The first time Braun Strowman felt fear in his life was when he met Bray Wyatt.
He saw a snake bite him in the face and Bray never flinched. Instead, he laughed when the snake bit him again and again. It was at that moment that he realized that Bray Wyatt was the same devil.
He has worked hard to keep his sinister side at bay, but even he admitted he liked it. Because his sinister side is calling him back, he called Bray for an encounter in the mysterious, miserable, and absolute hell that they both used to call home.
Either he will come out of it as the most evil son of a bitch the world has ever seen, or he will come out with the satisfaction of spitting in the devil’s face and dragging him into the swamp for the alligators to finish him off. Bray’s laughter filled the OPC and Strowman laughed as he looked at the camera.
Promotions are not Braun’s forte. I have spoken about this ad nauseum. However, he was actually a fan of this entire segment. Letting Braun speak seriously and on the sinister edge, with his deep voice and emotionless gaze on camera, probably made this one of his best promotions to date.
So House of Horrors 2? Randy Orton’s game a few years back was a lot of fun and I wouldn’t mind another visit to the swamp. I’d rather it wasn’t for the title, and I suppose it isn’t, since the story here is that Bray goes back to his old trick to bring his monster home.
Thanks Taker
Part of the show was devoted to him and the Undertaker saying in the The Last Ride documentary that he had finished fighting. They played the WrestleMania 36 Boneyard game with commercials, so it wasn’t so much fun to watch. It also reminded me of Anderson and Gallows who are no longer around. There were a few interviews that talked about what Taker meant to legends like Ric Flair and Kane, Christian and John Cena, and they showed off their debut at Survivor Series 1990.
The Undertaker was one of my favorite characters many moons ago during the Age of Attitude and I will always have fond memories of trying to roll my eyes with my friends and watch his career in Corporate Ministry. Fast forward to 2014 and I stood up in absolute shock when the streak ended. That moment will be stored forever in my memory filing cabinet and since then, it went through ups and downs as documented in The Last Ride. It is a fantastic documentary that I would recommend to anyone.
Thank you Undertaker for many years of fond memories and for being one of the best locker room leaders in wrestling. We will miss you, if in fact you are finished.
The rest
Fight House Party and New Day def. Miz and Morrison and the artists They made Kofi play babyface in danger again here, and he really excels in that role. Metalik with the hurricanrana trampoline is * chef’s kiss *. I keep saying that Morrison works best with fighters. It will be amazing in the singles competition with them. New Day and The Artists fought down the ramp, and Metalik hit one elbow to get the victory over Miz.
Jeff Hardy def. Baron Corbin – Baron Corbin let us know that Undertaker is a bag of bones and he spent most of his time in WWE at the club kissing my butt. He also said that Taker is a selfish motherfucker and that he maintains, quote, “superior athletes like me” and that Mark Calaway sucks. So Jeff Hardy attacked Corbin from behind and then said he would fight for Undertaker in his honor, after graduating from Dead Man University. Yes … I don’t understand that part either.
Jeff tried a whisper in the wind but failed to connect, Corbin teased Undertaker a lot, a Deep Six almost won it by Corbin and I thought it was over, but Jeff won with the Swanton Bomb. K great.
People beat up their finalists in Corbin afterwards and this was no use. Corbin will continue to be reserved in his next fight and will continue to act like an idiot and still suck.
Nikki Cross def. Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans and Dana Brooke – We needed an opponent for Bayley Dos Straps, and I didn’t care that that’s how we got it. However, there is a problem: I have no idea why, after Nikki Cross gave a passionate speech about Alexa Bliss, they would put the team in a match between them. And then Nikki tries to catch Alexa for victory? Dana and Lacey were fine here, and Nikki won with a folding press. (Thanks Claire!)
I am very happy to see Nikki get a title shot against Bayley as I have always enjoyed the interactions and matches between The SmackDown Best Friends and Bliss Cross Applesauce.
SmackDown was very different than it was supposed to be, since all of the COVID-19 tests came back positive. It’s irresponsible for WWE not to have been testing regularly. The state of Florida is experiencing a huge increase in cases in the past week and if the fight is to continue, it must continue safely. That goes for both WWE and AEW. For the first time tonight, most members of the audience wore masks. That should have always been the case.
This was a difficult show to rate, as half was a replay of a game and interviews. The other half had some decent struggles and things that didn’t bother me at all. I am looking forward to seeing Bray’s response to Braun more. I am not anxious to see what next for Corbin. Ugh
Grade: C +
Any memories of Undertaker, Cagesiders?
