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SmackDown In A Nutshell: Last Superstar For Las Vegas Is…

last superstar las vegas
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot

It is another SmackDown In A Nutshell, and the big unknown heading into it is…the last Superstar heading for Las Vegas is…not yet known.

The men’s Money In The Bank ladder match has one spot remaining.

We had thought we’d find out in a battle between Ezekiel and Kevin Owens, but Owens has been out of action.

So, we come into Friday needing one more Superstar to round out the men’s ladder match. How that is decided, or who it is?

That’s unknown.

It’s a major question, of course. I mean, who doesn’t want to know who the last Superstar for Las Vegas is?

Beyond that, of course, there are many other last minute things to hype.

There is a big tag team title match, for example.

We have the RAW and SmackDown Women’s titles being defended, too.

And, of course, hyping the ladder matches. I can’t say that they need too much hype…but hype they shall get.

No sense in delaying any further…it is time for…

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Last Superstar For Las Vegas Is…

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

last superstar las vegas

Best Match of the night:

In spite of what is written a few lines down, the opening battle royal was entertaining. Just…odd booking.

last superstar las vegas

The main event made up for it, even if four had to do double duty.

Worst match of the night:

Option one: the opening “good old fashioned battle royal”.

In fairness, the match was fine. The premise was, however, stupid.

You have four Superstars who were not in the match, and six who were. So let’s have the staged ladder segment ended and a battle royal started.

And then, after killing the opening 20 minutes or whatever it was? Have those four Superstars who weren’t in…wrestle one more time to determine who the last Superstar in Las Vegas is.

Or…the Raiders/New Day, which was basically a teaser.

Not a match, but the premise of getting the Usos and Street Profits talking?

last superstar las vegas

Groan.

Like…have them talk…but a “game show”? With some just…stupid questions…pass.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

Bum Ass Corbin

Riddle

Star of the Night

He lost, but how over is Riddle?

Otherwise…Madcap Moss, as he was the last Superstar to punch his ticket to Money In The Bank.

Spot of the Night:

I was a big fan of how Riddle, Drew and Sheamus eliminated Omos…though it did look semi-scary for how Riddle was on his neck.

Jobber of the Night:

Barely one, but Ezekiel did take the pinfall loss in the main event.

Semi-surprised that WWE didn’t have Miz take that one.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Not a lot here really.

Botch of the night:

Maybe it was me, maybe not. But it seemed like there were a few sloppier spots in the battle royal.

Like, Riddle didn’t execute the greatest copy of Orton’s slam.

Drew had a few belly to belly throws that were less than superb looking.

LOL Moment of the night:

Seth Rollins eliminated himself from the opening “good old fashioned battle royal.

Smart move, perhaps. But, also funny.

What else was funny?

That they actually called it (complete with graphic on screen) a good old fashioned battle royal.

Or, that they called them “the new vicious Viking Raiders”. And tweeted the same.

Max Dupri/LA Knight is a star…but MMM makes me laugh.

Noteworthy Moment:

McAfee laid down the gauntlet, challenging Corbin to a match at SummerSlam.

When asked early in the show if he would accept, Corbin had no words. We all know it is coming, of course.

Once Corbin lost the main event and his chance to be in the ladder match, McAfee gloated and Corbin looked ticked off.

So…yes…we know where this is heading. It’s just taking a bit.

I admit, I am curious where WWE is taking the whole Pearce-Deville angle.

Like, is Pearce going to have someone fight on his behalf?

Or, is WWE going to revive Pearce as a Superstar and go inter-gender?

And…we FINALLY got the debut of Maximum Male Models and Max Dupri.

He has repackaged Mace…now called…Ma-Ce. Mansoor…now called…Man-soor.

Spelled the same…pronounced different. The former LA Knight was gold in NXT…let’s hope he can boost those two lower card guys.

I have my doubts…

Overall lowlights:

Booking…makes me feel like SmackDown has like 14 men’s Superstars. Why else do they have to have the battle royal with four Superstars not in MITB…only to use those same four in the main event to find out who the last Superstar in the Las Vegas event is.

Also…we’ve all said it or asked it a time or two, but this is almost feeling like too many “premium live events”, and/or some too close together.

Like…Money In The Bank is Saturday, July 2nd. SummerSlam is July 30th (used to be August, of course).

On top of that, WWE aimed too big, trying to have both events in football stadiums, only to have to move to a smaller venue for MITB.

But…we are also seeing things get hyped for SummerSlam, or built up for it…before MITB has even happened.

Corbin-McAfee…Lesnar-Reigns…and so on.

Overall highlights:

Thankfully, we finally saw Max Dupri in the ring, revealing his first clients.

Sadly…same two we saw in dark reveals weeks prior.

But…if WWE let’s the former LA Knight’s charisma run wild…maybe this works.

Digging Madcap Moss getting the last spot in the men’s ladder match.

I still suspect Riddle or Rollins wins Saturday…but we shall see.

After the final bell:

Overall, a decent go-home show, with all the key players making appearances.

Rousey didn’t have to do much, Becky Lynch took most of the night off, but both shined when needed.

The Usos and Street Profits had a nice exchange, even if it started with a silly game show premise.

We opened and closed with the men’s Money In The Bank match effectively front and center.

While it wasn’t always the best (using four Superstars for two matches), it worked.

Introduced to professional wrestling in the 1980’s thanks to Superstars and Saturday Night’s Main Event, John’s passion for the ... More about John Deegan
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