How Did Nakamura Do?

Outside of all the drama with Jinder Mahal, the big story for Backlash was supposed to be Shinsuke Nakamura making his official in-ring debut on the main roster. He faced Dolph Ziggler. He won. That was to be expected. But there is more to it than that. How did he actually look?

Looking around, I see a lot of fans were disappointed by the performance. I am not going to say I watched the match. I didn't. But I can get the sense of what happened from what I see fans saying. They feel it was a lackluster performance from Nakamura. The issue isn't sloppiness or a huge botch ruining the match. The wrong story was just told in the ring. I often talk about the story in a match. Will it be a squash? Will a particular spot come up? Things like that. I didn't really do that for this match. I guess I expected WWE to handle it properly or smarks to not be too demanding with this.

Specifically, I see fans unhappy because they feel the match was too much about Dolph Ziggler or he looked too good. That's the story of a lot of matches. The person that will end up losing looks good, which is supposed to make the other guy look good for overcoming such a tough opponent. Over the years, however, I have seen fans talk like the person on the winning end sucks or doesn't deserve to win. They talk like the loser is the better wrestler. It is just how the match is booked. And this match made Nakamura look too human for some fans.

Should the WWE have made Nakamura look better? Probably. I would be the first person to say that Dolph Ziggler deserves better and the WWE screwed up with him in the last few months. But he's a jobber. That is what he is right now. And if that is what he is right now, he should not get in the way of someone like Nakamura that just debuted. At this point, who cares if Dolph Ziggler looks good or is made to look strong? If the situation calls for him to get squashed, so be it. Preferably, a more competitive match would have been enough. Ziggler can always get a better push somewhere down the road. That has been his entire career, up and down.

Nakamura is obviously not ruined. It took CM Punk time to break out on the main roster. Same with Daniel Bryan. Nakamura already has a strong smark following, but if he is going to break out like these other guys, the WWE will either have to let him do something huge, like CM Punk's pipebomb, or he will have to come up with something that really energizes the fans, like Daniel Bryan's "Yes!" and "No!" chants. Plenty of time for that.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Undercard

Let me continue previewing this lackluster PPV with Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin. Both of these guys should be doing better. Which one of them can afford to lose this feud? I can see this one lasting another few weeks. I will say Baron Corbin wins this encounter.

Luke Harper faces Erick Rowan. I remember some fans groaning when Rowan beat Harper a little while ago. Some fans defended it by saying Rowan needs momentum. Why? There are ways to build a feud without having the two sides involved actually pin each other. Harper is likely to win here.

The tag titles will be defended. The Usos defend against Breezango. I am all for new tag teams getting the spotlight. Breezango's current gimmick is just stupid. It is hard to take them seriously. The Usos have not done much since winning the tag titles a few months ago. I will say they retain against the comic relief and eventually defend them against New Day.

Kevin Owens defends the United States Championship against AJ Styles. This feud is still too young to feel as major as it should. You also had Owens having to finish his feud against Jericho. Those two juggled the title between themselves. I won't say it hurt Owens vs. Styles too much, but it was there as a distraction. AJ Styles should not win the title here. I would say he should not win it at all. He doesn't need it. Give the midcard titles back to the midcarders. AJ Styles does not need this to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which is an excuse some of his fans might make for why he should get it. Sting got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Sting never won a title in the WWE. Sting never even won a PPV match in the WWE. AJ Styles is already doing better in the WWE than him. I will say Owens retains here. It might be by DQ or by getting counted out.

Previewing The Top WWE Backlash Matches

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt is one of the top matches for the first Smackdown-exclusive PPV of the new era, Backlash. There was a time I would have been more hyped for this feud than I am. Even though the WWE has created some interesting segments with this feud, Bray Wyatt feuds have just become disappointing. He talks big, but has really not accomplished anything too interesting. He just floats around.

