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WWE SmackDown Live! | Seattle, Washington | 2/7/2017
Daniel Bryan kicks off the show to get the crowd fired up. He talks about the last time he was home in Washington he announced his retirement. Bryan goes on to say that the past year has been tough for him but he is grateful. He also announces that he is going to be a father. The Miz comes out and interrupts him. Miz says he doesn't even know why Bryan is here anymore. He says that Bryan should just go home. Baron Corbin comes out and gets into it with Miz in a verbal exchange which leads to Dean Ambrose coming out. Ambrose makes two very horrible jokes about Miz and Corbin. AJ Styles makes his way down to the ring. He says that everyone has lost their minds and at Elimination Chamber he will regain the WWE Championship. Bryan ends up making a Fatal Four Way match that will take place after the commercial break.
I enjoyed this segment a lot. It lasted about 15 minutes and built to a good match being made by Daniel Bryan. The crowd was absolutely electric for this. I figured this was because of Bryan being back in home territory but it the crowd was like this for the majority of the night.
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose
This match was very well paced. I thought all men fired on all cylinders. AJ Styles looked tremendous and sold like a million bucks. Ambrose was taking shots at everyone which is always good when done correctly. Baron Corbin gets the pin on Styles after he gets distracted by Maryse. The Miz did a great job of generating heat. 2016 was a fantastic year for him. The angle on Talking Smack with Bryan really kick-started the rise of Miz's prominence on SmackDown Live. Bringing back the brand split has been such a great benefit for a talent like him. I thought Corbin was very good here. Again, the brand split has worked in Corbin's favor too. It seemed before the split he was another guy. They have done a great job of protecting him and making him look like a major threat heading into Elimination Chamber. I had no gripes with anything in this match, good stuff from all four men.
Tom Phillips interviewed Nikki Bella and Natalya on a double screen feature. The reason for this was so that the two wouldn't fight before Elimination Chamber. Nikki says that Natalya is no longer a friend. Nattie says that they were never friends and that Nikki is only where she is because of John Cena. Nothing new here. Natalya did really good in this and really took shots at Nikki. The bad acting and promo delivery of Nikki really showed here, I didn't like her stuff. Overall, this was a decent segment. I think the match at Elimination Chamber will be good and the build really has me interested to see this one.
Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler
Here we are again with a match that no one cares about. This match is a dud and ends very quickly. Crews rolls up Ziggler to get the win. They really haven't done Crews any favors since his arrival on the main roster. He has no character and the fans have no reason to care about anything he does. Ziggler is now a heel and gets cheered which is not supposed to be the reaction he gets. Dolph goes into a rage after this match and destroys Crews with a steel chair. Kalisto comes down to the ring only to suffer the same fate. The crowd chanted "one more time" as Ziggler was delivering chair shots which was hilarious. It goes to show you just how horribly booked Kalisto and Crews are. SmackDown does a lot of things right but the handling of those involved in this segment are things done wrong.
Bryan confronts Ziggler backstage and books him in a two on one match at Elimination Chamber against Kalisto and Crews. I am hoping Crews does a turn and beats down Kalisto. They need to do something with Crews and this is all I can think of at the moment.
Dual Contract Signing
Renee is in the ring and introduces Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Naomi, and Becky Lynch. Mickie James says that Renee is dismissed and Renee leaves the ring. Mickie tells Becky that she is tired of ungrateful people like Becky trying to ruin everything James built before the current crop of women arrived. She says Becky is trying to erase all of her great accomplishments. Lynch says that she is insane and that's not what she is trying to do at all. Alexa defends Mickie and says that she is now the leader of the division. Bliss apologizes about forgetting that Naomi was even there and says that she will beat her at Elimination Chamber. Naomi tells Alexa that she has beaten her two times and will make it three. Naomi follows by saying that after she will go on to defend the championship in her hometown at WrestleMania. The segment ends in a brawl after all four sign the contract with Naomi and Becky standing tall. This didn't need to be a duel contract signing, it was just weird. Mickie's tone was very different when cutting her promo and I didn't like it. Alexa was just awesome. Lynch was good. Naomi needs work but I can tell she's trying.
The Ascension, The Usos, and The Vaudevillains vs. American Alpha, Rhyno & Slater, and Breezango
This match had way too many bodies in it. It was a nothing match and served only to make certain teams look strong heading into Elimination Chamber. The Ascension get their first win in forever and I couldn't care less. SmackDown has been good for many but it hasn't benefited anyone in this tag team division. They just need to make these teams look stronger and more interesting.
John Cena vs. Randy Orton w/ Bray Wyatt
I really didn't want to see this match but it turned out to be fine. They gave us this match now so I assume this will not be the title match at Mania. The referee gets knocked out near the end. Bray and Orton gang up on Cena which leads to Luke Harper coming out. Wyatt tells Harper to back down and go away. Harper finally connects with an insane Discuss Clothesline to Wyatt. The crowd went nuts and so did I! The payoff was very good. Orton comes back in and Harper shoves him into Cena. He connects with the Attitude Adjustment and gets the victory on Randy Orton after the referee gets back up. Great finish to a decent match. This was a very good way to end the show heading into Elimination Chamber on just a two week build. Harper really has come into his own and is starting to get over with the fans. Harper is a solid hand who really can deliver in matches. Earlier in the show, Harper delivered a great promo.
I am really looking forward to the Elimination Chamber. The build has been very good and the Chamber Match has the potential to be the best one to date. Everyone is looking very strong and can easily be looked at as a potential champion. SmackDown was good this week. It wasn't the best episode but it seemed to go by quickly and nothing seemed to overstay it's welcome. The standout talent in this show was Luke Harper and he really has a chance to win fans over with a good match against Randy Orton at Elimination Chamber.
I would give this show a 7/10.
Sorry if I didn't go too in-depth. I just wanted to give a quick rundown with my thoughts on the side. I hope you all enjoyed. Feel free to send questions, feedback, and more to me.
Email: xuppercuts@gmail.com
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