SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

J. Marston

I like Naomi. Think she's the only woman with a high-flying kinda moveset (well, she does a springboard) but those Lisa Simpson kicks need to go.

Neil3030

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I got the feeling Mauro tried to shut him down when he JBL was ranting about her blue hair Mauro just said The Blue Meanie and John shut up after that.

There was no need for him to do that but you could see the real bully JBL leaking out with that rant.

It's just so irritating - nobody goes over in that scenario except him. Carmella cheats to win in under 2 minutes and it was scarcely even commented on. The viewer should be left thinking (1) what a scumbag Ellsworth is for tripping up a woman (not commented on) (2) with Ellsworth at ringside, Carmella has a significant edge (not commented on) (3) that poor jobber was shafted (not commented on).

It's just basic storytelling 101, and JBL destroyed absolutely everything that segment was supposed to achieve by ranting about how stupid he thought the jobber looked. I can just imagine Vince in his headset giggling away and egging him on. Bring these dinosaurs behind the barn and put all of us out of our misery. Man I sorely hope NJPW can get some serious traction in the US.

Apologies for the rant but little things like this just bug the sh*t out of me. :mad:

CastorTroy

Remember back when people were thankful for JBL's return?

When I was watching that match, I was wondering why Ellsworth was allowed to trip her since it involves putting hands on a woman in order to hurt her. I know it was just a trip but still figured it wouldn't be allowed

Jerichoholic

Orton/Cena is set for this week, so I'm giving that a big miss. I couldn't have any less interest in seeing that again.

Ben Gadot

I don't think they've fought for 3 years so I suppose as a match for Smackdown, it's not a bad once off (hopefully) spectacle.

Blue_Dabadee

I do think Smackdown should have dibs on Revival and DIY whenever they get called up to main roster since there is a lack of serious tag teams on Smackdown.

Bounty Hunter

I feel like Revival will be on SD before Mania and them vs American Alpha (who are well used to facing each other in good matches from their NXT days) will be SD's mania tag title feud.

Jerichoholic

Ben Gadot wrote: »

I don't think they've fought for 3 years so I suppose as a match for Smackdown, it's not a bad once off (hopefully) spectacle.

Their interactions in that tag match were really bad, they looked 1st day of wrestling school bad.

johnnyryan89

Blue_Dabadee wrote: »

I do think Smackdown should have dibs on Revival and DIY whenever they get called up to main roster since there is a lack of serious tag teams on Smackdown.

Gargano and Ciampa will end up on Raw more than likely and be part of the Cruiserweight division. Whichever show gets them is gonna have a cracking storyline when the day comes that Ciampa turns heel on Gargano.

Hopefully Smackdown gets its own Cruiserweight division or drafts the Cruiserweights so we get the lads on Tuesday night's.

SureYWouldntYa

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Gargano and Ciampa will end up on Raw more than likely and be part of the Cruiserweight division. Whichever show gets them is gonna have a cracking storyline when the day comes that Ciampa turns heel on Gargano.

Hopefully Smackdown gets its own Cruiserweight division or drafts the Cruiserweights so we get the lads on Tuesday night's.

The tag team division should be on one brand and the cruiserweight on another, that way you'd have 4 titles on each brand and 4 proper divisions you could seperate and see clearly, and both are shallow enough to only be effective on one brand

Bit like it was in the ruthless aggression era with the cruiserweights on smackdown and the women on raw, but I wouldn't go separating the women if they ever really want to portray them as equal to the men in their own way

CastorTroy

They use the cruiserweights to fill the 3 hours. How would Raw manage without them. Longer segment to open?

martyos121

CastorTroy wrote: »

They use the cruiserweights to fill the 3 hours. How would Raw manage without them. Longer segment to open?

Live performances from Kid Rock and Flo Rida alternating each week.

SureYWouldntYa

CastorTroy wrote: »

They use the cruiserweights to fill the 3 hours. How would Raw manage without them. Longer segment to open?

Build an actual tag team divison, and have tag teams that have other matches and feuds not just title matches and feuds

Ditto for the women and the us title

CastorTroy

That's crazy talk. They're all the ideas they've been pretty much ignoring up until they started the cruiserweights, so why start now?

SureYWouldntYa

In theory it would work, with wwe in practise it doesn't a lot of the time

I'm just saying if done right separating already niche divisions could make them stand out more and give them the right spotlight to do their thing

CastorTroy

Oh I agree. Was just saying that they've had 3 hours for a while before the cruiserweights were brought in. People initially thought they would use the extra hour to promote the talent we didn't usually see on the 2 hour Raw, but this wasn't the case

riffmongous

I feel guilty about it but I've never paid any attention to the crusierweights since they were introduced, I just can't shake the vanilla midgets feeling since I'm not familiar with any of them beyond Kendrick, am I missing out? I used to love the old wcw cruiserweights and the x-divison

IncognitoMan

riffmongous wrote: »

I feel guilty about it but I've never paid any attention to the crusierweights since they were introduced, I just can't shake the vanilla midgets feeling since I'm not familiar with any of them beyond Kendrick, am I missing out? I used to love the old wcw cruiserweights and the x-divison

Not really. You haven't paid any attention to them because wwe hasn't given you any reason to. Neville at least has the potential to do something interesting going forward but to this point you've not missed anything. The division does lack that star power.

