Dutch Mantell details why this week's episode of WWE SmackDown "seemed clunky" to him (Exclusive)
Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell spoke about this week's episode of SmackDown and how the creative team left some glaring holes in the show.
This week's episode of SmackDown featured two huge triple-threat matches, with the winners advancing to the semi-finals of the World Heavyweight Championship. AJ Styles and Bobby Lashley squared off in the main event, and The Phenomenal One emerged victorious, advancing to the finals, where he will face Seth Rollins at Night of Champions. The show also featured the return of Roman Reigns to the blue brand.
On the latest episode of Smack Talk, Mantell felt there were some loopholes in the buildup to the World Heavyweight Championship match at Night of Champions. The wrestling veteran felt the episode was disjoint in a few segments and the creative team under Triple H could have done better.
"This whole show tonight seemed clunky to me. They didn't take the pieces and put them together. It is what it is, but I think they left some massive holes in it. If you look at it, if you think back, 'did you enjoy the show?' Yeah, I kinda enjoyed it but yet, those clunky parts and I don't want to be nitpicky here, but those clunky parts were glaring, I think. Maybe I'm wrong." [From 46:14 to 46:45]
You can watch the entire episode here:
You can catch the full results of SmackDown here.
Mantell felt Vince McMahon was backstage during WWE SmackDown
During the same conversation, Mantell detailed that Mr. McMahon could have possibly been at the WWE SmackDown tapings this week. He pointed out that when Lashley got busted open a couple of times, the commentators refrained from talking too much about it. The veteran clarified that Vince never liked blood on TV, and that could be one of the reasons.
"I told you Vince was there. I'm convinced Vince is around there somewhere because he never liked blood because of TV. Now we've had it two times on major players in two weeks. I mean, you can't go out there and stop it. So you gotta go with it."
This week, AJ Styles defeated Lashley and emerged as the finalist to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions.
What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? Let us know in the comments section below.
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