Okay here we are starting a brand new series I’m doing here on BSO, called “Joe’s Highs and Lows” where I break down WWE Smackdown and Monday Night RAW, with occasional touch ups on NXT as well as AEW. But for today let’s start with the big blue show, Smackdown.
Smackdown for this June 21st episode was in Chicago, so there was only one man to open the show and that of course was CM Punk. Punk in Chicago is an automatic high for me. The pop is always insane, moreso for Punk. Punk cuts a typical hometown babyface promo, until we hear those famous words: “Ladies and Gentlemen” and Paul Heyman walks out. WWE lore buffs already know how awesome this moment is, and the promo itself is well worth the watch, but my high for this segment has to be Paul Heyman’s acting ability. Wrestling is so damn lucky that Paul Heyman decided to be a wrestling photographer in the 80s instead of being an actor because my God Heyman has some serious, objectively great acting chops. Heyman since Wrestlemania 40 has been playing up his fright of Solo Sikoa and this new bloodline, so watching Heyman come out and literally beg CM Punk to “Take me with you” was absolute cinema. The acting with the eyes Heyman displays here is genuinely award winning worthy stuff. And yet that brings me to my first low of the show: Solo Sikoa on a mic vs CM Punk. Who in their right mind would think it’s a good idea to put Solo on a live mic against CM Punk in Chicago? Thankfully Cody Rhodes comes out, we get an impromptu “WOAH” and we get Cody challenging Solo to a match in the main event of the show. Really hot start, but man Solo vs Punk on a mic is not fair to Solo.
We then go to Smackdown GM Nick Aldis telling everyone that security at Smackdown will be beefed up thanks to the mass murder that the WyattSick6 committed on Raw. We then go what I will unfortunately call a low: A Jade Cargill promo. I want Jade to happen so bad. She has everything that you need in a megastar. She’s beautiful, in shape, but she just lacks that special “It” factor like charisma, especially in promos. It sounds like she’s reading the script in her brain and when you hear Bianca talk you can instantly tell and hear the difference in promo ability. Should Jade have started in NXT for more mic practice before moving up? Possibly, but alas.
From that we go to another high of the show and really a high of WWE in general: Chelsea Green. Green is a perfect example of my lifelong opinion on what it takes to be successful in professional wrestling, which is that the least important thing about being a pro wrestler is how well you can wrestle. Chelsea Green is a perfect example. She can go, don’t get me wrong, her Lucha Underground stuff is amazing and she is a fantastic seller and bump taker, but what makes her special is the character work. She’s constantly reacting to everything around her in her own unique way, she sells exactly how you would want her character to sell, but she still doesn’t look weak or incompetent. She ends up sneaking a win over Bianca BelAir and Mia Yim to go to the Money in the Bank ladder match in brilliant fashion by doing the ol “Heel throws out babyface after babyface hits finisher on other person in a triple threat” and sneaks the w. Now we might have a favorite to win the match because imagine the tv we can get with Chelsea Green as Ms Money in the Bank? Absolute high. Low: Modern film. We find out that the official theme song is “Dead End Road” by Jelly Roll but not only that, it’s the official song of the movie “Twister” starring the newest hollywood a lister: Glen Powell. This is a low because ever since someone said Powell looks like a capybara (Look it up) I can’t take him seriously.
Moving on, we find out that the beefed up security from GM Nick Aldis was completely worthless as we see Drew McIntyre standing over a broken CM Punk after presumably launching Punk into a cargo door. We then get a perma-high which is the one shots that WWE has been doing ever since Kevin Dunn left as director of the shows. We get one singular shot of Drew carrying an unconscious Punk from the back of the arena all the way to the ramp, all one shot. It’s just cinema.
We then move onto the main event where I want to talk about the high that is European crowds and how they’ve helped inspire fans sing along to their favorite’s theme. Hearing Chicago sing along to Randy Orton’s theme just rocks but it brings me to a low: Def Rebel. Holy crap guys do better than the lazy ass songs you’ve been putting out. People want to sing! Give them songs to sing not lazy AI loops and what have you. Def Rebel: Perma-Low. This was a triple threat between Orton, Tanga Low-a (See what I did there?) and Carmelo Hayes, who got the jobber entrance for this one. Yet again though, the jobber entrance does not matter because Hayes would win and he’s going to be freaking awesome in the MITB ladder match. After that we get a High of a segment where LA Knight comes out and Santos Escobar joins Carlito as the second man in years to leave the Latino vortex that is LWO vs LDF. Santos for five glorious minutes tells us he wants to win the US Championship, which is awesome because he’s finally not facing Rey Mysterio so we have to take that. It wouldn’t matter though because Logan Paul came out and snuck Knight. Which brings me to a low: Wrestlers using punches as finishers. It never looks good, it always looks too fake, and Logan Paul’s finisher is no exception. Give the man a better finisher please Mr HHH.
We then see a match between Grayson Waller, Andrade, and Kevin Owens who would just end up being attacked by the Tongans. This match made me realize WWE’s mainstream appeal as we see a Call Of Duty ad plastered every inch around the ring. I had a sense of pride that wrestling is that big now, but then regret being proud of a corporate sponsorship for another corporation and it just makes me think of the corporate dystopian hellhole we live in and how the looming nuclear apocalypse can pop off at any time but who cares WRESTLING IS ON BABY!!!
Andrade wins and completes the theme of jobber entrances winning on this show: High!
Our main event is Cody Rhodes vs Solo Sikoa and we really don’t even need to talk about that because we get the highest high of the show: Jacob Fatu is in WWE finally! And he looks SHREDDED. If you don’t know who Jacob Fatu is, let me just say he’s everything WWE wanted Solo Sikoa to be times a million. This man is ridiculous and you owe it to yourself to watch Fatu highlights right after reading this. Fatu comes in and just solo’s Cody, Kevin, and Randy. He looked absolutely lethal. Fatu is going to make me call Solo SoLow because of how much he is going to expose him. Is this leading towards Rock leading his bloodline vs Roman’s bloodline at Survivor Series, culminating in that Rock vs Roman match? Possibly. Is this good shit? Absolutely. Very solid Smackdown with more highs than lows.
HIGHEST HIGH: Jacob Fatu’s debut
LOWEST LOW: Solo Sikoa on the mic vs CM Punk.
