Shane and Kevin Continue Feud
Shane McMahon kicks off Smackdown Live and talks about condemning Kevin Owens, talking about what he is going to do to him at WWE Hell in a Cell. Shane, talking in a serious and short tone, came out and got his point across in less than five minutes. No time was wasted and you felt the intensity and emotion with every word he spoke. Later in the night, Kevin Owens “apologized” for his actions on Vince McMahon. He then blames Shane McMahon for his actions, telling him that he is going to do so much more damage to Shane than he did to his father. Owens, “via satellite,” threatens that this will basically be the end of Shane at WWE Hell in a Cell.
Both men did exactly what they needed after an extremely heated ending to Smackdown Live last week. They got personal, intense and real. Both men did not joke around, did not laugh and did not take this as a joke. I really thought that WWE needed to calm it down just a bit this week and pick things up next week. They need to advertise that both men will be in the building on Smackdown Live, with the possibility of both men meeting in the ring. Hell, I never lose contract signings, but this could be a great time for that with Daniel Bryan in the middle of everything. All in all, a successful and simple booking to their actions tonight on Smackdown Live.
Randy Orton Does Double Duty
Randy Orton had two matches on Smackdown Live, technically. First off, he faced Aiden English in a pretty good match. Nothing spectacular, but I was excited to see English actually get some offense in on the former world champion. English is the Smackdown Live version of Elias, but is actually more technically sound in this point of his career. Elias is far more advanced in crowd reaction and gimmick. but do not sleep on English to actually get a chance at a mid card title run. He put on a good effort, but the top rope RKO ended his night.
It did not end Randy Orton’s, as Rusev wanted a match. Orton accepted and Rusev hit one kick and picked up the win. He bragged about his win and jumped for joy heading to the back. He got some revenge for their match at SummerSlam.
I have always enjoyed Rusev and have always appreciated Randy Orton. There is not a reason for me to care about these guys enough to invest my time into the feud. What are they really fighting for? What is the beef here? It feel like whenever stars have nothing to do, they simply put them in a weird grudge match to get them on the card. Rusev should be battling someone like AJ Styles, while Randy Orton would be better suited for Baron Corbin or even someone like Aiden English. Let Orton work with a guy who hasn’t had a huge moment in his career yet instead of someone that needs validity for the first time since WrestleMania 31.