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We’ve got new tag team champions!
Vince McMahon returns to WWE and then seemingly shoots on CM Punk!
I’m Oli Davis and this is the 12th September 2017 edition of THE KEVIN OWENS SHOW...in
about 4 minutes.
Kevin Owens Calls Out Vince McMahon Kevin Owens opened the show, announcing he’s
suing everyone in WWE for Shane McMahon attacking him last week.
Once in control, he’ll shut down Smackdown and start the Kevin Owens Show, immediately
firing Sami Zayn and cancelling Fashion Files.
It’s a mouthwatering concept I wish they’d actually do.
KO running Smackdown has so much dramatic and comedic potential.
See my Fantasy Booking Warfare from last Saturday for how I would do it.
The heel shenanigans continued when Shane McMahon’s music hit, only to reveal Dolph
Ziggler trying out a new entrance.
Both men gloating together at the crowd’s expense made for some great heel posturing.
Daniel Bryan announcing Vince later on set up a fun narrative thread for the show, with
KO walking around backstage telling everyone he’s taking over Smackdown - wishing Sami
Zayn luck on the indies (because he’s getting fired first) and auditioning Aiden English
to sing the Kevin Owens Show theme tune.
AJ Styles beat Tye Dillinger Hopefully if KO does get control of Smackdown,
he’ll give Championship matches more time.
Last week built this episode almost like a mini-pay-per-view, with three title bouts,
but two of them failed to deliver.
AJ Styles and Tye Dillinger had a decent match for the 7 minutes they had (half of which
was taken up by a commercial break), but I expected a lot more from WWE.
The US Title Open Challenge is the perfect gimmick to get underutilised talent like Tye
over, but they need TV time at least twice as long to do that.
Baron Corbin’s distraction set up The Lone Wolf as next week’s US title challenger.
Jinder Mahal Promo Not able to accuse Shinsuke Nakamura of being
AMERICAN, Jinder Mahal tried his hand at comedy, showing pictures of Shinsuke on the TitanTron
and pointing out how constipated he looks.
It was immature stuff, actually made quite funny by the over-the-top reactions of The
Singh Brothers.
Jinder still managed to turn this into a promo against the US, though.
Because, you know, AMERICA!
New Day beat The Usos The New Day and Usos had an incredibly fast-paced
street fight for the tag team titles, with kendo sticks, chairs, a table - but unfortunately
zero denim.
It wasn’t as good as their terrific Summerslam encounter, but these two teams are still keeping
their rivalry at boiling point.
And with The New Day your two-time Smackdown Tag Team Champions, the feud seems set to
continue.
If they keep up with this level of match quality, that’s totally fine.
Natalya beat Naomi The following Womens Championship match, however,
was horribly short-changed - a bout first announced two weeks ago getting just five
minutes of TV time.
Carmella and James Ellsworth attempted to get involved, but Naomi took them both out.
The briefcase is still in play.
Dolph Ziggler Does Entrances Dolph Ziggler should’ve just been featured
in his opening segment cameo.
His entrance parodies of Bayley and Ultimate Warrior were well-delivered - especially when
he kicked a wacky, waving, inflatable arm, flailing tube man (what a heel!) - but this
is invaluable time that should’ve gone to AJ vs Dillinger.
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin beat Hype Bros In a match that was rightfully quick for a
change - to get over their new tag team partnership - Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable beat The
Hype Bros, despite Gable’s arms being too short to tag in.
Zack Ryder’s arm was also too short, when he failed to partake in the post-match handshake
- reminding us all that several months ago, he started turning heel.
Long term booking at its worst.
Vince McMahon Returns The main event saw Vince McMahon return to
WWE TV after a four year absence.
He played the babyface, confronting Owens in the ring about his lawsuit.
Don’t you know how many court battles Vince has won, Kevin?
Even if you’re in the right, Vince is a billionaire, and his legal team can drag proceedings
out for years.
By the end of it, the only ‘B’ next to Kevin’s name will be ‘Bankrupt’.
Typical babyface words.
The sudden ‘I’ve got so much money’ heel monologue jarred with the ‘defending
my family’ schtick he began with, and came off as a not-so-subtle shoot on WWE doctor
Chris Amann’s defamation lawsuit against CM Punk - which Punk and Colt Cabana are reportedly
feeling the financial strain over.
Vince then made a Shane vs Owens Hell in a Cell match, which KO would only agree to if
he had the Chairman’s word that he wouldn’t be fired if he attacked a McMahon.
Hinting he isn’t actually that good at legal wordings, Vince agreed - effectively giving
Owens permission to deliver a stiff headbutt, busting opening his 72 year old boss hardway.
A superkick and Bullfrog Splash followed, KO brilliantly selling both rage and apprehension
at the same time.
And for added realism points, Stephanie McMahon stared down Owens as she went to help her
dad to close the show.
So that was this week’s Smackdown Live in about 4 minutes, here’s the usual ratings
recap from top to bottom: SmackDamn, Smacktastic, Smack *** In The Middle, Ellsworthy and WHERE
ARE THE FASHION POLICE?!
I’ll reveal my score very shortly, but first, vote in the poll above my head to give it
your own rating.
I’ll announce the results in tomorrow’s WrestleTalk News.
Given how this episode was built up like a mini-pay-per-view in Las Vegas, the majority
of the title matches failed to deliver.
But the night-long storyline of KO suing WWE, and the incredible closing angle of him beating
down Vince, made this one of the more memorable Smackdown episodes in months.
The last person Vince took a bump for was Roman Reigns.
Management are rightfully very high on Kevin Owens.
This week’s Smackdown is a SmackTastic Roman Reigns buries himself!
And what are the plans for a major WWE debut?
Click the videos to the left to learn more, press subscribe and support WrestleTalk on
Patreon.
I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.