TJR: WWE Smackdown 08/21/20 Review (WWE ThunderDome Debuts)
Welcome to the WWE Smackdown review here on TJRWrestling for a live edition of Smackdown from the Amway Center in Orlando. There are no more taped shows from the WWE Performance Center. It’s back to being a live show and we also know that it’s the debut of the WWE ThunderDome, which is an impressive display of lights/screens that are designed to enhance the product. Here’s a video WWE released earlier on Friday that shows off some of the features of the ThunderDome structure. It looks pretty cool here.
This is the go-home edition of Smackdown as we head towards Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. Let’s find out what WWE has in store for us this week.
From the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, this is Smackdown for episode #1096. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Please visit TJRWrestling.net daily for our regular updates on the wrestling business featuring WWE news coverage along with reviews about wrestling’s past and present.
The show began with a shot of the new WWE ThunderDome structure as the Smackdown introduction song “Are You Ready?” played. The pyro went off in the arena and the re were giant screens all over the Amway Center. It was a huge pyro display. The graphic said that we are at “WWE Thunderdome” instead of the Amway Center in Orlando. Michael Cole welcomed us to the show and Corey Graves was at ringside with him as the usual Smackdown commentary team.
Let’s Hear from Vince McMahon
The WWE Chairman Vince McMahon welcomed everybody to Smackdown and he welcomed us to WWE’s ThunderDome. He did one of his classic Vinny Mac introductions. Vince said that this Sunday at SummerSlam, you’ll never see it coming. There were faces in the background that were fans that signed up to be part of this. As Vince was saying you will this on Sunday and every week…The Fiend made his entrance with Vince in the ring. Cole: “Oh my God.”
Analysis: Vince sounded good doing the welcome to ThunderDome bit. Sometimes in recent years, he hasn’t sounded great as he has gotten older, but it was normal Vince here.
The Fiend made his entrance with the red lights in the building along with the slow walk down to the ringside area. Vince remained in the ring waiting for The Fiend’s slow walk. While this was happening, the video screens on the wall were off because the building was black/red as The Fiend entered the ring with Vince. It took a few minutes, but The Fiend finally got to the ring.
The Fiend stood face to face with Vince, who backed away and then The Fiend stepped closer to him. When Vince stepped to the side, The Fiend stepped to the side as well. That’s when Braun Strowman made his entrance after some train noises. Strowman walked out with the Universal Championship around his waist. Graves said that this is no longer the same Strowman that the WWE Universe loved, which tells us Braun is more of a heel now. Vince was gone when Braun got to the ring.
Strowman and The Fiend faced off in the middle of the ring. The fans were shown on the video wall behind them. That’s when Retribution members showed up and they were all over the ring apron. There were probably about 15 of them this time, so it was more than usual. Braun and Fiend nodded at eachother, so then Fiend waved at Braun, the light went out and Fiend was gone.
Strowman was left alone with the Retribution members as all of them got in the ring and Strowman tried to fight them off. Strowman was knocked down in the ring while there were too many camera cuts. The locker room emptied out and they went into the ring to try to fight off Retribution, but Retribution was in control. That led to a second wave of WWE superstars going into the ring, which were men and women, and they were able to clear the ring of the Retribution members. The Miz ran out there after the others were already in the ring. Strowman was helped back up to his feet and he was selling it like he was rattled by it. Strowman decked Drew Gulak with a clothesline and tossed Jey Uso over the top to the floor. Strowman left angrily.
Analysis: There was a lot there in the first ten minutes of the show. I like that Vince didn’t take a bump because he’s turning 75 years old on Monday. He doesn’t need to take bumps anymore. Strowman wanting to fight Fiend and Fiend disappearing saves us from that until SummerSlam on Sunday. The Retribution group had more people than ever, so it shows that they are going to have a lot of people as part of the group. I like that there was a save by the roster. Something worth noting for The Retribution angle is that The Miz was late to try to save John Morrison last week. And then this week, Miz was the last guy out of the locker room, so it’s teasing Miz is involved with Retribution somehow. I don’t know if that’s too obvious that it’s a swerve, but it’s worth keeping an eye on in the future.
(Commercial)
The show returned with wrestlers still around the ring with Sheamus arguing with Big E about things. That set up their match for this week.
