SMACKVILLE LIVE BLOG

Bear with me. I'm also covering UFC 240! I'll have a brief audio recap for Smackville here tomorrow too!

Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Ali
6/10

• Finn Balor was announced as medically ineligible to compete tonight shortly before the broadcast, but DURING the actual live event, which was kind of shitty.
• Shinsuke Nakamura wants to settle for a forfeit win, but it's not going down that easily. 
• Mustafa Ali replaces Finn Balor, and will take on Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. He says he knows plenty about losing chances and opportunities.
• Ali starts off at a high pace, with some body presses and dives, but Nakamura brings the action to a halt.
• Ali battles back with a nice rolling facebuster that looks like it gives him a fair amount of momentum. He even stops Nakamura mid-Kinsasha with a superkick that looks like it could almost secure him the match.
• An Ali tornado DDT was a great false finish, but he eats a turnbuckle and a Kinshasa and gets pinned.

Kevin Owens defeated Elias
5.75/10

• Elias' performance is up next, and he's not happy about the volume levels.
• He has a pretty damn good guitar solo. Elias trolls the crowd and pretends he's leaving.
• He calls Shane McMahon and is told he can have all the time he wants.
  
• Kevin Owens shows up and plays Elias' guitar and runs him off. 
• Owens is able to talk a ref into coming down and making the match official.
  
• Elias works over Owens a little, but eventually falls victim to a Stunner and loses.
• Owens had also worked in a nice Swanton, which I'm glad he hit because usually he eats knees.
• There was a great spot of Elias missing his flying elbow that set up the finish.
• 
  

WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler
6.25/10

• Samoa Joe cuts a nice backstage promo about not having to lose to lose.
• Kofi Kingston talks to Sarah Schreiber and tries to find out what kind of noun Smackville is. 
• Joe and Ziggler work together, but to no surprise, it doesn't last long.
• Kofi capitalizes and one-man hot tags both opponents.
• Joe yanks Ziggler off the top rope and almost powerbombs him, but gets DDT'd. Kofi body presses Ziggler over, and a series of pin attempts start.
• Joe throws Kofi into the stairs and Ziggler over a table.
• There's an awesome series that goes Trouble in Paradise attempt to ankle lock attempt to Coquina Clutch to superkick to Kofi breaking up a pin. 
• Kofi kicks out of the Zig Zag and ends up pinning Joe with the Trouble in Paradise

Rating guide

10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!