Celebration episodes of WWE programming are generally hit or miss. Yes, they usually get the nostalgic factor but what about upcoming storylines and pushing future talent and things of that nature? Raw 25 was boring. Smackdown 1000 though, was very interesting. It started with the typical McMahon segment and then gave us an Usos/Styles and Bryan tag team title match, which saw The Usos get the victory following miscommunications between Bryan and Styles. Can we give The Usos a title shot now please?
Evolution (the group from 2003 and not the PPV) was out next and it was the best part of the show for me. Evolution is hands down my favorite faction of all time and this was the first time where all four guys reunited and were on the same page. HHH, Orton and Batista did the mini reunion in 2014 but this was the real deal. While not apart of Smackdown's history at all as a group, Smackdown was fundamental in building Batista and Orton. They both got their start on the show and then after Evolution, they both reigned as World Champion on the show. Plus, there is 49 World Title reigns between the four. They can go anywhere they want. The big news coming out of this was Batista calling out Triple H for never beating him, which is a strange but true fact. Triple H and Batista had only one feud; Batista's breakout feud in 2005, which saw Batista win at Wrestlemania 21, Backlash and Vengeance, inside Hell in a Cell. Will this finally give us the match Batista has been clamoring for? Batista/HHH intrigues me as a Wrestlemania match, but only if Batista works some shows before it and there's a good enough storyline to go with it.
The American Cup, sorry, World Cup got its last two participants in The Miz and Rey Mysterio, making the entire 8 man field a group of former World Champions. I don't know how the format will be done but there are a lot of interesting matches to be had in this tournament, namely Mysterio/Hardy, Cena/Rollins and Angle VS anyone. If the tournament comes down to one guy from Raw and one guy from Smackdown, then I'm going with Rollins VS Mysterio in the finals. Here's my predictions for the setup:
Angle VS Ziggler
Cena VS Rollins
Miz VS Mysterio
Orton VS Hardy
Angle VS Rollins
Hardy VS Mysterio
Rollins VS Mysterio
That's ONLY if they save the inter promotional match for the finals. I got Rollins winning this and maybe getting a title shot down the line because of it. Rollins taking down Cena, Angle and Mysterio in one night would be exactly what he needs to get back in the main title scene.
Becky and Charlotte continued their great rivalry with the help of Edge. Normal stuff. Becky telling Edge to leave the ring and be careful not to hurt his neck was amazing. Rude, but amazing. Becky/Charlotte deserve to main event Evolution but we all know while they probably will have the best match, they won't close over Ronda.
We got an unannounced Smackdown Tag Title match between The Bar and The New Day, probably thanks to Theodore Long. Another good match in their rivalry with a shocking result. Big Show turned heel and provided enough of a distraction for The Bar to defeat The New Day for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles. The Bar have now beaten New Day for both brand's tag titles. Big Show has aligned himself with The Bar, making The Big Bar! Bar Show? The Big Bar Show?!? I don't know. I'm fine with it. Will this be Big Show's last hurrah in WWE before retiring? Regardless, Big Show looks like Sheamus and Cesaro did a fusion dance so the pairing works out.
Taker closing the show with a simple promo was stupid. He barely said anything. It was a waste that they could have given Mysterio and Nakamura.
Smackdown 1000 was a good celebration of the show and provided some questions for the future. Overall, I'll give it a 7.5/10.
Pros:
Good matches
Triple H/Batista incoming?
The Big Bar!
Truth TV segment
Cutting Edge
Cons:
No women's match/Evolution hype
Ending segment with Undertaker
Nakamura/Mysterio wasted in basic TV match
Crown Jewel is still on
Should have been 3 hours