Big E vs. Sheamus
The ring was surrounded by wrestlers around ringside. Big E hit a clothesline to send Sheamus out of the ring. Big E hit a running shoulder attack on Sheamus into the steel steps. Big E set up Sheamus on the apron and hit a running splash on Sheamus. This was the first match with the big video board full of fans and it looked pretty unique. Sheamus with a neck snap against the ropes followed by Sheamus hitting a clothesline off the top rope. Sheamus worked over Big E wit the ten forearms to the chest. Big E tried a comeback, but Sheamus hit him with a backbreaker for two. The lights were flickering on and off as everybody wondered if Retribution was back and the show went to break there.
(Commercial)
The match continued with Big E doing his comeback with the two belly to belly suplex, then the belly to belly slam and the running splash. I have written about many New Day tag team matches where Big E did that sequence of moves nearly every match. Sheamus avoided the Big Ending, then he charged, Big E caught him and then Sheamus hit a rising knee to the face for two. Sheamus charged at Big E, who hit a uranage slam for a two count. Sheamus was on the apron, Big E charged and Sheamus got a knee up to block the attack. Big E charged, Sheamus moved and Big E hit the ring post. Sheamus hit the White Noise slam on Big E as King Corbin punched Matt Riddle in the head while they were on the floor. That led to Corbin and Riddle brawling. Sheamus was distracted, so Big E got the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! on Sheamus for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Big E
Analysis: **3/4 This was a solid match that felt like it was a start of the rivalry rather than some definitive end. Whenever they do the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! finish that tells the audience that it was a close win that may set up another match. As soon as I saw the guys at ringside I knew one of them was going to lose, but I thought it would be Big E and then Sheamus would win. I prefer the Big E win, though, so that’s certainly fine with me. I’m glad that Big E continues to have positive momentum even though it was cheap due to Corbin and Riddle on the floor.
Jeff Hardy was shown in the trainer’s room with a doctor checking on his right knee.
Lucha House Party were shown walking backstage for their title match, but Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura were there to attack them from behind. The champs walked off with their title match up next.
(Commercial)
The teams entered for the Tag Team Title match.
Smackdown Tag Teams Championships: Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro vs. Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) w/Kalisto
Metalik with a headscissors takeover, but then Nakamura came back with a knee and a kick to the back. Cesaro with a running elbow smash for two on Metalik. They did a cool spot where Metalik managed to flip up to Cesaro’s shoulders with a headscissors. Cesaro hit a sitout Powerbomb on Metalik after Cesaro caught him on a diving attempt. Miz and Morrison were doing a backstage promo in the backstage area. Nakamura worked over Metalik with a knee drop and Cesaro was back in with a leg drop for two. Nakamura and Cesaro did a double boot to the face of Metalik to knock him down. Cesaro suplexed Metalik across the top rope. Metalik did a nice job of coming back with a leap off the top rope into a hurricanrana off the top. That was cool. Dorado tagged in against Nakamura with a kick and then a cross body block off the top on Nakamura. Dorado sidestepped Nakamura, leaping kick to the head and Dorado did a cartwheel to get away leading to a kick to the head. Dorado hit the triple moonsaults off the turnbuckle for a two count as Cesaro broke up the pin. Dorado with a headscissors to send Cesaro out of the ring. Metalik jumped over the top, Cesaro caught him and I think Metalik was going for a headscissors, but then Metalik landed flat on his back. Ouch. Cesaro still took the bump because he’s great. Kalisto checked on Metalik at ringside. Nakamura hit an inverted Exploder Suplex on Dorado. Nakamura went after Metalik and stomped on him and I think they realized Metalik was hurting a bit. Dorado hit a springboard Stunner on Nakamura. Cesaro got the tag, Dorado with a sunset flip for two. Dorado went for a hurricanrana, Cesaro rolled through it and Cesaro was able to get the sunset flip pin to get the win after about six minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro
Analysis: **1/4 This was an average tag team match with a few moments where they felt off a bit. The spot where Metalik jumped over the top onto Cesaro on the floor and then landed hard on the floor looked brutal. I don’t think that went as they planned, but the good thing is Metalik was fine after the match. That finishing sequence with Cesaro and Dorado was excellent. It was perfectly executed even though that’s not an easy spot to do. The champs retaining was the obvious result here. I wonder if WWE will finally push Heavy Machinery into the title picture since Smackdown is lacking actual teams right now.
