Sigh. this championship run is doing Chelsea Green no favors.
She retained against Nikki Bella because of course she did. I have no issue with the result. I even liked Chelsea’s surprise look that she got the win thanks to a roll-up. I do, however, think this match made Nikki look kinda dumb. She’s a vet in this game. She’s in the Hall of Fame and a former champion. So why on earth does she lack the ring awareness to know how close she was to the ropes during her pin attempt after hitting the Rack
Attack? If she wants to get a little arrogant with the pin, cool. She’s a heel and that’s what heels do. But that arrogance shouldn’t make her look like a rookie. And now let’s get back to the champ.
Liv Morgan got a microphone in hand and disrespected Chelsea like the Canadian stole her man. And Chelsea looked shook. The same woman who stood toe-to-toe with GUNTHER of all people looked like a shrinking violet in front of Liv. She had no response to Liv’s insults nor did she stand up for herself. The wildest part? She didn’t look happy the whole segment until Tiffany Stratton showed up.
So the Women’s Champion can’t defend herself and can’t wait for backup? I don’t like that. This is the same Chelsea who rushed the ring on the most recent Raw. She aggressively attacked Liv and Judgment Day but looked outclassed here. How does she just let Liv say Chelsea will get fired for a third time and no one will care?That doesn’t make Chelsea sympathetic; it makes her look like a chump. It also makes her look like she needed her big sister to step in and fight for her. Speaking of Tiffany…
Once again, she saw the opportunity to cash-in. Once again, she had Liv dead to rights. And once again, she hesitated like someone who has no idea how this works. All that led to Judgment Day continuing a beatdown and IYO SKY making the save.
The champ needing backup is fine when she’s outnumbered like this but she feels like the one person without agency. At least consistently. As my boy Sean pointed out, the territory doesn’t seem interested in using this championship reign to further Chelsea’s character. At times she looks out of her depth and that’s a bad look for the champ.
B-Sides
- Jade Cargill showed up dressed like Poison Ivy. Corey Graves said he suddenly had the desire to watch Batman Forever. Sir, Poison Ivy is from Batman & Robin. When you geek, geek correctly. He corrected himself but c’mon, bruv.
- Ricky Saints and Rey Fenix put on another dope match for the AAA Cruiserweight Championship. Ricky always looks good against Rey, while Rey looks good with everyone lately. The story saw Ricky truly push Rey but the champ is working on a different level right now. Ricky hit a nasty looking Death Valley Driver and the Revolution DDT, two moves that could finish off a mere mortal. But it all led to a big finish Mexican Muscle Buster where Ricky took an awkward fall, but still fell nonetheless.
- Here’s why I mentioned Jade. She defeated Tatum Paxley in a match that further cooked the beef between Jade and her Baddies who aren’t called Baddies, and Tatum, Charlotte Flair, & Alexa Bliss. However, Tatum & Alexa were down one woman, which made this a less-than-fair fight. I loved Tatum attacking Jade before the bell rung by jumping on her back. That’s such a Tatum thing to do. It was a perfect moment of defining character through action. But like I said, the heels outnumbered the faces. B-Fab interfered late in the match, which is when all hell broke loose outside the ring. Well, not all hell, but definitely a few gates. Alexa took on B-Fab, Michin took out Alexa, and Tatum took her eye off the prize to knock out Michin. Once Tatum rolled back into the ring, She walked right into a pump kick and a Jaded. That was all she wrote.
- Before this match, Jade’s crew interacted with Fatal Influence. The group dynamics here are very similar, so I do wonder what that looks like as a match. Jade and Jacy Jayne both measure their egos in acres and their minions are proper minions.
- The Demon is back! I rolled my eyes at the start of Danhausen’s segment. I love halloween but I figured this would just take up a ton of time on a show that only runs 120 minutes. Especially when GUNTHER came out, followed by the Minihausens. GUNTHER being involved with Danhausen just does nothing for me. If it works for you though, that’s awesome. What does work for me? The Demon popping up and turning it into a very different segment. Danhausen told us about two experiments during the show. One was a resurrected Gingerbread Man apparently made of nightmare fuel, and the other was The Demon. Halloween is the perfect atmosphere for this persona, and The Ring General sold it beautifully. This was the most exciting part of the show as The Demon put GUNTHER not through one table, but two. The first, sponsored by Slim Jim, and the announce table courtesy of a coup de grace off the top of a ladder. It’s rare seeing GUNTHER laid bare like that. I don’t think this means Finn ultimately goes over in their match, but it was a great use of The Demon for the occasion.
- I liked Cody Rhodes’ energy in his promo. But I missed Randy Orton as a counterbalance. Cody apologizing to everyone in Randy’s family for what he’s going to do to The Viper felt forced because that’s not him. At least not in this setting with a microphone in his hand and his voice at a 10. Randy provides that other end to either call out Cody for his BS or just bring the segment down with some genuine menace. After Cody finally crossed the line last week, this segment really needed Randy in-person to react to this new information. And also to say what Michael Cole said: is Cody truly willing to explore that dark side when it’s Randy on the other end of the ring? Damien Priest is no slouch but he’s also no Randy Orton.
- As it relates to Damien, the recipient of said punt from Cody, he was just up and about this week. The punt used to be a devastating thing that would end careers. Now it’s just another move. If they’re going to sell the action as Cody crossing a moral line, then give it some true weight. Damien shouldn’t be in the locker room decrying Trick Williams’ title shot, or talking trash to Fraxiom.
- I didn’t expect Trick to defeat Sami Zayn for the Undisputed Championship. But I get why they had the match. They need to reinforce the idea that Sami can lose this at any time leading up to Crown Jewel. I’m glad it ended with Sami using a low blow and the championship itself to get the win in a match that became No DQ match. But I don’t get exactly why GM Nick Aldis added that stipulation. Follow me for a bit. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae interfered at multiple times throughout the match. The most blatant attempt was Johnny pulling the ref out of the ring during what in all likelihood was a three-count moment when Trick had the champ on his shoulders. The ref disqualified Sami, which gave Trick the win. However comma but it wasn’t over. GM Nick sent Yachty, Candice, and Johnny to the back, then restarted the match as a No DQ affair. But if we just saw what happened when people interfered, why open that door for more interference? Outside of the story, I get they did this to protect Trick. In the story, it made little sense. Still, a fun match that did what it needed to do even if it didn’t quite line up logically.
SmackDown was fine. It was a mixed show that did some things well and some not so well. Not quite very nice but not very evil either. It was right down the middle and that’s not always the best place to sit.
What say you, Cagesiders?
