Time to TALKETH the Smack!

We’re ever closer to WrestleMania Backlash, and things are getting heated! What bit of Talking Smack will the Mysterios and Sonya Deville have to say?

Kayla Braxton welcomes us back to the show!

Heyman tells her he doesn’t want to talk about something until he’s ready so just do the intro already. Way to ruin it, Paul. “HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA!” Welcome back to Talking Smack, “throwback” edition. That’s why Kayla’s hair is curled, she hasn’t had it like this since she was a kid. Did Heyman know that’s what SmackDown was? Well his hair sure hasn’t changed. Kayla apologizes for Heyman’s rant, he’s still salty about how SmackDown ended in a way it hasn’t ended in a long time. Cesaro got the jump on Roman Reigns, isn’t he amazing? He deserves his opportunity at #WrestleManiaBacklash against Roman for the Universal Championship. She offers Heyman his chance to speak but he doesn’t take it so she says, “Congratulations, Cesaro! You go get ’em!”

Heyman asks if Kayla finds her bias to be sycophantism. Oh HER bias? Well she’s supposed to be the objective host but she’s not. She’s supposed to carry all the credibility while Heyman gets to have the “Tainted viewpoint” as the “villain.” Well yes that is him every single week. She brings on the incredible roster to the show- That’s the problem! She looks at them as incredible, he looks at them as credible because he uses proper grammar as a legend of 34 years. He only shows his bias to the Reigns-ing, Defending, Undisputed, Uncontroverted, Universal Heavyweight Champion of the World, Roman Reigns. And when it comes to that bias, that doesn’t make Heyman wrong.

Well we’ll watch back what happened on SmackDown because there is no bias here. Jimmy Uso returned but it wasn’t as warm a reunion as hoped. Cesaro goes after Roman, Jey goes after Cesaro, Cesaro goes after Jey, Jimmy goes after Cesaro, Cesaro stands tall. Is this all a sneak peek of what happens at Backlash? Heyman still doesn’t want to talk so maybe at the end of the show. But also next week’s SmackDown, Tamina & Natalya get another shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, she feels there’s a strong chance we’ll have NEW champions. And since she’s basically talking to herself, let’s just move to our first guest! Ladies and gentlemen, it is the #1 contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships!

Rey & Dominik Mysterio join Talking Smack!

Heyman shakes Rey’s hand and then Dom’s, and Kayla congratulates Dom for beating Dolph Ziggler. Rey was supposed to have the match but Ziggler talked trash, and Dom showed him to shut up. Satisfying, right? Yeah, Ziggler had it coming. Rey was a little surprised Dom wanted to step up but he’s also proud that Dom got the job done. Was Rey offended at what Ziggler said? How Dom doesn’t belong and is just a legacy who is only Rey’s kid. Ate his words, didn’t he? Dom is 24 years old, so he’s no kid. Rey is proud of Dom’s accomplishments in just a short time. And they’re so close to history, the first father-son tag team to be champions. That would be up there with the biggest things Rey’s done in his 30 year career.

One week away, surely they’re preparing. Ziggler & Roode are still strong competitors, and Rey feels the pressure because he wants this dream to become reality. Sharing the ring with Dom has been special, but to have this chance at history, that’s unbelievable. There’s stress and good pain, and it’ll all feel better at Backlash. Kayla says Throwback SmackDown should’ve given us some classic “Lil’ bitty Dom” with Rey and Eddie Guerrero. Did Dom ever imagine then he’d be in a team with his dad? No, not at all. This is an honor, and Dom is just glad that he doesn’t have bleached hair. Kayla says he should’ve brought it back. Dom says he’s looking forward to Backlash.

Does Heyman have any advice for their tag title opportunity? Oh well thanks for framing what he was going to say in parameters that he is not going to follow. Heyman looks to Rey and Dom and says only a fool would bet against them. Those who bet against Rey early in his career were fools, too. Either against Psicosis or Juventud Guerrara, it didn’t matter who, when people bet against Rey, he proved them wrong. And it boils down to a simple formula: take on Ziggler & Roode; if you lose, then you simply continue the quest; if you win, you return here as champions. One way or another, there’s eight days left, and the best of luck to them. Rey thanks Kayla and Heyman for their time, and up next will be the boss lady, Sonya Deville!

