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The Good, Bad and Ugly: SmackDown Live (4/2/19)

After a brilliant Raw, the red brand bounced back from a horrific week last week.  SmackDown on the other hand was fantastic as always and shined brightly.  The go home show to WrestleMania is here and now and we cannot wait!  Did SmackDown deliver?  Let’s get down to ringside!

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After a brilliant Raw, the red brand bounced back from a horrific week last week.  SmackDown on the other hand was fantastic as always and shined brightly.  The go home show to WrestleMania is here and now and we cannot wait!  Did SmackDown deliver?  Let’s get down to ringside!

GOOD

KO Show with AJ Styles and Randy Orton

You have to love the story here.  The indie icon and easily in the discussion as one of the GOATS of Professional Wrestling AJ Styles getting dressed down by the Elitists 3rd Generation Legend Killer, The Viper Randy Orton.  The insults are personal and seem begrudging.  There is some real Good heat here and the back and forth and stiff shots are great for the story.  As usual just as it looked like Orton was down for an “RKO” out of nowhere took out AJ Styles in this heated segment.  Good stuff and if this is the preview for WrestleMania, we have some real Good stuff ahead.   

The Usos and Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev and The Bar

Given that everyone in this match are actual top tier talent, and many former decorated Champions, this one was a winner from the start.  Non-stop action with Cesaro and Ricochet shining out of the pack.  The Heels were in control most of the time beating down Jey Uso for the majority of the contest.  Everything was smooth and everyone looked WrestleMania ready.  This was full time, high caliber content and WWE really had a winner here.  Finally after endless punishment Jimmy Uso got the much needed tag, and a ton of craziness followed.  Everyone got in a shot (or should I say signature kick) as everyone dropped their respective opponents.  In the end, the Usos hit a “double superkick” to the mighty Rusev for the Victory.  As everyone expected the Usos had to answer for their forfeit last week with New Day out of respect to Kofi Kingston.  Their punishment is they will have to face all 4 teams involved in this week’s match.  Obviously this caused massive destruction as all 4 teams beat the hell out of each other for position.  When the smoke settled it was NXT’s Superstars Ricochet and Aleister Black who stood victorious.  Will they get the WWE Tag Team Championships on the biggest show on Earth?  Possibly, but no matter what, this match should be amazing.  Good stuff again!

(3-1 Falls Count Anywhere) The Miz vs. Sanity

Originally just a 3 on 1 to punish The Miz by the all-powerful Shane McMahon, Miz did just a little too Good for his WrestleMania opponent’s liking.  Shane interrupted and made it a Falls Count Anywhere while the match was already underway.  This whole thing is crap for a number of reasons.  First, Sanity should have crushed Miz quickly and won this match, no question.  They are being sadly squashed by the machine and completely wasted.  This is living proof of that.  Secondly after the falls count anywhere was added Sanity certainly should have crushed Miz without any delay as they love to play with weapons and kill it hardcore.  That is their pleasure.  This was a joke.  Miz who just recently became a Baby Face is a coward in the ring and loves to cheat and run, that is his whole deal.  Having him “fight” and Win against Sanity is a joke and completely wrong, no matter the reason.  Also if that isn’t enough where the hell is Eric Young’s beard? 

For the purposes of the Good, Bad and Ugly format however I must write about the actual action.  The actual match and the action was Good.  Miz brought it and Sanity is amazing in the ring.  This was a hell of a match and looked great.  Miz wins and the match was honestly Good especially given the odds were completely stacked against it.  Hopefully the Good luck continues as I have very little hope for the Miz/McMahon Match at WrestleMania. 

“The Man” Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch and company had a hell of a night on Raw, getting brutalized and arrested for her efforts.  The segment went well and the crowd is pumped for this match.  Lynch really is red hot and cannot fail.  She grabbed the mic and went atop the announce table to reiterate that “The Man” will make one of her opponents tap, and will leave with both titles.  Good, solid promo, and the more Becky Lynch comes out, the happier the audience will be.  Good for the show and Good for business. 

