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, Ross K. Foad, and Jordan Chaffiotte will be giving their thoughts on what went down at WWE Super Show-Down!

It was a once-in-a-lifetime show that will likely never happen again but what happens now that Super Show-Down is gone. Well, we move on to the next once-in-a-lifetime show that will likely never happen again. Let's discuss what happened down under…


FOAD: I get that they had a lot of matches on the card, but The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan was far too short. I was confused by the ending, as I think many were, and hope that it is not the closure of their feud. It was not a satisfactory match or conclusion to a story. Yes, Daniel Bryan got to be the number one contender out of it, but The Miz still holds more victories in this feud. I suppose Daniel has the last laugh, but it still feels like this does not have a clear winner to me. I think that the Miz could, and should, still be part of the equation going forward. Either costing Daniel his match or somehow getting himself into a triple threat match at a later date.

As for Samoa Joe? I feel that AJ has bested him too many times for him to hang around at the top of the card just now. Possibly shuffle him down to face Nakamura for the US title? That seems to be SmackDown’s go-to place for the former and nearly WWE champions

DeFELICE: The dust has already settled so we know that they're moving on with Samoa Joe to some kind of injury angle and he's beginning to show signs of weakness, which I believe will only make him a stronger monster once fully healed. However, the matter of where he lands on the card at that point remains to be seen.

WWE Crown Jewel gets another major match with Daniel Bryan challenging for the WWE World Championship against AJ Styles. However, they've already planted the seeds that The Miz will be a big factor here and I don't like that because it means another AJ Styles rematch title defense will probably end in chicanery and just be remembered as another missed opportunity. I think the way this will end is with The Miz getting the WWE Championship at some point and then Daniel Bryan finally getting it off of him to tie a nice bow on that rivalry.

CHAFFIOTTE: My biggest complaint through AJ/Joe is that by putting Styles on the cover of their video game while he held the WWE Championship, they telegraphed the end result. AJ had to keep it for the launch, so Joe really didn't have a chance. Now that the game's out and we'll have a bit of distance before Crown Jewel, I'm pretty confident that it will change hands soon. Granted, the Greatest Royal Rumble saw exactly 0 title changes and Super Show Down didn't make a bunch of moves either. So it may not be necessarily at Crown Jewel itself. We all know that Miz and Daniel Bryan aren't done, their wives are almost definitely going to fight at Evolution which could reignite the feud in a heartbeat. If Mania is the goal, I would've booked Miz to win this time so that Bryan could get the Royal Rumble win he's been waiting for and face Miz in the (probably not actual) main event. It's a bit tricky now to get to that same spot, but I see Daniel taking the title from Styles soon and them setting up the match via the Royal Rumble. It's not like he doesn't deserve the moment, too.

Oh and as for Joe, what's Shinsuke got going on?


CHAFFIOTTE: So let's see, we've got the Universal Championship, the Tag Team Championships, and the Intercontinental Championship. Wait, is Seth still champ? Okay I gave it a Goog and yes, Seth is still champion and while we all know I don't have the best memory, I feel like in this case, it's because it's taken such a back seat. I'm not usually a proponent of double duty, because there are so many deserving competitors who just want one spot, nonetheless two. In this case, however, it's probably between Seth working both a Tag Team match and an IC match, or us not getting the IC title on it at all. The likelihood they bring in another team to challenge seems minimal. That means it'll be Rollins and Ambrose (AKA Ambrollins) vs. Drew and Dolph. In fairness, the later are soaring as heels, I've never despised Dolph so much. If the former get the job done, they'll be back to possessing all the belts, with Dean and Roman in swapped roles. That sounds awesome but like I said, there are plenty of deserving competitors. Do we really need 3 guys who all run together to hold 4 belts? Plus, that seems too big of a moment to risk half the audience missing it because they're working, asleep or boycotting due to the lack of women (me).

In short, nothing. I think nothing at all will happen with these two teams and that things will stay exactly as they are.

FOAD: I think that there is far more to be done with The Shield together, and I think that the idea of owning all the Raw titles would be a fun. Taking the tag belts away from Drew and Dolph could be next.

