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The WWEs brand separation in July has led to star turns few could have seen coming.?On SmackDown Live,?A.J. Styles?continued his meteoric rise to the top and now finds himself one match away from holding the most venerable title in professional wrestling.?Heath Slater, of all people, has received a huge wave of support?from fans in his pursuit of a contract after going undrafted.Even?The Miz?has elevated himself to a level he hasnt approached since main-eventing WrestleMania with?John Cena?in 2011 as WWE champion -- and it was?all?through a sheer force of will and a single impassioned promo that nobody saw coming.So whats the common denominator? Whats the element allowing these performers to express themselves in a refreshingly unscripted manner?Among the many hours of WWE programming available each week on multiple platforms, its a 30-minute (give or take) block of real estate called Talking Smack, which debuted six weeks ago and has realigned the expectations of what the WWE can do in the modern era. This postgame show, which airs on the WWE Network immediately following SmackDown Live, has become the highlight of Tuesday nights.Gone are the overly scripted promos that have dominated WWE television, where it became?clear that talent was either reading from a teleprompter or trying to recite pre-written dialogue from memory. In its place, Talking Smack has taken the best element that live wrestling shows have to offer -- unpredictability and spontaneity -- while feeding just enough of the current SmackDown storylines into the programming.There was no Miz-level promo?on this weeks Talking Smack,?but there was plenty to like after a go-home episode of SmackDown that contained very little wrestling heading into Sundays Backlash card, the first SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view since the brand split.A good example would be?Apollo Crews, who?kept the crowd interested in his undeniable in-ring ability during a good showing against The Miz on SmackDown, despite the fact that?very little has been done with his character to establish him as anything other than a guy who smiles a lot. That changed in a matter of minutes on Talking Smack.During a conversation between?Daniel Bryan?and?Dolph Ziggler, Crews was given more character depth than he has shown?in several months combined on WWE TV. Bryan introduced the idea that Crews is a first-generation American whose parents came to the United States to give their son a chance at a better life. Thats a real statement.Ziggler took a step further, insinuating that theres a lot more than meets the eye behind Crews smile;?a force within him thats ready and yearning to rip someones face off. Thats the beauty of a show like Talking Smack, where?the lines between fiction and reality can be blurred, allowing WWEs creative team to discover valuable elements to utilize in future shows.?Theres always a fear, of course, that things could get a little too real and cross a line in the kind of environment which Talking Smack fosters. The Mizs diatribe against Bryan certainly stretched those boundaries to their breaking point, and the initial edict that Miz and Bryan stop interacting on camera, shared by Bryan during his appearance on SportsCenter last week, certainly shows that some are uneasy about the nature of what happens on the show.As long as Talking Smack continues to produce a tangible benefit to a show like SmackDown Live, one that has lagged at times since the brand split, things like awkward pauses, occasional weirdness and odd discussions about Jesus zippers can easily be forgiven. Talking Smack has provided more reasons than might otherwise have been there to enjoy Backlash on Sunday, and as SmackDown continues to find its identity, its vital that young talent and veterans trying to re-establish themselves have a platform to do so.By proving to be a valuable source of information and providing a home for spontaneous creativity, Talking Smack could be the most important asset the SmackDown brand has to offer.There were only three matches of any length on Tuesday, but one of the shortest confrontations also proved to be the most compelling development of the night. In a match that lasted well under a minute, SmackDown set?American Alpha?and?The Usos?up for an epic rivalry that should become a cornerstone of the show for weeks and months to come.There have been subtle signs of in-fighting between the two most prominent babyface tag teams on the SmackDown roster during recent 12-man tag team matches in which American Alpha and The Usos have teamed up. Tuesdays match between them in the SmackDown tag team title tournament, the one most figured would take place in the finals when the bracket was first announced, instead got moved to the semifinals after a quiet reshuffling of the bracket, making clear that something was up.The Usos offered a handshake before the bell, in a believable start to a match between four good guys, but that all changed in a hurry as?Jimmy?and?Jey Uso?ambushed?Jason Jordan?and?Chad Gable?when their were backs turned. American Alpha quickly rallied and served up Karmic comeuppance to The Usos by connecting with their Grand Amplitude finishing move to record the win, seemingly advancing to the finals of the tournament on Sunday.?Moments later, the Usos briefly sat on the precipice of scaling back, begrudgingly congratulating Jordan and Gable and keeping them in a place of uncertainty, before they fully embraced the dark side by taking out Jordan and double-teaming Gable, with few targeted shots to the knee incapacitating him to set up an injury angle.American Alpha was sent to the sideline for the time being, allowing the two semifinals losers -- The Usos and?The Hype Bros?