Sonya Deville joins Talking Smack!

Kayla is happy to have her back, and Heyman says it’s all the better just for seeing her. Well he says that to everyone. Heyman tries to get Kayla to stop embarrassing him in front of Sonya. Kayla is pretty sure it wouldn’t matter. Oh, what, she’s not a chubby chaser? Not into Jewish men? Something else not her type? Umm… Let’s move on. Sonya tells Kayla she can tell Heyman if she wants. No, it shouldn’t have to be told. But yes, moving on. Throwback SmackDown, Sonya had a cool opportunity to hang out with Teddy Long. That was great stuff, Teddy has great energy, he’s fun, they got to dance and make decisions.

Kayla wants to get into it, and not to disrespect her, but when she says “they” got to make decisions, she has to bring up how we’ve seen Sonya on Raw lately, and it seems like it’s Sonya making decisions. These aren’t Kayla’s words, but maybe Sonya was manipulating Teddy. No, everyone is mistaking Sonya’s passion as going behind someone’s back. That’s not this at all. She’s passionate about this job. She said she was a different person, that she’d work her butt off in whatever capacity she can. If others take that the wrong way, that’s on them. She’s trying to make SmackDown AND Raw the best they can possibly be for all superstars.

So this isn’t a power trip? She and Adam Pearce seem to be butting heads, not on the same page, Sonya’s doing things without him. There seems to be a smugness to it. No, when you’re an official like her and Pearce, sometimes a decision needs to be made and so she has to make that decision on her own. Pearce does the same, there’s nothing to it. She does her job, Pearce does his, as far as she can tell. Kayla says Heyman seems to be squirming, why is that? Heyman says Kayla is so diplomatic. He turns to Sonya and says she is a mixed martial artist! Now she wears suits, which she looks magnificent in, but c’mon. They drag the nostalgia act out that’s been dead for nine years, and yet Sonya’s so nice about it, even though Teddy walked all over her.

And then Pearce, he tries to shout her down. If Pearce raised his voice to Heyman, Heyman’s from New York and he’s whoop that ass! Sonya could beat the asses of 75% of the MALE roster, let alone an executive like Pearce. Where’s the female empowerment? Time for Sonya to stop being nice, it doesn’t suit her. Time to draw the line in the sand and show people show she really is! Heyman knows who that is, so it’s time for Sonya to step up, step over Pearce and whoever else, and take over. End of lecture, because Heyman cares about Sonya. Kayla tells Sonya that she should think that one over. Sonya shakes Heyman’s hand, pats it, and tells him, “I’m not the girl you think I am anymore.” Is that her rejecting Heyman’s advice?

Kevin Owens joins Talking Smack!

The Prizefighter likes the virtual KO thing in the air. Kayla wants to say a belated Happy Birthday to Kevin, and everyone surely wanted to wish him that. Yeah, he got dumped on his head by Chad Gable, that was rough. A little rough, right, Heyman? But still great, he woke up to his wonderful wife and kids, they had cake for him, he came here to do what he loves for a living, and now he’s on Talking Smack. Heyman wants Kevin to be careful, the table is glass. No, it’s not. It’s clear, but it’s not actual glass. But anyway, another great birthday he had that sticks in his mind was a few years ago. WWE was on the road, Kevin was riding with Sami Zayn, go figure. Complicated history.

But there was also Big Cass, and a fourth guy. They were in South Dakota, and there was spare time in the day. They didn’t usually travel, those four. The fourth guy was a special addition. They got to see Mount Rushmore, and some bears. Heyman can’t believe Kevin tolerated a prick like Sami. Well this fourth person Kevin is talking about is someone who could tolerate a prick like Sami because he tolerates one like Heyman. It was ROMAN REIGNS. So they had great fun on Kevin’s birthday, and Kevin would never do that with Roman now. Because people change.

