The WWE Smackdown Reaction for 8/20/21
Welcome to the Smackdown Reaction, where I offer my take on this week’s show from Phoenix. As always, you can check out John’s full in-depth report here.
A video package starts us off on the Seth Rollins/Edge feud to lead into Promo Time with Edge. Edge was short, sweet and to the point that he was going into a darker place to burn Seth down. It was a very good promo that got straight to the point. It was a nice setup for Rollins giving us a counterpoint, later in the show.
Our first match of the night has Jey Uso taking on Rey Mysterio. We get another great match from these two, who have been opening Smackdown up in some form the past several weeks. Mysterio still hasn’t lost a beat in the ring. The end of the match had Dominik try the assisted pin but got caught by the ref instead. Dominik gets tossed from ringside and Rey talked to him about it. The Usos capitalize and Jey picks up the win. This was a great choice for the opener and I’ll still stand by pick for SummerSlam.
Speaking of SummerSlam, if you haven’t checked out the SummerSlam Preview yet, please do so. I had a chance to offer up my picks for the SummerSlam matches.
Raw is Rematch invades Smackdown with Kevin Owens taking on Baron Corbin in a rematch from last week. Corbin was still in possession of Big E’s stolen Money in the Bank briefcase. The match was not much more than an angle for Big E to try to regain his briefcase by attacking Corbin for the DQ ending. Corbin manages to escape the arena with the briefcase.
Bianca Belair is backstage with Kayla Braxton to talk about last week’s attack at the contract signing and tonight’s two matches with Carmella and Zelina Vega. It was a good segment that showed her confidence going into SummerSlam. Bianca is still my pick for SummerSlam.
We get a Championship Contenders match with Natalya and Tamina taking on Shotzi and Nox. I’m guessing the prize is the winning team gets second names? Anyway, Nox gets blasted off the apron at the bell and it turns into a handicap match that only Natalya works. Shotzi busts out the dreaded ROLLUP OF DEATH~! to pick up the win in this Three Minute Raw Special. I’m guessing this leads to a tag team title match soon.
Promo Time with Seth Rollins is up next to offer a counterpoint to Edge’s promo earlier. While he was in a white suit, Rollins admitted he is not Chinstrap Jesus but Edge Lite. Rollins said that Edge wasn’t on his level when unusual music hit and flames were all over the LED boards. It wasn’t marking the return of Kane, but Edge reverting to his Brood gimmick. Edge said you’ll never see it coming and Rollins got covered in black goop to end the segment. Excellent dueling promos and the match should not disappoint.
Up next, Montez Ford is looking for some revenge on Otis. Otis remains dominant in here and picks up the win in this Three Minute Raw Special. I’m guessing The Street Profits and Alpha Academy are heading for a tag match in the next couple of weeks.
The replay of King Nakamura capturing the Intercontinental Championship last week leads us to a tag match with King Nakamura and Rick Boogs taking on Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez. Boogs looked really good in the match, with some unique spots as well. Azeez is far more mobile than Omos is. The match was pretty good for the time given and Boogs picked up the win for his team after playing air guitar on Crews while locked in an abdominal stretch into a pumphandle powerslam. That’s a good-looking finisher.
Bianca Belair is up next for her back to back matches with Zelina Vega and Carmella (in that order). Belair dominated Vega and handled her relatively easily in a short match. Carmella was a tad more competitive but Belair finished her off.
Promo Time with Roman Reigns and John Cena is in the main event slot tonight. Cena got a great reaction from the crowd. Cena said all of Roman’s dreams end in 1, 2, 3. He’s going to capture the Universal Title and you won’t see him until WrestleMania. He’ll get #17 tomorrow night in 1, 2, 3. Roman said since we are in Vegas, let’s raise the stakes. Since Cena is going to leave for Hollywood, if Roman doesn’t walk out with the title, he’ll leave WWE. They shook hands to close the show out with Pat McAfee and Paul Heyman going: “What?”
Let’s take a look at tonight’s highs and lows.
The Highs
The promos setting the stage for Edge/Rollins and Roman/Cena were great and set the matches for SummerSlam. Bianca’s promo was really good too. SummerSlam should be a great show.
The Lows
Most of the matches tonight were quite short, with the Edge/Rollins and Roman/Cena match promos taking up most of the time tonight. The Uso/Mysterio match got sufficient time but everything else was just given a few minutes.
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That’s all I’ve got, until next time