-- to face off at Backlash for a chance to challenge the other semifinal winners, Slater and?Rhyno,?for the?SmackDown titles later in the show.Its a brilliantly crafted story that sets up the two most interesting tag teams on the roster with the backstory and motivation for an epic feud down the line. It also sets The Usos up, provided they win the titles, to crush the storyline dreams of Slater and establish themselves as believable heel champions in a single night.There are only a few wrestlers who have never become pure bad guys in the WWE. While The Usos first came into the company as heels with?Tamina?in 2010 to feud with the Heart Dynasty, the run was brief as they quickly evolved into fan-friendly characters over the next six-plus years. Now, if done right, their transition from being the purest of good guys to the polar opposite can become a powerful tool.For a team like The Usos, who have seen fans turn on them at times during matches in which they have teamed up with their real-life cousin?Roman Reigns, it could be?just what the doctor ordered.Hits and missesThe opening segment of SmackDown, in which commissioner Daniel Bryan announced an elimination match stipulation to the Six-pack Challenge for the SmackDown womens championship at Backlash, was a strong nod to the emerging division. Sundays match is?a good concept, with everyone getting a chance to shine while still allowing the final two women to build toward a dramatic finish.Theres only so much that can be taken from the order of entrances on Tuesday, but even before this opening segment,?Becky Lynch?and?Nikki Bella?had to be considered the prohibitive favorites to become the?inaugural?champion. The fact that?Carmella,?Alexa Bliss,?Naomi?and even Bella didnt get entrance music also seemed telling. Of all of the talking done in the segment, Bliss did the most for herself by far; her style of speech and facial expressions are a big part of where her value lies as she continues to sharpen her in-ring skills, and with SmackDown needing as many good heels as it can get, its a good time to stand out in that regard.It was great to see The Miz and Bryan on screen together, with each making mention to their Talking Smack confrontation for the first time on SmackDown since it happened weeks earlier. This approach was far superior to the way it was handled one week ago. By incorporating reality or shoot events into storylines more organically, theres a potential to create memorable moments between these two without Bryan, who retired due to concussion issues, having to risk getting back in the ring. Through the right series of proxies, this could work well, and simply denying or shifting the natural tension between Miz and Bryan elsewhere feels too synthetic. Bryan threatening The Miz with taking away his most prized possession -- the Intercontinental championship -- was a nice touch, and potentially a sign of things to come.Speaking of The Miz, his SummerSlam rematch with Crews was a strong in-ring performance during a week that was lacking. Building toward a crossroads between the two would greatly benefit Crews, who needs whatever he can get in terms of popularity with the crowd. Considering the career renaissance The Miz is currently undergoing, some personality cant help but rub off in Crews direction, either, along with continued efforts to build his character on Talking Smack.While Ziggler was good on commentary during this match, there was simply too much JBL firing questions at him as the match went largely ignored. Props to Ziggler for attempting to put himself, Crews and The Miz over while trying to answer questions and turn talk back -- not an easy task. Despite not appearing in the ring on Tuesday, Zigglers post-match move of grabbing the Intercontinental championship and using it as a line in the sand was strong. It allowed The Miz to send his wife,?Maryse,?to retrieve it, helping advance the coward story arc.Styles taking things too seriously over the silly end to last weeks SmackDown episode could have gone sideways if he was made to look foolish again. Instead it provided him the opportunity to last out in frustration while taking everything said to him as a perceived slight throughout the show. Berating a crew member he blamed for giving Renee Young the footage of his unfortunate incident with the ring ropes was a nice touch.?Ambrose and Styles were good on the mic in getting their points across, with a particularly good line where he told Styles there are no trophies for the face