WWE SmackDown June 16, 2023 Review! JEY USO TURNS ON ROMAN REIGNS! IT HAPPENED!
WrestleTalk Podcast- 832 views
- 17 Jun 2023
It's finally happened! Jey Uso turned on Roman Reigns and The Bloodline! Tempest and Sat discuss this and more from the June 16th edition of WWE SmackDown!Watch the PREDICTING WWE Money in the Bank 2023...In 3 Words Or Less | The 3-Count: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggiom4wW8BUBuy our book, WWE vs AEW: The New War!: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C3MFHZNG?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=News+Video&utm_campaign=Book+LaunchSubscribe to CutScene: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxH35tts4YX1xempP2Z-U4ATheme song by TALLBuy our new WrestleTalk merchandise hereWrestleTalk In The Office Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sprWyZxCcqhtbzUuKfd0U?si=txG3hFYjSNOlGYpcDipx2gWrestleTalk Discover Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00I22mwo6wwMKdBh6Y8Gtf?si=geesBbqiSuaNkW6SVdn3eQSubscribe to partsFUNknown hereWatch the video version of the WrestleTalk Podcast hereJoin WrestleLeague hereBecome a Pledge Hammer on Patreon hereFollow Luke Owen @ThisisLukeOwenFollow Oli Davis @OliDavisFollow Pete Quinnell @PeteQuinnellFollow Tempest @TempestWTFollow Adam Blampied @AdamTheBlampiedFollow Laurie Blake @ElFakidor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jima Jam. Jinnah. Jima Jam. Chinna jam.
Oh, my God. It happened. It finally happened. Jay USO has turned on Roman Reigns. I was not expecting that when we started watching this episode of SmackDown, but hot damn, have we got potentially the biggest SmackDown angle we have seen all year. I'm Tempest, hailing from parts funk known here on the WrestleTalk Podcast Channel. And I'm joined by wonderful and lovely Sat E Niangi. And he's here to tell you what day it is.
It is Sat e day and it is approximately Sat e time.
Sat what's, carl's and all this I.
Like to use my own line. What's causing all this? The bloodline seemed to finally, and I mean finally, implode, explode, disintegrate. That thing that fellow's done dissipated right in front of us.
They all got dusted. Yes.
Like when they did the whole thing about there's going to be announcement or choice, we did not expect them to actually go through with it and actually give us what we've been waiting for. Jay USO finally coming to his senses. We can argue. He's always had his senses, but he was scared to use them.
We will see. We will get into this entire SmackDown review, including the review of the bloodline crumbling finally. But make sure, of course, that you leave a comment down below. Give a thumbs up to this video. Subscribe to the Wrestletal Podcast channel if you haven't already, because we have a lot to get into here. The main event segment, of course wait.
Fusion fuse.
Who.
Powering up.
Got to hold on to my lovely belt here.
It looks wonderful, Jam. That champion, the one and only, the undisputed champion, tempest Canada from House of the Black Mask. The house has a champion. You're our champion. You're the champion of rasa talk. You're the champion of this room.
I appreciate you very much, my friend. So the first mention of this whole bloodline thing on this show came early on when Roman Reigns was sat backstage and he was talking with Paul Heyman. And Paul Heyman was saying, my tribal chief, have you spoken to Jay? He's very clearly worried about his place in the bloodline. And Roman says, I'm the tribal chief. Jay needs to come talk to me. I'm not going to reach out to Jay. Jay's got to reach out to me. Yeah, Paul, go find Jay. Go talk to Jay. And Paul Heyman is not entirely down for this, but he does it. He goes later on in the show, you've got Jay and Paul backstage and they're both half assed apologizing to one another. Paul saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was right. I'm sorry that Jimmy kicked you in the face just like he kicked Roman in the face. He did both of those intentionally. He meant to kick you in the face. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that he ruined your chance to become United States Champion last week. And Jay says, oh, gee, I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that it's still me or you in the bloodline.
And Paul Heyman walks off. We then get Paul Heyman going back to Roman Reigns later in the show and just saying no. And then Roman stands up, and Solo Socoa takes a few steps forward, and Paul Heyman's like, Whoa, that was funny, because he is shook. He knows that when you cross Solo Socoa, you get got. But Roman reigns like no, it's all right. It's all right. You don't need to do that. And Solo is like, all right, I'm a chill. I'm a sit back, let you do your thing. And then we got Jay USO walking to the ring, and he crosses Sammy Zane. And first I was like, Jesus Christ, are we doing this again? But it was just a lot more subtle. They just kind of shared a look and then went on their separate ways. So all right, points for subtlety, because then we got this segment. Roman Reigns comes out of the ring, says, Acknowledge me, does his shtick. And then Jay comes out, and Jay starts asking, all right, who's it going to be? Is it going to be me, or is it going to be Paul? And Roman tells him, Listen, that's not how things work around here.
This isn't the bloodline's, wise man. This is my wise man. This isn't the wise man for you. You don't get to make the decision of whether the wise man's in the bloodline. The wise man isn't in the bloodline. The wise man advises me. When you're the tribal chief, you get to choose who advises you. You get to pick your own wise man. But for right now, Paul Heyman is my wise man. So Jay's getting all upset, and then Jimmy comes out, and Jimmy says that this is a problem. Not with me, not with your brother, with your cousin. It's always been about him. Gets into the ring, and he starts saying he's manipulating you. All the things the Roman reigns problems. And Roman starts going in on Jimmy, saying he was the one that was holding you down. Y'all took ten years to get to WrestleMania, which is true.
Yeah. Sad. That is that is actually very sad.
Yeah, well, not exactly true. I think it was eight years.
It was eight years. Pre showed for eight years.
Yeah.
That is crazy, if you think about it.
Tag titles, got no love on WrestleMania.
No.
But he says, now you're main eventing. Main eventing. WrestleMania by my side. But Jay, I don't understand why you're mad at me for we made you the right hand man. Paul Heyman, the wise man. That was his idea. And who is the one person who opposed that? That was your brother. That was Jimmy. It was him. And so now Jay turns, and now he's getting all worked up. And you could say maybe this was to catch Roman off guard, because otherwise it doesn't make a ton of sense, which I'm sure we'll get into. Jay USO. Says like, is it true? Is it true? This is what I've been hearing my whole life. Joshua, listen to your big brother. Joshua, do this. Joshua do that. Jay's real name, of course, is Joshua. And he says, is that true? And Jimmy says, yes. And so Jay gets all upset and said, all right, you're out. There's a long pause. He says, and I'm out too. And he turns and super kicks Roman. Super Kicks roman Reigns. This moment has been built up to for three years, finally paid off here on SmackDown. Surprisingly. I thought this would have been like Money in the bank or SummerSlam maybe.