Another thing Kevin remembers fondly wasn’t on his birthday, but the first week he was on the road with the WWE. It was 2015, Kevin was on Raw, he beat John Cena, but he was still NXT Champion and had a good thing going. But Heyman knows what tends to happen when someone rather unknown shows up. Is that rhetorical? No, just answer him. Heyman knows what he thought when he saw Kevin beat Cena. Kevin says that there was animosity, he didn’t have friends. Consequences of his actions, stuff like that. So Kevin was alone, beating Cena rubbed some people the wrong way, new kid dropping a top guy. Kevin had been doing this for however many years but can’t get a break, all that stuff.

Anyway, Kevin stops at a Waffle House, guess who was there? Someone who needed Pepto-Bismol after? No, it was Jimmy & Jey Uso, along with Naomi and Tamina. Kevin was new, he didn’t know anyone, and they were at a full table anyway. He nods, sits on his own, eats his eggs ‘n’ toast, it was nice. He goes to pay, the others head out, and the cashier says they already paid for Kevin. Kevin remembers like it was yesterday, what a wonderful gesture. And that is where people change. Because now, Jey would… How to put it? Is it brainwashed? Manipulated. Yes, thanks, Kayla! She deserves more credit for doing this show when someone tries to take the spotlight away.

But yes, Jey being manipulated into the ass he is now, Jimmy doesn’t want to be like that. The Head of the Table’s reach is obviously something to reckon with, but people change. Kevin’s changed, too. He’s alone a lot but he has friends. There’s something else that changed: When Kevin was Universal Champion the first time, he didn’t enjoy it at all. He was so obsessed with being the best possible champion, trying to make things better, trying to make the show better because he represented the brand. He was so obsessed, he couldn’t enjoy any of it. But this is where he’s changed. Because when he becomes champion again, he’ll enjoy every second of it.

And Kevin is telling Heyman now, if Cesaro doesn’t win, if someone else doesn’t win, it will be Kevin. Don’t make the mistake to think Kevin is gone, because he’s not going anywhere. Questions? Nope. Kevin takes a few more spins in his chair as Kayla says Heyman will have his time after the break. Kevin shouts, “BREAKING NEWS!! HEYMAN’S GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!”

Talking Smack returns once more.

Kayla says before giving Heyman the floor, a quick recap from SmackDown. We saw Roman, Heyman and Jey give a “ten bell salute” because we know Daniel Bryan is banished from the brand. Jimmy returned, but things only got complicated from there. And SmackDown ended with Cesaro laying out The Bloodline. Cesaro is going to challenge Roman at Backlash, and there is dysfunction between the Usos. Roman could still retain, but the “house divided” might fall. Heyman, your thoughts. Heyman scowls at Kayla, but then he stares at the camera. He adjusts his pocket square, scowls a little more, takes off the ear piece, and puts it away. Talking Smack history has been made! Heyman is SPEECHLESS!

My Thoughts:

What a great episode! I noticed some interesting new production choices, like seeing Sonya on “standby” and the other guests walking up. It’s alright, makes it feel more like an extension of SmackDown. The Mysterios had a decent segment, but I do like that Kayla wanted some more throwback to the Mysterio-Guerrero story that involved Dom. I honestly feel like WWE dropped the ball with that just after the Mysterios finished their feud with Rollins and were moving on to Corbin. Where was Dom learning from his “other father” in Eddie by using film? It would’ve been a great plug for the WWE Network, or Peacock now, and also taking that rather odd angle and making it into something really special for Dom’s character.

Heyman not knowing Sonya is homosexual, not heterosexual, is a rather interesting running gag. Is it just to say he’s too old to “get it?” Like a weird poke at Vince McMahon being too old and out of touch? Anyway, I do like his advice to Sonya about taking over by any means necessary, and then her saying she isn’t like that. Things can still happen that pits Sonya against Pearce, either through a classic Survivor Series “Team Sonya VS Team Pearce,” or just straight up her and Pearce in a co-ed match. Kevin had a great segment bringing up the past to bring it into continuity, and I actually think Heyman NOT saying anything to end the show is genius. Between Cesaro, Jimmy Uso and Kevin, Heyman is stressing out and that implies this is the most vulnerable Roman’s reign has been.