Logan Paul was given the main event spot on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, and it remains baffling how they go back and forth between this guy playing babyface and playing heel. He receives cheers and shouts Ohio, then he does so by calling the fans to the models house.
I have whiplash here.
I’ll say this for Paul – he’s arguably as good promo as some of the people who hang out on a microphone on WWE TV every week. It’s almost surprising how comfortable he looks there, and he did a really good job of building the idea that he could land a big punch and shock the world. .
Then they worked an angle where Jey Uso ran in, attacked him from behind, then argued with Sami Zayn long enough to allow Paul to recover so he could deliver a big punch to Jey , putting it cold.
It served multiple purposes – it showed how Paul can win, however unlikely that might be, and it gave us even more of Sami and Jey unable to get and stay on the same page for more than 10 minutes. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, considering Roman Reigns wouldn’t be in the building.
I’m not quite in Ronda Rousey’s line of thinking he should win against Reigns and get the absolute best treatment WWE can give him, but he convinces me in that he doesn’t hate the idea let him stay for something more after that .
Did they really get me into the game itself, Saudi Arabia or not? How about that.
That was a little weird, huh?
Bray Wyatt cut a backstage promo to continue what he was saying last week. He did it while his new entrance theme was playing and it was incredibly entertaining. It was so distracting, in fact, that I could barely hear what he was saying.
It’s Wyatt, so design choices like this are the norm, and I’m sure there are detailed explanations for doing so. But as just TV, just a guy trying to get a message across, it didn’t really work for me.
I literally had to go back and listen again just to understand what he said.
What he said is that he was content to just stay away and do his own thing, but he’s grateful that everyone brought him back. He knows what we’re trying to do, whatever that means, but it won’t work and he’s gonna do horrible things that he won’t be sorry about because he’s “just a servant” who “goes where the Circle m ‘take away’. .”
What does it mean?
Who the hell knows!
That’s the point, I guess. More questions to be answered, somewhere down the line.
I will say this – Wyatt has a way about him that really draws you to him. The deep sound of his voice, his cadence, his unique pace. When he starts talking, I go into a trance and want him to keep talking. That’s partly why the music was so distracting and partly why they brought it back. The guy is overflowing with charisma. He is like gravity, bringing everything into him.
Later in the show, we got a promo with the masked man talking lies, and then the apparent introduction of someone new. We didn’t see much and only heard “hello”. So, Uncle Howdy, I guess!
They also did another barcode, this one leading to a photocopy of a “psychological/psychiatric evaluation” for Wyatt who said he “refused to sign” and his story shows “difficulty showing remorse or empathy/a conflict with social norms” and “disregard or violation of the rights of others”.
Fun, huh?
Everything else
- They opened this show with Sheamus taking on Solo Sikoa in a singles match to hold The Bloodline against Brawling Brutes. Predictably, the match was a good one and featured Sami Zayn again doing the Solo break character with his ringside antics. BUTCH took an incredible super kick on the outside over the announcer’s table. In the end, The Bloodline proved too much, ending up trying to injure Sheamus’ arm. It was treated as a big statement for the band. What this showed as much as anything is that Sikoa can hang on to the best of them. This guy has a future top star written all over him.
- Sonya Deville was back this week to fight Liv Morgan, who looked a bit like Harley Quinn with eye makeup that reminded me of Eric Draven and is now working with an unhinged character. She laughs but she’s clearly not happy and she only cares about the punishment, even if it means being counted out, or disqualified, or whatever. She lost her title, but she also lost her mind, can’t you see?!? Shout out to Deville for taking a superplex on a bunch of chairs laid out in the ring to make it clear how bad Morgan lost it.
- They worked a pretty good angle for the Omos vs. Braun Strowman showdown. The MVP showed up to say that Braun shouldn’t want it so much, given that he likes to call himself the “Monster of all monsters”, but that he should be careful about inviting Omos because he is a real giant. If he walks up to him, shows everyone how normal Strowman can look, then beats him up, then what? It’s a really compelling angle for this program. Then Omos came out, stood in the ring, and Strowman slowly approached him, showing that he had to LOOK UP to look him in the eye. Holy shit! Then Omos shoved him out of the ring with ease, to which Braun responded with a laugh and an “ok, big guy.” These kind of rules.
- Drew McIntyre has been interviewed to tell us that the WWE overlords aren’t happy with his attack on Karrion Kross and that repercussions could arise if more mischief happens. That said, they have been booked for a match at Crown Jewel.
- Damage CTRL retained the Women’s Tag Team Championship by defeating Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi in what was a pretty solid match. It was a clean enough win that it didn’t leave much room for a rematch. Once again, this leaves the champions with no real contenders.
- Ronda Rousey told us in an interview that she only opens up challenges to prove she’s the best, not for ungrateful fans, who have turned their backs on her. They don’t want the best to win, they want their favorites to win, and she doesn’t respect that. To hell with them. To hell with them all. She’ll do the open challenge next week, whenever she wants, because she really wanted to get the hell out of Ohio. Her delivery still isn’t the best, especially when she tries to show disdain like that in an unnatural way. I’m not giving up that she’s great in this role.
- Legado del Fantasma had a behind-the-scenes segment telling us that they’ve acquired Zelina Vega, and that’s why she’s here. She cut a promo saying they were above the rest. “We are fueled by tradition, heritage and culture.” Hit Row was shown watching this, getting good and pissed off about it. B-Fab had an idea.
- Rey Mysterio began his feud with GUNTHER this week, when he was put in a match with Ludwig Kaiser and immediately felt what it’s like to face all three. Luckily, he’s a cunning old veteran who had a friend who used to lie, cheat and fight his way to victory and he was careful. He used those tactics not to win, but to even the playing field. A real good guy. When it came to a true 1v1, Rey came out on top, much to the delight of the crowd. They perhaps stood up for this more than anything else on the show. The Mysterio family still being like this in 2022 is something else.
It was quite a pleasant sight. Nothing spectacular but not a bad way to spend your time.
Grade: C+
Your turn.
