WNS Column: Smackdown Review - July 18th Edition

We've had two or three Smackdowns in a row that were impressive shows, so hopefully the last one before Battleground is good as well. Let's see. Dean Ambrose came to the ring to open the show, talking about getting taken out on Monday by the Authority. He once again asks "if that's all the Authority's got." He calls out Seth Rollins, who claims to not be medically cleared and instead we are going to get Ambrose/Kane again. Basically, Dean Ambrose can rock the microphone better than a good 95% of the current roster. I'm looking forward to Ambrose/Rollins more than any other Battleground match.

More Intercontinental Title Battle Royal mashups followed as Dolph "Mr. Steal Your Girl" Ziggler teamed with the United States Champion Sheamus to take on The Miz and Fandango. Miz's new Hollywood entrance is something I like, but he needs to drop the "Awesome" from it. It doesn't fit. His new video has clips of him on various shows like Lopez Tonight. We were treated to a good match that spanned a commercial break before Ziggler and Sheamus pulled out the win with a Zig Zag on Miz.

The Nikki Bella vs. the World storyline continues as she is a smoking special referee for a match between Alicia Fox and Eva Marie. This goes exactly as you would expect. The girls turn this into a Bella beat down because Brie took her ball and went home with it. There's also a report that the Alicia Fox tantrum character has been dropped, which I don't mind, it was irritating, but it did give her personality. Also, if this angle leads to Brie beating Stephanie, then how does Nikki get her revenge? Also, Eva Marie looks awful in everything that she does.

Goldust and Stardust had another odd backstage promo. I'm not sure what all of them mean because they like to talk in riddles, but Cody Rhodes has the mannerisms perfectly down. It's like, he watched enough of his brother growing up to be able to mimic him perfectly.

Chris Jericho met Luke Harper one on one for the very first time in a match that I was greatly looking forward to. Luke Harper happens to be my favorite in ring worker of the Wyatt Family and Jericho is, well, Jericho. The match was as good as I hoped for and Jericho managed to eke out a win. The rest of the Wyatt Family got involved after, but The Usos arrived to even the odds. Both of these matches should be awesome at Battleground and I'd love to see a Six Man Tag between these guys leading into SummerSlam.

Next, we were joined by the Real Americans, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. They discussed Monday's "Detente" and I must say that Swagger's shirt with the outline of his right hand covering his heart is excellent. After a hearty "WE THE PEOPLE", Rusev and Lana interrupt. They just say that Swagger will get crushed at Battleground and the fans chant "USA!" to end the segment. After some really fun interactions, this was a let down. So instead, here's a picture of Lana from her "Summer Vacation" photoshoot. 

It sucks how irrelevant Alberto Del Rio has become. I was never a fan of his mic work at all, but the man can flat out go in the ring. I think he would make a good Intercontinental Champion. He could go on with the "Best International Superstar" in WWE history. We also get a rundown of who's in the Battle Royal and the rumors were correct, Adam Rose and Damian Sandow were removed. Boo. Anyway, Kofi Kingston is his opponent. We get the usual solid, but uninspired contest between the two and Del Rio picks up the win.

Fandango tries to get back Summer Rae and Layla but it fails. They even make fun of the man's dancing. Never fear, Bo Dallas is here! He is hilarious telling Fandango that with his fancy pants, he can get another girl in no time. In an HLA dream match, Summer Rae teams with her kissing partner, Layla to take on AJ Lee and Paige. The "Frenemies" angle is interesting for sure. Paige and AJ win after AJ tags herself in. Paige is not happy but in the end, they share a hug that I'd love to be a part of. Seriously, this Battleground card is really good. Of the eight matches, I'm looking forward to at least six. That's impressive for a Pay-per-View that's kind of a throwaway. Side note, when girls tap out to the Black Widow on AJ's rear end, it's delightful.

Main event time as Dean Ambrose looks for some revenge on Kane for costing him the Money in the Bank briefcase at the beginning of the month. Again, it was a solid but unspectacular match. Once Ambrose seemed poised for the win, Seth Rollins had to make himself known as he and Kane handled things and left Ambrose lying. I think it's telling how Smackdown can have two hours and have pretty much no build for the Battleground main event. But, Ambrose and Rollins were the focal point of the show, which is not a bad thing. Decent episode, but nothing special. However, it was entertaining and built towards the PPV which is all you can ask for sometimes.

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