As I
suggested last week, it does indeed appear that the tag team route against The Wyatt Family is going ahead, although the hesitation by Dean Ambrose and superkick to Ambrose by Dolph Ziggler when Bray Wyatt moved him into the way, shows that there may be enough reason to question whether Ambrose and Ziggler will be able to get along enough to even accomplish that.
Interesting to see "The Ascension" Konnor and Viktor, "The Vaudevillains" Aiden English and Simon Gotch, and "Hype Bros" Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder surrounding the ring to watch what was essentially a squash
match between "American Alpha" Chad Gable and Jason Jordan and the team of Independent competitors Mikey O'Shea (who has most recently competed in US promotions such as Alpha Omega Wrestling [not to be confused with the UK promotion of the same name] and Alternative Wrestling Show
according to Wrestlingdata), and Mike Vega (who usually uses the name Sasha Darevko and has most recently competed in US promotions such as SoCal Pro, Alpha Omega Wrestling [again, not to be confused with the UK promotion] and Championship Wrestling From Hollywood
according to Wrestlingdata), whom once again I was not familiar with.
Also interesting to see the aftermath of the match, with all of the mentioned teams entering the ring and fighting between them, only for ther rest of them to be thrown out of it and American Alpha still being the ones left standing tall, signifying that their claim to be the best tag team on the SmackDown roster may be a valid one.
Eva Marie once again, and WWE must love this trolling of the fans, with her match against Becky Lynch this week being called off as a result of a "wardrobe malfunction". Sure, they sometimes truly happen, but in this case it is a clear setup to continue on whatever route they are going with Eva, one which I don't like in any way whatsoever and would prefer her just not being present at all rather than time being wasted in this way.
Becky Lynch issuing an open challenge to anyone who wants to face her, so she actually gets a match this week, is something that I was happy to see, as I was with seeing it answered by Alexa Bliss (on Alexa's birthday no less, according to Mauro Ranallo on commentary).
I would be okay with Alexa Bliss' win as a result of the distraction if it weren't for one thing - said distraction was Eva Marie, once again. I stand by what I have said before about Eva Marie now getting the X-Pac style heat, and this will do absolutely nothing to diminish it as WWE have clearly decided to embrace it instead. I'd still prefer not seeing her at all though.
Heath Slater gets caught by the referee trying to get extra leverage on the pin with his legs on the ropes, and then he falls to a gore to
lose his chance at the SmackDown contract... Or so it seemed, as it looked like he was going to be offered one anyway, but that too went down the drain when he mouthed off at Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon and stormed off again.
Happily that means that this Free Agent storyline is not over, so I'm looking forward to where it will go from here.
Finally commentary mentions her father Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart when talking about Natalya, rather than only the Harts. Interesting match ending in a victory for Carmella as a result of a submission.
A good win for the team of
Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler against The Wyatt Family, but I wasn't surprised by Ambrose hitting Dirty Deeds on Ziggler afterwards, as payback for the superkick from earlier in the night.
