The One That Reunites Corey Graves And Tom Philips – Smackdown Live Recap and Reactions – Sept. 5, 2017

I’m not wasting any time here, let’s talk about what really matters:

#ThankYouCorey #DreamTeamReunited

As you’ve probably heard, JBL has taken a leave from the WWE in order to pursue his outreach endeavors.  They’re all based in the Caribbean or something, which means he’s essentially on a really long beach vacation.  Well, at least until next week when there is no Caribbean anymore.  Thanks Irma.  (Seriously though, if you’re in the path of that storm, run like hell.  It does not look like it is going to be kind to the state of Florida.)

But honestly, this is awesome for us.  We lose a notorious jackass and we gain a COREY GRAVES!!!!!!!  The dream team is back, and I couldn’t be happier.  Seriously.  This is like finding out that Jeremy wants to cover Raw and I get to cover Smackdown with AJ Styles and John Cena.  This is going to be two hours of me ignoring the in ring action for once and simply appreciating the blessings the lord has bestowed upon me at the commentary table.

Holy crap, that was two paragraphs.  Anyway, Smackdown is Live tonight in .  So let’s see what we’re bringing to the table for Middle America this evening.

Here Comes the Money, Here Comes the Money.  Money, Money, Money, Money, Money, Money, Money, Money.  Dolla Dolla Dolla, a Dolla Dolla Dolla.  Those are seriously the words.  I can’t make this stuff up.

If you haven’t been keeping up, which would be really weird since you’re here (and if it’s just because you like my writing….awwwww.  Thank you! 😉 ), then you are aware that Shane McMahon was gone for a while, then he came back all Jacked Silver Fox.  While his punches still leave something to be desired, his prerogative has never deviated.  Shane McMahon likes to end up in matches and jump off shit.

Currently, we’re looking at a situation where Shane has ended up on the wrong side of KO because he feels slighted by shady officiating in his United States Championship efforts.

We knew we were getting to this point, so it’s great that we’re jumping in here instead of stringing this along any longer before getting to the point.

So, Carmella and James Ellsworth were in the ring, with Ellsworth attempting to hype Ms. Money in the Bank, but he’s interrupted by Kevin Owens theme song.  KO has injected himself into the Carmella vs Natalya match for the evening as the special referee, or so we think.  Shane makes his way out to prevent the injustice.

This segment went on way too long, and I’m not entirely sure where Carmella and Ellsworth went, but Kevin Owens started talking about Shane’s daddy issues, mentioned his kids, and then told him his family would have been better off if he hadn’t survived that helicopter crash, so of course this thing came to blows (yes, very angry T-Rex punches, but punches nonetheless).

The fought over the commentary table, and eventually Daniel Bryan had to run down to break it up and calm it down.

After the commercial break, the same officials that Kevin Owens has relentlessly bashed for their ineptitude are carrying him through the back when Daniel Bryan apologizes for Shane’s actions.  KO threatens both Shane and DB’s jobs, as he intends to sue the McMahon family and take away the WWE, then he changes his mind and says he’s going to press criminal charges.  So either this week or next, Shane will leave in handcuffs just like Vince always ended up doing.

Later:  Daniel Bryan looks downtrodden as he has to handle the Shane situation, but he’s joined by The New Day and The Usos, who announce that the title rematch will be at Smackdown next week in Las Vegas in a Vegas Street Fight.  I don’t know how that’s going to be any different from a typical street fight.  DB gets a phone call, assumed to be VKM, telling him to handle business in the ring this evening.

After the Commercial Break:  Daniel Bryan walks somberly to the ring to no entrance music or anything, calling Shane out to join him.  “We can’t assault our employees.  We can’t run Smackdown Live like that” – Daniel Bryan.  I gotta ask, does Daniel Bryan not remember having to fight his way through his boss in Triple H to actually become champion?  I mean, it’s all for storyline, but seriously, you can’t have that guy tell them that the boss can’t get in fist fights against his employees.

Daniel confirms that the call was from Vince, and he’s been instructed to inform Shane that he is suspended indefinitely, effective immediately.  The E’s Twitter has already gotten #ThankYouShane going.

