Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: recaps, Smackdown, wrestling, wwe

WWE Smackdown Review: Okay, Who Forgot to Book Roman Reigns?

The Thunderdome may not be long for this world, but before WWE Smackdown can go back on tour, they have to get through just a couple more shows in front of the virtual WWE Universe. But just because WWE is putting it out doesn't mean you have to watch it. We do that so you don't have to. You're welcome.

Edge opened WWE Smackdown with a promo acknowledging how his previous attempt to capture the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns went wrong, but this time, there's no Daniel Bryan to steal his babyface spot. Edge's level of grizzle works well to make his character seem deranged, and he's always a good promo. Plus, having wrestled during the Attitude Era, which WWE has taught us makes someone superior to any current Superstar Edge is one of few wrestlers with any credibility against Reigns. Give it a watch.

Big E and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin when that degenerate Rick Boogs claimed Corbin's car was getting towed. Best to avoid this lest you accidentally listen to Boogs's terrible guitar playing.

Later in the show, Boogs would taunt Corbin backstage about losing his crown. So he's a sore winner as well as a lousy musician. This guy is a babyface?

Bayley will challenge Bianca Belair for the WWE Smackdown Women's Championship one more time in an I Quit match at Money in the Bank. Now that you know that, you don't need to watch the clip, do you?

Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing Match to qualify for Money in the Bank. It's Owens and Zayn. That's never gonna not be good, even if we've seen it hundreds of times before. In that way, it's sort of reminiscent of Daniel Bryan's recent run, where he would have great matches that ultimately didn't matter. Watch it.

Sonya Deville brought back Zelina Vega to join the Money in the Bank match, but Liv Morgan was like, whoa, hey, wait a minute, why would you bring back a jobber who hasn't been around since last November to be in the Money in the Bank match when you've got a jobber that's been here all the time. So they fought and Vega won. It's good to see Vega back, and I look forward to seeing how WWE punishes her for daring to publicly defy them last year. Watch it.

Otis squashed Angelo Dawkins with a little help from Shorty G. We're gonna need a few more weeks to get used to Otis's lack of facial hair, so let's skip it for now.

When Jimmy Uso heard Edge's promo at the start of Smackdown, he vowed to support his close family member Roman and take care of Edge, just as soon as Reigns showed up. When Reigns didn't show up, Uso figured he probably just wanted him to take matters into his own hands. Okay, no problem. So at the end of the show, Uso called Edge out to the ring. They tussled and Edge beat his ass. Unsurprisingly, Roman never showed. Watch it.

This week's WWE Smackdown somehow managed to focus completely on setting up Money in the Bank while still feeling mostly irrelevant, probably mostly due to the lack of Roman Reigns. Zelina Vega's return was cool and Edge is always fun to see, and pretty much by default Owens vs. Zayn in Last Man Standing was the match of the night.

WWE Smackdown 7/2/2021

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Review by Jude Terror

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5.5/10

This week's WWE Smackdown somehow managed to focus completely on setting up Money in the Bank while still feeling mostly irrelevant, probably mostly due to the lack of Roman Reigns. Zelina Vega's return was cool and Edge is always fun to see, and pretty much by default Owens vs. Zayn in Last Man Standing was the match of the night.

Credits

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Promotion

WWE

Match of the Night

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Best Thing About Smackdown

Zelina Vega's return

Worst Thing About Smackdown

Tie between Otis's lack of facial hair and Rick Boogs's bad guitar playing

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