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Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 8.23.16

August 23, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 8.23.16  

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Csonka’s WWE Smackdown 8.23.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss @ 4:05 via pin [**¼]
SD Tag Team Tournament Match: The Usos defeated The Ascension @ 3:45 via pin [**½]
– Nikki Bella vs. Carmella never started
SD Tag Team Tournament Match: The American Alpha defeated FaBreeze @ 10:39 via pin [***½]
– AJ Styles defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 21:28 via pin [****]


– It’s the fallout from Summerslam edition of Smackdown; Dean Ambrose is still the WWE Champion, The Miz is still the IC Champion, AJ Styles defeated John Cena clean and Nikki Bella made her return. But not only are we set to move on and start the build to the first Smackdown exclusive PPV, but…

That’s right, Daniel Bryan has announced that two new titles are coming to Smackdown. They will likely be he SD Women’s and Tag Team Titles. Sit back, relax, have fun commenting and lets get to the show…

– We see some of the locker room talking; Dolph Ziggler is a sad panda. AJ Styles arrives and declared himself the new face that runs the place. He had Cena’s arm band that he left behind at Summerslam and wore it as a headband as he ran down Ziggler for failing at Summerslam. Styles said he didn’t like losers and they had a brief pull apart brawl.

New Title Bonanza: So the ladies title is white with blue, and the tag titles have blue straps and silver instead of copper/bronze. Truly inspired designs Shane and Bryan arrived, and they agreed that everyone on Smackdown gets opportunity. The ladies and tag teams are in the ring as Bryan says that Carmella, Alexa, Naomi, Nikki, Becky and Natalya they all have the talent to be champion, and they will crown the first champion at Backlash in a six-pack challenge. New tag champions will also be crowded at Backlash; they will have a tag title tournament that culminates at Backlash. The tournament starts tonight, but before that HEATH BAH GAWD SLATER is here and has something to say. Heath wants to win gold, but Bryan has to break it to him that these are the women’s and tag team titles. He wants a shot at the tag team titles, but Shane reminds him he is not on the roster and has no partner. Slater guarantees he can find a partner and that they can win. Bryan agrees that if Slater can find a partner by the end of tonight, he is in, but he has to win the tag titles in order to get a contract for Smackdown. AJ Styles then interrupted and was not pleased with all of this bullshit, but before he could say much Ziggler attacked. They did a big pull apart and went to commercial. This was a good start to the show, sure it’s the same old same old, but they got the news out there about the titles so all of these people have something to fight for, heath Slater is great and we also likely got our main event match for tonight between Ziggler an Styles. It also didn’t go too long.

Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss: Naomi and Natalya are on commentary. This is our rematch from last week. They worked a solid back and forth, until Bliss sent Lynch to the ropes neck first and she then took control. Bliss grounded Lynch for a bit, Lynch fought back and worked to her feet and then laid into Bliss with elbows and clotheslines. STRAIGHT FIYAH by Lynch and she hits the corner forearm, but Bliss with an O’Connor roll for 2. Bliss then got cut off and Lynch scored with the disAMRher for the win. Naomi and Natalya were mostly useless on commentary, which is unfortunate. The match was rock solid, but my fear is that we are going to have a big series of matches between the six ladies, where they do nothing but trade wins and makes sure that none of them gain any momentum.

– Heath Slater talked with the Miz and wanted him to be his tag team partner. Miz was seemingly agreeing to this, but he was on his blue tooth, discussing becoming Indiana Jones with Steven Spielberg. Poor Heath.

SD Tag Team Tournament Match: The Usos vs. The Ascension: The Ascension go the jobber entrance, no Haka entrance from the Usos. The Ascension attacked at the bell, sending Jey to the floor and working an immediate heat on Jimmy. It was nice to see some actual aggression from The Ascension, who usually don’t get a chance to show any fire. They worked a good heat, using quick tags and some double teams. Jimmy eventually hit an enziguri and got the hot tag to Jey. Jey hits a high cross right away for a near fall but Konnor cut him off and Jimmy wiped him out and hit a suicide dive. Superkick to Viktor and after a tag, Jimmy finished it wit the top rope splash. That was a really nice effort considering they did not get much time, they made the most of it and it was enjoyable

– Randy Orton will be here tonight to reflect on his Summerslam humbling.

AJ Styles Talks: Styles says there are a lot of faces here tonight, like Dolph Ziggler, because he defeated Cena at Summerslam. Styles still had Cena’s armband, and said he beat up John Cena just like he said he would at Summerslam. He said the Cenation is crying but the good news was that they could become Styles fans, as he is now the face that runs the place. He should be the #1 contender for the WWE Title. Ziggler tried to hit the ring and was held back by refs and agents. Bryan arrived to break it up and said they would not ruin the show. He agreed that Styles should be the #1 contender, but says Ziggler came close at Summerslam. Since they both want to fight, and the fans want to see it, Bryan made the match and if Styles wins, he gets the title shot at Backlash. If Ziggler wins, it will be a triple threat match. This was another solid segment to set up the Backlash main event, although considering Ziggler lost clean as a sheet, I am not thrilled that he can get a shot in the title match. It’s not like there was any controversy at Summerslam, dude just got beat.

– We get Curt Hawkins rip off facts.

– They have dropped Carmella’s talking intro, since it bombed every week. She still got next to no reaction here.

