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Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 7.18.17

July 18, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
6.5
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 7.18.17  

Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 7.18.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jimmy Uso defeated Kofi Kingston @ 8:47 via pin [**½]
– Mike Kanellis defeated Sami Zayn @ 3:10 via pin [**]
– Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte @ 9:00 via submission [***]
– Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura @ 10:00 via pin [***]


The Punjabi Prison Is Here: The Singh Brothers announce WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. Mahal heads to the ring and as promised, the Punjabi Prison is set up. The Singh brothers had a busy day. Mahal says the prison will be the final resting place of Orton’s legacy. The Singh brothers break down the rules, the inner cage has four doors, and when instructed, a referee will open the door for 60-seconds. Once that expires, the door will close. To win, you have to escape the outer structure by climbing. There are no rules otherwise. Mahal promises to smash Orton’s face and give him the khallas from the top of the structure to end him, and he will then walk out as champion. Mahal speaks to his people in Punjabi. Orton then arrives. Orton says Mahal is either brave or not all that bright. Mahal is actually choosing to be caged up with him and losing all of his advantages> The Singh brothers are the only reason Mahal is champion. Orton says there will be no escape on Sunday and that he has nothing left to lose. Mahal tried to leave him for dead, and Mahal has everything to lose. Mahal is the 50th WWE Champion, and has the weight of India on his shoulders. Orton starts to climb into the prison. What will you do when those 1.3 billion look at you as a disgrace? On Sunday, he will leave Mahal’s jacked up ass for dead, and Orton will be announced as the new WWE Champion. This was a pretty good go home segment for the big stipulation match. Nothing groundbreaking but a nice final set up for the match.

Jimmy Uso vs. Kofi Kingston: And we get another New Day vs. Usos singles match, the New Day has been successful so far, showing that when things are even that they can beat the Usos. Jey, Big E, & Woods are at ringside. Jimmy rushes Kofi to the corner to begin, but Kofi fires back with kicks and then does the one-man unicorn stampede. The basement dropkick follows, and Kofi covers for 2 and then twerks at Jimmy before sending him to the floor. Kofi follows with a dive and we go to the screen in screen commercial break. They brawl on the floor for a bit and then roll back into the ring. Kofi sends Jimmy to the floor, but Jimmy trips him up on the apron and then takes control. Jimmy grounds Kofi, working a chinlock for the heat. Kofi tries to fire up but gets slammed back to the mat. Back to the full screen now as Jimmy maintains control. Kofi finally hits a jawbreaker, but Jimmy cuts him off with an enziguri and covers for 2. Jimmy charges and Kofi cuts him off with a jumping double stomp. This allows Kofi to run wild, hitting the boom drop. Jimmy cuts off trouble in paradise with a DVD into the buckles for a near fall. Kofi fights back with a kick in the corner, heads up top and Jimmy cuts that off. They battle up top, and Kofi shoves Jimmy to the mat. Jey distracts Kofi, but Kofi hits a high cross, but Jimmy rolls through and picks up the win. Jimmy Uso defeated Kofi Kingston @ 8:47 via pin [**½] This was another solid and perfectly fine match in the feud, nothing special, but the Usos needed the win here after losing the other matches.

– Shane meets with the five women in the contender’s match at the PPV; he wants to book a match for tonight, Charlotte wants to face Charlotte. Natalya mocks her and says she wants Lana. Becky now wants to fight Lana, Tamina says no one will fight Lana and Natalya suggests Charlotte vs. Becky. Charlotte says that won’t happen because Shane wants a competitive match. DRAMA. Shane books Charlotte vs. Becky for tonight.

The Fallout From Kurt Angle’s Reveal: We get highlights from Kurt Angle’s big reveal on Raw, which was that Jason Jordan is his son. Jordan is now a Raw wrestler and American Alpha is no more. Commentary discusses the shocking news. Renee Young interviews Chad Gable now. Gable says he knew nothing and some heads up would have been nice. Jordan called him afterwards, but he knew something was wrong as Jordan had been distant as of late. Gable says they accomplished a lot together, and he supports Jordan. But for him, he has some ideas as to what is next, but won’t ruin the surprise. This is a great chance to see Chad Gable on his own. That was a solid little segment, Gable came off well and I am interested to see how far they will actually go with him, he has a ton of talent.

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis: Maria is out with Mike as we see footage of Mike kicking Sami’s ass last week. Kanellis tries to attack at the bell, but Sami immediately cuts him off and works him over in the corner. Sami works over Kanellis with rapid-fire punches, and Kanellis takes a powder, but Sami follows and levels him with a lariat on the floor. Back in the ring, Sami hits clotheslines and sends Kanellis to the floor. Sami again follows and slams Kanellis to the barricade and then tosses him back in. Kanellis finally cuts off Sami with strikes, but runs into a lariat. XPLODER to the buckles by Sami and Maria runs in to save Mike. Mike then sucker punches Sami and hits the Samoan driver for the win. Mike Kanellis defeated Sami Zayn @ 3:10 via pin [**] Sami was great here, working with a ton of fire and looking to punish Kanellis for his attack last week. He took 95% of the match until Mike & Maria cheated him out of the win. Pairing Kanellis with Sami (a babyface the fans love and a great worker) is smart for his first feud. Mike as a complete chicken shit heel needing his wife to accomplish anything works pretty well and is easy heat.