who finishes in second place. But the show certainly could have benefited from a few more matches. Even in realizing the limits of a go-home show, having no in-ring action just days before Backlash from?Bray Wyatt,?Randy Orton, Styles, Ambrose?or?Ziggler -- the five biggest stars of the show by a fair margin while Cena is currently out of the picture -- was a disappointing decision. Even if WWE were simply looking to avoid injury, there are plenty of permutations it could have used. In the immortal words of former SmackDown general manager Teddy Long, there shouldve been some straight-up tag team matches on display.Wyatt and Orton each told a fictional tale to summarize their positions heading into Backlash, and if theres an exception for keeping one rivalry physically separated until Backlash as a means to build anticipation, that one makes the most sense. The continued question to ask here is how this currently intriguing showdown can have legs beyond Sunday. Discount Air Jordan 11 . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Jordan 11 Cheap China . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. http://www.cheapairjordan11.net/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Jordan 11 Retro Cheap . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Jordan 11 For Sale Cheap Real . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. With 20 seconds left in the third quarter of the young seasons biggest game, Gregg Popovich screams. He wants everyone out of the way so that Kawhi Leonard can go to work against Andre Iguodala. Leonard waits near half court as his teammates shuffle to the corners. Popovich walks two steps to his left, assuring himself a great view, then happily crosses his arms. Then he gives the go sign.Leonard begins, slowly walking toward one of the NBAs most feared defenders with a loopy, hypnotic dribble through his legs. Once, twice -- a third time. Leonard, a borderline MVP candidate a year ago, is known to excel at just about everything on the court except this. Regardless, this feels like taunting.Iguodala swipes at the ball. Ever so calmly, Leonard pulls the ball back to his left hip, goes through his legs another time, stutter-steps, then ends the theatrics by lunging forward with a hard dribble left before pulling up from 20 feet.Iguodala barely gets a hand up.Before the ball reaches its apex, three San Antonio Spurs bench players leap to their feet. Leonard lands and backpedals with gusto; its like a bat flip from a slugger. Nothing left to be done here.Swish. Spurs up 22 over the Golden State Warriors, reputed to be one of the best teams in decades.Is this the new normal for Leonard? The story of this early NBA season seems to be yes. A fearsome defender and spot-up shooter, Leonard, 25, is now fully equipped with point guard handles and is relishing the opportunity to show them to one defender after another. In the young season, Leonard ranks third among all forwards in time of possession, just behind de facto point guards LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. He ranked 17th by the same metric last season.That just might make Leonard an MVP, and it was born of strange work he did last summer. While Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were balling for Team USA in Rio, Leonard was in a San Diego practice gym, driven to become the best ball handler in the NBA.And he got the job done, in part, thanks to one of the NBAs most secretive tools.The MJ Impulse Elite strobe glasses.In his Chicago Bulls heyday, at the peak of his powers, Michael Jordan declared that he wanted to train with strobe lights -- like, from a nightclub. His longtime trainer, Tim Grover of Attack Athletics, says that to understand why, you only have to watch old video of Jordan.Go watch old clips of MJ at the free throw line, Grover says over the phone. Make sure its in-game. ... OK, do you see it?See what?The flashes, Grover says.Once you see it, you cant unsee it. Its the worst secret ever. The blinding light of photographers flashes obliterates the screen repeatedly throughout some of the most televised moments in history. How can a man shoot with all those blinding pulses of light?And yet the obvious corollary -- that it affected Jordan, and that hed adjust -- has been a secret until now. Also a secret, for a whole different set of reasons, is that the fix he devised has untold neurological performance benefits that touched off a new area of scientific study, benefiting everyone from modern soldiers to?Stephen Curry?and Kawhi Leonard.Bulls coach Phil Jackson hated the strobe lights, and the person he blamed was pioneering photographer Andrew D. Bernstein, who was instrumental in having bright strobes installed in the ceilings of NBA arenas. Theyd flash in time with Bernsteins remote-controlled cameras that captured many of the images that became posters and magazine covers.Jackson was less concerned about blinding Jordan, though. His concern was officiating. Key moments of video replay (Was he fouled? Did he get the shot off in time?) were washed out by the lights. And those flashes would come timed with Jordans toughest