Two nights ago at Backlash, the world looked on in shock as Jinder Mahal, a man who was at best, a mid card competitor, captured WWE’s top prize. It was no surprise then, that the crowd at the Huntington Center in Toledo was hot and pumped, through the course of the entire evening on SmackDown Live.
To WWE’s credit, the storylines did advance and there was enough in the show to hold our attention for two straight hours. At the same time, it wasn’t a perfect show and we do have some constructive suggestions for improvement. So, let's get straight to the heart of the action then, guys!
#1 Best: A dream team comes together
Those who are familiar with NJPW, know of AJ Styles’ iconic match against Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Japan. Many fans have wanted a repeat performance of the same match in a WWE ring.
This week, we got the first glimpse of the two men interacting, as Styles and Nakamura teamed up in the main event of the evening, against Kevin Owens and ‘The Showoff’ Dolph Ziggler. At one point during the night, however, the two men even teased the idea of facing one another.
In any case, we get to see the two men collide, albeit in a very different environment from our dream scenario, in the ‘Money in the Bank’ ladder match, in just four weeks. That should be pretty awesome indeed, truth be told.
#1 Worst: Shinsuke Nakamura’s booking
As a former NXT Champion, and a man who could be the next breakout star for WWE, Shinsuke Nakamura has not been booked right at all. In his matches, he just takes an awful lot of punishment, and while he does manage to pick up the win at the end, he does not appear to be a dominant Superstar.
We saw his match at Backlash go far too long, and even tonight, he was dominated by the heels before he got the hot tag in.
While WCW’s booking has been criticised by the IWC, Goldberg was booked dominantly and as a consequence, he can walk into an arena after not wrestling for over a decade, and become a main event player almost instantly. Just because Nakamura is a very good seller, does not mean that he should be selling for 75% of almost every match.
#2 Best: WWE’s completely invested in Jinder Mahal
WWE spent a fortune on making Jinder Mahal look like a Superstar. His celebrations were laden with pomp and show, making his win seem like a big deal. We enjoyed the duality of his promo.
While it is essentially a heel promo for a market such as the United States, it is a babyface promo for those watching in India. WWE is likely to earn new fans in the Indian market with Jinder Mahal's win and with some great music and exotic dancers, they’ve made him a Superstar overnight.
#2 Worst: Factual inaccuracy from JBL
We’d earlier reported how Jinder attributed a Punjabi phrase to Mahatma Gandhi, who did not speak the language and thereafter, Jinder Mahal translated the same phrase into a warbling mess of inaccuracy. This week, JBL suggested that the Prime Minister of India called Jinder Mahal personally to congratulate him on his win.
We have no way to confirm or deny this, so we’ll give this statement a free pass.
However, he went on to say that after Jinder Mahal’s historic win, Prime Minister Modi declared a holiday in the country. Sportskeeda Wrestling employs many writers based in India and while we would have loved a nice holiday (after four straight days of WWE events in a row), we had no such luck.
Yet again, we implore WWE to get their facts right, if they wish to break into the Indian market in a big way. If not, fans will just scoff at the inaccuracies in the narrative.
#3 Best: The Fashion Files
The hilarious skits continued this week, with Shane McMahon entering the fray. The outcome was laugh-out-loud funny. Breezango may have failed to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, but they won many fans over this week.
Kudos to the SmackDown Live creative team for giving Breezango a chance to shine and showcase their lighthearted sides to the WWE Universe.
#3 Worst: Still no Rusev?
Rusev won't be a part of the Money in the Bank ladder match, even though he specifically demanded to be! He threatened to return home to Bulgaria if his conditions were not met immediately. Well, goodbye Rusev. Looks like we won't be seeing you anymore.
Let’s end on a positive note, with Carmella and Natalya looking absolutely stunning. We'd love to be welcomed by this lovely committee.
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