Who wins at Backlash? I don't think the feud will end at Backlash. With the brand split, they now have limited options for feuds. Ambrose and Styles will likely still be feuding past Sunday. There aren't too many other top guys to work with Wyatt or Orton in a fresh feud. I just get the impression that this will be an extended feud. Orton should win here. He should regain some momentum after being fed to Lesnar at Summerslam. Some people might say that Randy Orton should just be used to put over younger talent. Well, the guy he put over at Summerslam wasn't exactly younger than him. Give Orton a break. He has lost to a lot of guys cleanly in his career. He likely will take a loss to Bray Wyatt eventually, just don't groan at Orton getting one win at Backlash. He hasn't exactly won at a PPV in a while.

The WWE Championship will be decided between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. Styles has been in the WWE for less than a year. This will be his fourth PPV match for the WWE Championship in that time. He debuted in the Royal Rumble match, which was for the WWE Championship this year. He had two shots against Roman Reigns for the title. And now Dean Ambrose. Stuck in between those matches were big feuds against Chris Jericho and John Cena. No one can complain that they have underutilized AJ Styles. I think it would have been better if they did slow him down. Yes, he will be 40 next year, but if rushing him doesn't work in connecting him with the wider audience, you have to wonder if spending a few months building his character in the midcard would really have been a tragedy. They have just gone all over with his character. Debut him and treat him like he is so popular. Bring in The Club and work with that aspect of his background for a while. Take away The Club just after a few short months. Throw in a heel turn between all that. What is the wider audience supposed to make of AJ Styles? Wrestling fans already buy into this guy and love. They want to see him win the title. And they eventually will.

I just don't think it should be at Backlash. Let Ambrose retain here. Things just feel a little too rushed, given how there was not much time between Summerslam and this PPV. Give this feud more time. I am sure AJ will win it soon. And then probably back to Cena. Cena has been around, despite the WWE not featuring him on TV. They are obviously selling his loss to Styles at Summeslam. No Cena storyline can end like that. He will come back for Styles, likely when Styles has the WWE Championship. Until then, Ambrose retains here and the feud continues between him and AJ Styles.

Previewing The Backlash 2016 Undercard

The tag tournament to crown the inaugural Smackdown Tag Team Champions has gotten a bit muddled. It looked like it would be American Alpha vs. Rhyno and Heath Slater at Backlash to crown the new Champions. The Usos turned heel and attacked American Alpha. Due to an injury angle, American Alpha is out and a new match will occur this Sunday to see who faces Rhyno and Slater. The Usos and Hype Bros now get another shot at the titles.

Let me start with this new match. Who wins between The Usos and Ryder & Mojo? This tournament just felt too face-friendly in the final rounds. I am glad that The Usos turned heel. And since Rhyno and Slater are faces, why wouldn't The Usos win this match?

Who wins the tag titles? A contract for Heath Slater is also on the line. It is obvious Rhyno and Slater should win. This is one of the most entertaining acts in the WWE right now. I talked about last time what kind of person should be the first to hold a new title. You have to either be very over, have already been getting a great career, or be someone the company is likely to follow up with properly and give that great career to after the big win. A lot of fans have been enjoying Heath Slater. A guy that has been mostly a lower-midcarder is usually not a good choice to make history like this, but he is pretty over now and it would make for a good storyline. Speaking of storylines, the only way I can see the face team losing is if Rhyno turns on Slater and the story turns to Heath Slater having to beat Rhyno for a contract, which he eventually does. It could happen, but I would rather it didn't. If Rhyno does win the tag titles, even if it is just a short reign, wouldn't that be something? He wins it, but The Dudleys never did in their recent run?

Onto the Intercontinental Championship feud between Miz and Dolph Ziggler. The big story for Miz these last few weeks has been what he said to Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack. The WWE has just been selling this idea this week that Miz is a coward. That is just terrible. After Miz stood up for himself and gave Daniel Bryan a verbal stomping, this all just looks bad. This has nothing to do with disliking Daniel Bryan, liking Miz, or any combination of that. I am not a huge fan of either of the two guys, although I can respect them. But why should Miz be made to look so pathetic? If you don't want this story to be about Daniel Bryan being bullied, that's fine. If the WWE won't let Daniel Bryan get in the ring to shut Miz up that way, it shouldn't be about pushing around Daniel Bryan. But Miz's character looked so strong two weeks ago. People speculated if this could be his ticket back into the main-event scene. And the WWE has let it all crumble to Miz being afraid to fight. That's no better than the angle Kevin Owens had last year where he walked out of matches. Given the hype Miz had around him, this is a poor way to follow up.

