“I’m Better Than You, And You Know It”

"Every Man Has A Price For The Million Dollar Man"

"The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be"

"Whatcha Gonna Do, When Hulkamania Runs Wild On You"

"And That's The Bottom Line Because Stone Cold Said So"

<h3><strong>The Boys Are Back</strong></h3>
<p>First news, Dolph Ziggler finally resurfaced on Smackdown Live after two months or so. Crowd reaction could not be more lukewarm. We were not too excited either. Hopefully the “sweetheart deal” actually includes cool storylines for Dolph. And Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are back together now, beating up Baron Corbin and The Showoff? That was confusedly inconsistent with what we saw the past couple of weeks.</p>
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<p>We could see Smackdown Live was trying to show that Owens and Zayn were taking out all possible threats to the title, but it did not make much sense. They were virtually at the brink of breaking up just 14 days ago. We do not have goldfish brain, WWE. We remember what happened 2 weeks ago. We certainly remembered last night’s fantastic opening segment of RAW, and it was much better than the segment offered tonight.</p>
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<h3><strong>The Queen’s Second Trial</strong></h3>
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<p>This week, Charlotte took on another member of the Riott Squad, Sarah Logan. To be honest, we think Sarah Logan did better than Livv did last week. Our favorite Logan move tonight was her inverted half-Gotch style German suplex after Charlotte failed to connect with a Big Boot and got her foot stuck on the top rope. Charlotte won, and the killing blow – Natural Selection – was sickeningly sold by Sarah Logan. Logan and Morgan sure need more work, but with the help of Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky Lynch, this 6-women rivalry can only get better in every aspect. Let us all hope that this feud will lead to more exciting moments.</p>
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<h3><strong>A Little Thirst For Vengeance Went A Long Way</strong></h3>
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<p><strong>                </strong>Baron Corbin got a clean victory over Kevin Owens tonight (even with a left arm still in pain after the earlier assault by Owens and Zayn), and we were quite surprised. It seems like Corbin’s punishment since last Summerslam is finally over, and The Lone Wolf is being pushed again. He and Owens put up a great match tonight – not a top-notch in any way, but more solid than what is expected from a Corbin vs Owens match. Baron Corbin really needed the match at Fastlane, because his stock has fallen dramatically since he failed to cash in his Money in the Bank contract back in August. Good day for Corbin.</p>
<p></p>
<h3><strong>An American And Two Canadians Walked Into A Ring…</strong></h3>
<p>…And the American started attacking one of the Indians. Classic WWE. Apparently, the writers have inserted Mahal into the Roode – Orton story to stretch the rivalry another arc, in time for WrestleMania.</p>
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<p>It makes sense: Another member of the roster is utilized (Jinder Mahal), and there will be time for more complexities between Randy and Bobby, building up suspense for the big April showdown. By this time, one might come to realize that both Smackdown Live men’s singles championships will not be defended in a 1-on-1 match: There is the Fatal-4-Way (about to be 5-Way) for AJ Styles’ WWE Championship, and now there is the Mahal – Orton – Roode situation. Adding that to the 7-man (7!) Elimination Chamber match coming in 2 weeks, and we have quite a lot of multi-man affairs going on in WWE. But more sides involved means more possible interactions, and you know we like the unpredictable.</p>
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<h3><strong>When The Caf Got Intense</strong></h3>
<p>A huge, muscular man in a bib eating pancakes. 5 adults picking up a fight over said pastry. What a sight. Gable and Benjamin under-delivered tonight promo-wise. The promo was lame, and the entire premise felt so childish. Smells like Vince spirit. Also, while we liked The New Day’s new wrestling gear, we still did not like their pancakes. Just…nope, we want Pancake Tuesdays no more. Hurts a bit to stand against pancakes, but the act does not seem to be working.</p>
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<p>We liked the controversy ending to the tag team match that ensued, when Kofi distracted the referee from seeing the tag between Gable and Benjamin. This gave a legitimate reason for the heel team to whine next week, and reason is what Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin need urgently.</p>
<p><strong>Side-note:</strong> The Usos promo would have been perfect had it not been for the words popping up like karaoke. Damn, that looked so cringe-worthy.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>The Darling Was Still Loved</strong></h3>
<p>In the main event of tonight, Dolph Ziggler defeated Sami Zayn to be added to the Fastlane WWE Championship match. The match started off slow, but the pace picked up near the end, and the crowd gradually got really invested into the match, giving The Showoff a surprising amount of support. As Ziggler posed on the announce table after his win, we realized something: Even after all this time, after all the ridicule Dolph had to go through, he was still loved by a huge portion of the fan base. It made us realize that loyalty still exists in this chaotic world of ours, where relationships that do not make people financially better-off are immediately discarded. It is still there, and all you have to do is…BOLIEVE!</p>
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<p>What a heart-warming way to end Smackdown Live.</p>
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<h3><strong>Overall Review:</strong></h3>
<p>A fun little show, even though nowhere near as entertaining as RAW. Tonight, we saw further developments in the men’s championship pictures, some hope for the Smackdown’s fledgling women, fully adult males fighting over pancakes, and cringy graphics. We also saw hope in humanity being restored, as Dolph Ziggler was still shown plenty of love after all the smelly fish. We have a feeling next week’s version is going to be fun. But until then, we will just sit here and contemplate about this beautiful thought on life, this thought that true love shall persevere. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. Love yourself.</p>

WWE Smackdown Live Review & Results: February 13th, 2018

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