Mixed Tag Match (18 competitors all from either the Andre Battle Royal or Women’s Battle Royal)

If you saw this then you already know, or maybe not.  This was just insane.  Firstly the actual amount of people involved, added with the special mixed tag type rules and the complete chaos of it all was just overwhelming.  Add another Lacey Evans runway moment and the absolute randomness and we had quite a circus on our hands.  It was like having a Grand Finale in the middle of nowhere before the end of the show.  Everyone did well, the action looked Good, and it was entertaining to the audience.  These types of matches are Good in a way due to the fact that the fans get to see so many faces.  The highlight was of course the Mandy Rose and Otis stare off, as it was so Good.  Otis is Gold and can be tremendously valuable to the brand for his antics and charisma.  All of a sudden the match turned into an over the top battle royal and the last person standing of course was the Empress Asuka.  Not real sure what the hell was going on but I liked it! 

Samoa Joe vs. Ali

Both guys can go and they did well this week.  This short but brutal match looked sharp.  Ali did well fighting back against the violent strikes by the United States Champ.  Joe beat Ali down but couldn’t keep him at bay.  Ali came back with a series of high impact moves and spectacular offense.  Just as he was to hit a “450” Joe moved and locked in the “Coquina Clutch” for the impressive victory.  This was a solid, entertaining match.  All Good!

Contract Signing w/ Kofi Kingston and WWE Champion Daniel Bryan

With a hot crowd behind him Kofi Kingston entered the ring with his New Day brethren in tow to sign the biggest contract of his career.  Daniel Bryan of course heeled out and did well at that.  This wasn’t Bad overall.  There was a ton of emotions, and a ton of passion in what we saw.  The crowd just loves Kofi and Daniel Bryan plays off it so well.  This should be an excellent match and maybe even the match of the night rivaled by Orton/Styles.  All of this cheap heat mixed with the real love behind Kofi this is sure to be a great one.  Kofi Kingston took it all in silently stewing as the tension built up.  It was finally his time to talk.  Kofi deserves his shot, and worked his ass off, and as he said “it all lead to this moment.”  He will have his shot and everyone is ready for the era of Kofi.  KofiMania is alive my friends and we cannot wait to see it.   

BAD

The IIconics

This was just horrible.  Let me clarify something though.  In my humble opinion, Peyton Royce is fantastic, she can work, talk and is unbelievably pleasant at all times on screen.  We could stand to see a TON more of her and I believe the more time she gets the better for all of us.  Having said that she is on another planet compared to her bestie Billie Kay.  Billie Kay is weighing her down in the worst way and it shows.  These promos are terrible and it is shocking that they get so much mic time.  This promo did nothing but solidify just how much no one cares about them in this match on Sunday.  Personally I would take the IIconics over the horrendous Nia Jax and sad case of Tamina Snuka all day but this still was Bad. 

UGLY

FINAL

Good- 7

Bad- 1

Ugly- 0

OVERALL

This was an excellent show overall.  Great action and really solid energy heading home to WrestleMania.  SmackDown was near flawless and looks like they are ready to go for the big night!

Raw was Great, SmackDown was Great, now comes NXT.  NXT is coming off of a Bad week.  Shockingly they aren’t perfect!  However this is the take home show prior to Takeover and WrestleMania weekend.  This week should rock out!  See how NXT fared on the next Good, Bad and Ugly only on thechairshot.com.

About Chairshot Radio Network

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 MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

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TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

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Opinion

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS: WWE Bash In Berlin Immediate Reactions

Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM

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Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM

Powered by RedCircle

@TheMindlessPod @PCTunney @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – TONS of Great designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

 MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY – Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling) 

THURSDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – The Front and Center Sports Podcast 

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

 


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About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

 MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling) 

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast 

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR


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All Shows On Demand


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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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Opinion

AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams

AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.

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It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.

At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!

#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)

r/Wrasslin - when did Brock lesner begin his farmer and cowboy gimmick and when did he stop doing the gimmick ? is it worth watching I believe it was 2021 but not sure when he stopped the gimmick
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?

First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.

Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.

That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.

#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)

10 Greatest Summerslam Entrances in WWE History - GameSpot
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.

Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.

The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.

As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.

So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.

#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)

Vickie Guerrero on Rey vs. Dominik Mysterio: 'I wish I was part of it' -  Cageside Seats
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.

I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.

Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…

Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.

Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

 MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling) 

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast 

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR


Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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