Reverse Hipsters What Mattered
6. Edge and Seth
Edge and Seth were in a tough spot this week. There was nothing really left to say, but they both had to go out and cut promos anyway. It wasn't the best promos of their life, but I think they kept the feud hot, which is why they make the what mattered list. Edge says he will destroy Seth's soul, and he will never be the same again. Seth warns Edge that he doesn't know what he is getting into because Seth has actually been in more Hell in the Cell matches than Edge.
5. Roman and Brock
This contract signing added to the Paul Heyman storyline. Roman is sitting back cocky until Brock destroys his confidence by suggesting that he felt comfortable signing the contract so fast because he had already gone over it earlier with his advocate Paul Heyman. There is absolutely no way Roman can have complete trust in Paul, and even if Paul isn't working with Lesnar, it's still distracting.
4. Naomi vs. Shayna & Sonya
I thought Sonya putting Naomi in a handicap match was great. It made her a sympathetic underdog to root for and established Sonya as a detested heel, making the crowd want to see a one on one even more. Also, even though Naomi lost, she looked great. She was beating up both competitors, and only through double-teaming Naomi could they get the upper hand.
3. King of the Ring: Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor
Sami Zayn was never going to win this match. I don't think he has been at any of the Saudi PPVs. However, Sami and Finn still had the best match of the tournament so far. It was exciting and fast-paced, but in the end, Finn hit a stiff-looking Coup de Grace, and now he will be fighting for the Crown.
2. Street Profits vs. Usos in a Street Fight
The Usos and Street Profits had a PPV level fight right in the middle of Smackdown. You don't often get to see tornado tag matches, but when we do, it's great. These two teams put each other through tables and put their bodies on the line flying all over the place, all for the Tag Team titles. Surprisingly, the Usos beat the Street Profits clean.
1. Becky vs. Sasha
This match is one of the matches we haven't really seen before. Becky and Sasha were in a feud when Becky got pregnant, but Becky cheated to win. This time we got a twenty-minute show stealer that should have been the main event. The final shot of Smackdown should have been Sasha standing tall instead of the women being rushed off for contract signing. Sasha not only beat Becky, but she also made Becky look fantastic throughout the match. Sasha truly is in a league of her own.
Rob's What Mattered
4. King of the Ring Semi-Final
This was a good match and a great candidate to kick off the night. Because of the other big segments promoted, it felt like it was kind of buried in the show, but it was still a solid showing for Finn Balor and Sami Zayn. Balor is in an excellent position coming off his feud with Roman Reigns, and he could be a dark horse to steal the Crown from Xavier Wood's quest.
3. Street Profits vs. the Usos
It was nice to see WWE give this feud one last showcase. These are two great tag teams with good chemistry, heading to separate brands after Crown Jewel. This match had excellent tag team spots and brutal extreme rules spots like Angelo Dawkins using the kendo stick and Montez Ford hitting his version of the Van-Daminator. The Usos are proven as a tag team, but I'm all-in on the Street Profits as the heir apparent dominant tag team to the Usos and the New Day. Hopefully, Monday Night Raw gives them the full run they deserve.
2. Sonya Deville and Shayna Baszler vs. Naomi
We still don't exactly know what Sonya Deville has against Naomi, but WWE is following a proven formula for authority vs. underdog storylines. It feels novel because both the women involved are underutilized. Fans have been rooting for Naomi to be in a major storyline for years, and this could be her opportunity. Using Shayna Baszler in this capacity is also reinforcing her as the women's division's monster. WWE is booking this smart. It's frustrating to watch in the moment, but it's supposed to be. Time will tell if the payoff is worth it for Naomi fans.
1. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
This match had a lot of hype to live up to, and I think they delivered. With no advertisements, the flow of this match was more like a PPV, and it let them build the type of match we knew they could deliver. Becky Lynch is still not back to her pre-maternity status, but her chemistry with Sasha Banks proved that we likely had the best two technicians in the women's division in-ring. This match shined most when they were chaining together moves with submission attempts. I was surprised to see it end with a pin, but WWE had to save some of their cards for the PPV.
Rob's What Didn't Matter
2. Replays, Recaps, and Holding Feuds
This week's SmackDown imitated my least favorite thing about Raw: being over two hours and filling that time with unnecessary replays and feud recaps. SmackDown did a great job building feuds for Crown Jewel, and as a consequence, they didn't have much to add this week. Multiple segments were introduced with recaps. While a great match, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch didn't add any new dynamics to their match. The distraction spot with Bianca Belair was predictable and didn't make me feel any different about the triple threat match. Edge and Seth Rollins gave good promos to reinforce their feud, but it didn't really add anything new. I think it would have been better to save the Hell in a Cell revelation until this week. Finally, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar had a blink, and you missed it contract signing where Paul Heyman still insisted he wasn't on Lesnar's side while Lesnar insisted Heyman was. The parts of Super SmackDown that shined were the unexpected matches, so if you expected this to be a big go-home show for Crown Jewel, it really wasn't.
1. Queen's Crown
Again, the biggest what didn't matter of the week was Queen's Crown. The booking of this tournament has been abysmal. WWE has practically made it clear they don't value their non-main event women's talent. This should feel like an extraordinary moment for Zelina Vega, who has a built-in story of leaving WWE and coming back. The match didn't have enough time even to appreciate that. Instead, they focused on the ongoing feud between Carmella and Liv Morgan, which somehow feels overexposed yet hasn't had enough time to truly progress to anything. If that was what WWE wanted us to get out of this match, why wouldn't they book them in the final? I'm not sure what else to say here. This feels beyond saving unless there's a five-star final match with lots of time and possible story development from there.
Reverse Hipster What Didn't Matter
1. Queens Crown
Another match that didn't even go three minutes. I don't know who has the power to make WWE do this tournament, but they clearly didn't want to. They continue to ignore this first-ever Queen of the Ring tournament and treat it like it doesn't matter. At least this week, they had some story to the match. But it's ridiculous they won't give these women ten minutes to actually wrestle even on a Smackdown where they have more time than normal. They should have cut the Happy Corbin segment that was just there to waste time that could have gone to the women. I'm not exaggerating Corbin and Madcap came out and told bad jokes, then Nakamura came out and did his theme song, and that was it. It was literally just to waste time, which is unacceptable when you have a Queen's crown match that goes less than three minutes.
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