As much as I’d love for this one to be a normal SmackDown In A Nutshell, it won’t be, because sadly we are remembering Bray Wyatt.
Wyatt sadly passed away just Thursday, at only 36 years old.
As with many others in the sport, for a variety of reasons, this is another life cut tragically short.
On top of that, the wrestling world was already mourning the loss of WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk.
So, while there is Payback looming in just over a week…and it may sort of be important…none of it really is right now, is it?
After all, we are all processing the sudden and unexpected death of a man who just returned to the company not even a year ago.
Life is too short.
For now, it’s time for…
Remembering Bray Wyatt : SmackDown In A Nutshell
Let’s break out the tissues and let the tears flow.
Best Match of the night:
I enjoyed what we had, but the mind was elsewhere, if I am being honest.
Rey and Grayson was pretty good for what it was.
The Profits getting that win over the Brutes in a Terry Funk Hardcore Match was a good one.
LA Knight gets a win, and gives way to one last Wyatt tribute. Also had his own earlier, which was nice
Worst match of the night:
In a way, this one just felt odd having any matches.
I wanted someone to do what we saw during the Owen tribute RAW, when (I think it was Godfather) was like, nah we won’t wrestle, lets go drink and tell Owen stories.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Thank you Bray
Star of the Night
The WWE production team, because they did not one, but two nice video tributes.
Strowman and Rowan, neither of which HAD to be there due to not being on TV or employed, but HAD to be there because they lost another family member in just a couple years.
Spot of the Night:
Rey with the Wyatt clothesline/senton combo.
Jobber of the Night:
Nothing
Upset of the Night:
Also nothing here.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
The big HS moment was yesterday, when I opened our group chat for the site and got the news that Windham Rotunda had passed.
Tonight though? That the injured Braun Strowman and the no-longer-in-WWE Erick Rowan were on stage, front and center, for the tribute.
Botch of the night:
Not in the mood to find one.
Commentary of the night:
Cole was a class act, as was Graves.
I liked Graves with the subtle ECW references, plus his personal stories from FCW and early NXT, where he got to know Windham Rotunda.
Tonight couldn’t have been entirely easy for him.
LOL Moment of the night:
I have nothing here.
Noteworthy Moment:
I mean, after what we’ve seen this week…I just don’t know.
Cody working SmackDown was nice, providing an homage to Terry Funk, someone he knew better than a lot of the roster thanks to his own father.
I enjoyed Rey’s tributes to both deceased Superstars. Something lost on some is the fact that Rey broke into the US market with ECW, during Funk’s time with the company.
Both deaths hit us hard, but some Superstars really lost some longtime friends this week.
Also, I’d bet this was planned because I don’t know that I believe in random coincidence…but…Wyatt’s last opponent-LA Knight and The Fiend’s very first-Finn Balor…main event this week.
Overall lowlights:
Nothing to do with the show, per se.
Funk, we knew he was sick, and it’s a little different when someone who wrestled for 50 years passes. Still a downer.
But opening my phone to see the Wyatt news was a real lowlight of the week.
Overall highlights:
The tributes were well done. I hope RAW has a similar opportunity, and I suspect if the viewership is strong for this one, it will (sorry, but WWE is coin-operated).
After the final bell:
I loved the tribute, it brought tears to my eyes, and I would have watched many more minutes of it.