shots, making referees blink and thus miss the accompanying fouls.So Jackson, who would later write a book with Bernstein, yelled at him about it, again and again.When he was on the bench, I was his nemesis, Bernstein says. Now that hes moved upstairs, it doesnt bother him as much.Its harder to see white out flashes on TV anymore. Refresh rates on modern television sets are so fast that when a strobe light flashes, it doesnt stay on the screen for more than a sliver of a second. In the 1990s, frames were slower and a strobe light could hang on the screen longer. But theyre still happening, by Bernsteins estimate, a thousand times a game.I needed to recreate that, Grover says. So I bought strobe lights.What Grover did, in fact, was to call a local DJ in Chicago and set up his strobes in the corners of the practice gym where Grover worked out Jordan, Juwan Howard, Kendall Gill, Michael Finley and other Chicago-based NBA guys, who were all sworn to secrecy. Traditional shooting drills were now occasionally paired with strobe lights. At the flip of a switch, Grover lit that place up like a dance floor.Jordan liked the effect so much that soon he wanted to travel with the strobe lights. Grovers job has many facets and soon he was calling around, combing sports catalogs. Eventually, he even looked on this thing called the internet, where he found another thing called Strobe Spex glasses. Grover remembers they cost about two grand.Jordan used them a handful of times. It was a tool in the program, not the entire program. But Jordan noticed the lights helped in other ways. The game seemed to slow down. He picked up on visual cues he wasnt seeing before. For reasons he couldnt quite explain, it was making him better, even beyond tolerating photographers flashes.Fascinated, Grover resolved to tell nobody at all about this, lest the competition catch on. That became a problem after a while, when the battery stopped charging, the company stopped producing the glasses and he needed replacements.Dr. Alan Reichow, at an earlier job, helped develop the glasses Grover bought for Jordan; Reichow later became the global research director of Nike SPARQ Sensory Performance and Vision. Grover eventually found him, and the two became fast allies in getting new and better goggles for Grovers players. In the late 1990s, Grover received Reichows prototypes, gave them to his players and relayed feedback to the Nike headquarters in Oregon.Grover told Reichow that Jordan, the greatest athlete in the world, was using his product.How did you keep it so quiet? Reichow asked him. They were made from my lab, and I didnt even know.And so it was that in 2011, after a decade of tinkering, and years after Jordans retirement, Nike came out with the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe. About $300, they used internal LCD lights that flash at adjustable speeds to distract the brain and force it to soak up as much relevant visual information as possible. A Duke University study using the technology found that the glasses boosted visual memory retention and improved perceptual ability.The general report by athletes is that it seems slower, it seems easier, Reichow says in a promotional video released at the time. Essentially what weve done is strength training on the sensory system. Just as you would with resistance training on the physical side, were doing resistance training for the senses of the brain.There was a flood of fawning tech media attention ... and then a year later Grover had a new problem getting glasses for his athletes. Nike shut down the entire SPARQ program.And I have no idea why, Grover says.On a spring day in 2012, James Speidel scribbled Im sorry on a whiteboard at the hospital where his stomach had just been pumped. Washington County sheriffs deputies had found Speidel -- who consumed a combination of vodka and pain medication -- near his pickup truck, whiich was parked in a field in Northwest Portland.ddddddddddddThat morning, Speidel cut the gas line to his familys outdoor grill and fed it back into the crawlspace of the home where his wife and four kids -- ages 3 through 9 -- were sleeping. He jacked up the thermostat to 74, got in his car and drove to a Starbucks, where he met with colleagues.A few miles away, when the smell of natural gas awakened one of the children, prompting the family to flee to a neighbors house, it became a matter for the gas company -- and the police.Speidel, then 37, later pleaded guilty to five counts of attempted aggravated murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.To this day, Speidels LinkedIn profile reads Business Director -- SPARQ; Nike, April 2011 -- Present (5 years 8 months). He was, in fact, the man in charge of Nikes SPARQ business, which Nike immediately put on hold amid the investigation before quietly shutting it down for good within a years time.SPARQ had a lot of products, but the race was on to recreate one in particular: the Vapor Strobes.Reichow went on to co-found a company called Vima last year, which will begin producing the Revs glasses in early 2017. Herb Yoo, who inked more than a dozen patents with Reichow at