Smackdown 20/09/16

Neil3030

Only 41 minutes in and it has already achieved more than the entire episode of Raw last night. Feud built for the women's title, feud built for the tag titles (and a programme between Usos and American Alpha), feud built between Corbyn and Swagger.

riffmongous

Good show so far, enjoying this match, Miz- Ziggler

Neil3030

Much like Brad and Angelina's marriage, Naomi is over.

Neil3030

Good show overall. Felt they maybe could have saved Cena/Ambrose for a feud after No Mercy, but I suppose the rollup gives the finish that air of flukeyness to warrant a rematch at some point.

Cena really has paid his dues lately though, so I hope it's not an indication that they are giving him the belt at No Mercy...

Speaking of which, card now confirmed:

AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs. The Usos

and to that you can probably add:

An IC match (prob Miz vs. Ziggler..)
Orton vs. Wyatt
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Corbyn vs. Swagger

764dak

Neil3030 wrote: »

Good show overall. Felt they maybe could have saved Cena/Ambrose for a feud after No Mercy, but I suppose the rollup gives the finish that air of flukeyness to warrant a rematch at some point.

Cena really has paid his dues lately though, so I hope it's not an indication that they are giving him the belt at No Mercy...

Speaking of which, card now confirmed:

AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs. The Usos

and to that you can probably add:

An IC match (prob Miz vs. Ziggler..)
Orton vs. Wyatt
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Corbyn vs. Swagger

Dean Ambrose could be champion before No Mercy.

Lord TSC

Speaking of Dean, he did a really good job on Talking Smack last night.

https://streamable.com/avj0

Smackdown is so solid. Not spectacular. But solid. Every match has a point. Every character has a reason for being on the show.

thebostoncrab

It's amazing how much of a turn around there has been for both shows. Raw started off so well and Smackdown was a mess. Now Raw has returned to old habbits and Smackdown has become a much more enjoyable show. It's a shame it's not pulling in more viewers because it's a much easier show to watch and enjoy.

Loughc

Loving smackdown lately. If feels like every feud is getting all the attention it deserves and each one of their titles feel important.

Their booking for No Mercy is miles ahead of Clash of Champions.

For the shorter show they fit more in, in terms of feud and character development.

J. Marston

Talking Smack is brilliant. It's great how, even though it's all storyline, they manage to blur the lines and make it seem shoot-ish.

CastorTroy

Yeah they have more build up for their PPV which is a few weeks away than Raw had for Clash of Champions. And I'd say we care more about No Mercy outcomes than Clash.

Lord TSC

Smackdown took a hit in ratings this week, but it seems to be that it came up against the season premier of NCIS (which drew in 13 million viewers apparently) and a new show straight after it with one of the guys from NCIS in it, which drew the same.

Bounty Hunter

If I stop watching one WWE show, it won't be smackdown. I enjoy logical storyline builds and character development and thats what you get here. It's the simple things really that make this show great.


They need to get rid of Otunga though. Literally the only thing I remember him saying all show was how he met Rikishi on set and asked him why his sons had a change of Attitude. He said this 3 times iirc and not once did he say what big daddy Uso responded with.

CastorTroy

Get Graves to pull double duty. Or triple duty, since NXT as well.

Who does the commentary these days for Main Event and Superstars that they could maybe move up to Smackdown?

Agent Coulson

What are Smackdown's rating like compared to RAW over the last few weeks?

Neil3030

Agent Coulson wrote: »

What are Smackdown's rating like compared to RAW over the last few weeks?

from: http://www.pwtorch.com/site/2016/09/21/920-wwe-smackdown-tv-ratings-smackdown-hit-hard-tuesday-night/

WWE Smackdown TV Ratings Tracking

September 20: WWE Smackdown scored a 1.70 TV rating, down nine percent from a 1.86 rating last week.

It was the second-lowest TV rating of the brand split era, edging a 1.69 on August 9.

Smackdown drew 2.292 million viewers, down 14 percent from last week’s audience of 2.658 million viewers.

It was by far the fewest viewers of the brand split era – the previous low was 2.45 million.

– DEMOGRAPHICS: Smackdown was hit hard in the key demos.

Adults 18-49 fell nearly two-tenths of a rating (20 percent) from last week
Males 18-34 fell more than two-tenths (24 percent) from last week
Males 18-49 fell nearly two-tenths (21 percent) from last week
All three demos were by far the lowest-rated of the brand split era, returning to the level of taped Thursday night Smackdowns.

WWE is looking to rebound next week with an advertised WWE Title match after this week’s show of John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose and an Intercontinental Title match did not draw.

Shows immediately after PPVs always get a bump, so I'm not sure it's fair to call this a drop. Meanwhile Raw scored a 1.97 this week.

Neil3030

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

They need to get rid of Otunga though. Literally the only thing I remember him saying all show was how he met Rikishi on set and asked him why his sons had a change of Attitude. He said this 3 times iirc and not once did he say what big daddy Uso responded with.

Oh man, I remember that it was terrible. I thought it was only twice though, did he really mention it three times?

You know though, I think the other comms need to take some flak for that, because if I remember correctly he stopped his story each time because he was interrupted.

Bounty Hunter

Neil3030 wrote: »

Oh man, I remember that it was terrible. I thought it was only twice though, did he really mention it three times?

You know though, I think the other comms need to take some flak for that, because if I remember correctly he stopped his story each time because he was interrupted.

Yeah thats true and I do think it was 3 times but get the impression that he was just told by Vince / HHH (whoever was in his ear) to give it up or that he didn't have time for the anecdote the last time. Even though JBL isn't giving him sh!t like he did with Saxton I do feel they are sandbagging him a little bit but tbh he is terrible so I almost don't blame them. Originally I was thinking Renee as the 3rd person but she is providing an important part of SD with talking Smack and some other interviews.

I'd actually like a 2 man team honestly and it'd be another thing different from Raw.

Pentecost

Nikki is not too happy with Carmella. I haven't seen the match in question but this doesn't sound good

http://twitter.com/BellaTwins/status/778972834316124160

J. Marston

WWE might be all about proper women's competition these days but I don't think they're going to allow them to batter each other with chairs, trashcans and kendo sticks.

brianregan09

Smackdown was great again this week watched both Raw and Smackdown for the 1st time in ages this week because I was off sick from work and I turned Raw off halway through its just too long

A Brad Maddox Guy

Neil3030 wrote: »

Oh man, I remember that it was terrible. I thought it was only twice though, did he really mention it three times?

You know though, I think the other comms need to take some flak for that, because if I remember correctly he stopped his story each time because he was interrupted.

The one at the end of the match he wasn't cut off, he literally just stopped talking and led to an awkward silence of about 5 seconds. Anyone know why 3 commentators has become the standard anyway? I imagine it's harder to build a chemistry when you're having to bounce off more people.

DM_7

The change for the Usos is really good for them.

Thought for anwhile now they were underappreciated and I hope this change will help them rise to a consistent good spot.