Other Stuff

• The show actually opened with Randy Orton standing in front of what seemed to be a green screen from Freddy’s Lair in a Nightmare on Elm Street film cutting a promo about watching stars rise and fall.  Shinsuke followed it up immediately with an understandable but rough promo about Destiny and inflicting pain.  He probably speaks clearly when he doesn’t have a mouth guard in.
• Carmella vs Natalya: So now that the Shane-Owens scene has passed, Ellsworth and Mella are at the ring still awaiting the Queen of Harts and Smackdown Women’s Champion.  This match was sloppy as hell.  Ellsworth got on the apron and dropped the briefcase into the ring.  Carmella got pissed, and distracted, so Natalya wins via roll up.  Following the match, Carmella emasculated Ellsworth and told him to hit the bricks.
• Dolph Ziggler repackages himself as a knock off John Cena because the crowd just cares about gimmicks and not in ring ability.  It was actually pretty great.  That didn’t go over as well as he’d hoped, so he tried to go old school.  Crowd wasn’t buying, so he tried to feel the glow.  It was actually fairly impressive.  It’s just heel night on Smackdown, because Ziggler is as unnecessarily rude to the crowd as Carmella was to Ellsworth and Owens to Shane.
• Sami Zayn vs Aiden English – The Rematch: With Kevin Owens interjecting himself in the finish last week, Zayn has requested a rematch.  It was all for not, as two minutes into the match, Sami missed on a high flying maneuver and English got another roll up victory, this time with a legitimate referee.  So we’ve had two matches and two roll up finishes.  Yay.
• Jinder cuts a great promo hyping the match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton.  This actually worked really well, avoided Xenophobia, and was light on the Punjabi only pretty much repeating himself about how big the match tonight is.
• The Perfect 10 vs The Lone Wolf: Tye Dillinger appreciates every moment he gets.  You can see it on his face.  Unfortunately he’s being booked as fodder to get other people over, and he takes an End of Days as Baron Corbin picks up the pinfall.  He did look good when he was given an opportunity to, and the crowd loved it.  Hopefully they don’t lose faith in Tye.  He’s a crowd favorite.  AJ was on commentary for this matchup, but nothing came of it, just lengthy stare downs.  After a commercial break, AJ tells Tye that he is the only one the Open Challenge is open to next week in Vegas because he deserves a legitimate opportunity at the belt.

When You’re Glorious, You Get Your Own Section in the Recap

I oversold it, just like WWE did during this episode of Smackdown.  It was seriously just a promotional video package about the Glorious One.

• James Ellsworth in the back pleads for Carmella to give him another chance.  She kissed him and then slaps him.  “Well, whatever the hell that was…” – Daisy.  I couldn’t agree more, Daisy.  I couldn’t agree more.
• At the end of the show, Daniel Bryan finds Kevin Owens to let him know Shane has been suspended.  Next week, Owens promises to make Smackdown Live his own personal playground.  Bryan let’s him know that Vince will be in the house next week to solve the situation.

The King of Strong Style vs The Viper for the Number One Contendership

So this is a pretty damn awesome main event.  It’s not a Big Show vs Braun Strowman Cage Match, but you’re putting one of the top superstars of the past 15 years against the hottest attraction in WWE right now, so it’s a big deal.  After the RKO last week, Shinsuke seeks to land a Kinshasa to return the favor and punch his ticket to a rematch with Jinder, who is watching from a luxury box with the Singh Brothers, so at least you can assume he won’t play a role here and get himself into a Triple Threat match at HiaC.

I’ve said it a thousand times, when Randy Orton is on and invested, Randy Orton is just an amazing talent to watch, and Randy Orton has seemed invested since he returned earlier in the year to go into the feud with Bray (we’ll forgive him for the House of Horrors.  It wasn’t either of their faults that was crap.)  The Powerslam reversal of the Kinshasa was pretty great, and Orton was feeling the crowd and played into them like only a seasoned veteran can.  The RKO reversal into the Arm Bar/Triangle was even more awesome.

Hell, now I want this to end up a Triple Threat Match just so I can see these two go at it again.

RKO reversed into a Backstabber, then Shinsuke would land the Kinshasa to become the Number One Contender yet again.

Final Thoughts and Reaction:

It was an odd cutaway to the Kevin Owens-Daniel Bryan exchange during Nakamura’s celebration, especially since it cut back to it before the broadcast ended, odd enough that it too me out of how much I enjoyed the match.  Anyway, we were given back to back damn fine main events, and that’s always a great thing to get from WWE booking/creative.

I’m giving this one a B.  Just a straight B.  Strowman wasn’t here to try to kill anybody with chain link fencing, so it just gets a B.  The women’s division was sort of lacking here, and I get that they’re trying to sit on the bigger names in the women’s divisions on account of the impending Four Horsewomen vs Four Horsewomen of MMA feud, but damn, give me some Charlotte already.  I actually miss her.

See you tomorrow.  Now go watch 205 Live.  Fatal Five Way for Number One Contendership (that you already know Enzo is going to win somehow).