Carmella vs. Nikki Double Turn Station: Pre-match Renee interviewed Nikki. She is glad to be back, and it means a lot to be back. Carmella then jumped her from behind as she was being interviewed. She then hit Nikki with Brie’s Bella buster/X-Factor. No match here. I think that was needed, Carmella was a complete flop so far as a face and the fans want to cheer Nikki, who felt like a face overcoming the odds to make it back after her neck injury. Nikki took a good beating and sold well for Carmella, I’d call the segment a success as I think they are better off switching roles. Carmella’s only hope as a face was as Bayley’s friend or with Enzo and Cass; that wasn’t in the cards so this is for the best. It’s taken a bit but so far, Smackdown is doing a better job incorporating their whole division as compared to Raw.

– We get a video package of Randy Orton’s Summerslam humbling.

Randy Orton Talks: It’s truly a new era as Orton is wearing pants, Tapout swag in fact. He knew what he was getting into at Summerslam and was in a hell of a fight. He hated that the match ended the way it did, maybe Shane McMahon did the right thing but he will cross paths with Lesnar again. And playing off of last week’s brief encounter, Bray Wyatt made his way to the ring. Wyatt took a seat at ringside in his rocking chair, and asked Orton how his heat was. He then said that the beating by Lesnar reminded Orton that he was a man, a man who hurts and suffers, and who dies. Wyatt claimed to be a God, and a God can never die. He promised Orton would discover this in time. Orton challenged him to come to the ring but Wyatt did his disappearing act. This was a good segment to set the direction for both guys, and seems to be the theme of this show, reset and get the Smackdown house in order.

– Shane McMahon was asked backstage about Brock Lesnar. Shane tried to blow it off and knows Stephanie is only fining Lesnar $500 for what he did. Shane then said the issue with he and Lesnar is not over.

– Heath Slater tried to talk Arn Anderson into being his tag team partner. Arn refuses and says he can’t get Slater out of this. Arn was also insulted to discover he was not Slater’s first choice. Rhyno then arrived, noting that he’s been a tag team champion to pay for an above ground pool, and will be Slater’s partner.

SD Tag Team Tournament Match: American Alpha vs. FaBreeze: This has potential to be really fun, I hope that they get some time. They worked a nice back and forth early with Gable working with both Fandango and Breeze. It broke down, and Alpha cleared the ring and celebrated. Alpha dominated early by outwrestling their opposition; just clean and simple basic tag team wrestling. After a ref distraction, Fandango destroyed Gable with a lariat and FaBreeze took control as we went to the break. Post break, Gable managed to send Fandango to the floor and then got the tag. Jordan was the old house of fire, and started to toss fools around. Really good fore from Fandango, he hit the corner spear and then Alpha hit the dropkick/German suplex combo for a near fall as Breeze made the save. Alpha looked for a doomsday device, Fandango sent Gable to the floor and Breeze then hit a RANA for a near fall. Breeze got a near fall off of the trapper corner superkick. I broke down as Gable took Fandango to the floor, but Breeze maintained control in the ring on Jordan. Jordan countered a superkick into a suplex; tag to Gable and grand amplitude was good enough to pick up the win. As expected, they delivered a good match, FaBreeze is really developing into a good pairing and they were good enough here to create a bit of doubt in the result; I hope they get some run down the line. Alpha winning here is the right call, and I can see Alpha vs. the Usos in the finals, with the Usos turning heel to win the titles and set the Alpha chase

– Dean Ambrose walks backstage in a giant cowboy hat. He was playing roulette and just found out about tonight’s main event, so he had to come and check out the action. Dean then had drinks delivered and paid in casino chips. After all of that awesome work to build to Summerslam, I am sad to see stand up comic Dean Ambrose back.

– Dean Ambrose heads out to do commentary for the main event.

AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler: If Styles wins, he gets a one on one match at Backlash for the WWE Title. If Ziggler wins, Ambrose defends against both Styles and Ziggler. They did a lot of grappling early, which has been more of a focus from Ziggler ever since WWE started to hype his Kent State Hall of Fame deal. It’s really something that should have been a bigger part of his stuff throughout his career because it adds an extra dimension to his work. Ziggler controlled the first 90-seconds, and sent Styles to the floor for the commercial break. Post break Styles took control, working the heat and scoring a few near falls. Styles was great here as the cocky asshole, connecting with a high kick and walking around the ring completely proud of himself. Styles not only maintained control, but also took the time to talk shit to Ambrose and warn him that he’ll be next. Ziggler finally fired up and looked to make a run but Styles cut him off with a neck breaker in the ropes and we went to the next commercial break. Following the second commercial break, Styles was still in control and grounding Ziggler. Ziggler struggled to his feet and started to lay into Styles with rights, and then connected with the dropkick and we got the double down. Ziggler then fired up with clotheslines and the corner splash and neck breaker. The elbow drop scored for 2. Styles countered the fameasser but then posted himself and Ziggler finally got the fameasser for a near fall. Styles fought off the sleeper and then hit the ushigoroshi, which got a near fall. Styles then went for the springboard 450 but Ziggler moved and spiked Styles with a DDT for a great near fall. Styles countered the superkick and went for the clash; Ziggler escaped and hit the zigzag for another great near fall. Ziggler missed a superkick and ended up in the ropes, Styles then kicked the ropes into Ziggler’s balls, and hit the clash for the win. The first 2/3 of the match were good, but the final third was excellent and took it over the top. This was the best Smackdown match in ages, with the right winner to play off of Styles’ victory at Summerslam. Also, another crushing loss should lead Ziggler towards the heel turn which they have been lightly teasing.

– Styles went to the floor and pointed at the title as Ambrose acted like a smart ass. Styles knocked off his headset and they went face to face to close the show.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
This was a very good episode of Smackdown, with no bad segments, the set up for the new titles and everything meaning something as they build to Backlash. The main event was the icing on the cake; Smackdown delivered this week.
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