Discounting The New Day, not since Evolution have we had every member of a faction own a title. Plus, it would be a nice tie-in to the fact that The Shield defeated Evolution to prove that they were now the most dominant faction around.

WWE probably would not think to dot the I’s and make that connection purposefully, but it is something nerdy fans like myself would enjoy.

DeFELICE: Dean Ambrose is the one that seems to be getting a lot of the story here. I like the idea of him playing the lone wolf character and having no allegiance at the moment. It's really wild to think that when The Shield first debuted he was the breakout star in a lot of people's minds. For him, I think it all leads to the Royal Rumble and a possible victory. Ambrose has all the talent in the world it's just a matter of getting him in the right story so that all of his passion can shine through.

Speaking of people that were once picked to be the future of the industry, let's talk about Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. The current Raw Tag Team Champions I certainly a force to be reckoned with and I like their pairing, but I wish they would get away from Braun Strowman as quickly as possible. They don't need to be second to anybody. Also, at some point, Drew McIntyre is going to have to break away from Dolph Ziggler and become the true headlining talent he was destined to be in WWE. For now, I would like to see them get a good tag team run but for that to happen they would need to have credible opponents and unfortunately, there aren't many of them on the Raw tag team side.

The real loser here is the Intercontinental Championship. Which has lately been left to go back to being insignificant. Seth is a great champion and I think he fits the workhorse mentality that has been associated with that championship perfectly, but maybe it's time to get that belt on to somebody who can keep it elevated status but defend it more regularly and not just as a placeholder for the universal Championship when Brock Lesnar is around. I suggest Finn Balor, he could use the big win and the title could use him.


CHAFFIOTTE: As a newly christened wrestling fan, I didn't particularly care about this match, but I watched it just for you guys. The theatrics were on point, and I was impressed by the way the match was plotted and unfolded. I was less impressed by Taker's clear inability to keep up. Let the man retire in peace! Look, I get wanting to go out on your own terms but are these really the terms you want to go out on? It's not getting any better it's only getting worse. Let's just let it be. Oh, and didn't the people of Knox County elect Glenn Jacobs to you know, govern?? He should've left the mask behind as soon as that happened. Basically, why are we still doing any of this?

The one person who's allowed to still be doing this is Triple H because he looked great. I appreciate that he and Stephanie have stepped back from their on-camera roles to focus on making events like Super Show-Down and winning an Emmy. Still, it's nice to see him when we do and clearly, he keeps in ring shape no matter what he's doing.

Regardless, I have absolutely 0 plans to watch Crown Jewel. They've made it obvious I'm not the audience they care about when it comes to this event.

DeFELICE: You have to shut your brain off for this one. Absolutely none of this should be taking place in 2018 and none of it should be taking place in Australia and Saudi Arabia, but here we are. The Triple H and Undertaker bout at Show-Down was fine. I'm not going to criticize anybody for putting their body on the line for the sake of my entertainment although I hope that for people like Jordan, who don't have too many memories of The Undertaker to begin with, they can appreciate his efforts and look beyond the shadow of the former Phenom that once stood atop WWE.

DX coming back is insane. Shawn Michaels coming back is insane. I'm going to just shut my brain off and enjoy watching two of the most fabled teams in the history of WWE put on quite an interesting about for our entertainment and for everybody else's sanity, I suggest they try to do the same. Enjoy it. Appreciate it. You never know when one of these four men will no longer be around.

FOAD: It was a treat to see these four together like this, and really bizarre to think that this combination has never faced off! I suppose that the Brothers of Destruction were never together when DX was and vice versa, but it still seems odd that nobody thought to make this happen sooner.

As for the match, I hugely enjoyed it, and not once did their age ever cross my mind (except for the grey temples of The Undertaker, sorry) but other than that I was too captivated by the star power and story to really notice.

I do feel that Shawn Michaels interfered a little too much, but I guess that is what had to be done for the story. As a fan of DX since their original inception, I am completely down with a tag-match happening, but I do absolutely insist on them donning the black and green for it.