GDT: WWE SMACKDOWN PRESENTS BACKLASH (Sept. 11, 2016) - Kingpin vs. Phenomenal

[Megahab]

I can't believe AJ Styles is the WWE Champion. Even a couple of months after he debuted, I never would have predicted this. It's amazing.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

A year ago WWE seemed to have no interest in AJ Styles.

9 months ago they brought him into work the Royal Rumble, where he got a big pop and had a solid, but not spectacular outing

5 months ago he lost to Chris Jericho at WM.

At that point he seemed destined to be in the WWE "hell of a hand" category as an upper mid carder. But whatever the hell he did with Roman changed his fortunes, ever since then he has been booked as a top guy.

When he beat Cena clean at Summerslam the casual fan now joins the hardcore fan in seeing AJ as a main event player.

I don't think many thought when he left TNA he would be WWE champion, talk about betting on yourself. Imagine if he didn't step outside his comfort zone and stayed in TNA.

 

[David71]

usos as a heel is a good thing for wwe.

 

[The Lunatic Fridge]

Charolette and Becky are BFFs and now they're both women's champ at the same time.

Now the only one that remains is bayley.

At that point he seemed destined to be in the WWE "hell of a hand" category as an upper mid carder. But whatever the hell he did with Roman changed his fortunes, ever since then he has been booked as a top guy.

When he beat Cena clean at Summerslam the casual fan now joins the hardcore fan in seeing AJ as a main event player.
.

There were already reports that AJ was destined for "big plans" in the company before he even stepped in the ring with reigns.

 

[Deen]

Owens and Styles as Champions. So awesome.

 

[Shoalzie]

This was a perfect night aside from seeing another Bray loss.

I'd be alright with Dean and A.J. going at it for the next couple PPV for the belt. That was a very good main event. A.J. got more from Dean than Dolph could.

Now that Heath has his contract, I wonder how long they keep these belts on him and Rhyno. The Usos being heel champs would've been fine and have Alpha return and face them.

I give Smackdown credit...they're doing well with what limited stuff they have.

 

[bruins309]

He's talking about AJ getting kicked out of bullet club...literally.

Hmmm, bad job by me there! I'll blame tiredness.

But in any event, wouldn't someone like Kenny Omega see this (Owens and Styles as champs) and think that maybe he'll jump to WWE when he gets the chance.

 

[ColePens]

so instead of heath slater cutting a meaningful promo about how tonight's match is the biggest of his career( in kayfabe it is) we get more vince toilet humor. because nobody should care, lets laugh at heath for having diarreah instead

Yeah i'm in the minority around here who thought the Rhino/Slater win was pretty dumb. Jobbers getting the title just makes the belts look weak. It really does. I know the simple thing would have had been AA to win them, but simple works. Let AA hold them for a year until The Revival come up and they put on 5 star matches. The tag belts would have felt impressive.

I'm just not a fan when jobbers take belts.

 

[GKJ]

LAW thinking we might be getting a Kane/Corbin feud. PLease no

There aren't a lot of directions to go with such a thin roster.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Hmmm, bad job by me there! I'll blame tiredness.

But in any event, wouldn't someone like Kenny Omega see this (Owens and Styles as champs) and think that maybe he'll jump to WWE when he gets the chance.

No, because:

A) he wouldn't have the creativity and freedom to do what makes him so good.
B) his dream was to wrestle in Japan.
C) NJPW put a lot of trust in him by making him the first gaijin to win the G1. Omega's gonna stick around for at least three more years IMO.

 

[GKJ]

Wonder what Dixie Carter is thinking today

 

[Isi]

Hmmm, bad job by me there! I'll blame tiredness.

But in any event, wouldn't someone like Kenny Omega see this (Owens and Styles as champs) and think that maybe he'll jump to WWE when he gets the chance.

well on the flipside he's on the record as seeing Naka go to NXT and not liking it

 

[Balls Mahoney]

I woke up this morning pretty happy with last night's PPV. I thought every match was solid, to good, to great. There wasn't much ******** or gaga last night which I'm extremely appreciative of. Aside from two dusty finishes which both made sense and added to the match, every finish was clean. Longer matches giving everyone a chance to get over and do their thing. I freaking love Mauro, he makes everything better. I love the new look and approach by Smackdown.

The main reason a bunch of carnies get my $10 a month is because I really enjoy watching wrestling. I feel like Backlash delivered that in spades last night. Really great wrestling and not a lot of ********. I think people who are complaining about too much content are crazy. For my $10 bucks I want as much wrestling as I can get. I hope Backlash was a preview of what's coming.

