WWE Network Reviews: WWE Talking Smack for 06-19-21

Hey yo. It’s time for the WWE Talking Smack recap for June 19. I usually get this done on Saturday when it airs, but it was a busy weekend. My apologies for being a day late with it.

The show was hosted by Kayla Braxton and Paul Heyman as usual with the Hell in a Cell still surrounding the ring. Heyman gave Braxton grief about missing last week while he trashed the guest host Kevin Patrick, who filled in for Kayla last week. Heyman: “I miss Kevin.” Last week he said he missed Kayla. They moved to Smackdown discussion (read my Smackdown recap here) commenting about Bianca Belair facing Bayley in a Hell in a Cell match on Sunday Hell in a Cell. Heyman continued his routine of being a pain in the ass when Kayla asked him questions about the match. Heyman picked Bayley to win the match against Belair. I don’t agree with him. Heyman agreed with Kayla that Otis was way more vicious now. Kayla mentioned the Hell in a Cell main event, which led to Heyman’s monologue.

Heyman said this was like a Rocky movie come to life…except this is no Rocky movie. Heyman said that Rey Mysterio will acknowledge Roman Reigns as the Tribal Chief, Head of the Table, be all end all and the Universal Champion. Reigns banished Daniel Bryan from Smackdown while Edge is at home playing Mr. Mom and now look at what happened to Rey Mysterio. Heyman said that this coming Friday on Smackdown, Roman Reigns’ dance card is open. Heyman wondered who wanted to take their chances in not acknowledging the Tribal Chief because that is where the suffering begins. Heyman: “Rey Mysterio…Happy Father’s Day.” That ended that.

TJR Thoughts: Great monologue by Paul Heyman as usual. Normally Paul does that at the end of the show, but it’s fine to do it early considering what the main event of Smackdown was. Heyman was very happy with what happened when Roman Reigns destroyed Rey Mysterio and it’s easy to see why.

There were commercials for SummerSlam on August 21 and Kofi Kingston talking about being a dad as a plug for fatherhood.gov website.

The first guest was the “King of Strong Style” Shinsuke Nakamura while Rick Boogs was in the background playing the electric guitar. Nakamura said that he has officially become the King of WWE. Nakamura tried to bring the crown to the beach surfing, but it was too dangerous. After some Rick Boogs electric guitar playing, Nakamura has asked how it feels having Boogs play him out there every week and Nakamura said maybe he’ll learn to play guitar. Braxton congratulated Nakamura and Heyman told Boogs to play them out to end that.

TJR Thoughts: This was short. Nakamura didn’t say much other than he was happy to be the king of WWE now. When he was asked about Boogs directly, Nakamura really didn’t know what to say either. I know Nakamura’s first language isn’t English. I just think they could have done a bit more with him.

There was a commercial for Hell in a Cell while promoting Bianca Belair vs. Bayley. They also had a commercial about getting your COVID-19 vaccination shot.

The next guest was WWE Official Adam Pearce. Kayla asked Pearce about the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn rivalry and Kayla said that Zayn may be borderline obsessed with Owens. Pearce said he’s known both guys for about 15 years. Pearce said that the WWE Universe wants to see a resolution and they will get to see it on Sunday. Heyman said that Zayn was a prick and he wants to see Zayn get his ass kicked by Kevin Owens. Pearce questioned if Heyman would have made the match and he said of course Heyman would do it. Pearce didn’t want Heyman to denigrate him to his face, so Heyman said that he’ll do it behind his back. There’s Sami Zayn!

Sami Zayn said that Adam Pearce was on camera saying he wanted to see Sami get his ass kicked. Zayn said at least Heyman had the decency to lie straight to his face. Pearce said he wants to see a resolution. Zayn claimed that Pearce wants Sami to suffer. Zayn said that he is smarter than Pearce, he will always stay one step ahead and when he defeats Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell, Pearce will look foolish. Pearce told Heyman and Zayn are made for eachother while Pearce dropped the microphone. Pearce left. Zayn complained that Pearce shoulder-checked him on the way out. Zayn called it “physical assault” and Heyman said he’ll be a witness against him. Heyman said Sami will be back after a commercial.

TJR Thoughts: That was funny with Zayn and Heyman acting really annoying around Pearce, who was sick of it, so he took off. It just made me laugh to see how over the top Zayn and Heyman were during their segment.

There was a commercial about WWE going back on the road in mid-July. Getting close. A commercial aired about Hell in a Cell for the WWE Title match between champion Bobby Lashley and challenger Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match.

There were a few minutes left for Sami Zayn uncensored. Zayn said that people think the purpose of WWE is to put out quality television and put smiles on the faces of WWE fans. Zayn said that the primary function of WWE is to screw Sami Zayn. According to Sami, the real mission of WWE is to make the life of Sami Zayn a living hell. Zayn said that Heyman had a reputation as a “walrus-faced notorious liar” and Heyman said he was a lot worse than that. Zayn talked about how Heyman has lied to him and he’s caught Heyman in lies. Zayn said sometimes Heyman is honest, and when you are too honest like Zayn is you get smeared. Zayn said that they try to make him look crazy for telling the truth. Zayn said that Kevin Owens is a fighting family man when all he is at the end of the day is he’s a corporate co-conspirator. Zayn said that Owens being against him during this conspiracy is worse than any Powerbomb on the apron or stretcher job that Sami has gone through. Zayn said that “karmic justice” will be served. Zayn asked if they believed in karma while noting that Owens is going to get what’s coming to him. Kayla believed that “one of them” will receive karma. Heyman wondered why Kayla has no compassion and no heart. Heyman said that this is why he prays against karma because all of his sins are compounded since he has to host the show with Kayla. Heyman complained about Kevin Patrick again. Zayn ended it with this: “At Hell in a Cell, everybody is going to see karma and justice finally being served for Sami Zayn.” Sami left. Kayla signed off to end the show.

This episode had a runtime of 24:22.

TJR Thoughts: I thought Sami Zayn was great there. The character he is portraying right now is one of my favorites in all of WWE and he plays off Heyman so well too. My favorite part was when Zayn said that Heyman was a “walrus-faced notorious liar” and Heyman didn’t take offense to it while admitting he was much worse than that! That’s awesome. The way Sami talked in that promo made me think there’s going to be some cheap ending to his match with Kevin Owens and that Zayn might win. I don’t know, though. Zayn is booked like such a cheap heel that tends to lose more than he wins, so it’s tough to expect him to get a big win. Find out at Hell in a Cell tonight.

I’ll be back later tonight for the WWE Hell in a Cell review right here on TJRWrestling.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport