This is going to be unique review of this show as I was actually there for the taping.
For the story of the experience and a link to the spoilers I turned in to PWTorch, click HERE.
My plan for this is simple: Reviewing the show and pointing out any big differences I notice in the TV taping versus the live experience. Without further ado, let's do this!
SmackDown Thoughts
- The show opens just the way it did live: A panning of the live crowd and The New Day coming out. And there's Big E, dressed like the New Year's Baby. And he's got a giant bottle for crying out loud. I don't think I remember seeing that live. They edited out a part where Kofi Kingston mistakenly said at the Royal Rumble there would be "5,000" instead of "50,000" people. Steiner Math was still in here though. Lol. They go over who they are going to challenge if they win and include the burn on the Universal Champion not being there. Big E is eating pancakes out of his diaper. He chucks some into the audience! They include the Kofi joke referencing that along with the movie references. And here comes Jeff Hardy for his match with Samoa Joe...
The New Day were great live, and this was still one of the more entertaining New Day promos I can remember. A lot of meta-references for the adults and enough for the kids to keep them entertained.
One thing edited out was Jeff Hardy coming into the ring and dancing along with The New Day briefly before going on the corners to energize the crowd.
- Samoa Joe comes out for his match with Jeff Hardy. They definitely added in some boos on this entrance. It wasn't nearly as loud as they made it on TV. Cool thing is though that the highlights that you see on TV to go over what happened last week are shown live as well. So, it does give the live crowd something to help jog their memories. This was actually a more scientific match than I remembered it being with Joe and Hardy both going for the other's leg before the commercial break.
We return from commercial break to see Joe back in control of Jeff Hardy. If I remember, Joe tripped up Jeff on the apron which helped set up his dominance. A good bit of audience noise is added in to boost up the match. But it wasn't that loud when Joe did the corner move on Jeff. It did get a good bit of noise. But not that loud. Hardy gets the Swanton Bomb on Joe and gets pulled into the Clutch. (I thought it was a dive into it, but I guess I remembered it wrong.) Joe reapplies the Clutch in the ring for the ref stoppage.
This was about as good of a match as I remembered it being live. This wasn't a 5 star classic or even very good, but it did its job in putting some momentum in Joe's character.
- We get the AJ-Vince-Shane promo backstage with AJ not apologizing for what happened last week. Shane gets up to confront AJ, but Vince stops him.
- The Rusev Day Celebration is next. The new United States Champion gets as loud an ovation as I remembered him getting live. Some of Rusev's one-liners were enhanced by the post-production team. Nakamura attacks Rusev. Lana jumps on Nakamura. Machka Kick to Nakamura who lands on Lana. Kinshasa to Rusev. Again, it seems like the post-production team has been busy this evening. I'll give them this: They didn't add too many boos to Nakamura walking back to the locker room thankfully.
- Naomi comes out for her entrance, which I stand by saying doesn't look as good on TV as it does live. The announce team announces Mandy Rose as the competitor against Naomi, just as it was live. Hmmm... There's the Day One Ish shirt on Mandy Rose. Naomi goes to attack, but the bell rings with Sonya wrestling. Sonya just takes Mandy's place for no reason. There's no explanation that this was The McMahon's or anything. That's slightly more baffling than it was live for some reason. Mandy distracts Naomi with the picture that she supposedly sent to her husband. Sonya takes advantage and wins the match. More storyline progression here than an actual match.
- Randy Orton's promo comes up. And the Rey Mysterio botch is edited out for obvious reasons. Applause is added in for the fade away to make it sound better. Good move by WWE though as Rey's promo was sabotaged by that momentary glitch.
- The New Year's Resolutions never aired in front of the live audience. Shelton Benjamin's attack on New Year's Resolutions was the best thing that he's done since Chad Gable went to Raw.
- And here comes John Cena to what was a very good reaction live as it was on TV. Cena reviews his year (buying a ticket at WrestleMania, his personal life, his children's book, living in China, and growing out his hair). He works in a Bumblebee reference. He asks "WHY?" is he there. He doesn't have a reason. He knows he's going to be interrupted by some man. Enter THE MAN.
Loud ovation for Becky. Cena didn't expect The Man. Becky tells Cena that she was aiming for his spot on the billboards. He used to represent what WWE was. It's time for someone new to step up, and that one person is her. If Cena has a problem with that, Nikki Bella won't be the only woman to drop him this year. Wow! Burn.
