WWE SmackDown 8-21-20 - Debut of THUNDERDOME!

 

 

 It's time for THUNDERDOME! RETRIBUTION DIDN'T MESS UP THE THEN/NOW/FOREVER BIT! Cole hypes up Thunderdome and Vince says like two words before Bray interrupts and Cole yells. Thank God IN SEGMENT ONE, we have a dramatic reveal with no fans to react to it. The Thunderdome really did a lot of good here. So basically, if there's a chance WWE can get a reaction they don't want, they just turn off the Thunderdome.

 

HOW DID RETRIBUTION GET IN THE THUNDERDOME!? Bray leaves and Braun gets attacked. SD job squad and Dana makes a save. Braun snaps and beats up geeks. Sheamus and Big E argue with a showcase of what happened last week. They are fighting to I think become locker room leader. The Thunderdome's audio is mixed so low that there's no crowd reaction...so beyond looking flashy, this accomplishes nothing. All this Sheamus accolades hype just showcases how little WWE's on-paper accomplishments mean. Cole...calmly ponders if Retribution is back. Because that's what you'd do in this situation - calmly say that and then cut to a break.

  

Sheamus eats a series of overhead belly to bellys after the apron splash.
I love how easily Sheamus just gets red after getting smacked around. Thank God he's whiter than Casper. Corbin attacks Riddle and a brawl breaks out, distracting Sheamus.
Babyface wins via a cheap cradle here in this nothing mid-card match. Why not JUST HAVE BIG E BEAT SHEAMUS WITH HIS MOVE!? It's Sheamus - he isn't even in the IC Title mix? Jeff is prepped for his IC Title match by the trainer as something/someone hit him from behind. But first, Cesaro and Nakamura beat up LHP before their title match, which is next.

Nakamura and Cesaro come down. Kalisto looks like so much more of a star in the long tights - and the Mistico white and gold color scheme doesn't hurt either. Metalik gets a long spinning headscissor even with Cesaro powering him up. Miz and Morrison "watch the match" backstage with no TV. Miz calls him The Fartist. Vince is marking out huge.  Second rope rana by Metalik to Cesaro gets a loosy-goosy hit on Cesaro. Lince gets a moonsault trifecta to Nakamura for 2. Cole goes all echoey after a dive. Cesaro goes for the swing off a sunset flip, but gets cradled for 2 and then cradles him for the win.

 During the Retribution attack, we see AJ attack Jeff from behind and take his knee out. AJ blames Jeff for his injury and he brings out the Golden Role Models and they congratulate each other before Corey is set to intervew them. WWE brangs about how the WWE Thunderdome makes the WWE fan experience better for the WWE Universe.

Mandy talks about wanting to see the good in the world and wants to see the good in Sonya once again. She wants to call off their match and see the good in Sonya. Okay, so the babyface is... a good character, but SHOULDN'T THE HEEL WANT TO DELAY THE STIP MATCH!? Nothing can top Bobby Heenan suffering a knee sprain and wanting to delay a match by 5-6 months, but it's something. GRM are out to giant pyro, which does help their star power.

Corey calls Sasha "Two Banks Belts!" and she buries him for that and they bury him for his stupid fake name. Corey stirs the pot and says they aren't logical. They argue.
DON'T. FUCKING. BREAK. THIS. TEAM. UP.
I've watched since minute one of this and I couldn't tell you one thing a fan has done or said that made this show better at all. Naomi insults them and wants them both tonight.
I like that Corey just, off the top of his heads, remembers the beat the clock challenge. As you would. Takeover hype video.

WWE needs to do a Black Dynamite 2 and have Naomi in it. And bring back Charlotte Stokely too. Sasha and Naomi plod around for a bit. A fan looks bored to death. Sasha's... I guess we'll call selling by twirling into the corner should wake her up. Bank Statement crossface is mid-ring and Naomi taps to boos. Okay, so NOW the fans react to something.

Bayley jumps her, which just leads to the ref stalling for time. NAOMI HITS SHE CALLS IT THE REAR VIEW AND BEATS BAYLEY to give Sasha the chance to face Asuka second at Summerslam. So Naomi was just here to be a thing to drive the story along. Naomi's role in this was to just be a god in the story. Why not have her get a shot if she got a win here? Asuka says she'll be the Empress of Every Title because NO ONE IS READY FOR ASUKA! Asuka kicks Sasha down and Bayley runs off with her belts.

 Jeff meets with the trainer who says he'll give him clearance if he can take the pain. Shouldn't he be unbiased? Cole says THE PIED PIPER OF PUPPETS is here. Sonya is asked if she'll address Mandy before she say she'll do her talking to the world. Dana comes in and apologizes "for what happened this week" before getting slapped. Sonya cuts a promo on Mandy not being bothered about her cutting her hair, she'll raise the stakes. Now it's no DQ and the loser leaves WWE. Hair or no hair, she's sick of looking at Mandy. She needs to bring her A-game, bitch!

So Sonya loses and leaves WWE for a bit until the heat dies down. Firefly Funhouse recap of the Braun-Bray feud. God, even in recap form, this Braun/Bray feud takes ages to get through. Nikki says that Lexi is different now after The Fiend. Nikki predicts doom. AJ's out with a lot of pyro and also seems like a bigger star due to it. Bryan says that AJ wants to face the best, but only when they're at their worst. He's a coward and hopes that WWE'S FIRST NIGHT INSIDE THE THUNDERDOME ends his reign. Cocky AJ is great.

YES! HALL OF FAMER STATS FOR THE IC TITLE! Cole puts over Jeff's HIGH-FLYING STYLE here in 2020. Jeff gets a backdrop and eats a lot of offense on the knee. AJ gets backedropped to the apron and bumps to the floor - smart. A Jeff baseball slide is caught and his knee is slammed into the apron for an ad break. Pele to the neck! Phenomenal Forearm meets a gut punch. Calf slicer on the bad leg and the Clash is attempted, but the brace hits AJ! TWISTO! SWANTON AND JEFF WINS THE IC TITLE ONCE AGAIN ON SMACKDOWN!

The right man won this one and he gets a post-match promo. He goes for a big emotional speech, but gets cut off mid-rush through "ICOULDN'TDOITWITHOUTTHEWWEUNIVERSE"! But of course, we get all the Firefly Funhouse hype. AJ rants at Joseph Park before they hype up oh yeah, Summerslam is in 2 days. Bray loves the Thunderdome and all of us. We get a Braun/Alexa puppet show and they ramble and Bray is pissed and the Fiend is looking forward to Sunday. Braun beats up Mr. Rogers Bray at the Funhouse and drags him off-screen. 

Cole and Corey are flumoxed and Braun and Bray FIGHT IN THE GARAGE OF THE THUNDERDOME! Braun tosses Bray off a tunnel onto a crash pad and then they move it and Bray is on the ground. Hyped for WHERE TO BRAY!? From the Fiend here. Ambulance just backs up immedately as they PICK BRAY UP BY HIS ARMS after a possible neck injury, as ya do. The ambulance stops. Blue smoke has filled the ambulance. I'm sure that's a good thing. NOW IT'SRED SMOKE! THE FIEND EMERGES AND STICKS HIS TONGUE OUT. BUY SUMMERSLAM ON SUNDAY!