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Who Stood Out on SmackDown?

Before Money in the Bank kicks off; check out what stood out to Austin on SmackDown! How did it set the table for MitB?

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Friday Night SmackDown on July 16th took place in front of fans for the first time in 70 weeks. The show was held in Houston, TX, a city that is no stranger to historic WWE moments. The crowd was hot from the jump, and kept the energy high throughout the entire show. The WWE superstars were able to feed off of that energy, not having done so since WrestleMania, and the emotion from the superstars both on the mic and in the ring was clear.

As hard as it is to perform in an empty arena with pumped-in crowd noise, performing live in front of crowds again is no easy task either. There’s been questions of whether superstars would receive the reactions from fans that WWE was hoping for. They can push whoever they want without feedback, but what superstars are really over with the WWE Universe? One man definitely is…

Edge, the Rated R Superstar, the Ultimate Opportunist, the 2021 Royal Rumble winner and WWE Hall of Famer received the crowd pop of the night. Obviously Edge is over and is still a big deal, but surely few realized just how over or how big of a deal. The roof nearly blew off the Toyota Center at the sound of the 47-year-old’s theme music, and the support never wavered throughout the six-man tag match. Every participant in the match, which had Roman Reigns and the Usos taking on Edge with Rey and Dominic Mysterio, was able to put on a great performance and the crowd even seemed to show an outpour of support for Dominic, who wrestled for the first time in front of fans. 

Another highlight for the fans in Houston and around the world was the main roster return of Finn Bálor. Bálor, who has been a member of NXT since late 2019, returned to interrupt and attack Sami Zayn. Finn Bálor’s return to the main roster has been highly anticipated ever since he lost the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross. Bálor was the first ever Universal Champion back in 2016, but had to relinquish the belt the next night due to injury. Now that he has been placed on the blue brand with current champion Roman Reigns, fans may be treated to a feud between the two. 

Bianca Belair was able to compete in front of fans for the first time as SmackDown Women’s Champion as she retained her title against Carmella. The two put on a fantastic match where Bianca would use her hair as a whip as she did against Sasha Banks to win the title at WrestleMania. She received the support from the crowd that she deserves, and will likely hold the championship for the foreseeable future. 

It’s no secret that Kevin Owens is one of the most over, entertaining superstars on the roster, and he proved it once again as he stunned Baron Corbin to the roar of the crowd. He stole the show in the fatal 4-way main event by putting Shinsuke Nakamura through the announce table by way of an elbow drop from the top of a ladder. He’s a fantastic heel but can clearly work as a top babyface. He came up short though as Seth Rollins was able to come away with the victory in the main event. 

While the energy was high and the show felt huge, some superstars had a surprisingly disappointing showing and received a lackluster reaction from the audience. In particular, Cesaro has been one of the hottest and fastest rising stars, competing against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship two months ago at WrestleMania Backlash. His pop from the Houston crowd was small and the short segment with Chad Gable and Otis halted some of the show’s momentum. Going from a hellacious back and forth with the world champion to a beat down from Otis in 60 days can not have been the trajectory the Swiss Superman was hoping for. 

This marks the return of the live touring schedule for WWE as shows have already been confirmed around the country through September. While most fans won’t necessarily miss the ThunderDome era, it was an opportunity for certain talent on the roster to turn themselves into stars. With things back to normal, we’ll see if these stars can continue to deliver.

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Opinion

Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

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Wyatt Sicks WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions, 

The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight. 

This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail. 

The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions. 

After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama

gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania. 

It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company. 

We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!

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Opinion

Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns 

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WWE Jacob Fatu Roman Reigns Backlash

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call. 

Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story. 

The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line. 

 In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years? 

Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus. 

I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?

Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!

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SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)


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