Here come Almas and Zelina to cut their promo to set up an impromptu tag team match. Zelina talks about the "Fresh Start." She only sees an old face and a broken face in the ring. She introduces herself and Almas. Cena demands a match with those two with Becky as his partner.
(The segment pretty much played out as it did live, for the record.)
Becky and Zelina start off the match. Zelina tags out, and The Man still wants some of Almas. A HARD tag to John Cena by Becky. Loud Becky chants while Cena is still in the ring. Almas and Vega work the referee in order to get some attacks in on Cena. (The crowd noise is basically as it was live during this match.) Cena's bald spot continues to show up with his extra hair making it more noticeable. We go to commercial break.
We return to see Zelina still working on John Cena behind the referee's back. They show the double moonsault flip onto Cena by Almas during the "commercial break." (On a taped show, how the hell do you edit that spot out?) The Double Knees into the corner miss by Almas. Cena gets to Becky for the tag. The Man and Zelina are in the ring. Becky goes for Disarmer, but Almas gets in the way. Six Moves of Doom to Almas by Cena including the ridiculous punch/ "Lightning Fist." LYNCH THROWS CENA OUT OF HER RING! DISARMER! Becky Lynch stands alone in her ring! After the match, she goes to Cena and gives him a "YOU CAN'T SEE ME!" as she walks to the back.
What a moment. That's a rub right there to both The Man and in some ways Almas. Cena took a lot of Almas' shots in this match and made him look good. (Granted, they should have kept that moonsault spot in the match to further make it look better.) Still, I applaud John Cena for doing the right thing for business in helping get full-time talent over.
- We get more of The Miz and Shane McMahon. They go over what attire they are going to wear as a team. The Miz shows some very awkward pictures. (No crowd noise enhancements here.) Shane finds a way to get out of the room before this gets any more awkward.
- Triple H asks Asuka if she feels that anyone is ready for her at the Royal Rumble. She responds that no one is ready for Asuka. Charlotte, Carmella, and Becky Lynch all make claims to being worthy challengers. Triple H will take it under advisement. (Please let it be either Charlotte or Carmella. We need Becky vs. Ronda at WrestleMania.)
- The main event is the Fatal 5 Way to determine who will challenge for the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble. It's Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe vs. Mustafa Ali vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton. AJ Styles dominates the opening moments of the match with his added aggression. Mustafa Ali eats a ring post thanks to Styles. And Orton takes a moment to knock Styles down off the mat. The Rolling X-Factor to Randy Orton. Mysterio dives off the top rope onto Samoa Joe (incredible live by the way). Styles goes to work on Mysterio in the ring, whipping him from corner to corner. Mysterio runs into a Randy Orton powerslam. Styles hits a beautiful Moonsault Reverse DDT on Samoa Joe as we go to commercial break.
We return from break to continue the carnage. Mysterio takes the stomach-first splash on the floor. Styles gets ganged up on by Samoa Joe and Randy Orton with Samoa Joe putting Styles through the announce table. Joe and Styles get taken out by dives from Ali and Mysterio respectively. Ali and Mysterio go at it in the ring now. Ali and Mysterio have a really fun sequence here (just as it was live) with both men showing off some great athleticism. Spanish Fly off the top by Ali to Mysterio! 1-2-Joe breaks it up. Satellite DDT to Joe by Ali. 0-5-4 Misses. Clutch to Ali. Ali gets to the middle rope. 6-1-9 by Rey to both men! Ali gets on the middle rope again and eats a 6-1-9. Orton goes for the RKO and connects. Rey drops the Springboard Leg Drop on Orton. 6-1-9 to Orton. Joe goes for the powerbomb on the floor, but Rey hurricanranas Joe into the barricade. Springboard 450 by AJ Styles on Orton. 1-2-3! AJ faces Bryan at Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship.
Overall, this was a very good edition of SmackDown Live as it was live. Becky Lynch (as well as Almas and Vega) got the rub from working with John Cena. Samoa Joe got a nice win over Jeff Hardy in the opening match. The New Day comedy worked on this show. And The Fatal 5 Way was a great spotfest with a lot of cool moments to send a crowd home happy.
Once again, check out the link at the top to see what the live experience was like as well as a link to the PWTorch spoilers which includes some more perspective on the live event.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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