Like, this is a real big angle. And they've done it here on SmackDown. So that's not a bad thing. I was just surprised. And the usos both. Super kick, Roman. Roman gets up. He's like, you're going to hit me. He's getting real worked up. And then he gets double super kicked and he sells it like death. He goes down. Like, he gets shot and he goes down. And the Usos. Leave and they're doing the weed of ones and they're all pumped up. And now it's the Usos. Against Roman and Solo. Those are the battle lines drawn. The bloodline as we know it is over. All that's left is Roman, Solo, and Paul. What do you make of all of this?
Sat many things. First of all, did you think oh, I guess we were thinking that they were going to drag out Jay being conflicted all the way to Money in the bank?
I certainly thought so.
And then at Money in the bank, this segment had done, it would be truncated because talking time Jay would have pulled a trigger at Money in the bank. That's what the initial speculation, right?
Could have done. Could have done that segment playing out in front of the really lively London crowd. I could see it well.
I'm actually happy they did it on the SmackDown because a simple fact, it gives more of a reason for us wanting to see the tag team match. It would have been annoying because it would have played out the same way like we've seen last few months of confliction. Now we're finally getting the battle lines have been formed. We're finally getting the fight we've wanted, the Usos finally getting back at Roman Reigns for all the stuff that he's done to them. Why I enjoyed it. It was, in a way, a full circle moment because the talking points mentioned in the segment were talking points are brought up when Jimmy first came back. So we talked about in the office how I found the part where Jay goes to Jimmy. You didn't want me to be right hand man. Kind of annoying because yes, because that's the first thing Jimmy said when he came back is what is this right hand man? Who are you like, what's going on, man? That's not you.
Yeah, it wasn't exactly a secret.
It wasn't a secret?
Yeah.
So the whole you didn't want this for me, it's like, yeah, that's why Jimmy had nobody's bitch T shirt because there's a play on the right hand man T shirt. We all know this. So that part was like you said it must have been to you to catch Roman off guard because it doesn't make sense for Jay at that point to Be like, you doubted me. And more points were mentioned because Jay said that he wasn't trying to ever compete with Roman in terms of in the bloodline or even in life. The person that he's been trying to keep up with is Jimmy. So Jay is saying that he looks up to Jimmy. Like Jimmy's always been the standard bearer in the family. He's the older brother. He was the prom prince, the prom king, the most likely to succeed in their high school. So Jay mentioned that part in the promo, which is to set in ground to understand that this whole time, Jay, I guess I never really thought of it in that way, that Jay Looks up to Jimmy and then Roman Usurped that position to be his, I guess, surrogate big brother, his uncle.
Because in real life, Roman Reigns is actually the USO's uncle. But you can do your research on Google to connect it.
Yes.
Rosie, who is Roman's brother, is our uncle. To the Usos. Rakishi is more first cousin. First blood cousin is Rakishi and Roman. So that makes them second.
It's like a second or it's A what? Cousin once removed second cousin, something like that.
Cousins. But the thing is because the Usos. Made a joke that they call him uncause is More like the direct lineage of Where he comes from. Dad. So that's what they Made a joke. But yeah, it is more like first cousin once removed. That's what it was called. But the Usos, they did an interview. They said they used to call Roman their uncle just to make fun of him and Have Jokes with it. But yeah, back to what I was saying. Yeah. So Jay Has been trying to keep up with Jimmy and then when Jimmy got injured, he said that was a blessing in disguise because Jay got to be Main event. Jay USO, he did break out to the point where you're thinking, hey, Vince Miranda's, like tag team Wrestlers could the Usos break up? But as we've seen time and time again, the Usos would rather choose to be a tag team forever than to branch out for single Stardom. So Jay chose Jimmy over what Roman was offering. It's almost like the Faust deal, the bargaining. Join me, you could become future Tribal chief. Because that's what Roman mentioned in the segment.
Like I've been grooming you for three years. So Roman said, I got us to the promised land. You Are meant to keep us in the promised land. That was also key points that Roman was using on Jay. And then Jimmy said, you're going to fall for that crap because it's obviously his manipulation. Roman will use whatever gesture it takes to keep Jay on board because Jay has been valuable in keeping him on top throughout the whole entire record breaking reign. Jay has been there for Roman, so Roman needs him by now. Of course. Have you seen it's split up or broken up? But see, I like the segment. I like that it was a full circle moment because they did go back to the issues they had beforehand, so they had to basically wrap that up. But, yeah, great performance all around. The whole Nitpicky thing was the whole when Jay confirmed Jimmy. But again, the question is, how long has Jimmy or Jay decided that he was going to leave a bloodline? Was this a set up or was this an impromptu spontaneous action?
I think it's going to be very interesting to see where we go next as well because I would really enjoy if the next chapter of this in some way shows why this wasn't such like an easy decision to make. I want to see the consequences of the usos turning on the tribal chief. Maybe now we can start getting the extended members of the family involved in this and be like, no, you don't make that decision. There's a reason that Roman is doing this. There's a reason that he's the tribal chief and maybe they don't necessarily have the backing of the family doing something like that. It could just be very interesting because to me, it's always like, yeah, you cross the mob boss that is treating you wrong and everything, but then you find out why that's a bad idea. You get to see that, oh, no, he's going to take away your family and put a horse's head in your bed, et cetera.
You're saying that that's what's been missing from, you know what that has been missing from the storyline because we hear a lot by the elders, we hear a lot by the extended family. It would have been great at least once if we had him on the show to show the magnitude of what Roman is doing because we hear why Roman is doing it, but you can also think he's been hyperbolic and he's deluded. But we have to see a table. It would have been great to see a table where Roman is sitting at the head of it with his family around a segment with him and his family. That would have been great. Heck, you're right. Next week it could be he brings Rakishi to penalize the twins for kicking the cousin in the face and you acknowledge your tribal chief because Solo's done and you need to do it too. It'd be great if they can manage to up the level manipulation that will be chef's kiss, but all around, the storyline has been great.
Yeah, I totally agree. But let us know what you think about the J USO turn on Roman Reigns in the comments down below. Let us know. We will get through the rest of our SmackDown review in the meantime, but this was a very monumental thing, really. Like the crux of the whole Bloodline story that we've always been waiting for. This one specific turn, what's Jay USA going to do? And now it's finally happened. Now we can see where they go next. It's an exciting time.
The question was always, what would be the tipping point? Yeah, and the tipping point has always been his crypt. And that his reason for being is his twin brother. Older brother. It's only minutes apart, but anyway, yeah, his brother is his brother's keeper. That's what he is.
Yeah. So we kicked off.
I'm my brother's keeper.
My head. Oh, God, I'm bald. Oh, God.
So sorry.
House of the Black Mask. Go spurs. Anyway, I don't care for the spurs. It's just a black hat.