Post match, Kalisto yelled at Dorado about the loss. Dorado and Kalisto argued about what happened. Metalik got in between them to keep them from fighting, but you could tell that issues were being teased between the trio.
Jeff Hardy was shown getting his injured right knee getting worked on by a trainer.
There was footage shown of the brawl with Retribution leading toa brawl with the Smackdown locker room. Hardy was fighting on the floor along with AJ Styles and you could see Styles kicking Hardy in the back of the right leg with a blatant cheap shot.
AJ Styles was shown watching that on the TV backstage. Kayla Braxton talked to Styles about it and Styles ripped on Hardy for having a shameful career because he wastes opportunities like that. Styles walked over to Sasha Banks and Bayley. They all celebrated having their titles as they knocked them together as if they toasting eachother with drinks.
(Commercial)
The announcers talked about WWE Thunderdome again with media outlets talking about it…after WWE fed the info to the media outlets.
Mandy Rose was interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton and Mandy said that she didn’t know what was going through Sonya’s head. Mandy said that she believes there is good in this world. Mandy said that she needed to speak directly to Sonya Deville. Rose said that they have been through a lot, but so much of the good and beautiful – they went through it together. Rose said that the Sonya she has been inseparable with for the last five years is still out there. Rose said that she doesn’t know how Sonya is feeling about the Hair vs. Hair Match, but she thinks they should get back to where they were and she chooses to see the good in Sonya.
Analysis: It sounded like Mandy was referencing the real-life incident at Sonya’s home in Tampa with Mandy in the house as a crazed fan tried to attack them. They managed to get away and the crazed man was arrested.
Let’s Hear from Sasha Banks and Bayley
Sasha Banks and Bayley entered with all of their titles and they were in their ring gear. Cole noted it was 315 days for Bayley as the Smackdown Women’s Champion. Sasha is the Raw Women’s Champion and they are the Women’s Tag Team Champions together. Banks and Bayley each defend their titles against Asuka at SummerSlam. They got some pyro as they headed towards the ring.
Corey Graves was in the ring to interview the champions as he welcomed them to the WWE ThunderDome. Banks and Bayley said that they aren’t splitting up. Graves noted they each defend their titles against the same opponent, Asuka. Bayley said that there are only two women capable of carrying two titles at the same time – them. Graves noted that Asuka has defeated Bayley in the past and it took both of them working together for Banks to Asuka. Banks said that at SummerSlam they will destroy Asuka. Bayley said that everything they do is for a reason and that’s why they have all the gold. Graves noted that he did watch Monday Night Raw with Bayley saying she would face Asuka first, which Graves thought wasn’t logical since Asuka beat Bayley two weeks ago. Bayley said what she said on Raw was just a suggestion. Banks wondered if Bayley was trying to volunteer her again. Bayley said they are good and there isn’t anybody that can beat them.
Naomi made her entrance to join the champions in the ring. Naomi suggested that she faces both of them tonight. Banks said you’re on. Graves said that they could do like a Beat The Clock challenge. Naomi asked who wants to go first and hit a dropkick to knock them both out of the ring. That led to a break.
Analysis: It was the usual promo from Bayley and Banks that we get on both shows every week. I like them as performers, but it gets repetitive to see the same promos on Raw and Smackdown nearly every week. Anyway, there was a bit of tension between Bayley and Banks in terms of who gets to wrestle Asuka first at SummerSlam. I don’t think it’s a great storyline necessarily, but it’s easy to see the character motivation with each of Bayley and Banks wanting to face Asuka last rather than first.
(Commercial)
There was a commercial for WWE NXT Takeover XXX (that’s 30) on Saturday night. Check out our in-depth preview on TJRWrestling with Kurt, Lance and me offering up our predictions. I’ll have a review up on Saturday night too. There’s going to be a lot of writing this weekend!
It was officially a Beat The Clock challenge match with a clock on the screen.