Onto the actual match, Miz should retain. Attention is still on him. Dolph Ziggler is just there. He is another guy I think they dropped the ball on, in terms of storylines. He had a heated storyline with Dean Ambrose, failed to win the title, failed to beat AJ Styles after that, and just keeps on coasting on. They should have done some kind of angle where he snapped and turned heel. I am not even sure it will happen if he loses to Miz this Sunday. He will probably just keep coasting on to something else.

Previewing The Smackdown Women's Championship Match For Backlash 2016

Before I actually talk about the match to crown the first ever Smackdown Women's Champion, let me just talk about the name. Nothing fancy, but I like that. The Universal Championship has been the target of many jokes in the last few weeks. One of the reasons for that is the name. I believe I suggested just naming it the Raw World Championship. You want the two World Championships to be on equal footing? How about naming them pretty much the same thing, only distinguishing between what show the title will be featured on? Should the person holding one title ever end up on the other brand, the title would just get vacated. Not only could it have worked, the WWE is doing pretty much the same thing with the women's division titles.

Six women will fight for the new title. Every active in-ring worker in Smackdown's women's division will be in this match. It will be Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella. No Maryse. She has not wrestled since returning this year. Eva Marie, of course, has her suspension. Most fans would probably have dreaded her being in this match, anyway.

Being the first person to hold a new title is a major piece of history. You want to get the title lineage off on a good foot. You should put the title on someone that has the major overness to deserve it, has already made a great impact to deserve it, or someone that is at least pretty much guaranteed to be given a legendary career following that big moment. This is the kind of accomplishment that likely gets someone into the Hall of Fame, so it would be nice if that person also has other things going for him or her to make it even more clear that this is a legend.

Go back a few weeks to Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor to crown the first Universal Champion. Both of them would have been good options. Seth Rollins has made an impact in his WWE career. He was a part of one of the best stables in WWE history. He was the first member of that stable to become WWE Champion. He held two titles at the same time for a while. He never officially lost the WWE Championship during that first run. And he has continued to be treated as a big deal since returning this year. Had he won the Universal Championship, it would be another big accomplishment on his resume. Finn Balor, on the other hand, had just debuted on the main roster. Nevertheless, I think the WWE would have put in work on him to make him a legend. His injury has ruined that, for now. Regardless, my point is that both guys had things going for them.

This women's match this Sunday does not feature six women that all have things going for them to make them all worthy or likely to win. That is just the truth. I will talk about all of them, from least likely to win to most likely.

Alexa Bliss is a diva. She is there for her looks. She has improved in the ring in NXT, but none of her matches really blow me away, aside from about two spots or so. She is not the only diva in the match, but she is just too new and has not been given great focus. She does not seem like someone the WWE is really ready to invest in yet, although I do see even smarks loving how hot she is.

Natalya is a female wrestler. In this era, you might hope someone like her gets the title. Coincidentally, Natalya was in the last match to crown an inaugural Champion in the WWE women's division. She lost to Michelle McCool 8 years ago in a match to crown the first Diva's Champion. And she will probably be losing again. Fans know by now that Natalya is not really going anywhere. She had one mediocre title run and has not done too much before or after that. She is not way over. If the WWE loses their minds and puts the title on her this Sunday, I am not confident it would be the start of great things for her.

Naomi is someone I think deserves a title run one day. She has been around for years. She can be fun to watch, albeit not the greatest in-ring worker. Regardless of that, I think there are some fans that will be very happy if she wins. I just do not think she needs to be the first woman to hold this new title. Again, this major piece of history should go to someone that is very over, is already established as a top player, or is likely to be pushed great after the win. Naomi does not fit in any of those categories. But it would be nice if she gets a title run later on.

