How good is Talking Smack?

[Hanley!]

This show is so good. I had absolutely no interest in it, but watched it after that Miz segment went viral. And it's become maybe my favourite 30 minutes of wrestling related content in the week.

If anyone was on the fence about whether WWE should do away with scripted promos, this show is proof that they should. We hear all the time now that there are no good promo guys in the company these days. But Talking Smack makes it pretty damn clear that most of the Smackdown roster has real potential as characters and personalities if they're allowed to shape their characters themselves.

Miz cut a great promo a few weeks ago, but he's far from the only one. Becky was great this week. Cena was great this week. Last week Ambrose probably cut his best WWE promo. Carmella was surprisingly effective in playing up her loathsome heel character. Even Baron Corbin wasn't that bad when he was on the show. These people know how to be pro wrestlers. The company just needs to let them do it.

I like how in the course of a conversation a wrestler can randomly throw out a line that ends up feeding into a story later. This is a great forum to come up with ideas and see what works before trying stuff out on the main show, and I think they could stumble across a lot of ideas here completely by accident.

Also, the show gives the wrestlers the opportunity to fill in the gaps of a story. If a feud doesn't make much sense as it was written, the wrestlers can make a little more sense out of it on this show. Becky made a great point this week when she said people have been betraying her and targeting her all year, because they knew she was a threat. Her being betrayed all those times made her look dumb before, but she's found a way to turn it in her favour and now it makes her look dangerous instead. You see a lot of that sort of thing on the show, which appeals to me.

It's a really nice blend of reality and kayfabe - the more casual and less scripted vibe makes you take the fake storylines more seriously. It gives Smackdown a nice edge over Raw. Renee and Bryan are a good pairing too. Bryan is likable and can offer insight on the wrestlers, while Renee is just really good at her job.

Any of you who haven't really checked this out yet, I'd recommend it. The show's not going to change your life or anything, and obviously there's no actual wrestling on it. But it's a consistently fun way to spend 20-30 minutes each week.

[Str8Shooter]

It's freaking amazing every week! Love the show.

It's a big test for some of the newer people too who aren't used to talking this much "in character" without a script. And Daniel Bryan doesn't go easy on them either, he's almost like a tough job interviewer at some points it feels like. He'll ask them tough questions that make them think on their feet, and he'll jump in if they say something strange and call them on it and make them defend it.

But yeah you can see how much fun some people have with the freedom they're given. Ambrose and Cena seemed to have a lot of fun the past couple weeks with the chains off.

[DBSoT]

I am not sure it was designed to be, but it is the single best story telling device that WWE has had since the brand split. Wrestlers never seem to feel the need to hold back during the interviews on talking smack. I believe the main reason it works is because it lives up to its name. It is literally a show with wrestlers talking smack about each other. You don't have the unnecessary overly scripted promos that you seem constantly on television. Instead you have one person without a full script, just venting against their opponent. Both Cena trashing Ambrose and Ambrose trashing Cena felt real and honest. Something that never seems to happen during a show like Raw. It makes the Miz-Daniel Bryan/Ziggler feud have real appeal. It started off with some real factual content and then the writers were able to apply that to in-ring. You will also notice that you don't see interviews with overly gimmicky characters (Bray, Heath, Vaudevillians, likely Cury Hawkins) and that is by design. Let the characters play out on TV or in vignettes. Keeping those characters away from Talking Smack allows the show to continue to feel legit. The closest may have been Alexa Bliss, but Bliss has committed so much to that character that it seems to have basis in reality.

[SlightlyJames]

You will also notice that you don't see interviews with overly gimmicky characters (...Heath...)

Heath was on Talking Smack with Rhyno, it did seem a peculiar fit but I remember Rhyno saying some interesting stuff about why he was invested in chasing the tag titles and it was one of the main reasons I bought into their team.

[KaiserGlider]

You will also notice that you don't see interviews with overly gimmicky characters (...Heath...)

Heath was on Talking Smack with Rhyno, it did seem a peculiar fit but I remember Rhyno saying some interesting stuff about why he was invested in chasing the tag titles and it was one of the main reasons I bought into their team.

Yeah, I think Rhyno was saying he hadn't held a tag team belt since the 90s and wanted to do it again.

[Hanley!]

Didn't he also say that he had never won tag team titles in the United States?

It's cool that the wrestlers can just go out there and come up with stuff like that to get the fans more invested in their matches. The writers for the main shows often don't manage to do that.

[The Legend]

The reaction to this show kind of surprises me and makes me wonder about something. People's #1 complaint about RAW recently is that three hours is too long. Now with Talking Smack, SmackDown is also three hours long basically, so the question is it really the length or is it how it is utilized?

[SlightlyJames]

The reaction to this show kind of surprises me and makes me wonder about something. People's #1 complaint about RAW recently is that three hours is too long. Now with Talking Smack, SmackDown is also three hours long basically, so the question is it really the length or is it how it is utilized?

Well, it could be a couple of things. The main Smackdown programme is two hours long. You can just watch that if you feel that's enough and you're satisfied with that, you won't lose track of any stories and if something major goes down on Talking Smack it'll be recapped. Talking Smack is more of a supplementary show than it is an extension of Smackdown. It's a different environment, plus it's a network show so it doesn't mean watching any additional ads. However, you're right in that the core Smackdown show being so much more enjoyable is definitely a factor in making us willing to stick around for the extra half an hour of related content.

[Str8Shooter]

The reaction to this show kind of surprises me and makes me wonder about something. People's #1 complaint about RAW recently is that three hours is too long. Now with Talking Smack, SmackDown is also three hours long basically, so the question is it really the length or is it how it is utilized?

Talking Smack is about 22 minutes, so really SD is 2 hrs and 22 minutes, still significantly less than Raw, which usually has a 10 minute overrun.

The thing if Raw was better people wouldn't complain as much as they do about 3 hours. Sure it still might be too long to sit and watch but it would be more worth it.

[Hanley!]

Given Talking Smack is a short show and Raw has an overrun, it's probably still 45 minutes longer than Smackdown most weeks. Which still makes a big difference.

Talking Smack is also optional. It's on the Network so you can watch it right after Smackdown, or go back to it later in the week. There's less pressure to keep watching for over two hours.

And yeah, I think the fact that it's so different helps it too. Even if it's an extension of the Smackdown show, it feels like a separate show. It's got a different vibe and a much different presentation. It doesn't feel like another half hour of more of the same.

[Everlong]

Talking Smack videos are getting me interested in watching WWE (Well, Smackdown) again.

Here's the most recent one I saw with AJ STyles, Renee and Daniel Bryan:

https://streamable.com/k3a3

Fantastic promo from AJ. I loved that he called out how illogical it is to have Cena in the triple threat, haha.

[DBSoT]

AJ claiming that James Elseworth is more deserving of a world title shot than John Cena, was the highlight of a lifetime.