Fire and Dawn come in as the NXT champions. Lots of hype, Wade Barrett constantly talking about how they ran over everyone in NXT. First match is against the new tag champions Rousey and Baeszler. Big time match.

I've never seen Fire and Dawn wrestle but they have a lot of presence and confidence so I was excited. Fire and Dawn dominate at first with a mix of fiery fighting and strong tag team instincts. But...the match ended with Fire and Dawn tapping out at the same time to Rousey's armbar and Baeszler's chokehold. The post-match segment shows that we are going back to Raquel and Liv challenging once more.

I know it's normal for NXT callups to be brought up and put straight into the lowcard. But with these ladies being hyped up so much, that was the moment to give them the Kevin Owens callup push (he beat John Cena in his first match). Presented as a big deal, unstoppable, only them to be stopped decisively in their first match and pushed aside to revisit an old rivalry. What an anticlimax.

Have Fire and Dawn win, you still get your Liv Morgan surprise return, then you have another big match in Fire and Dawn vs Rodriguez and Morgan.

It's not the worst decision ever as Rousey and Baeszler are still a strong tag team who can lead the division, and they have just won the belts, but it does feel like a missed opportunity.

I hate that they unified the NXT women's tag titles, with the WWE women's tag titles.

1. Shayna Baszler and especially Ronda Rousey aren't going down to NXT to defend the women's tag titles.

2. This effectively means I shouldn't care about any of the teams down in NXT. Why should I invest in Elektra Lopez/Lola Vice, Lash Legend/Jakara Jackson, and Valentina Feroz/Yulisa León as tag teams, when the company they work for cares so little?

I mean why be in a tag team when you have nothing to fight for, surely without tag titles, it just makes more sense to end those partnerships and focus on a singles career, where you can actually win gold.

I think Ronda and Shayna are more likely to show up in NXT now with Nick Khan’s initiative for integration and how successful Bron/Seth was.

There should be no honour in being a long term mid card champion in a developmental territory like Wes.

But I do not agree with getting rid of the Tag Belts. I think as NXT Champion/Tag Team Champions (in this modern WWE) you should be now on the main roster part time, so the NXT belt acts as the stepping stone ie; you're better than everyone in NXT, now you've unlocked the main roster and you've got to start moving up the tier.

I like it when WWE do these international shows.

Everything, even the entrance way make it look different than the average WWE show.

So do I, I love the lack of the over-sized trons.

I also do love a UK crowd.

That Bloodline Civil War promo was fantastic.

Push LA Knight to the moon. This guy is money.

Charlotte vs Asuka was a disaster. And I'm not talking about Bianca Belair. Rarely have I zeen worse chemistry between two wrestlers of their abioity.

LA Knight gives me Steve Austin vibes. Guy feels special.

Prepare yourselves. Tonight, The Trial of Roman Reigns.

Jul 8, 2023 0:11:09 GMT NATH45 said:

Prepare yourselves. Tonight, The Trial of Roman Reigns.

I'm surprised that it isn't the main event.

My antenna just isn’t picking it up tonight. Sling doesn’t get local channels in my neighborhood. And watch wrestling is not working at all today. This is the worst!

Ah, so that's why Tribal Court isn't the main event.

Edge is facing Greyson Waller in a match tonight.

I can't help to think about the time Waller challenged Bron in that cage match and lost.. and then went on to be a big deal very quickly on Smackdown.

Ah, nevermind. Jey's still gonna close the show.

So, Bloodline business Main Events again.

" you swam " - ultimate compliments from Edge.

Waller is the best chance I'll ever see an Australian WWE Champion.

Worst Smackdown in a while which is surprising since it was a MSG show. Also one of the first times I’ve thought that the Bloodline story was dragging. I’ll probably change my mind back eventually, but I didn’t think much of what they did tonight worked.

Other than that you had the inevitable Austin Theory cheap win, another crummy AJ Styles/Karrion Kross match, and Edge/Waller which was fine but did not possibly need three segments between the Waller Effect and match.

