WWE Smackdown Live! is in the books for the week. The Blue Brand of the WWE wrapped up their go home show, preparing for the Royal Rumble. How did the show do this week?
Mickie James gave an explanation to Rene Young for why she attacked Becky Lynch and man, did I love hearing her on the mic. While she was thrown off a bit by the crowd doing the obligatory WHAT chant, she did a great job in my book of explaining why she was back and going out of her way to antagonize the crowd. Now, the promo she gave won’t go down in history books as the greatest promo ever given in the history of professional wrestling but what she was able to pull off speaks volumes for how the WWE is treating their female performers as of late. Who would have thought that letting the women speak on the mic in a manner similar to their male counterparts would get the audience to care about what they do in the ring? (Please note the sarcasm there, if it wasn’t already obvious.) To me, wrestling is universal entertainment. If you show a video of a pro wrestling show that is playing in Poland, regardless of the language differences, as a fan you’re going to get a pretty rough idea real quick as to what is going on. Yet for us to have a reason to come back week after week, we have to be given a hook. The Mickie James promo was a wonderful hook to see how Becky Lynch will get her revenge.
Overall, the show was pretty good apart from a horrible sketch with James Elsworth and Carmella. It wasn’t as action packed as I would have thought but for a main roster show, Smackdown Live! showed once again why they are the superior brand.