Carmella is only ahead of those other women because she has better individual focus on her heading into Backlash. She turned heel recently and has been attacking Nikki Bella. She looks like Charlotte. Charlotte looks like Michelle McCool. I don't want to make it sound like I'm being insensitive to Michelle McCool. I know she is dealing with cancer. But all these women just have this droopiness to them. It hurts their charisma as performers. They have all had issues connecting with the audience. Michelle McCool had a huge gimmick and made history numerous times, but never really became beloved during her time in the WWE. Charlotte just seems robotic at times. People say Carmella turned heel because of her inability to connect with fans as a face. Both Michelle McCool and Charlotte made history by becoming inaugural titleholders. Will the third member of this sorority follow their lead? Carmella does not deserve it at all. The only way I could see her winning it is to feud with Nikki Bella, but since major history is on the line here, I don't see things being booked like that.

Becky Lynch might just be the smark favorite to win. She is the only member of the Four Horsewomen on Smackdown and the only woman out of them to never hold a title in the WWE, including NXT. It just sounds amazing to have her be the first woman to hold this new Smackdown Women's Championship. Like Naomi, I would like to see Becky win it one day. If Eva Marie was the sixth woman in this match, not Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch would be the last woman I bring up and the woman I say deserves it the most and is likely to get it the most. But that is not how things are working out. Becky Lynch has her fans, but she is not A+ over. She has also not had that big career. What you have to ask yourself, if they give her the title, will they follow through properly with her? Raw has been the division where female wrestlers get featured better than the divas. Becky Lynch looks like she is already taking a backseat to face Nikki Bella. If they give her the title now, I do not imagine them giving her the career someone that makes big history should get. In which case, they might as well not do it at all.

Nikki Bella is the favorite to win. I would say she should win. It has nothing to do with John Cena or reality shows. Unlike any of the other women in this match, Nikki Bella has been pushed as a top star on the main roster. She held the butterfly title longer than anyone else. She is not an A+ player in terms of overness, but the positive reaction she got when she returned at Summerslam must have been surprising even to the WWE. Why shouldn't they try to capitalize on that? They did it with Roman Reigns last year to get the title on him right after it seemed fans were on his side. Most importantly, she is someone you know the WWE will not toss aside like a mediocrity eventually. Smackdown is the brand that does not treat women's wrestling as seriously as Raw. Having Nikki Bella be the centerpiece there would be good for a change of pace. And if she is the centerpiece, she might as well make history this Sunday.

Miz Takes A Shot At Daniel Bryan, Gets Dolph Ziggler

Last week on Talking Smack, the little talk show segment that follows Smackdown, The Miz and Daniel Bryan had a heated exchange that got many fans excited. I didn't get to talk about it last week. There were a lot of other things to talk about. Since the WWE followed up with it to some degree this week, I might as well bring it up.

Honestly, I did not see the big deal. Daniel Bryan was talking some smack to Miz. Some people might say it was just kayfabe and Miz took it too far. Well, Daniel Bryan was starting to shoot on the "safe" WWE style and criticized Miz as someone that was afraid to get hit. Daniel Bryan pretty much left himself wide open to get owned. And he said it to someone like Miz, who is great on the mic. Put those two things together. What did people think might happen? Why wouldn't Miz remind Daniel Bryan of the fact that he banged himself up to the point that the WWE didn't want to let him wrestle anymore? Why should Miz let himself lose a war of words to Daniel Bryan over something that Miz can definitely hit back on and hit back in a hard way? Miz's great mic skills are pretty much one of the reasons this segment was so newsworthy.

Another reason it was so newsworthy was the guy being verbally stomped was Daniel Bryan. Everyone remembers when the WWE tried to treat this guy as a B+ player a few years ago. It backfired to an unbelievable level. Daniel Bryan has become a legend in pro wrestling. Miz berating him like he did was going to get a response.

Last reason this was going to get people talking, it's a pipebomb. Those things usually succeed in getting people talking. Someone is going to go out there and give a self-righteous promo. A few people have given these kind of promos in the last few years since CM Punk sat on that stage on Raw and complained. Miz's is probably at least second best to the initial one Punk did. Part of me enjoyed it more than any of CM Punk's pipebombs. I liked the intensity more than the trademark arrogance of CM Punk found in his pipebombs. I also liked that his argument was pretty much spot on. Criticize him for wrestling a "safe" style, but at least he is still wrestling, adding to his title resume, and contributing to the show in multiple ways.