DM_7

riffmongous wrote: »

I feel guilty about it but I've never paid any attention to the crusierweights since they were introduced, I just can't shake the vanilla midgets feeling since I'm not familiar with any of them beyond Kendrick, am I missing out? I used to love the old wcw cruiserweights and the x-divison

No and yes.

Its actually a good show, very like NXT used to be. However the cruiserweights are working WWE style matches, more grounded with standard rest hold spots etc. High flying like WCW or X division had is minimal (in comparison).

It has good development of persona's, good feuds good workers. Neville is the stand out but Tony Nese, Mutafa Ali, Jack Gallagher, TJ Perkins, Kendrick and Swann have all done well in last few months. Some very good matches and stories but you have to see past the preconception of the flippy cruiserweight approach.

I prefer it to RAW at this stage.

riffmongous

Cheers guys, I'll probably continue to give it a miss so, it's really the high flying style of cruiserweights that I enjoy. Although if the main shows continue to be so lacklustre I might give it a try to see some decent wrestling

Ben Gadot

In the tournament they were able to let loose. Gran Metalik was absolutely insane and a star in particular.

The division lacks a proper top face. Gallagher could do it.

Bounty Hunter

Ben Gadot wrote: »

In the tournament they were able to let loose. Gran Metalik was absolutely insane and a star in particular.

The division lacks a proper top face. Gallagher could do it.

Gallagher is great but I don't see them pushing him for the CW title anytime soon. Meanwhile their other top faces unlike there top heels don't really have much character.

Cedric Alexander for example is great in the ring and I really like him but I feel him like the last 2 face champs Rich Swann & TJP (who is particularily terrible in this aspect and on the mic for me) are just very bland character wise.

The heels like Neville, Kendrick, Noam Dar or even A Double (maybe not a heel but does act like a d*ck when interviewing CWs) have decent characters esp in comparison to the faces

riffmongous

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Gallagher is great but I don't see them pushing him for the CW title anytime soon. Meanwhile their other top faces unlike there top heels don't really have much character.

Cedric Alexander for example is great in the ring and I really like him but I feel him like the last 2 face champs Rich Swann & TJP (who is particularily terrible in this aspect and on the mic for me) are just very bland character wise.

The heels like Neville, Kendrick, Noam Dar or even A Double (maybe not a heel but does act like a d*ck when interviewing CWs) have decent characters esp in comparison to the faces

Does he wrestle at 205 or just commentate?

Ben Gadot

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Gallagher is great but I don't see them pushing him for the CW title anytime soon.

True enough. While Jack is entertaining I don't see it translating to a top feud just yet. Though I do think him and Neville would work well bouncing off each other.

DM_7

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Gallagher is great but I don't see them pushing him for the CW title anytime soon. Meanwhile their other top faces unlike there top heels don't really have much character.

Cedric Alexander for example is great in the ring and I really like him but I feel him like the last 2 face champs Rich Swann & TJP (who is particularily terrible in this aspect and on the mic for me) are just very bland character wise.

The heels like Neville, Kendrick, Noam Dar or even A Double (maybe not a heel but does act like a d*ck when interviewing CWs) have decent characters esp in comparison to the faces

That is a common theme throughout WWE though, not just 205.

Bounty Hunter

riffmongous wrote: »

Does he wrestle at 205 or just commentate?

He's injured but has talked about wrestling there when he's back

Mr.Nice Guy

On the cruiserweight topic, I remember Bryan Alvarez made a good point a few months back when he said that in the 90s on WCW the cruiserweights would do things that you'd never see the main eventers do. That's why it worked so well and stood out so much. But nowadays you have main eventers like Owens and Rollins who also do high risk stuff in their offence, frog splashes, running dives etc. so there's no real uniqueness to having cruiserweights any more.

Ben Gadot

The tournament showed that there's still things only a CW can do, they just haven't been allowed to do it since. As I said earlier Gran Metalik did some absolutely insane things that went beyond what the likes of what Rollins and Owens could do even on a good day.

SureYWouldntYa

I know it's a joke of its own at this stage but my god Cena v Orton has been done a lot, if it was ever anything other than good guy Cena vs sorta mental Orton it mightn't feel like so much overkill

jaykhunter

wow, that picture is an odyssey! Where did u get it?