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SmackDown with the Gauntlet Match to determine new number one contenders for the tag team titles. Now, I won't complain too much about this because I get it. We had other things to get through on this show. You can't exactly do what they've done in the past, where half the show is taken up with a Gauntlet match. And again, it's much easier to do that on Raw. Like that one Gauntlet match where Seth Rollins went nuts, wrestled for like an hour and ten minutes or whatever. It's a lot easier to do that when you have 3 hours of show. Harder to do that with only two. But that being said, there were six teams in this Gauntlet Match and this match was about 15 minutes long, which means five teams got beat in 15 minutes. That's like a team losing every three minutes on average.
There you go, maps.
That's like the old Survivor Series matches where guys were just like it was the Divas matches, really, where it's like the match got six minutes and there was only two people left at the end, so eight people had to get eliminated in six minutes. Madness.
Madness.
Absolute madness. So that's basically what we got here. There were a lot of short matches and matches that you think might be fun. Like the brawling brutes in LWO basically got no time here. This really was an avenue for them to do what they love to do, which is have the team that starts go on a run and beat a bunch of teams in a row and then lose to the person that comes out last. That's how WWE likes to do a lot of their gauntlet matches. And that's what we got here because Seamus and Ridge Holland started and they went two on two with the street profits. And this was probably the most match that we got out of this, maybe the end. But they went back and forth, and then Seamus caught I think it was dawkins dawkins dawkins with a Bro kick and pinned him, and that was it. And all the teams were out on the floor. They were all at ringside, like, waiting their turns so that we didn't have to wait for entrances and such. That's fine. The OC were next. They went in and again, not very long.
They got a little bit of offense in taking advantage of Seamus and Ridge being tired. But then Carl Anderson went up on the turnbuckle and posed and turned around and made a broke kick, and that was it. He was done. That's another team gone. And then we got the LWO getting into the ring and they hit a dive. They were like, yeah, excitement. And then they got beat and then hit Row came in and Top Dollar immediately, it's a Bro kick and gets eliminated. Absolute buried, like they're a job or tag team at this point, is what it is. But that left the last tag team to get involved, and that was Pretty Deadly. There were some fun things about this match as well. The finish of this one wasn't necessarily as creative as the other weeks that we've seen from Pretty Deadly, but it was still a heel finish. That was pretty good because you had both guys getting the Seamus clubbering blows over the ropes, and one of them dropped down, and then as the other one was draped over the ropes that way, seamus went to pick him up and hit the high cross.
But as his feet were dangling there, the other one hit the hot.
And Prince Elton.
Prince that one. Elton John. Yeah. Shout out to the AEW Collision theme song, gets the hot tag, hits the high cross, gets hit with a leg, drop off the top rope, and that's the finish. So they get the win. This was, I think, pretty obvious in terms of a finish, the right finish, I think, to have these guys be the ones to go into London yes. Boy. And get a tag team title shot.
Yes.
I think it'll be a good match between them and Kevin Owens and Sammy Zayn. And after the match, Pretty Deadly are still celebrating, and Ko and Sammy Zane come out to interrupt them because they're like, Listen, you guys won your match five minutes ago and you're still in the ring, which means you have been celebrating for five minutes too long. And then they go on a thing you want to say all the things that they said because you can do.
It better than I.
Yes.
Elton Prince, the Blonde One. Kit Wilson is the brunette one. Kit Wilson was saying yes.
Boy.
While Elton Prince says they are the Killer Queens, the Dandy Highway men, the brothers and GoM, oh, you have to do the yes boy. Actually, let's do this again. They are the killer queens.
Yes boy.
Dandy highway men.
Yes boy.
The brothers and GoM.
Yes boy.
The two tastiest snacks. Yes boy. And they said that when they win, they're going to celebrate even longer. And when they still in the ring, they're going to be there even longer.
This segment went on even longer.
Edit Ko.
Yeah. They got tired of this and they ran down to the ring to clear them out. And this is going to be your tag team title match for money in the bank.
Yes boy.
Solid enough stuff, honestly. Any extended thoughts on this opening thing? You're a bigger, pretty deadly fan than I am.
They grew me. Listen when they started NXT they remind me of like the Beverly Brothers fan. They like a throwback to the new generation tag teams we used to have in the WWF. But yeah, for me, they're a breath of fresh air. They're very entertaining. It's very throwback. It's great to see a tag team like that. They very much are cowardly heels. But I do feel like Vade delivery on the microphone is really, really good and it's gone better. Elton Prince had a more serious tone when he was delivering, when he's cutting his promo because he was making fun of Sammy Zane's hair because Sami Zane's hair was wear. He goes, we've beat five other tag teams and my hair is still intact in a good condition. What's up with your hair? And for me, I felt like they did well in the segment because they'll go in bar for bar against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who are known as great microphone. Microphone checkers. Microphone records. And pretty deadly. Did find there. I feel like they got great potential there. They're entertaining tag team. For me, it's better than those above average teams will get who got no charisma.
When you look at Pretty Deadly, you're like, yep, they're already made. You can put the tag team titles on them right now. They shouldn't. As much as it will pop in London, I want Ko and Sami Zane to have this legendary run that goes all the way to next year WrestleMania. But yeah, my views is that the right team won the match. The fact that street profits lost in the beginning, there's been rumors that street profits are turning heel. So this could also contribute to their downfall and their frustrations, which eventually makes them get angry LWL. I feel like outside of Santos Esca, Barnzelina, Cruz do Toro and Joaquin Wild, they need to do more in terms of enhancing their personality because at the moment, they're just two baby face tag teams that do high flying stuff and like, yes, cheer for us because we're LWO, too, it feels like at the moment. And with the OC, I keep saying it, it's like they're here to collect another paycheck, guys, because I think they're checked out. I think they know. I don't know. It's weird you'd think that because of the credentials of New Japan and everything else they've done, they will be in a bigger spot in tag team wrestling.
But I feel like because the chokehold of the Usos. And the street profits or wherever, they've never really reached that level. So OC, for me, is just a tag team that's in there, just another body. It's just hits collect another paycheck. And the Brawling Brutes, Seamus, he's got nothing to do right now, so he has to team up with Rich Holland. So that was their way of protecting him in a way they don't want him to lose quickly, especially when he's not really that much for tag team guy nowadays in the Brawling Brutes because he's a leader. But, yeah, great performance there, but at the end of the day, oh, my gosh. Top dollar. Ashanti diodonis hit row. What are we going to do if a hill run doesn't work? What do you do? But yeah. Yes, boy, that's what I got to say.