Why did I not see it as a big deal? Take away the smoke & mirrors. Get to the core. Forget how popular Daniel Bryan is. Forget how good on the mic Miz is. Forget how these self-righteous promos do tend to grab attention. What was really the point? What could this possibly have led to that I should see it as a big deal? Unless the WWE has given Daniel Bryan the green light to come back for one more match or one more run, what is there to get excited about? Do people want Miz to get a better push? Problem is, AJ Styles is already the heel challenging Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship. Do fans want to see Styles get screwed out of his spot so Miz can get it? Moreover, Miz kind of already is getting pushed. He is Intercontinental Champion. CM Punk's pipebomb felt like it shook the status quo, because it was aimed at the status quo. Miz's pipebomb was only aimed at Daniel Bryan. That's probably why I just didn't feel the same way about it as some fans.

Some fans expect that this will help Smackdown ratings. CM Punk's pipebomb didn't really help Raw back in the day. I would not expect Miz's promo last week to help the show this week get the most viewers of 2016. Ratings aren't out yet, so we will have to see.

Should the WWE try to turn Miz into the new CM Punk? He obviously lacks the wrestling skills. It is interesting how the WWE might lose a certain great worker and try to make another one later on. What usually makes a worker great is that he has more than one great attribute. That is why it is difficult to replace him when he isn't there. If greatness was so easy to replace, would it still be great? Look at those two guys I have been talking about, Daniel Bryan and Miz. One has the great wrestling ability that CM Punk also possessed. The other has the great mic skills that CM Punk was also known for. Individually, neither of these two can replace CM Punk. But if you take the best qualities of both, then you might just have another CM Punk. But as far as the WWE trying to make a new CM Punk with Miz, they probably shouldn't bother. It would screw up certain other guys on Smackdown. Besides that, Miz's pipebomb didn't exactly make him as beloved as CM Punk's pipebomb.

Some people are talking about whether Miz's promo last week was a work or a shoot. Judging by the mediocre way they followed up with it this week, they probably didn't expect anything big to come of it and just tried to make something of the hype. If they had planned to make a big angle out of it all along, I would have expected better. If it was a work designed to create buzz, why not follow through with it better? What they were going to talk about might have been scripted, but Miz's intense promo might have created more interest with smarks than the WWE expected. In any case, out comes Dolph Ziggler to kill the buzz.

Miz defends the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler in two weeks at Backlash. Needless to say, this is a match just thrown together. There wasn't much time between Summerslam and Smackdown's first PPV of the new era. Ziggler was still partially involved in the WWE title scene up to last week. Miz could have continued his feud against Applo Crews. But this is the direction the WWE has taken.

Let me talk about Ziggler. He was involved in a face vs. face feud for the WWE Championship for Summerslam. It got a little heated at times. It looked like Dolph might turn heel. It looked like this was a storyline that should go beyond just Summerslam. People praise Smackdown for handling its show better than Raw, but I would say this is one of the first few mistakes Smackdown has made. That is all there is to the feud? Was there an actual payoff to the storyline? Even AJ Styles mocked Ziggler last week, who then only proceeded to lose to Styles in the main event. And now Ziggler is on to something else? If the WWE did not have any long-term intentions for Ambrose vs. Ziggler, why bother going with this feud? You had Bray Wyatt sitting in his rocking chair in the back for Summerslam with no match, he could have been the heel being used to put over Ambrose at Summerslam. It just seems like the Smackdown writers might have expected fans to react differently to Ziggler/Ambrose. When they didn't, they just did a poor job following through with the story. Some say that the Nikki/Carmella double-turn happened because Nikki got cheered when she returned. Some say the main reason was Carmella failing as a face. I just hope those writers aren't becoming too reactionary. Yeah, listen to the fans, but don't just kill the direction you are going when it doesn't work out the way you want it for a few weeks. Has Ziggler lost the storyline it looked like he was getting? Will Miz now get that storyline? In any case, there does appear to be some shaking up with the storylines on Smackdown.