WWE SmackDown Smacks and Downs: ‘Daddy Deville’ is amazing

Smack: a great tournament field (mostly)

Down: there shouldn’t be a vacant title to begin with

I’ve already written of the blatant pettiness and ignominious decision to force Zayn to “vacate” the Intercontinental Championship. This is more likely due to the person behind Zayn, Rami Sebei, being a rare wrestler who holds power accountable, and not just in wrestling.

After earlier tweeting in response to the WWE on FOX account asking, “The next Intercontinental Champion will be,” with, “Ashamed of themselves,” Zayn had to modify that a bit when his fellow The Artist Collective member, Shinsuke Nakamura, was revealed as one of the participants. Now we know Nakamura is the only wrestler in the field with self-respect, at least.

Further, this is another self-inflicted wound for WWE after a terrible month. As it was earlier reported that WWE, seemingly taking after the example of AEW, instructed employees they could stay home during the pandemic with no penalty, many within WWE are upset at the decision to strip Zayn for heeding the company’s own words.

It’s just so hypocritical, but also completely expected.

If we’re being optimistic, at least the eight-man field had six solid entries, and Cole announced the finals would be on SmackDown, available to watch for more viewers than a pay-per-view.

I was confused as to why Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak and Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus were first round matches, particularly the latter which seemed the most likely to be the finals prior to the reveal.

At least the match with least intrigue was the first match of the tournament (and last night’s show). However, with the Elias vs. King Corbin match going 16 minutes and the opening 10 minutes dedicated to a…less than stellar Miz TV segment (as discussed earlier), it was nearly 40 minutes into the show before anything really interesting happened (the hacker video).

I wouldn’t be surprised if viewership numbers for the first quarter hour to the third quarter hour dropped a good bit based off of Miz TV and Elias vs. Corbin. It was nearly sleep inducing.

Thank goodness we had Bryan vs. Gulak later in the night. After watching the absolutely enjoyable Matt Riddle (“Matthew Riddle”) vs. Timothy Thatcher match earlier Friday, Bryan vs. Gulak was just another sublime display of supreme technical and mat-based wrestling.

I also appreciate WWE acknowledged history and discussed how the Intercontinental Championship was the title Bryan had to vacate when he was forced to retire in 2015. The story is seemingly set for Bryan to recapture the title he never lost.

(If you haven’t, go back and watch this Pete Dunne (“Peter Dune”) vs. Arturo Ruas match from September on the WWE Network. THESE are probably my favorite types of matches to watch.)

It would have been nice to see Bryan vs. Gulak as one side of the semifinals or even the finals (I even advocated for a Gulak IC Championship reign after WrestleMania), as with Hardy vs. Sheamus. Still, their match was exactly the palette cleanser I needed for what had been a lackluster show up to that point.

If the other two matches in the first round receive at least 13-16 minutes (the lengths for the two matches tonight), then we should have some quality matches. I’m hoping giving AJ Styles and Nakamura at least 15 minutes will motivate them to put on a classic in the WWE we all expected during their WWE Championship feud in 2018.

Looking at the bracket, I’m glad my worst-case scenario is already eliminated in Corbin (I just had a feeling WWE would force him down our throats more). Hardy is set for a good run, otherwise his month-long videos would really be worthless. Nakamura is a former champion, but it seems like Styles is set for a prominent role considering his presence during the Money in the Bank match and the rub from the positively-received boneyard match with The Undertaker.

Even though Bryan has the historical story driving him, if Hardy isn’t at least in the finals after such a hyped return then it would be a failure as Hardy’s time as a full-time wrestler is probably closer to ending than extending. I see Hardy advancing on the left side of the bracket.

Styles vs. Elias should be a methodical squash. I’m not sure how many people actually take Elias seriously as legitimate threat in the ring. Styles advances.

Styles has never won this championship, and Hardy hasn’t held the title in over a decade. It would be a great story for each, but considering Styles is still going strong, this might be the last accolade Hardy collects before he winds down his full-time days.

Prediction: Hardy becomes the new Intercontinental Champion.