Beat the Clock: Naomi vs. Sasha Banks (w/Bayley)
Naomi hit a full nelson into a slam and Naomi put her legs around the waist leading to a two count. Naomi with a headscissors that sent Banks out of the ring. Naomi jumped over the top with a cross body block to knock down Banks on the floor. Banks took control with a double knee attack to the ribs for two. Naomi with a jawbreaker, then a kick to the head and a cross body block off the top with Banks rolling through. Naomi set up Banks across the top rope and Naomi hit a springboard kick for a two count. Banks got a rollup for a two count. Banks slapped on the Bank Statement submission move in the middle of the ring and Naomi tapped to give Banks the win at 3:39.
Winner by submission: Sasha Banks
Analysis: **1/4 It was okay for a short match. Naomi got a decent amount of offense, but I doubt anybody watching this thought she was going to win. Banks winning clean made her look strong going into SummerSlam.
Bayley went into the ring and hit Naomi with a running knee to the face before the bell rang to start the match.
Beat the Clock: Naomi vs. Bayley (w/Sasha Banks)
The clock was counting down from 3:39 to start the match as Bayley hit a suplex for two. Bayley whipped Naomi into the turnbuckle leading to a snapmare cover. Bayley kept on looking at the clock as she hit a running clothesline for two. Naomi got in some shots, but then Bayley hit another clothesline for two. Bayley charged, Naomi avoided her and Naomi hit a Rear View (aka Jumping Butt Attack) to the face for the pinfall win in a match that went 1:55 in time.
Winner by pinfall: Naomi
Analysis: *1/2 That was quick and also makes me feel confident in saying Bayley is keeping her title at SummerSlam. I think that result is going to mean Naomi will get a title shot against Bayley in the future.
When Naomi won, Banks smiled about it because it means Banks gets to face Asuka second at SummerSlam.
Asuka showed up for a promo saying she’s going to be the Empress of Every Title. Asuka said nobody is ready for Asuka. I think we could hear cheers there from the fans on the video wall, but I don’t know if that’s what it was. Asuka kicked Banks on the ramp and then Asuka went down to the ring to kick Bayley out of the ring. Bayley ran away with her two titles while Banks was down on the ramp and Banks didn’t help Bayley back up.
Analysis: It was fine to show that Asuka was ready for her two titles. I think Asuka is going to beat Banks for the title while Bayley will retain her title at SummerSlam, which will lead to Bayley feuding with Naomi for the SD Women’s Title since Naomi beat Bayley clean. I am fine with that.
Jeff Hardy was shown in the trainer’s room again with the trainer putting on a knee brace. The doctor said if Jeff can tolerate the pain then he will clear him to have the match. Jeff said he was ready to go and would become Intercontinental Champion again.
Sonya Deville was interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton and Sonya said that anything she has to say is to the entire world. Dana Brooke said that she’s sorry about everything that Sonya went through this week. Sonya slapped Dana in the face and said “disrespectful.” Sonya left.
Analysis: They were referencing the real life situation of a crazy stalker dude going into Sonya’s home and Sonya managed to get away. Mandy was staying at Sonya’s house and they left together, called the cops and the cops apprehended the guy. I covered the story in-depth right here. It was a scary situation and I’m glad Deville is okay.
(Commercial)
Sonya Deville was on the stage for a promo. She said she heard what Mandy had to say. Sonya said Mandy was second guessing her own challenge just like she said Mandy was going to do. Sonya said that Mandy will end up facing Sonya one way or another at SummerSlam. Sonya said that since Mandy is unbothered by her shorter hair and everybody there knows that Sonya doesn’t care if she’s bald or not, she thinks they should up the ante. Deville wanted to raise the stakes. Deville said it’s going to be a No Disqualification Match where the Loser Leaves WWE because what she realizes is that hair or no hair, she’s sick of looking at Mandy’s face. Deville: “You need to wipe your tears and bring your A game…bitch.” Sonya left.
Analysis: I don’t know the details of the situation as far as Sonya’s wrestling career. However, it seems like Sonya will be taking a break after SummerSlam, which is understandable after what happened. She did great in the promo because she delivered it with a lot of passion and intensity. I think Mandy winning at SummerSlam seems like the right call. Earlier this year, Mandy signed a five-year contract extension to stay with WWE, in case you’re wondering. I just figure is going to be out for a while to deal with this legal situation as best she can and come back when she feels the time is right.