My big takeaway from this is I want to give WWE credit for actually doing something with Pretty Deadly, like, pretty much immediately upon their main roster arrival. That, to me, is a big step up from a lot of the other people that have been called up. Like, Cameron Grimes is just floating around getting attacked by Baron Corbin. We'll get to that. But he's done nothing. Grayson Waller has just been a talk show host since he got on SmackDown, but Pre Deadly have been consistently pushed since arriving and are now going to be in a big pay per view title match in their first pay per view match. That, to me, is so much better at establishing them as potential stars on the main roster than they've done with like anyone else. I can't think of anybody else who's even come close to this amount of push. So big thumbs up for that.
And is my mission to make sure that Tempest knows their name.
Good luck.
Listen, all I can say is think of Elton John and think Prince. Elton Prince and the blondie. Just think of those three musicians and he remembers the blonde one. Say Elton Prince. Blondie. And he remembers Elton Prince.
Elton John. Prince is blonde.
There you go. That's close enough. Elton John and Prince are blonde. Kit Wilson is the Prince Wilson. Just think kit wilson is brunette.
Kit Wilson.
That's his name. Kit Wilson.
Kit Harrington is brunette. There you go.
There you go.
I guess that does make it easier.
Yeah. That's how I remembered Elton Prince, by the way. I said Elton Prince's. Blondie. And then when I see him, I'm like, Elton Prince's, blondie. And I said Kit Wilson, because Wilson sounds generic.
I feel like there's a song going on in your head at all times. Well, there's just a tune playing.
It's a pretty deadly song. Their new song is incredible. I love it. It's like a British talk show song. Yeah, pretty deadly. I'm all in. I ain't got lie when they first started NXT find them annoying, but they want me over because they are too tasty. Snack on, snack down. Yes, boy, that's what they do. And in slow motion.
Welcome to Snack Ass. So after that, we had Roman Reigns backstage with Paul Heyman as we've already spoke about. And then we got Eoshirai and Zelena Vega and they did an Inset promo where they were all talking in the locker room backstage. And Zelena Vega says that they're going to wrestle tonight and you're going to show why you shouldn't underestimate me. And I have to be honest, I am officially annoyed by Zelena Vega talking about people underestimating her because I'm pretty sure every time I've heard her speak since Backlash, it has been that people are underestimating her.
Are you annoyed that she's become one.
Note a little bit.
Like they flanderized her into being. You are small, so talk about people underestimating you, which is sad. I do feel like the motive they give them, we know for a fact she can do more. They just like, you're a baby face now. So all the interesting traits you had before the hand, chuck it to the bin. You have to be relatable. How do you be relatable? Well, people relate to underdogs. Just be more under. No, enough under. Be more under. Be more dog. Yes. Underdog. Yeah. She's underdog.
Yeah. However, in this match, she did get underestimated, I suppose, because this, again, was a short match. And Zelena Vega got rolled up by EO. Pardon me. And Bailey just happened to be distracting the referee at the time. So EO got a visual pin over Zelena, but the referee wasn't there to count it. So she's yelling ref. And then Selena kicks out and EO turns around, goes to Bailey, is like, what are you doing? What are you doing? And Bailey's like, oh, just trying to help. And then as EO stuck her head through the ropes to talk to her, selena hits the six one nine and gets the pin.
Biggest win that she's had thus far.
Yeah, I mean, she was like the Queen's crown winner, but that didn't really mean anything.
That led to her being in a tag team with Carmelo.
Sure.
That victory led to her being in a tag team not shot straight to the main event or anything like. That that victory didn't do anything for her. If anything is another accolade they can bring up in a hall of fame speech.
Yeah. So this was pretty much all the match was backstage. After the match, bailey and EO were arguing and Shotsy came up and said, oh, bailey, you cost me my spot in the money in the bank match. I'd be in money in the bank if it wasn't for you. And she's like, well, why don't you put your spot, bailey in money in the bank on the line in a match against me and Baylor's?
Like, why would I do that?
Sorry. And EO just says she accepts Shotsy, walks off, says, I'm going to go talk to Adam pierce. And bailey was like, why would you do that? And EO is like, I just trying to help.
The way you describe Shotsy just made me realize they have not nailed shotsy's character on the main roster.
You don't say.
On NXT, she was seen as this cool alternative chick. You know what, she was never overexposed. But they did like segments where it just highlighted her personality. She didn't talk a lot. They did segments. I remember that Halloween havoc where she was the host of it. They did things where it made her feel special. And then they put on a main roster and then they haven't known how to use her. They're giving her a character that goes against how she looks. She should be someone. It should be an antithesis of like a charlotte flair, if that makes sense. They're just giving her the best friend, the girl next door, the best friend, the one that they give her. Like this person never wins. Or she did. Basically she's natalia for SmackDown. That is the character they've given her. And that is a shame because they can do a lot more Shotsy. Yes, her in ring IQ is not as high as most wrestlers, but what she does have is personality. But you've yet to see it if your first exposure to Shotsy, SmackDown, all of her times on raw, I'm sorry. Because she's done much better on NXT.
There's so much more to her than what we're seeing. I just want to say that.
Yeah, this is the thing because just looking at this segment, my initial thought is like, well, it certainly seems like bailey is going to put her spot on the line and then lose. And it'll be like, oh, further dissension between EO and bailey. I don't want to see shots in the latter match. Really?
Bailey, I assume that bailey actually wins. It's kind of haha see hope so. That's why I'm deleting.
I'm crossing my fingers. Speak it into existence.
Well, I feel like it's going to be like the condescending thing. Thanks, friend, for putting me in that match. I knew I can do it. Thanks for doing that for me. That kind of thing. And then EO probably does. I roll. Maybe or drats.
Yeah, we'll see. But I would much rather that than the thing I said. So we then had Bianca Bel Air backstage, and she is with Adam Pierce, and she's talking about how, like, listen, I'm going to get this rematch, because he was just like, oh, listen, there's nothing I can do, which I hate that.
Can we talk about it? Can we talk about why we hate that?
Talk to me.
Let me talk to you. Adam Pierce has this issue. There's free people, free people in his life that he can't stand up to roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Charlotte Flair. So he can't stand up to free people, but everyone else is a no. I have to remember to this day that he suspended Bobby Lashley over the most stupidest thing. But when it comes to, like, Charlotte Flair, roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, he can't do anything. His arms are tied. He gives every excuse under the sun. We can't do anything. But if someone like Bianca Belair, who deserves even though they did say rematches don't count in WWE anymore, again, the goal post changes the rules, changes every week, every year. Who knows? Bianca Belair deserves a rematch for a title that she did lose. The actual title has been evoked to something else. Charlotte's title is on Raw. So I don't understand. Yeah, Adam Pierce, I don't like that. He's too faced. He's a hypocrite. He doesn't stick to his own rule. He breaks it. For some people, that's my annoyance with the character, even though for me personally, I do think he's a good authority figure, even though they say all that, because he does not overextend his welcome.