I didn't realise Grayson Waller actually wrestled. He was OK. He did swim, but not very far.

Jul 8, 2023 5:05:02 GMT mikec said:

Worst Smackdown in a while which is surprising since it was a MSG show. Also one of the first times I’ve thought that the Bloodline story was dragging. I’ll probably change my mind back eventually, but I didn’t think much of what they did tonight worked.

You weren't moved at all by Roman's words, and his torturous relinquishment of the wreath, and kneeling down with tears in his eyes? Did nothing for ya?

Jul 8, 2023 11:39:12 GMT Emperor said:

Jul 8, 2023 5:05:02 GMT mikec said:

Worst Smackdown in a while which is surprising since it was a MSG show. Also one of the first times I’ve thought that the Bloodline story was dragging. I’ll probably change my mind back eventually, but I didn’t think much of what they did tonight worked.

You weren't moved at all by Roman's words, and his torturous relinquishment of the wreath, and kneeling down with tears in his eyes? Did nothing for ya?

No not really. The words weren’t necessarily new, and the tears seemed especially fake. Maybe if they’d let it sit for awhile before showing that it was false would’ve helped, but the obvious turn just made Jey look a little silly. It doesn’t help that they’ve done this kind of misdirection twice in the last six weeks (“we’re still the ones? No.” and “You’re out… and I’m out too”) and this isn’t necessarily fair to the writing but that the entire internet knew it would be Jey-Roman at Summerslam didn’t help.

Maybe that speaks to a larger problem they’ve had with the bloodline story, that almost every beat since Wargames has been spoiled out in advance. And I don’t seek out the stuff, it shows up in my Facebook feed or whatever. But we knew in November it’d be Sami-Roman in February and it’d be Cody at Mania (the result of which was a shocker) with Usos-KO/Sami. We knew they were building to Usos- Roman/Solo a month before Jey turned. We knew Jey-Roman before today. And we seem to know that Cody-Roman is the plan for Wrestlemania 40. The characters have brought the material to a level where usually knowing the outcome hasn’t been a major issue… I just didn’t think they did that today.

I’ve enjoyed almost everything about the story so far, so this is faint criticism and I will admit I don’t know anything about their plans post Summerslam other than that the current plan is Roman-Cody so maybe there’s something unpredictable coming.

Jun 24, 2023 12:30:43 GMT Emperor said:

Fire and Dawn come in as the NXT champions. Lots of hype, Wade Barrett constantly talking about how they ran over everyone in NXT. First match is against the new tag champions Rousey and Baeszler. Big time match.

I've never seen Fire and Dawn wrestle but they have a lot of presence and confidence so I was excited. Fire and Dawn dominate at first with a mix of fiery fighting and strong tag team instincts. But...the match ended with Fire and Dawn tapping out at the same time to Rousey's armbar and Baeszler's chokehold. The post-match segment shows that we are going back to Raquel and Liv challenging once more.

I know it's normal for NXT callups to be brought up and put straight into the lowcard. But with these ladies being hyped up so much, that was the moment to give them the Kevin Owens callup push (he beat John Cena in his first match). Presented as a big deal, unstoppable, only them to be stopped decisively in their first match and pushed aside to revisit an old rivalry. What an anticlimax.

Have Fire and Dawn win, you still get your Liv Morgan surprise return, then you have another big match in Fire and Dawn vs Rodriguez and Morgan.

It's not the worst decision ever as Rousey and Baeszler are still a strong tag team who can lead the division, and they have just won the belts, but it does feel like a missed opportunity.

Revisiting this post after seeing what they did with Ronda and Shayna and everything in it is even more true now.

They are doing a really bad job of the women’s division on Smackdown and they arguably have the edge in the women’s main event scene in terms of talent and star power.

Jul 8, 2023 12:02:43 GMT mikec said:

Jul 8, 2023 11:39:12 GMT Emperor said:

You weren't moved at all by Roman's words, and his torturous relinquishment of the wreath, and kneeling down with tears in his eyes? Did nothing for ya?