John Cena Hypes Sunday’s Thrilling Flag Match: Cena hits the ring and the flags are in the corners to set the mood. Cena plays to the crowd, hypes Sunday’s PPV up and then hypes the big flag match between he and Rusev. He says you will remember the flag match between he and Rusev. To win the match you have to get your flag and put it past the finish line. He doesn’t like Rusev because Rusev runs down the US, Cena love America and doesn’t appreciate Rusev’s words. You will remember the match after Sunday because one man’s flag will rise in victory, Cena knows he’s not everyone’s favorite, but tonight, they can agree that they love the US flag. On Sunday, “will that flag fly or will it fall?” He’s here to say he is ready for Sunday. He promises that he is ready because the US is a nation of fighters, and we never give up. Cena says through history and all of the bad, the flag always flew high. Even when the towers fell, the flag flew high. On Sunday, he will prove that these colors do not run; they kick ass. He then grabs the flag and says on Sunday it will fly high. In summary, ‘MERICA… FUCK YEAH! Rusev then attacks from behind and beats Cena down and lays him out with a superkick. Rusev then applies the accolade but Cena fights to his feet and tries to escape, but Rusev hangs on. Big USA chants, Cena fights but cannot escape. Rusev stands tall. Cena’s delivery and passion were great as always, but the “rah-rah America” face stuff feels so dated, just like pigeon holing Rusev back into the evil foreigner role. Rusev standing tall was well done and needed, but I can’t say they made me excited for the match in any way.

– Styles and Nakamura meet backstage. Styles tries to talk strategy and old times in Japan, but Nakamura points at the US title and says one day AJ will call and he will answer.

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch: Natalya is out on commentary. They work some basic back and forth, with neither able to gain control. They pick up the pace and end in a stand off. Becky then starts to hit arm drags and a dropkick, frustrating Charlotte. Charlotte then hits some random back flips to show off, and then rolls up Becky for 2. Becky teases the arm bar, but Charlotte powders to the floor. We go screen in screen for the commercial break as Charlotte is back in and takes control, taking Becky down and working the back. Charlotte largely keeps Becky grounded here, but Becky fights back and sends Charlotte to the floor. Back to full screen as Becky rolls Charlotte back in and they trade strikes. Charlotte takes control back with chops, hits a running boot and follows with a knee drop for 2. We see Naomi watching on from backstage, Becky fights off the figure four and fires up; the XPLODER follows and then the corner forearm connects for 2. Charlotte counters the arm bar, clips out the knee and goes for natural selection, but Becky goes for the disarmher. Charlotte counters into a roll up and then follows with a big boot for 2. Charlotte up top now and MISSES the moonsault, Becky locks in the disarmher and Charlotte fights but has to tap. Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte @ 9:00 via submission [***] This was a good and smartly laid out back and forth babyface vs. babyface match; Becky picks up a much needed clean win and Charlotte loses for a second week in a row.

– Lana and Tamina make their way out and Natalya attacks Becky. They all brawl for the final hard sell for Sunday’s match. Lana and Tamina stand tall.

– Renee interviews Naomi now. Naomi says that she will congratulate who ever wins on Sunday. She doesn’t care who wins, they need to be ready to go because it will be glow time. Carmella arrives and reminds her that she will be everywhere Naomi goes with her MITB contract.

THE FASHION X-FILES: Breeze if course plays Scully. The bulletin board is again filled with a ton of fun things, Fandango is freaking out about ghosts, and Aiden English is warming up and they think he’s a ghost. A delivery guy turns on the light, they think it’s a spaceship and that he’s an alien. They get a delivery and it’s TULLY’s HEAD! THOSE SICK FUCKS! There is a note that says “Battleground,” this will all end on Sunday. My guess is that it’s Harper and Rowan.

– Corbin tries to attack Nakamura during his entrance, leading to everyone brawling. Things settle down as they head to the ring and we take a commercial break.

AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin: JIP as Corbin cuts off Styles and then works him over with knees and then chokes him out in the ropes. Owens tags in and keeps control over Styles, talking shit and continuing to beat on him. Styles hits a desperation dropkick and tags in Nakamura. Nakamura works over Owens with strikes, and follows with an enziguri. Nakamura follows with knee strikes, but Corbin low bridges Nakamura, sending him to the floor. He rolls him back in and Owens hits the running senton, and Corbin tags in beats down Nakamura in the corner. He and Owens work quick tags, isolating Nakamura. He escapes the bear hug and takes out Corbin with the running kick. Corbin stops the tag attempt, but Nakamura fires up with kicks and takes out Owens, but runs into deep six by Corbin. Nakamura fights back with kicks, and Styles and Owens get the tag. Styles pummels Owens with strikes, hits a clothesline and a sliding forearm for a near fall. Styles follows with a wheelbarrow slam, which gets the near fall. Owens turns Styles inside out with a big lariat, Corbin tags back in and tosses Styles across the ring. Styles then rolls into the calf crusher, Corbin fights and makes the ropes. Styles gets taken out by Owens, Nakamura attacks him and they brawl on the floor and Corbin slides Styles back in but Styles counters end of days, hits the PELE and Owens blind tags in, superkicks Styles and hits the pop up powerbomb for the win. Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura @ 10:00 via pin [***] Good match to close the show this week, with the heels picking up a much needed win heading into the PPV on Sunday. I also liked that they just outsmarted the faces instead of a cliché, shitty, or overly cheap finish.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.5
The final score: review Average
The 411
Tonight’s Smackdown was a solid go home show for Sunday’s PPV, nothing must see, but the second hour was stronger than the first so it closed with some solid momentum.
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