He doesn't make the show about him. He's just there to put matches together and goes about his business.
And he's got a dirty ass. So we then had Grayson Waller talking with Charlotte Flair. The Grayson waller effect.
Grayson Waller dressing like Sat e. Yeah.
Boy, stealing your drip.
Oh, listen, he can steal it for once, you but as long as you state the sources, be happy.
So I think we have moved past the need for heel talk show segments because gone are the days of the Roddy Pipers and Chris Jericho's and everything. Because the great ones were like the highlight reel where Jericho would go out there and just do improv with whoever his guest was because he was a very entertaining, good off the cuff kind of character. Same thing with Roddy Piper, obviously, back in the day. These are not the same thing. I've had far too many smackdowns tainted with happy talk or with now, the Grayson Waller effect. Thank God I don't watch Raw and I'd have to see Ms TV and stuff, but they're all the same. They're all the same. It's just a heel being given the same bullet points to do some lame comedy. And this was pretty much that. I don't know how much a comedy it was necessarily, but he asked Charlotte if she's going to win. She says that she's got Oscar's number, and they do some woo stuff, and their timing was kind of off. Like, they were kind of tripping over each other and just it wasn't there.
You know what? Usually I'm known as the kind of person that gives things a chance, and I'm not in the business of burying things. This was the worst Grayson Waller Effect episode on the main roster thus far.
That AJ Styles One sucked.
No, see, that AJ Styles One. At least at least Grayson Waller was being antagonistic in this one. They made him portray like he was a school kid who had a crush on his teacher, and he could not control himself around her. He was shy around her. He was bashful around her, and it just didn't work. And it also seemed like it was like an awkward first date kind of thing where there's no flow, no chemistry to the conversation. There's no flow to the conversation. So that's what Tempest is describing. If there's any other week, I would defend talk shows, but I can't defend what we watch because thank goodness Bianca.
Belair came out, and so she did. Bianca belair interrupts. This segment comes down, and this promo segment was actually, like, pretty good. I thought Bianca did a very good job.
Smashed it.
Charlotte I have a lot of gripes with as a character because I use the word character very loosely because she doesn't have one. But this segment I thought was good because Bianca comes out there and says that she was going to get her rematch the right way. But Charlotte cut in line, went about things the way that Charlotte does, and Charlotte says, Listen, I didn't campaign for this. I didn't politic for this.
Wow.
The line starts and ends with me. I am the line with whatever. Okay. She says that Charlotte says that she is a champion with or without a title, but can Bianca say that? And Bianca says, like, I was the longest reigning women's champion of the modern era. Put some respect on my name.
No, she said that she was longest reigning champion. Didn't need 14 times to try for that. They need 14 times to do that. That was the main crux, because that's, like, a weird burn. Hey, have you lost 14 times? Like I have? No, I've actually kept it for quite a while. That was the crux of the promo.
Yeah.
Put some respect on that.
And it is really funny. It is the classic example of let's stack pad this person with lots of title reigns, because add up all of the times that Charlotte like, all the days Charlotte's been champion. It's not that many, at least nowhere near what you would think it would be, because there's a lot of, like, one day, two day cashed in on the same day, few week, maybe a month. Reigns padded very few lengthy title reigns. It's just like that first one where she held the divas title and then the women's title. If you count that all as one reign, it was like ten months or something like that. I don't think she's ever come close to anything that long again. Maybe I'm wrong, but regardless, point made. Bianca says put some respect on her name. Bianca says she didn't leave when she lost her title like Charlotte did, and Charlotte says that she lost her title to RIA and she didn't get a rematch. It's a different championship.
I know. I'm going to let you finish the recap and I'll see my piece. As you will say.
Bianca says that she's going to be at ringside for the title match in two weeks. And this completely leads me to believe that we're going to get a triple threat match at Money in the bank. Because that match will probably end with some Tom Foolery, a DQ finish or something. And then we'll get a triple threat, which will probably be very good because that sounds like a really good combination of stars who work well together.
I actually assume that it may be triple fret, but the alternative option is if Bianca plays a part in Charlotte not winning the title, that Bianca will get her rematch. I'm only in the bank and Charlote Charlote favor. And in SummerSlam you go both of them fighting not for the title. So Oscar can face EO Sky for the title.
Yeah. If that means that you get Charlotte and Bianca in a non title match at SummerSlam, just one on one, and then Oscar can face someone else. Yeah, I think that works brilliantly.
That's why I was speaking to Philip Lindsay of Grapsidi about this, because he, like everyone else, is doing a prayer circle, hoping that Oscar's current reign is not a transitional one. They didn't transition Bianca without the title so Charlotte can get it and Bianca chase her for months, possibly. I don't know the segment. This is my gripe with Charlotte's part of the segment. I've said it before to say it again, charlotte Flair, the inring performer, is fantastic. Charlotte Flair, the character, what the heck? So my issue is ass crack. So she undermined her points in the same promo. She said, I am champion with or without the title.
Cool.
Prove it. Without the title. Can you be champion without the title? With or without the title? I'm like, they made a hypocrite. I didn't politic my way into it. There was a recap video of her coming out to someone's championship celebration, not to congratulate her, not to say, hey, champ, this is great. I hope down the line some point I know the title that I lost is on another show, but I would like an opportunity. No, she went, I am the line. The line starts with me. That for me, feels like she demanded an opportunity. I don't know, because it's kind of like politics. Politics is like she went and conspired with someone. No, but she basically shot a shot in front of everyone and she got what she wanted. She is entitled. She was entitled about that. And then when she talked about she was 14 times champion. Have you done what I've done again? In reality? Bragging about how much times you've lost a title. And like you said, it doesn't accumulate days. When you put it together, it doesn't even stack up well. There's so much about the character they get wrong, and that's meant to be a baby face.
It kind of reminds me of a later period of the character, John Cena, where they'll get so much things wrong about the character. Yeah, with Charlotte, you got an unbearable baby face who you can't relate, because the whole point of being a baby face sometimes, nor the time, is the crowd should be able to relate to you. You can't relate to Charlotte because you don't know who Charlotte is without the title. At some point last year, I felt like the closest we got to Charlotte evolving was last year when she called us up the opportunity, when she started dressing up like Disney villain princesses. I enjoy that part at least, that it seemed like they were trying to evolve the character more than being the queen. Because we talked about in the past, all the other horse women have evolved. All the other horse women, when they debut the main roster, the characters, they had have been evolved. Heck, even Sasha Banks has now gone to another. She's gone out to the world. She's the CEO. She ain't the boss anymore. Ronda Rousey tries stuff. She tries face paint, you know, hell of an example.
