted on: 1.9.23 1055.20 | Originally posted by Stefonics
Originally posted by dwaters
Originally posted by Mr Shh
Meet the Slaters was funny for about 30 seconds
This had Vince written all over it.
"They're poor. They live in a trailer. Isn't that hilarious?"
I miss these old-school personality pieces. This one was horrible though.
"They're out back picking up cans and bottles." Done.
The thing about that line was, while it was definitely written as a joke (assuming certain very loose definitions of the word "joke"), Slater delivered it with the kind of gravitas that 100% sold the idea that his family is in such dire straights that he needs this job to provide for them. Slater's always been pretty great, but he is somehow rising so far above this angle that he's genuinely become a highlight every week. | andy1278
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| #17 Posted on 1.9.16 1055.45
Reposted on: 1.9.23 1055.48 | I loved the Slater segment. And, for the first time since he was goring people through shopping carts in the Attitude era, I care about Rhyno.
Renee is great and so is Mauro. SD definitely won as far as broadcast personalities, though Corey on Raw is great obviously.
I didn't know much of Styles outside of "TNA guy", but man is he great. He makes others look like a million bucks.
Carmella's mission to #BeatUpNikkiBella is fantastic. She's a good heel.
Headbangers don't really belong on a 2016 SD, but eh.
As others said, I like how everyone gets used on this show. Everyone has a story.
Also, we need more of the Milkman. Can we get a third hour of wrestling on the Network on Wednesdays with all of the random jobbers we are getting? | JustinShapiro
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| #18 Posted on 1.9.16 1447.19
Reposted on: 1.9.23 1449.49 | | Renee also straight up RUNS Talking Smack, the company's A-show. She and Daniel Bryan could be dropped into a mid-90s SportsCenter, they have more chemistry than Walter White over here. | kellogs
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|  #19 Posted on 1.9.16 1545.25
Reposted on: 1.9.23 1546.04 | Just finished watching it all. A watchable show with some good moments. Slater and Rhyno having lunch with Renee was amusing although a little long. Rhyno with his drawing on the biscuit was funny, as was Heath. The wife, not so. Renee is great though in all situations.
Why did they choose the Headbangers over every other team for the last 15 years or so? Rhyno being busted open was a chance to say how competitive the tournament is and how everyone will do what it takes, but it was ignored because blood is bad for children.
Styles is great and made Apollo look very good - if he had a character or bit of personality then he could easily catch on, but he just smiles even when he is beaten up. Even a short interview saying how he got here would help.
Give Smackdown another big name and that will make this a very good weekly show. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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