No not really. The words weren’t necessarily new, and the tears seemed especially fake. Maybe if they’d let it sit for awhile before showing that it was false would’ve helped, but the obvious turn just made Jey look a little silly. It doesn’t help that they’ve done this kind of misdirection twice in the last six weeks (“we’re still the ones? No.” and “You’re out… and I’m out too”) and this isn’t necessarily fair to the writing but that the entire internet knew it would be Jey-Roman at Summerslam didn’t help.

Maybe that speaks to a larger problem they’ve had with the bloodline story, that almost every beat since Wargames has been spoiled out in advance. And I don’t seek out the stuff, it shows up in my Facebook feed or whatever. But we knew in November it’d be Sami-Roman in February and it’d be Cody at Mania (the result of which was a shocker) with Usos-KO/Sami. We knew they were building to Usos- Roman/Solo a month before Jey turned. We knew Jey-Roman before today. And we seem to know that Cody-Roman is the plan for Wrestlemania 40. The characters have brought the material to a level where usually knowing the outcome hasn’t been a major issue… I just didn’t think they did that today.

I’ve enjoyed almost everything about the story so far, so this is faint criticism and I will admit I don’t know anything about their plans post Summerslam other than that the current plan is Roman-Cody so maybe there’s something unpredictable coming.

It's fair the turn was obvious, I saw the low blow coming the moment Roman knelt. But I can also understand Jey falling for it. He did turn on Roman and puts up a front of putting all that behind him, but those deep psychological scars don't heal easily so it's understandable that both Jey and Jimmy were both suckered in. Especially after that masterful speech Roman gave in response to the video.

I'm not convinced Cody/Roman is the plan for next Wrestlemania, PW and the internet as a whole having this as some foregone conclusion is baffling to me.

Roman/Cody feels the way it’s going to me. If just by process of elimination than anything else. Jey is facing Roman at SummerSlam, Solo is nowhere near ready, and at least one of the McMahons clearly doesn’t fancy LA Knight. So you’re probably down to Cody, whose story they continue to reference on a weekly basis, and Seth. I would be shocked if it’s not Roman/Cody again. Injuries allowing, of course.

Nobody shows more fake sympathy than RR.

Jul 8, 2023 19:25:28 GMT @toddisdrunk said:

Roman/Cody feels the way it’s going to me. If just by process of elimination than anything else. Jey is facing Roman at SummerSlam, Solo is nowhere near ready, and at least one of the McMahons clearly doesn’t fancy LA Knight. So you’re probably down to Cody, whose story they continue to reference on a weekly basis, and Seth. I would be shocked if it’s not Roman/Cody again. Injuries allowing, of course.

Cody's story would fit with the Rocky storyline.  Losing to the champ in the first movie, only to win it in the rematch in the second movie.  And with Mania in Philly, the home of Rocky, I see that as happening.

The challenging thing with The Bloodline storyline is everything is so entrenched, that it is difficult inserting anyone else into the mix at this point.

If LA Knight were to challenge Reigns, there would be a few weeks of promos, an eventual match on a minor PLE... The Bloodline would be involved and then the TVA would correct the timeline and we're back to our original scheduled programming within a week.

LA Knight or anyone for that matter wouldn't get the time nor energy invested in them to really shine.

It's better to " finish the story " and let all parties move on.

Let Jey win the Title - reuniting all 3 Brothers, as The Bloodline Wolfpac (as Reigns takes some time off) and maybe Jey gets 3 months as Champion.

A guy like me, would then turn The OC heel and book Styles to take out Jey for the title, then use this opportunity to back-door LA Knight into a feud with Styles.. if only to hear LA rip on The Doofus Brothers and call AJ a dummy. Yeeah.

I remember Jey telling Jimmy, we have to be better than Roman after he super-kicked him at N. O. C. Jey was trying to give Roman the benefit of the doubt because he wanted the family back together. There's nothing mikec, silly about that, mikec.

Thurston is reporting that over three million people watched the Bloodline segment on Smackdown. 😳