Match Ratings For WWE Smackdown Live 7/23/19 From Sean Ross Sapp

Shane and Owens

• David Otunga is on commentary, and joined by New Day. If you can’t do a 3 person booth, go with four apparently.
• Shane McMahon comes out and wastes a lot of time cutting a promo, but at least Greg Hamilton was good.
• It takes about 7 minutes into the show before anything happens. He plays footage of Kevin Owens saying that he was going to quit last year.
• Kevin Owens comes out and says that was his lowest point, and he’s ready to kick Shane McMahon’s ass.
• Shane says he’s got a fight for Kevin Owens — Roman Reigns. Well, that’s an interesting one at least. A legit main event.
• Elias and Drew McIntyre are backstage kissing Shane McMahon’s ass and calling him a genius. He names Drew McIntyre special ref and Elias special timekeeper, and himself special ring announcer.

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews
6/10

• Apollo does a great delayed vertical suplex that New Day puts over big time. This is one of the best jobs at putting over on commentary I’ve seen in a while. Tom Phillips’ reaction to Xavier was great, too.
• A moonsault to the outside from Apollo excites New Day, too.
• Nakamura gains control during the break, but Apollo fights back and does a good Samoan drop.
• I’m glad Nakamura is doing the sliding German Suplex again, but I think it should be saved for more rare opportunities.
• New Day sold me a ticket on the Olympic Slam from Apollo. Their energy on the nearfall was amazing.
• Nakamura hits a Kinshasa after Apollo misses a standing moonsault.
• This was very good.
• Nakamura attacks Apollo Crews after the match, and New Day doesn’t bother helping.

Backstage Crappenings

• Mandy tells Sonya backstage they have a match against the tag champions for a shot at the titles. I guess because there’s no contenders.
• We see a new Ali promo. He’s got really good presence and his own voice. That’s very, very important.

MIZ TV

• Miz is reduced to a babyface mascot these days, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering how a lot of people are booked.
• Shawn Michaels is brought out. He was supposed to be on commentary
• I wouldn’t want New Day on commentary every week, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot tonight.
• I forgot that Miz isn’t even on Smackdown. He hasn’t worked a house show since May, which is odd.
• Dolph Ziggler comes out and says that Shawn Michaels broke his heart last November when he came back to the ring and that HBK was embarrassing at Crown Jewel.
• Michaels says he’ll admit that it was embarrassing. But not as embarrassing as being known as a second rate Shawn Michaels wannabe.
• Miz is ready to fight Ziggler, but gets hit, and Ziggler superkicks Michaels.
• I thought this was an excellent angle.

Ember Moon defeated Charlotte Flair
SQUASH

• Bayley comes out during the match. Why would the person who hits the music do that?
• Ember Moon rolls up Charlotte Flair for the win.
• Ember throws Bayley to Charlotte Flair, then hits Charlotte with the Eclipse. Bayley eats one, too.
• This made Charlotte look like a dumbass, but at least Ember looked great.
• This was an edge we’ve never seen out of Ember.

Challenge

• Kofi Kingston says he wants to challenge Randy Orton and hopes to face him at Summerslam.
• He brings up beating Orton’s ass in Madison Square Garden.
• Kofi says Orton made sure that Kofi would never reach the main event scene again, but he can’t make it happen anymore.
• Orton admits he was holding Kofi back and says he was doing him a favor. He’s not ready and the title is a fluke.
• Orton says he just had to be himself, not fake an accent, throw pancakes or shake his ass.
• Orton says he injured Ali, and that’s the only reason Kofi got a chance.
• Orton accepts. This promo was fantastic.

Kofi Kingston defeated Samoa Joe via DQ.
5/10

• Samoa Joe is out here again, ready to eat that L.
• Joe controls the majority of the match until we get to a commercial break. Kofi takes over after.
• Orton interferes for the DQ.
• Orton RKOs Joe, and eats a Trouble in Paradise. Kofi looks strong again.
• I probably wouldn’t have had Kofi eat a pin from Ziggler, but he’s been booked so well since February.

Summerslam Challenge

• Balor is out to address Bray Wyatt.
• Balor challenges him to a match at Summerslam.
• Firefly Funhouse appears on the screen to a nice pop. “The Fiend” accepts Balor’s challenge.
• This is one of the better Firefly Funhouses, because it’s live, more interactive and different.
• The promo work on tonight’s Smackdown Live has been off the charts.

Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
Special Guest Referee: Drew McIntyre
Special Timekeeper: Elias
Special Announcer: Shane McMahon
N/A

• Roman Reigns isn’t happy that Kevin Owens says he’s gonna run through him. 
• Roman Reigns throws Drew out, and Kevin Owens attacks Elias.
• They corner Shane but are overcome. That doesn’t last. The babyfaces rule to end the show. 
• Owens does a Stunner to end the show. 
• This was good I guess, but why do we even need to see Shane vs. Owens now? Owens has beaten Shane’s ass a bunch already.
• You can tell that Shane McMahon was looking to make up for that Stunner botch from last week, and it seems like he did it well.

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!