Cup of coffee in the big time: Smackdown and the two-hour version of being a wrestling fan

I love wrestling. Wrestling has kept my family in a home, fed, happy and healthy. This time last year, I was getting ready to take my daughter on her first trip to Disney World because of my job working with/in/around pro wrestling.

Last night’s SmackDown was a reflection of every reason — good and bad — pro wrestling demands our attention.

After a day of excitement over reliving the classic battles between Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe, SmackDown started hot, with the two men ready to throw down in pure anger. Then, we got Big Cass shoved in our faces again, and then thrust into the bout, making for a three-way main event.

While social media buzzed about Pusha-T murdering Drake with “The Story of Adidon,” the battle wrestling fans were tuned into was the absolute death-on-paper idea of a Lana vs. Naomi dance-off turned out to be entirely functional TV — the Usos involvement recalling the “holy crap, how was that fun?” rap battle between New Day and The Usos.

And New Day took on The Bar & The Miz, having a match that was an absolute joy for a TV six-man match and took place after a video clip of a blindfolded Miz preparing for the match by karate chopping pancakes thrown by The Bar.

It’s the full experience of being a wrestling fan. The unnecessary booking decisions that don’t help the show, the surprisingly entertaining ridiculousness and the matches that are everything you’d like them to be.

Oh, that main event ended up being pretty fun — and the right guy won.

• Still no official word on which New Day member will participate in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but there’s not really a bad choice. ...right?
• Next week’s Raw is already taking shape. Balor vs. Owens could be good. Also, the B-Team BBQ has led to a tag team battle royal to determine the division’s number one contenders as the tag division slips further away from mattering over on the Red Brand.
• Who is the right man to carry the company for WWE? I think we all agree it isn’t Roman Reigns.
• Like I said yesterday, the women’s gauntlet match on Raw wasn’t given anywhere near enough time.
• If you like really great wrestling, have I got the marathon for you.
• There was a weird Reddit post showing a “Writer’s Promo Checklist.” Nothing too groundbreaking is revealed, but it’s still an interesting enough look at things.
• Make sure to catch up on all the action from SmackDown as well as 205 Live.

The week is half over, let’s celebrate with a dance.