 

[Sheppy]

I'm still pissed about Bray losing to Kane...

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I've accepted Bray's fate. At least I can feel somewhat better knowing it took two chokeslams and an RKO to finish him off.

I won't let that result ruin what was a fantastic show. Not a single bad match.


Corbin/Crews - ***
Women's title - *** (bumping this one up from **3/4)
Usos/Hype Geeks - **1/2
Miz/Ziggler - **** (bumped up from a ***3/4)
Wyatt/Kane - **1/2
Usos/BATMB - **3/4
Ambrose/Styles - ****1/2 (bumped up from a ****1/4, just a fantastic, fantastic straight up wrestling match using psychology and not spamming finishers).

 

[Cor]

Was Miz/Ziggler really a ****?

I missed that and the back half of Uso's-Hype. Didn't think I'd miss anything

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Was Miz/Ziggler really a ****?

I missed that and the back half of Uso's-Hype. Didn't think I'd miss anything

Miz/Ziggler was easily in the ***3/4 - ****1/4 range, imo. Just a really, really great match.

Miz saw everyone ******** on him as someone who doesn't have good matches and proved them wrong last night. Ziggler had one of his best outings in god knows how long, too.

 

[Fro]

i think the part about Aj/Dean I liked best was that they didn't do false finishes...I think that's why I was shocked AJ won with the clash like he did...I expected 20 kickouts...

 

[M.C.G. 31]

i think the part about Aj/Dean I liked best was that they didn't do false finishes...I think that's why I was shocked AJ won with the clash like he did...I expected 20 kickouts...

I have half a mind to argue Styles/Ambrose as the better match over Styles/Cena at Summerslam. Where the latter was just finisher-kickout-finisher-kickout for about 10-minutes, Styles and Ambrose just went out there, told a story, didn't rely on spamming finishers to build drama and excitement and had a MOTYC for the 25 minutes they were in there.

I'm gonna have to re-watch Styles vs. Cena eventually, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if Styles/Ambrose tops it.

Figures that Ambrose's best performance in more than a year would come against probably the only guy who can pull a good singles match out of Enzo Amore.

 

[GKJ]

This one was really a different kind of match than against Cena at SummerSlam. I know we harp on matches that have 44 finshers hit with a kick out, but I think in that case at SummerSlam, it was something that worked, because you had the angle that Cena was throwing everything he could at this guy and couldn't put him away. Last night it wouldn't have made sense for Dean to kick out of a low blow-Styles Clash given what Styles has to do to get through Cena.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Also, Dirty Deeds continues to be the most protected finisher in the WWE. Ambrose didn't even hit it once last night. He teased it, but didn't hit it. I can't recall the last time someone kicked out of Dirty Deeds. It's not a finisher that gets kicked out of these days, so props to WWE for keeping Ambrose strong in defeat as well.

God, do I want an AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose 60-minute Ironman match at No Mercy.

Sprinkle in Miz/Cena (if they bring him back before he leaves at the end of October - if not, Miz/Ziggler II in a cage), Slater-Rhino/FaBreeze, Alpha/Usos, Becky/Bliss, Wyatt/Orton... Smackdown can be two-for-two in brand-exclusive PPVs.

 

[Fro]

yeah, I think the finisher-kickout-finisher-kickout has a place, and when told right, like AJ/Cena, it's effective..but it's an overused method in today's wrestling...

i know, i know...get off my lawn

 

[M.C.G. 31]

It's why I'm into NJPW matches more. They don't rely on finisher-kickout-finisher-kickout drama. They tell an awesome story and have signature spots (more guys should have signature moves, AJ gets it with his springboard 450, calf crusher, etc.).

Hell, Omega/Goto, Omega spammed finishers of Bullet Club's past to try putting away Goto (Bloody Sunday, Styles Clash) before pulling out the One-Winged Angel to finally finish Goto and win the tournament. They'll tease the hell out of their finishers, but they won't get spammed -- they'll counter them and build to the climax.

 

[I Am The Stig]

I'm still pissed about Bray losing to Kane...

After last night, Bray and Ziggler should go away for like...a year.

 

[ColePens]

I still think the storytelling is underrated in that Ambrose/AJ match. AJ would out-wrestle dean. Dean would out-physical AJ. There was some really good storytelling going on. I loved the sequence where Dean went all physical on him with the drop kick through the ropes and then the follow-up attack.

Both guys looked REALLY strong with two completely different methods. It's how I would think a wrestling match between a fighter and a wrestler would go.