Morality isn’t just about being good, it’s about understanding your own capacity to do evil and making the choice to be good.
That’s what Bray Wyatt seems to be struggling with right now, as evidenced in this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Consider:
He even mentions a classic example of what I was talking about earlier. When someone cuts you off in traffic, you’re not a freak for briefly fantasizing about running them off the road in response. You are a monster if you actually act on those thoughts.
Here, Wyatt is slightly deranged and tested with the man he fights so hard not to be, yet another encounter with the dark side. And he clearly seems to be losing this fight.
It took very little time to get us here too.
A sign of things to come, perhaps.
We may find out after a long trip to Saudi Arabia.
Everything else
- Liv Morgan has lost her mind and attacks people smiling and seemingly in a dark place – but she still does the thing where she kisses the kids on her way to the ring and plays with the crowd like a babyface? Seems strange! It’s even funnier when, in the ensuing No DQ match with Sonya Deville because of Morgan’s unbalanced behavior, Wade Barrett tells us how she changed after losing her title and became both sadistic and a masochist. Either way, she beat Deville and they pushed her as Morgan was “back and better than she’s ever been before”.
- Emma did an interview explaining how she had something to prove when she returned to WWE after a five-year absence. His blood was really pumping. Xia Li stood in front of her and said that all she had proven was that she was weak, so Emma punched her in the mouth. Always good to see a program built with simple violence.
- LET ME TALK TO YOU! LA Knight getting some heat using Samantha Irvin was a nifty way to add some stakes to his match with Ricochet, though I don’t know how many fans are even familiar with the connection. They didn’t explicitly play it on TV, but it’s a nice little easter egg for anyone who knows better. Knight cheated to win after a decent game that was more about making LA the heel they wanted it to be. To that end, it worked.
- The New Day made it clear to The Usos that they plan to welcome them to American soil after crown jewel because they have a record to protect as the longest-serving reigning tag team champions. We’ve seen this match a million times before, but it’s a very good reason to do it again. Plus, it’s always a good time, who would ever be against turning back?
- Sami Zayn was getting “Sami Uso” chants, and we have to keep praising the work he’s done to get to this point.
- I’m not quite sure I can even tell you why, but seeing Ronda Rousey alongside Shayna Baszler made them both look better. Two killers running together is a scary sight, but damn good. Baszler brought it to Nattie, beat her cleanly and then, on Rousey’s order, also shot her after the match. It was pretty awesome.
- Braun Strowman met five guys on this show, and I’m not talking about burgers. MVP lined them up, Strowman knocked them down. Then Braun made a point at the expense of MVP, the poor guy. An easy way to warm him up just a bit before the big showdown with Omos.
- GUNTHER and Rey Mysterio had a great televised match for the Intercontinental Championship, with Mysterio doing his best job as a “little man against an insanely big opponent” and coming close. It’s the babyface role he’s been working on forever, and if nothing else was clear, they could come back to it at any time. I would see him again!
You could tell it was a taped show. I will also never get used to the way WWE treats television in the Network/Peacock era. They just don’t have to bother working hard to build the PPV. Emissions are just emissions that lead to more emissions.
Rating: C-
Your turn.
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