Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Robert DeFelice, Andy Sahadeo and Tony Mango will be giving their opinions on what they expect moving forward from the mess that was WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2017!

If you search the term clusterfuck on any wrestling website going forward they will undoubtedly lead you to discussions about WWE TLC 2017. Boy, it was a mess. Let's start discussing the main two matches and what November looks like in the WWE Universe.


DeFELICE: So serendipitous it was! We didn't have to struggle through whatever Sister Abigail was going to be. No, thanks to whatever the viral infection sweeping the locker room is, we got the first ever meeting of Demon King, and the Phenomenal One. A lot of people were gaga about this match and the homage to The Bullet Club that followed it. I thought it was a really fun match, but no more than three stars, if we're going to use that silly system. My favorite thing about it was that since AJ wasn't going to win, he didn't hit a Styles Clash.

This was a fantastic reminder of the type of amazing matches a singular brand WWE can provide. It definitely makes the upcoming Survivor Series all the more exciting and special. I like the idea of branding that event as the one time a year the brands can go head to head and I see it as a way to revitalize the 30-year-old concept that was once considered to be done away with in the early half of the millennium.

SAHADEO: Yes it did! I can't believe we got such a big dream match in WWE especially on such short notice. There was a lot of fantastic back and forth action between the two bonafide Superstars and given their history, it was only a matter of time before the two finally faced off. A lot of people complained that we got Balor vs. Styles at a random PPV, but who cares – we actually got to see Balor vs. Styles!

Obviously, this match would've been better had it gotten a better buildup but this match is only the beginning of what I'm predicting to be a huge dynasty going forward in the next couple years. With Balor and Styles being two of WWE's most talented stars, it's inevitable that we'll see them face off again in a series of matches. A clean loss for Styles provides enough motivation for a second match and a potential heel turn from either competitor. Either way, it was a great taste of what the future holds between these two, and it served as a great way as Michael Cole put it, to "wet our mouths" before brand warfare at Survivor Series.

MANGO: When WWE pulls something out of their ass at the last minute with absolutely zero build, no storyline foundation, no time to really think about it and hype it up and it still ends up being something many people consider a candidate for Match of the Year, it's hard to argue that it wasn't a success. That being said, it had no influence whatsoever on me being more or less interested in Survivor Series, which I pretty much ruled as a different entity entirely.


SAHADEO: Again, same thing with Balor vs. Styles. I was very entertained by Kurt Angle's return to a WWE ring since he is indeed the greatest pure wrestler to ever step foot in the squared circle, but it would've been nice if they built it up rather than give us a 2-day notice. That's the only gripe I have. Other than that, this match was perfect for him to return in as it protected him well enough so much that he didn't have to take massive bumps while Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose did the heavy lifting.

Seeing Angle return in Shield gear was an interesting, yet sensible choice. It wasn't Kurt's return to singles action, so having him look unified with The Shield was the right choice I feel. When the time is right for Angle to return to the ring for a one-on-one match, then he should don the singlet that us fans are all accustomed to. It's not like Angle lost his wrestling skills either – after all he did face Cody Rhodes earlier in the year and was pretty active towards the end of his TNA run. Angle returning at TLC, again like Balor vs. Styles, was a great appetizer for what the future holds.

MANGO: That is something I'll have to be a bit more sour about. Angle wasn't able to perform the way he used to and his inclusion in the match made almost no sense at all. I would have rather seen his return be something more catered to his strengths and have a story to go along with it instead of him just being a "next best option to get the fans excited" type thing.

DeFELICE: Another really cool surprise from this past Sunday's pay-per-view but I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much. I was really looking forward to seeing the shield and if they were going to do Kurt I was looking forward to seeing him in his own gear. Trying to mesh the two and have Kurt come out in Shield gear was great for meme culture but the entire match just came off like even more of a cluster then it was already scheduled to be. That being said, Kurt better be on Team Raw at Survivor Series.


MANGO: We don't quite know the full card yet, especially without knowing which people make up the teams, so I'll still reserve some judgment. However, from what we do already know, I'm actually most interested in a match-caliber aspect for The Usos vs. Ambrose/Rollins and for a storyline aspect, the men's Team Raw vs Team SmackDown match. Most of the other scenarios like Mahal/Lesnar and Bliss/Natalya are things I write off as pretty much pointless, even if there's some potential for them to be interesting if not just because it's rare to see heel vs. heel matches like that.

DeFELICE: As excited as I am for brand warfare, I feel like if they knew they were going to do this then we should've had stronger lineups for champions. Mostly, I feel like there should've been a better effort to give Brock Lesnar a real strong threat on the blue side. The matchup right now really makes SmackDown look like the B team. However, I will say that I'm living for that Tag Team Champion vs. Champion Match. I think it could even be a sleeper contender for match of the year and if we can get some Roman involvement in the buildup, we can have a lot of fun.

SAHADEO: So many people are clamoring over the SmackDown Live invasion on Raw, but honestly, I thought the whole thing was so corny. It was literally a gang of 20+ wrestlers beating up on groups of 2-5 wrestlers on Raw with no one fighting back. I can see why people enjoyed it because of that nostalgia factor and since we don't get segments like that often, but personally that segment just didn't do it for me. Plus the whole #UnderSiege movement is super cringeworthy.

That being said, I'm sure Survivor Series will be a good PPV – it's just that segment on Raw wasn't worth it. What I am truly excited for is the Shield vs. The Usos. It's funny to think a few years back when the Shield reigned supreme in its original inception, Shield vs. Usos happened about a million times and it got beaten to death. Now in 2017, the career trajectories of both teams have shifted drastically. With the Shield being former world champions as well as faces now alongside the rejuvenated heel Usos, we can definitely expect this match to be a banger. Take for example the New Day, a team that was growing so stale after they had been Raw Tag Team Champions for so long had their careers rejuvenated after feuding with The Usos. Every match between those two teams was a potential MOTYC.

It seems as if The Usos brings out the best in their opponents – and if your opponents are Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, you know damn well that this is going to be one hell of a match.