They showed highlights of Alexa Bliss dealing with The Fiend and Braun Strowman in recent weeks. Nikki Cross did a sitdown promo saying that Bliss is different and she seems off. Cross said that the Alexa she knows is warm, caring and funny while the person she spoke to the other day is not like the normal Alexa Bliss. Cross said that she had a feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
Analysis: It seems like they are building to Bliss showing up during the Strowman vs. Fiend match at SummerSlam and costing one of them the victory due to the changes that have happened to her.
AJ Styles entered with the Intercontinental Title. Daniel Bryan did a video promo from home saying that wanted Jeff Hardy to be the new Intercontinental Champion.
(Commercial)
The announcers talked about how the WWE roster was excited about WWE ThunderDome and we saw some tweets about it.
Jeff Hardy entered while wearing a big knee brace on the right knee and he was selling the injury. Also if you’re wondering, Jeff’s wife Britt tweeted that Jeff will use the “No More Words” theme song when the fans are back at the shows.
Intercontinental Championship: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy
Styles immediately went after the right leg of Hardy by punching the back of it while Hardy was on the rope and Hardy went down grabbing the knee. When Hardy was sent into the ropes, he collapsed to sell the knee injury again. Hardy hit a jawbreaker to get some offense going. Hardy sent Styles over the top to the floor. When Hardy went to the apron, Styles drove the knee into the ring apron and Hardy bumped to the floor, which led to a break a few minutes into the match.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Styles holding onto Hardy’s right leg to keep him grounded. Jeff managed to hit a spin kick to the chest. Hardy’s pants were ripped around the knee, so we could see the big brace on the knee as Hardy hit a sitout reverse suplex for a two count. Styles managed to hit a Pele Kick and both guys were down again. Hardy tried going to the top rope, but he stumbled down to the knee injury and Hardy hit the mat hard. Styles jumped off the top with a Phenomenal Forearm, but then Hardy hit a punch to the gut to avoid the attack. Styles slapped on the Calf Crusher submission and Hardy managed to crawl to the bottom rope to break it. Styles with a kick to the knee, then he tried a Styles Clash, but Hardy countered with a knee to the face with the knee brace to stun Styles. The announcers did a great job of pointing out what Hardy did by hitting Styles with the knee brace and AJ sold it like it rocked him. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate neckbreaker. Hardy went up top slowly and he jumped off with a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall AND NEW Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy is now a five-time Intercontinental Champion. It sounded like they tried to get some audio fan reaction in there, but it wasn’t very loud.
Analysis: ***1/4 The match was pretty good with Hardy doing an excellent job of selling the knee injury the whole match, yet still finding a way to win. I liked the story of Hardy winning only after hitting Styles in the head with the knee brace, which then set up the Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb for the win. It wasn’t the most exciting match, but I think as a story it was very effective as Hardy was able to overcome the knee injury just like he’s overcome his problems in life. It’s a feel good story for Hardy.
Jeff Hardy was interviewed by Kayla Braxton in the ring. Hardy said that life will always be a challenge. Hardy said he stands there with a painful knee, but he has hope and he couldn’t do this without the WWE Universe.
Analysis: This is the kind of thing that would work so well with crowd noise, but when you don’t have the crowd noise it just feels weird.
The pig named Huskus and Ramblin’ Rabbit in the Firefly Fun House were shown because they are up next.
(Commercial)
AJ Styles was shown backstage ranting about the loss. He ranted to his buddy Joseph Park about how the analytics showed that he was going to win. Kayla Braxton tried to interview him and Styles pointed out that he had a big cut on his face because of the knee brace. Styles continued to rant on Park as they cut away.
Analysis: There’s the Payback PPV on August 30, so maybe we see a Hardy vs. Styles rematch there.
This Saturday on WWE Network is the return of Talking Smack hosted by Kayla Braxton and The Miz. They said Xavier Woods earlier in the day, but Cole said The Miz is hosting. Big E, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Jeff Hardy are the first guests.
Firefly Fun House
Bray Wyatt said that he loved us. That’s so nice of him. Wyatt said that love can make an angel come crashing down with broken wings. Wyatt put one of his “Hurt” gloves on his hand and had a mock phone conversation. Wyatt spoke about Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss. That led to Huskus the Pig as Braun and Ramblin’ Rabbit re-enacting as Braun and Alexa. It was a mockery of Braun and Alexa as Bray yelled “cut” to put an end to it. Wyatt said that is not at all how it went down. Wyatt told them to get lost.
