WWE Smackdown Live – Sept 25th 2018: Results & Review
Welcome to this week’s Smackdown review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have… The Miz! Yeah, I know. Who cares? Actually, I like The Miz, but he doesn’t sell tickets, so it’s hard to get folks excited about a guy who isn’t a star. Oh, legendary film producer Gary Kurtz died. Kurtz worked with George Lucas all the way through The Empire Strikes Back and was very talented. Kurtz could be accused of being a bit too stubborn on many occasions, but he was passionate and seemed to be a good man. If The Miz had produced Star Wars, it would have just been him licking things for two hours. Let’s wrestle, Chico!
Match #1: The Miz def. R-Truth
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
With each of their talk shows on the line (sort of, but not really), The Miz squared off against R-Truth, with Daniel Bryan providing guest commentary from ringside. Truth looked to duplicate his upset of The A-Lister from several weeks ago by coming out of the gates hot. Miz, however, soon quelled his former Awesome Truth partner to take control. Truth landed some stinging haymakers to stagger The A-Lister, but Miz countered by raking Truth’s eyes behind the referee’s back before connecting with the Skull-Crushing Finale. The A-Lister stared down The Beard intently, then nailed Truth with Bryan’s signature Running Knee to get the win.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – Once upon a time, R-Truth became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, not once but twice. Now, R-Truth, or Ron Killings as he was called in TNA/Impact, is stuck acting like a dink with The Miz, who is a good wrestler, but is forced to play the part of Gary Busey while the bowling ball lands on his head. Who did these guys piss off to get stuck as Dumb and Dumber? What makes this worse is that this was a fine match, but it gets ruined by bizarre booking decisions like Miz and R fighting for a talk show. Screw the talk show! I feel like doing a Phil Donohue here. Vince! Vince! Are you kidding me, here? Vince! Get real! Okay, enough Donohue. There’s a reason why we cancelled the damn show.
Match #2: Sheamus def. Big E
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
With The New Day’s defense of the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against The Bar at WWE Super Show-Down less than two weeks away, Sheamus looked to ignore The New Day’s usual pre-match antics prior to his bout against Big E and keep his team rolling after Cesaro defeated Kofi Kingston last week. The two brutes collided in an ultra-physical contest, as their partners watched on from ringside. Barbaric strikes were exchanged, with each looking to pummel the other into figurative, or possibly even literal, submission. In the height of the action, Big E blocked a Brogue Kick and nearly drove The Celtic Warrior through the canvas with an awe-inspiring powerbomb, but Sheamus kicked out and soon tattooed Big E with the Brogue Kick for the clutch victory.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This match was built on the idea that E wanted to get revenge for Sheamus treating the young fighters in developmental like crap. This was only alluded to on Twitter, but it was hinted at with The New Day acting more serious and intentionally so. The action was good and had a nice back and forth flow. Oh, look at me…Mr. Yoga Man, talking about flow. You can expect to see less dancing and more fighting, which is always welcome in professional wrestling.
Match #3: Asuka & Naomi def. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
With their WWE Super Show-Down opponents The IIconics on commentary, the new super-team of Asuka & Naomi looked to make a major impression while matched up against the deadly combo of Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville on SmackDown LIVE. The two teams nearly came to blows earlier in the evening during an altercation backstage, and the animosity spilled into the ring for a heated tag team collision. While Billie Kay & Peyton Royce talked their signature smack from ringside, Asuka & Naomi simply snatched Rose & Deville bald and put the duo away by connecting with dynamic stereo kicks right to Deville’s dome piece to pick up the win as The IIconics watched on in disgust.
My Take: 2 out of 5 – There wasn’t much here, but Asuka looked good.
Match #4: Tye Dillinger def. Shinsuke Nakamura via disqualification
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
After Tye Dillinger called out United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on social media over the weekend, the two squared off in non-title competition. The Perfect 10 came to scrap, not backing down in the face of Nakamura’s deadly Strong Style. However, the combatants were abruptly interrupted by Randy Orton. Caring not for the proceedings going down in the ring, The Viper absolutely brutalized Dillinger, leaving him down and almost completely out after a DDT from the apron onto the floor. From there, The Apex Predator flashed Tye’s signature “10” signal in his face and departed, and it seemed like WWE’s Rockstar was about to do the same … before turning around and nailing the wounded Dillinger with a Kinshasa that knocked The Perfect 10 right into the LED board on the side of the ring.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was good while it lasted. Actually, this was the most attention that Tye has gotten in a long while. Between wrestling Nakamura and getting attacked by Orton, you’d think Tye was important, but Vince would beg to differ.
Match #5: Main Event – Becky Lynch def. Lana
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
During a backstage altercation earlier in the evening, SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch poked fun at Lana regarding Aiden English’s “Milwaukee” comment, then all but demanded that Lana atone for her sins (whatever went down in Wisconsin and her “lack of in-ring skills”) in a non-title match against her tonight. Clearly with her head elsewhere, Lana attempted to stay in step with The Irish Lass Kicker, but she never really had a chance. Lynch toyed with her until finally locking in the Dis-arm-her for the submission win.
My Take: 2 out of 5 – This wasn’t much of a match, but at least Lynch won.
News Of The Night:
- Randy Orton is not targeting Tye Dillinger, but just hates the Perfect 10.
- Becky Lynch attacked Charlotte Flair in a back-stage photo shoot and got a tremendous ovation from the crowd.
- Samoa Joe abandoned the World Title contract signing in the finale of Smackdown so he could go to AJ Styles house while AJ was left to watch on the Titantron.
- Aiden English implied that Lana did some-thing bad in Milwaukee.
Final Verdict: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a decent Smackdown that should have been better, but that’s just par for the course these days. The important angles were honored and kept alive, so at least the priorities were correct.