Alexa Bliss gets spooky from time to time, you know what I'm saying? Nikki Cross, she's a superhero sometimes. She's sometimes cookie. Natalia, because you don't watch Raw. Natalia recently lost on Raw and she said she doesn't know who she is and she couldn't beat Natalia anymore. She doesn't know who she is, and she walked away. That one was a tease that we're finally going to get an evolution of Natalia if we don't let Tempest know it's a running joke. He doesn't watch Raw. I watch glimpses of Raw and I inform him. But yeah, Charlotte, same old stuff.
So there's a few things here for me.
Yes, sir.
Bianca Bel Air in this segment, it's so funny to me because people were starting to get real tired of Bianca Bel Air as Champion. And to me, it's 100% because of the presentation they do with Baby Face Champions.
Amen.
They are incapable, seemingly, of having a baby Face champion stay interesting to give them a character to go along with that title reign. They've been able to do it with Heel Champions because Roman Reigns, of course, has a very good character right now, and they just can't seem to do the same thing when it is a baby face champion. And then they take the title off Bianca and immediately she is ten times as interesting. And it doesn't take that much work to just make a character like that interesting when it is someone like Bianca Bel Air who has a character who has shown that she's very good at portraying herself as this confident, maybe cocky. But the NXT version of Bianca Bel Air, the very early days main roster version of Bianca Bel Air, we have seen it and now we're seeing it again. So there's no reason why her as champion couldn't have had that same edge to her. And I guarantee you, if she had that, there would be so many less people who would have gotten tired of that title reign. That being said, praise. And whatnot of Bianca Belair? To one side, charlotte flair.
Charlotte Flair. I pretty much just want to piggyback off of what you said, because I find it just infuriating watching this character, and again, I use the word character very loosely because, yes, I think Charlotte Flair is on the short list of the best big match women's wrestlers of all time.
Facts.
You see her match with RIA Ripley at WrestleMania. It's impossible to argue otherwise. She, as a character, is appallingly bad. You cannot tell me what the difference is between Charlotte Flair's character in 2023 and what it was in 2016. There's nothing, no difference whatsoever.
No development.
And the only time I can recall of her not being involved in the championship picture in a rivalry was against Lacey Evans, and it was, Ha. Your dad has gotten me pregnant. Maybe, but we're not going to say that. That's the only one I can think of. And it was also bad, so I'm not taking that as a positive example. She doesn't have a character if she's not a champion. And that's why when she comes back, it's immediately back into the title picture. If you would just put her in a rivalry, just give her a chance to tell a story. I guess the only other one I can maybe think of is when she wrestled Trish at SummerSlam that one time, and that still wasn't a great shift in character, but at least it gave her something to wrestle for. That wasn't a title. It was wrestling this legend and establishing where she lands on the pecking order. I just can't get on board with.
This as a baby face, too.
Especially not as a baby face.
It would work as a heel, I.
Would still be tired of it as a heel, don't get me wrong. But as a baby face, it is so appalling.
I think in their mind is that, oh, she's an overachiever. Another thing that kind of gripes me a bit is her character is basically a take of her dad's character right down to how many title reigns, which is a bit it's kind of like if natalia Bret's her uncle, but it's like her stick is she's a five time champion, like her uncle, you know what I'm saying? Or she's got fake chin beard, so she strokes it a lot, even though she cosplays her family a lot. But it's just kind of like it's. So one note. We feel like Charlotte is capable of so much more, but they refuse to evolve her because it's not just her. Because I've heard Charlote Flyn interviews even hint that it's just kind of like how they position her and how can she argue? You're going to make me win. Oh, this is crap. Don't push me. She's obviously happy to be pushed because it's work. But the presentation, I wish that she would do what Roman Reigns did. It's like, enough is enough. I want to take control of my character. Paul will help me with the promos and with direction of the storyline.
Because with Roman Reigns I read from Paul. Heyman. That the dog food feud with Baron Corbin was the catalyst for him to say no. I need to change things around here. This is not it for me.
Oh, shocker. Someone got tired of being in a feud with Baron Corbin.
I knew the moment I said Baron Corbin, baron Corbin stood the last men to pin Roman Reigns one on one.
Continue.
I was going to say that. Okay. Yeah. Charlotte Flair, we wish that they did more of her evolve as a character, but yeah, it's funny. On Raw, RIA has no one to face. Charlotte could have used Entitlement to go to Raw and demand a rematch because she's due a rematch and we've been fine with that.
Yeah, sure, why not? Anyway, we'll move on. But there's a lot of feelings about Charlotte Flair that frustrate me. And then John scene is a very good comparable. Carrie and Cross and Scarlett faced AJ. Styles and Meechin. AJ Styles and Meachin had a cool entrance. They did a real nice, well timed duo's entrance. I liked it.
And also Meechin had a hoodie, was kind of similar as a takeoff, AJ Styles hoodie. So when they did the post together, they both took off the hood at the same time.
It was cool. I enjoyed it. So this was again a short match and it was the classic mixed tag rules thing where it's difficult to really build the psychology there because you can never two on one anybody in this match. And Scarlett's not really a regular wrestler either, so there wasn't a lot of work between she wrestled in these guys.
But yeah, they won't let her do much in the ring, though.
It's just there's not a lot there. People aren't going to be into it. They don't know what her moves are and such.
That's sad. Sorry to cut you off, but Rhonda Rousey, she got over because she did stuff in the mixed tag. They can do it, but they refused to do it. Because it's TV time remaining.
Yeah. This, however, led to AJ Styles hitting the Styles clash on carrying. Cross appearing to get the win. But Scarlett pulled him by the hair, got him off of that thing and Meechin kind of brawled with her to the outside. Carrying cross locked in the Cross jacket. And AJ Styles was fighting, fighting, fighting. And then Karen Cross hit a new finish. It was like a pump handle slam mixed with like an F five. It was a cool move. And Karen Cross won. Karen Cross Beat AJ Styles He needed.
To at some point because he was going to be known as the new eater of pins. Spooky, spooky promo. TikTok eat a pin. Spook spooky promo. Eat a pin.
Yeah.
Terror card. Spook spooky promo. Eat a pin. So at some point, you roll your eyes, you're like this guy again who never wins. Because I was trying to consult Tempest about the results because AJ Styles coming out from being in the finals for Night of Champions, right in the mind of many that are not convinced or they don't see Carrion Cross where management want him to be for them is a step down. So for him to lose in the mixed tag match, I'll say into Tempest. Number one, Scarlett got involved. Number two scarlett trying to seduce AJ. So there's a funny moment in the match where AJ. Took off his gloves and say, I'm married. That was funny. And then Scarlett got offended and she went to smack AJ. And that's when meeting got involved. But, yeah, it was a mixed tag match. Possibly AJ may face carrying again and get his win back. You just have to remember there's extenuate circumstances that prevented AJ. From getting the victory because AJ. Would have probably have won against Carrie and Cross. But Carrion Cross needs to be built up. These kinds of pinfalls go a long way for him because I think that Ray, mysterio feud, actually did a lot more to damage him because he beat Drew McIntyre, who was once the ace of the company during the pandemic, and then he followed that up by losing to Ray convincingly and then he won the second match.