Wyatt said that love can only lead to more pain and suffering, so we should be more like him – The Fiend. Wyatt said that “he” cannot wait to get his hands on Braun.
That led to Braun Strowman showing up and he pounced on Wyatt with punches although we couldn’t actually see him touching Wyatt because the camera was up high. Braun dragged Wyatt along the ground, said he’s not finished with him and that led to a break.
Analysis: This was pretty underwhelming to me.
(Commercial)
The announce team of Cole and Graves talked about how there was a fight between Braun and Bray in the backstage area.
Strowman and Wyatt were fighting in the backstage area. Yes, the Firefly Fun House “set” is backstage. I think even a five-year-old kid would know that. Strowman was in full control of the battle. Strowman had Wyatt by a ledge and tossed him off the ledge, so Wyatt took a bump off the ledge and onto some cement on the ground. They had the camera cut away, so Wyatt likely landed on something much softer. Anyway, there were WWE Officials like Adam Pearce, Sonjay Dutt, Jamie Noble and referees that checked on Wyatt. There were EMTs that backed up the ambulance near where Bray was and then several guys loaded Wyatt onto the stretcher. Wyatt was shown being loaded into the ambulance.
There was a replay of Braun giving Wyatt the slam off the ledge onto the cement. They did not show Wyatt actually landing, so again it was likely a pre-tape where they edited it.
The ambulance drove away slowly, but then it stopped as the WWE Officials were yelling at them wondering what they were doing. The ambulance light was red as we all knew what was happening here. It showed the WWE Officials, referees and others looking on as The Fiend emerged from the ambulance. The Fiend looked into the camera, stuck his tongue out and did some maniacal laughter. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: It’s that supernatural kind of ending that WWE likes to do sometimes. I certainly remember them doing something similar with Kane. It was obvious as soon as Bray Wyatt was being loaded into an ambulance. We all knew it was going to lead to The Fiend and there he was to show that he was still strong going into SummerSlam. I’m not that interested in the SummerSlam match, but at least WWE dedicated multiple segments to try to make us care more about Strowman vs. Sunday at SummerSlam.
Three Stars of the Show
- Jeff Hardy
- AJ Styles
- Big E
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 5
2020 Average: 6.28
Final Thoughts
This felt like an average edition of Smackdown. The last three weeks have been like that. While there was excitement about the ThunderDome concept (more on that below), the actual show wasn’t that interesting. I liked the story of Jeff Hardy fighting off injury to beat AJ Styles to win the Intercontinental Title and some of the other matches were okay. I just thought the show was boring for most of it. The Retribution stuff at the beginning was mildly interesting because at least the Smackdown roster worked together to get rid of them. Sonya Deville’s promo to change her SummerSlam match with Mandy Rose to No DQ Loser Leaves Town is a change I wasn’t expecting, but after what Sonya went through earlier in the week, it’s understandable if she needs a WWE break.
There was a lot of time devoted to the Braun Strowman rivalry with Bray Wyatt/The Fiend. I think their segments have been very hit or miss and devoting so much time to them this week didn’t interest me that much. If you love the feud then you most likely enjoyed their interactions more than I did.
As for the ThunderDome, I think visually it looks great and it’s a major improvement over being at the WWE Performance Center. The bigger arena, the pyro, the lights and screens look so much better. With that said, I would have liked it if there was an audio factor where we could hear fans reacting to the matches because instead of having developmental wrestlers making noise at ringside, we are back to silence around the ring again. I think we’ll get used to it and warm up to it, but I think the lack of noise hurts. I still think that Thunderdome is a positive thing and a good idea overall.
The next WWE pay-per-view is SummerSlam at the Amway Center in Orlando and it takes place this Sunday, August 23. Here’s the lineup so far.
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton
Universal Championship: Braun Strowman (c) vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Raw Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Asuka
Street Fight: Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio
No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE Match: Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Asuka
Raw Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits – Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford (c) vs. Andrade and Angel Garza
United States Championship: Apollo Crews (c) vs. Montel Vontavious Porter (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin are banned from ringside)
I’ll have a live review of WWE SummerSlam exclusively on TJRWrestling on Sunday night.
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John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
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