WWEis still dealing with the aftermath oflast week’s Survivor SeriesasSmackDownrolls into Minnesota for this week’s show.DIY are your new WWE Tag Team Champions, defeating the Motor City Machine Guns and turning heel together. Tommaso Ciampa had spent the past few weeks being off the rails, but his partner, Johnny Gargano, has now joined him in his wickedness. All of this came after they replaced The Street Profits, who were taken out of commission by an unnamed team earlier in the evening.
Elsewhere, Tiffany Stratton qualified for the next round of the Women’s United States Championship tournament in front of her hometown crowd, The Bloodline spent their night causing chaos with everyone from Apollo Crews to LA Knight and Andrade, andChad Gable lost to Cody Rhodes in an entertaining Main Event.
DIY
Sometimes It’s Good To Be Bad
After weeks of dastardly and devious behavior from Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano finally joined his brother in debauchery asDIY turned heel and pulled off the heist of the century. After The Street Profits were found laid out by Byron Saxton, the cherubic Gargano arrived on the scene and volunteered DIY as a quick replacement. Nick Aldis didn’t want to book the match, and had it been Ciampa asking it wouldn’t have happened, but Motor City Machine Guns insisted on defending their titles.
The spiders had spun their web. DIY proceeded to bicker all the way through the match, before a thunderous low blow from Gargano revealed that he and Ciampa were in cahoots. By the time Motor City Machine Guns had figured out what was going on,DIY got the win to become new Tag Team Champions. It’s been a hell of a week for tag team heel turns, after The New Day turned heel on Raw this week too, but this is an exciting development for a very deserving tag team. It’s going to be a fun road to the Royal Rumble in the next few weeks in SmackDown’s tag division.
The Mixing of the Brands
WWE Points Towards an Interesting New Future
Once the upcoming re-imagining of Saturday Night’s Main Event is out of the way, it’s time for the biggest moment in WWE since Vince McMahon left the company in disgrace, asNetflix is about to become the new home of Monday Night Rawin the US, and the WWE overall in some territories. As such,there is currently a lawlessness to WWE’s brand split which is curious.
Crown Jewel and Survivor Series are two events defined by Raw and SmackDown crossing over but, now those two events are in the rearview mirror, there is usually a return to normality. That is simply not happening. SmackDown’s Main Event took place between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Raw’s Chad Gable, while World Heavyweight Champion Gunther was seen in conversation with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis.
WWE & Netflix Plan Documentaries & Unscripted Series In Massive Partnership
WWE and Netflix are going to work together again in a new partnership, which will involve a slate of documentaries and unscripted series.
It is exciting to think that “anybody could show up” at any show,regardless of their brand, and it’s something Michael Cole alluded to on the broadcast as being a big part of the coming weeks. The disparity between audience size on Raw and SmackDown could be about to widen to obscene lengths. It’s only fair that talent should be able to revel in Netflix’s exposure, so this feels like a smart move, if it is here to stay.
Bianca Belair and Piper Niven
A Match Where Everything Worked
Sometimes, WWE entertainment is as simple as two performers with contrasting styles creating magic with one another in the ring.Bianca Belair vs Piper Niven was a riot of top-quality wrestlingfrom a lady justifiably recognized as one of the best talents of her generation and a performer who has quietly improved in a multitude of ways and is getting more TV time in recognition of that effort. In the continued absence of Jade Cargill, Bianca got the win but there’s more to this story.
2024 has seen a lot of people wake up to the comedic brilliance and natural charm of Chelsea Green. One of the more underrated sides of this glow-up has been her Scottish sidekick’s role in this popularity surge.Piper Niven is the perfect foil for Chelsea’s brashness; owning the muscle to assist Green’s latest schemes, but also has the required chops to be the Gretchen Wieners to Chelsea’s Regina George. There should be acclaim for her work with Belair on this show and her efforts on SmackDown this year.
Shinsuke Nakamura
The New United States Champion Thrives in His New Role
The list of creative blunders in the decade that precededthe Paul Levesque Erahas swallowed more WWE careers than injuries in the same time span. Vince McMahon’s insultingly bad booking flatlined some of the greatest superstars to enter a WWE ring. Some of them wrestle for other companies now, but a lot of them have found new inspiration and popularity with booking that is worthy of their talents. Of all of the performers who have been robbed of showing their true greatness,Shinsuke Nakamura was a great casualty of a creative team that didn’t understand his magic.
Since returning, Nakamura has been on one of the hottest streaks in the WWE. His presentation is meaner, and more sinister, visually echoing the Sith, with his theme music receiving a colder, less fan-friendly remix. The Bloodline was willing to maim anyone who got near them, but they backed up as Shinsuke Nakamura allowed black liquid to drip from his mouth as he snarled unflinchingly at Solo Sikoa. It’s early days butWWE is giving you reason to believe in Shinsuke once again. Grab it with both hands.
The Bloodline
A Rare Creative Misstep From Solo’s Crew
There are two very different ways one can view this week’s performance from The Bloodline. There is an argument that says Solo Sikoa and his gang wrecked anyone who crossed them and reasserted their dominance in the absence of Roman Reigns. The other school of thought isthis was a petulant night from a faction that had Friday nights on lockfor most of this calendar year.
What does it prove for a mob who have been crushing WWE’s best to squash Apollo Crews on our screens? Interrupting the US Championship confrontation by dropping LA Knight and Andrade on their backs meantThe Bloodline felt more pretty than authoritative. If Roman isn’t on the show, that means they can’t progress in their story. There can be sympathy with that, but The Bloodline has to make a statement next week to reclaim their momentum and some much-needed intimidation points.
Naomi
A Big Disappointment For a Potential US Champion
Here’s a challenge. attempt to find a fault with Naomi as a performer in the WWE Women’s wrestling landscape. She has a great entrance, good theme music, is one of the most instantly recognizable superstars in the company, and has a bag of tricks in her in-ring arsenal that would make any magician blush. She may never have generated the momentum of some of her peers, butNaomi was surely a name discussed to win WWE’s first women’s mid-card title.
Fans could be silenced if they pushed for Naomi to win the big one, despite an entirely commendable recent run with Nia Jax, butlosing her place in the next round of the tournamentto Tiffany Stratton feels like a big loss for Naomi. There will be more opportunities for her, and she will surely be given a run with a championship of this or equal stature in the future, but this should serve as a fork in the road for Naomi. Maybe The Glow has got to go. Maybe a reinvention is necessary for everyone to wake up and recognize her. Whatever it is, it is concerning that Naomi has had no say in this tournament whatsoever.
