SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

That could've worked, if they just stuck to Roman and the USO's, but it totally falls apart for me with Sami. To me it actually feels like it's kinda undermining the best story they've told over the past 2 years. Sami coming to realise he was just being gaslit, manipulated, and controlled, and would never be a part of the family, and finally at breaking point turning against Roman is the best bit of storytelling they've done in a long time… taking a kinda jokey initial story and building real emotional stakes out of it. But now after all that, he's the one back having to convince Roman to accept him?

Maybe it could've worked the other way, if Roman went grovelling to Sami and over a few weeks convinced him, but as it is it just makes Sami look bad and a bit stupid. I'm just finding it very hard to buy into any of it.

Thought that was a good Smackdown.

The decent showing for Blair Davenport and B-Fab last week is exactly why the mid-card title is worth having. Delighted for Chelsea to get the win (wouldn't mind her winning tbh). Jade being laid out felt big and was a great image, wonder who did it. You'd assume Wargames opponents but maybe not. With her not being cleared for Smackdown, does that mean she won't make Wargames either? Wonder who slots into the triple threat too. Lots of intrigue added from this alone.

LA Knight vs Shinsuke could be great. Liked the promo from Nakamura (especially the transition back to the arena, was that AI art though?). The turnbuckle to the kinshasha to the neck was ruthless.

Owens/Cody has been really solid so far and Owens as a heel again is long overdue. I might be the only one who is happy with a Gargano/Ciampa re-run but here we are.

Had Punk joining spoiled for me but even though I was thinking it, seeing it happen is great. Who knows how long Punk is gonna be around and getting him in a Wargames is a must. They Heyman connection makes sense and seeing as he missed most of the Bloodline stuff he has no beef with them. Also having him take a spot that Seth was offered can help their feud and even getting him in the same ring as Roman can help build a future story. I dig it! Definitely over Seth getting included.

My prediction was right just a week earlier than I thought haha

Your execution was better, Loughc, eye em oh.

==

Personally, Solo should never have declared himself Tribal Chief, he should have just never denied it and people assumed. So when The Rock is back, it can be a given that Solo went from Reigns to tha Final Boss the moment Rhodes won at WM.

In the meantime, Solo's Bloodline is this seemingly uncontrollable Shield-esque chaos until The Rock shows up as the puppet master all along.

And please give Camacho his personality eye patch back.

I'm finding all the WWE factions a bit toothless at the moment except for the OG Bloodline. Though I could have done without the silliness of a 4on4 gang war suddenly needing a fifth guy because the gimmick PPV decided to adjust the rules this year.

If only there was a guy in a position of power who could dictate this exact kind of change that benefits Solo and keeps Reigns on the backfoot…

I've seen some on line speculation that as Heyman had red, he will turn and side with Solo, as red is Solo's colour, I hope not as I like the wise man with Roman

KO spot on is his promo with Cody but what about Sami?

Could Bianca have attacked Jade earlier

Return in the rumble maybe

Apparently there's lots of differing acounts on whether Jade is actually injured or not.

Thought as a go home show that was pretty damn good.

Shinsuke looked great, him and Andrade had great chemistry and the effortless sidestep and mist was cool, I actually want him to win but I don't know if they will pull the trigger. I actually think his new heel theme is pretty good too.

The women's wargames promo was intriguing. They tension in the face team was interesting and I'm definitely thinking Bayley took out Jade. Rhea's promo was very awkward sounding though.

Jacob Fatu getting a clean win over Jey is pretty big, they are high on him and rightly so. I also liked the Roman/Punk promo and the favour he'll be owed is interesting too. That Paul will be his manager again? Roman/Punk has to happen at some stage.

Is Iyo the number one contender for Liv's title, did she win a battle royal or am I remembering wrong?

Heel DIY prob too close to Heel New Day

"Well, that worked! 😀" is the best thing Gargano has done since NXT when he got blindsided by Champa and instinctively kept crawling back to him for protection. Long thought those guys needed rehabilitated since being shortchanged by the McMahon era so this might be it.

And the car interview was great too.

So the losers of WarGames show up but the winners don't? Doesn't make sense.

So mini draft happening for the new year, with the champs possibly in play as well. Though I can't see the world titles moving. Quick glimpse of Nick talking to Dom.

I'd take any excuse to just drop War Games, personally, but it taking out three of your roster and the start stop nature of just running to the ring to look under the apron perhaps calls for rethink.

Deadly Game is right there.

Bring back the Unforgiven Six Pack Challenge, demmit.

Cody on Raw for Mania season would be a good move I think. The depth just isn't there for him on Smackdown (unless they're doing Cody Roman III which I don't think anybody wants right now), and it seems like a Rock Mania match is less than 50/50 for him.

Pentagón Jr to SD apparently

Will he be floating around the mid card til his brother signs ?

Just dont lump him in with the LWO and ruin him like they have done with Dragon Lee… its just lazy booking.

Lucho Bros in the WWE would be fantastic to see, matchups vs MCMG / DIY / War Raiders / Street Profits would be exciting to see.

Was that a rumour? Didn't even realise haha.

Very mixed on that Smackdown. Two things I disliked a lot and a few other things I'm iffy on.

I HATE that Naomi can just sub in for Jade, it's dumb and a waste of a possible storyline for down the road. Why would anyone ever be stripped if you can just swap your tag partner out? Hate it.

Botches happen and all that but sometimes they're too big to ignore and it kinds ruins things. Michin not getting out of the way of the moonsault and then not selling it and hitting her finish and winning left a real sour taste. I know timing for these things is razor thin but it was a mess. On the other hand delighted for a Chelsea/Michin final. Let's go Chelsea!

Braun coming back was a nice surprise, I don't think Carmello getting beaten was as damaging as I've seen others suggest.

Roman/Solo for Tribal combat on the Netflix premiere definitely is giving the idea that the debut is gonna be huge.

Enjoyed the DIY/MCMG promos, think a feud between them is exactly what the tag division needs. Also enjoying the Candace dynamic with her, Tiffany and Nia.

Looking forward to SNME, seems like a good card and the presentation seems interesting. Hoping we get some title changes.

I will admit I smiled a bit at solo and co coming out with "Loo" behind them.

Agree, unforunately. I actually think the biggest criticism of the Triple H era so far is his handling of the tag divisions. Which is a shame considering when he was running black and gold NXT the tag division was one of the highlights. Maybe when both shows go to 3 hours they can try get it back on track.

Youre comment reminded me though that Smackdown has it's Netflix debut internationally and they're not mentioning it at all. Which is kinda crazy, with all the hype and publicity they're giving Raw on Netflix.

Oh I know but even still. Like the USA network is hosting ads for Raw on Netflix, you'd think they want to make the Smackdown that week feel big too. Even if it they didn't mention it was going to Netflix internationally.

Just makes Smackdown feel immediately like a lesser show in my opinion.