But I don't think anyone remembers that because Ray was feuding with Dominic cross has been the afterthought on the main roster. So they need to build him up somehow. And he's going into great shape as well. If you've seen his instagram, he talks about his body transformation. So good on the guy for getting where he needed to be.
Sure.
I just TikTok I'm over it, though.
I do think the damage has been done, at least for me, watching. And we were sat here being like, oh, this SmackDown reshuffle the draft and everything has left us with like, oh, there's a number of really cool potential challengers for Roman Reigns. And I think AJ Styles was probably very near the top of that list. And now here he is just losing to carrying Cross, and that, to me, does not make sense when in theory, you need more challengers for Roman Reigns after this USO's thing is done, for the summer at least, I guess you have time to build AJ back up and one loss isn't going to kill him. But I don't know. I would not be booking Carrion Cross to be beating AJ Styles, even if he's going to beat him again in a third match or anything like that. I don't know why they're feuding. The Tarot Cards just said that Karen Cross needs to feud with AJ Styles this time as opposed to last time when it was Shinsky and Akamura and he lost. Yeah, I don't know. It does nothing for me. This guy, this character, these matches. Blast.
Okay, but you're very good at booking alternatives. What would you do with a carrying Cross if you're tasked with making him interesting? What is it that's missing that you yourself would like to see different?
Even?
People, please comment on the comment section and let us know if you're not a fan of caring Cross, let us know how you would improve the character. Because he hasn't been clicking since he's come back. It's been quite awkward because in the beginning, it was like the narrative was vince put him in a stupid outfit. That's why he didn't get over. He lost to Jeff Hardy, was NXT champion. But now is it because of Jeff Hardy lost? Is it a kind of thing that is quite hard? First impressions are key, right? Is it quite hard to go with the fact that this guy was in the GIMP mask?
No, I think he just sucks. I think that Drew feud sucked. I think there were enough matches and enough segments like the fireball that just did not work and enough that has exposed him to the point where people just don't care.
Did you ever watch him in impacts wrestling?
Not a ton. I watched a lot of them in NXT. But to answer your question, yes, sir. In terms of how I would do things differently, and this is something that I've thought of for precisely 20 seconds, so bear with me. But I would probably do something to, again, accentuate his positives and hide his negative. So what are his negatives? Mostly wrestling. The wrestling side of things is not his strongest suit. His positives are his look. His style is still like a dominant style. So I would maybe look to have him be something of like the the psychological character that he was early on in the year when he was going and talking to Ray and everything, have him be hidden out in the back and have him be kind of like the monster for hire. If people want to go and just slide him some money, they don't want to do long business with him. They don't want him to be in their group, nothing like that, because they don't trust him. He's dangerous. You just slide him some money and be like he needs taken care of. We take care of Ray Mysterio, have the judgment day, pass him some money and take out Ray Mysterio.
And it's after a match and the lights go dark and the music starts and everything, and you know that you are Ft, you are absolutely screwed. And he can come down. He can kill whoever is being paid off to kill, and then he's gone, and that's it. And maybe you then leave that for further down the line. Like that person doesn't forget, or there's a score to settle or something like that. But you don't need to see a series of matches with this guy where all the matches are kind of the same and he's just not that impressive or smooth. I think that would help his aura a lot more, where he can still beat people up without then having to lose that match.
Right.
That's just an idea that I've had off the top of my head.
Kind of like how they book Cane in the beginning of taking people out before he had his first match.
Exactly. But more psychological rather than, like, slasher villain, something like that. I don't know.
There you go. I appreciate you sharing that with us.
I appreciate you. Backstage, Cameron Grimes is about to be interviewed and he's attacked by Baron Corbin.
I enjoyed it, by the way, guys. It's good that they're trying to give Corbin some edge back. That's what they've been doing at NXT. They're trying to make him serious again. That's what I missed. I missed lone Wolf. Baron Corbin. I missed his last theme that he had before he became king. That guy is six foot 600. It boggles my mind when WWE got access to big, impressive guys and they should book him like monsters, and they don't. That annoys me and Cameron Graham. I'm just happy to be here. I got no personality. NXT, cameron Graham's one of the most entertaining guys. They used to give him segments in the ring. This is a guy that was like a swamp badass who then became a millionaire because he was involved in that game spot situation where he stonks. Yes, he got some money out of it and he became a millionaire. And he had an entertaining feud of a night. A feud that I would argue made both guys as great character performers. But then, weirdly, when NXT 2.0 became a thing, they said, you know this Kevin Grimes guy, he looks ugly, trim his beard and trim his hair, and what is the motivations?
So what happened was they turned him into a Dove Ziggler esque kind of baby face, very much earnest. Someone I lost. I'm doing this for the people. They even mentioned the fact that Cameron Graham's father used to be a wrestler. So Cameron Graham's father unfortunately passed away a few. Years ago. So they start using that for sympathy. And I'm like, I understand that you want to add a character motivation, but the character he had previously yeah. It was a millionaire who, because he was so entertained as a hill, he got over as a baby face. Yeah. In their mind, a millionaire character can't be a baby face. So they stripped that kind of aspect of his character off. Then what did you have? So they turn him into this character that he kind of is right now happy to be here. What I'm trying to say is there's more to him. This guy is very talented in the ring. He can go and he also can go on the microphone. And he's a great character. When asked upon, do more of Cameron Graham's, please, because, like you said, pretty deadly. Off to the races. Their money in the bank.
Cameron Grimes, he should be doing more with him. Is Cameron Graham even in the money in the bank? He should be in the money in the bank. But they might give West's face. Logan pool somewhat spot. In the money in the bank.
Yeah, I think you've said everything that I'm feeling that and just like, this rivalry is just spinning its tires. It's the most lazy booked, like, oh, I'm going to attack you backstage, and then the next week I'm going to attack you backstage. It's whatever.
Okay. You know what I was complaining about how Austin theory has no challenges. Cameron Graham's could be that guy.
Yes. I feel like we've been saying this for like, two or three weeks.
Cameron Graham's could be that guy. And he wins. Yeah. How about that? What about caving in 3 seconds, 5 seconds, create a record and boom, he give him the title. Do the Omen warrior. Honky tonk man. Just surprise victory, you got a new champion. And off to the races.
I'm here for it. The last segment we have to talk about here is Ray Mysterio coming out and saying that forming the LWO is the accomplishment he's most proud of and welcomes Santos Escobar down to the ring and says he's going to win money in the bank. Santos comes out. He speaks a lot in Spanish. He says he loves Ray Mysterio. He idolized Ray mysterio and at Money in the bank, he's going to win that match for Ray, for his Familia, for his Rasa, for his family, for his people, and for all the WWE Universe that have a dream. This was a real, like, RA baby face.
No. Again, Santos is good at delivery. That you believe. That how he delivers it. It feels like it's coming straight from the guy's heart. Santos Esco was a great performer. He can make that work. The issue is what made him interesting was the cool lucha emperor. Everyone at LW had to pretend. Now they have to pretend. They don't come from a good lifestyle. They don't own vans that kidnap people. They don't like people anymore. They're not people that chill on yachts and have feuds with mobs. They're not as happy Mexican guys or happy Latino guys. Happy to be here. Raymond is a legend.
Whoo.
This segment was the first time I think I know where this storyline is going. I said to you, I said, do you think all of this is going to lead to Santos Escobar turning on Ray Mysterio and then feuding a WrestleMania, or will WrestleMania be the beginning? Because a part of me feel like we're very nostalgia based. Someone will go, let's recreate Eddie Guerrero and Ray Mysterio feud again when they were Tag Team champions, and then Eddie turns on Ray because they lost too much. I can see them hopefully thinking Santos could be a top guy put with Ray, because it's true. By putting Santos with Ray is exposed. Fans who still weren't sure about Lagardo, they never watch NXT. Who are these people by associating them with Ray mysterious, smart. Because now you get to know them more. Spend time ray mysterious. So by the time Santos does eventually turn around Ray Mysterio, it's going to mean a lot more because it's very much lovey dovey. I love you, I respect you. And I thought, oh, it's going to lead to a few. That's the only reason why they would be doing this. That's what I'm hoping as well.
I think that match would be fantastic. If that's like a WrestleMania match, I would very much love to see that. Because Ray Mysterio hasn't been given a ton of chances to have giant blow away WrestleMania matches. A lot of them are really short. He had his match with Dominic, which may be his best WrestleMania match. Like his world title match got cut for time. The Intercontinental title match was really short. The US title match was really short. The Cruiserweight Open Challenge thingy at WrestleMania 20 was short, or at least his involvement was. The Matt Hardy match was short. He hasn't had that many chances to really have a blow away match at WrestleMania, but I think the Santos Bar match could be his best.
Javina. The Cody match was short. It was like eight minutes.
No, but it was good. It was the second match on the show. I think it was a really fun, solid match, but it wasn't going to steal the show by any means. I think this match has absolutely the potential to steal a WrestleMania, and it's.
Going to make Santos because we know that Raymond Stew is a very giving wrestler. So, yeah, Santos is one of those guys. I keep reiterating. There's a theme in WWE. They've got a lot of great wrestlers in their late 30s, early forty s. So back in the days, Vince would be like, oh, you're a commentator or you're a coach, but when it's era where it seems like Triple H is giving people past their 40s, their flowers. I was convinced that Bobby Lashley, because of his age, they wouldn't give him a run. And he's had a great run. So I'm hoping guys at La Knight, Santos Escobar is turning 40 next year will get opportunity. Damien Priest, I think he's already turning 40. He's ready is 40. He's probably 41 now. He seems to be having a great renaissance on the main roster. So I'm hoping those guys in the late 30s, early 40s get the flowers due before it's too late, man. Because once you get to a certain age, the injuries pile up.
Hell yeah. And then the last thing on SmackDown was the main event. J USO super kicking Roman Reigns segment that we've already talked about. So overall, there was some good stuff on this show, like the match. I didn't even talk about La Knight in the match.
That was me because I hijacked with my points is my folks.
Well, I mean, the Santos escobar ray. Mysterio stuff, I think, was the point of all this. Yeah. La Knight and Santos Escobar had another short match. This was the build up for the latter match moment on the show. And La Knight tried to roll up Santos Escobar just like he did with Montez Ford where he holds onto the ropes.
And I'll say Austin Creeb and Xavier Woods as well.
Yeah.
Do you think it's like a TRO? Because every time La Knight is in a match, they give him the same kind of finish. Is it like a thing? Is that a thing? Is that trope?
I don't know. I don't know how much thought they put into this sort of thing. Maybe a lot, maybe a little, not sure. But Santos Escobar rolled through, got the pin with his own roll up. And then after the match, La Knight was beating up Santos until Ray Mysterio ran him off. So that was it. You didn't get to see any of the other people that are going to be on the Money in the bank match? Like no Pete Dunn, no Butch, he wasn't out there for the tag gauntlet, nothing like that. So it was these two guys, maybe that is telegraphing somebody who possibly is going to win. Maybe one of these two. I don't know. I really feel like a lot of people in this Money in the bank match could win. But regardless, that was the end of SmackDown. Can't believe I forgot a match. Whatever.
You didn't. I didn't let you finish.
That's what it was. Fine. Don't you blame yourself. J USO super Kicks roman Reigns Hazar. We get out of here.
Yes, sir.
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Yeah.
Pick him up. Loot Sponge.
Yeah.
Lord. Chris Santo.
Yeah.
Too lot to handle. Lottie McCulloch.
Yeah.
Manipulating. Manny Umaria.
Yeah.
How'd you like them apples? Marcel Durer.
Yeah.
Have a glass of Sherry Martel. J. Simmons.
Yeah.
He's got two first names. Matt Howard.
Yeah.
The real boss. Matt Robinson.
Yeah.
Max Kurt. Wallander. Walland, yeah.
Michael Jensen, radio.
Yeah.
Michael Mark for life. Plowman.
Yeah.
A big thank you to all of our pledge hammers, but especially to our $25 and above pledge hammers, we thank all of you. There is plenty of content over@patreon.com Russelltalk, including the full, uncut and extended versions of the no holds board new show over on Parts Funknown, where we play board games being made about wrestling, not wrestling board games, but real board games with wrestling questions. It's a ton of fun and I love doing that show. So make sure you go and see the full, uncut version of those shows as well as and you can see this right now, a week's early access to next week's episode where we play Wits and Wagers. It's a very good time, so make sure you check that out. Set. Thank you very much for joining me on another edition of the SmackDown podcast here on the Wrestle Talk podcast channel.
House of the Black Mosque. The house always wins.
Way out of time. We're out of time. We will see you next week, but make sure you check out our live reactions tonight for the first episode of AEW collision with Ollie Davis seeing his hero Centimer Punk once again returning to our screens. Oh, my God. Maybe that means the Centimer Punk news is going to stop. Probably not.
No.
Make sure you check us out. We'll see you next time.
You cannot jam. Can I jail? Can I jam? Can I jail? Close.