Nike, spun off and co-founded the company that sells Senaptec Strobe glasses. Theres the military-focused MJ Impulse glasses named Black Box, which are referred to as The Ones From Japan by industry insiders. The Eclipse goggles from Sensory Performance Technology are the preferred stroboscopic goggle of Stephen Curry.The Warriors were 25-1 last season when Currys personal trainer, Brandon Payne, was invited to the Warriors pregame show. The Warriors were set to host the Milwaukee Bucks and Payne -- wearing a navy, half-zip, long-sleeve sport shirt while alongside two suited studio anchors -- was there to explain what on earth was happening with Curry.After setting an NBA record with 286 3-pointers the previous season, Curry, the reigning MVP, had stunned the basketball world, raising his scoring average from 23.8 points for the 2014-15 season to 32.0 points through the first 26 games of 2015-16. Payne was there to show how the most efficient player in the NBA got even more efficient.In the middle of the TV segment, a never-before-seen 30-second clip was shown of Curry at the Warriors practice gym, casually dribbling a basketball with his left hand while catch-and-tossing a tennis ball with his right. He did this while wearing a pair of Eclipses.It was Harlem Globetrotters meets Silicon Valley.What youre seeing is a strobing effect, Payne explained from the set. Its like shutters; it opens and closes at different speeds.What the audience didnt see in that dribbling clip was Payne holding a PDA that adjusted the speed of that strobe while also cradling the ability to blind Curry in his left or right lens.I hate it when people call it ballhandling drills or working on hand-eye coordination, Payne says now, recalling the hubbub surrounding that clip. Thats an oversimplification of it. This is neuromuscular efficiency.Payne, who has been Currys skills trainer since 2011, measures efficiency in units of time, not points.Remember, were looking to improve by hundredths of a second, Payne says. The difference between getting a shot off and not getting a shot off is all about fractions of time. We cannot be wasteful.To this day, four Nike Vapor Strobe glasses are tucked away in Paynes Accelerate Basketball training facility in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Payne tested them out in 2012 after buying them on eBay, but found that the glasses rarely worked properly when covered in sweat. The glasses never made it to Currys head.So last summer Payne asked around for an alternative. A friend with the St. Louis Cardinals sent him the Eclipses.It helps to get rid of wasteful motion, wasteful timing, Payne says. We wanted it to feel like game action was slow motion.Curry wore the goggles during his workouts over the course of the season and kept his neuromuscular efficiency at full tilt. He turned defenders into statues and blew the lid off of efficiency norms. He notched the first 50/40/90 shooting season while scoring at least 30 points per game, becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history.He also, of course, ended up smashing the 3-point record, which was his own to break.That, Payne says now, is how you go from 286 to 402.Leonard does not have what Jordan and Curry do: an MVP award. Its the one thing on the shelf thats missing. Leonard is an NBA champion, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Star and a Finals MVP. But an MVP award that crystallizes his place atop the game? His giant hands havent grasped that quite yet.After a disappointing May exit from the 2016 playoffs, Leonard understood that he would have to be comfortable with the ball in his hands. For so long, Tony Parker had controlled the action, but he was about to turn 35. Manu Ginobili was 39. Tim Duncan was retired. Boris Diaw plays for Utah now.So Leonard got his hands on stroboscopic goggles. Exactly how that happened remains a bit of a mystery. Terrified that word of the goggles will get out, one Spurs staffer after another refused to talk. What we do know is that for four days, Leonard wore these high-tech glasses at the gym -- picture a sleeker version of Horace Grants goggles -- during his traditional dribbling, passing and shooting drills. Unlike Nike Vapor Strobes, this particular set of eyewear, the MJ Impulse model, is marketed toward elite military officers for combat training.The military might use it to detect and identify threats more efficiently. From Leonards perspective, his goal is not all that different. Basketball defenders are instead the threat.Its like the ball is moving in slow motion, Leonard told ESPN.com.They affect your perception, which will make you focus more on feel, Leonard says of the stroboscopic glasses before, characteristically for a Spur, downplaying the importance. I used them like once or twice. ... Just being able to handle the ball in the games is where you get most of your confidence as far as that goes.Regardless, something he did last summer worked: Despite a doubled offensive workload, his turnover percentage has actually dipped slightly in the early going. Like never before, he is channeling James Harden in his ability to spot wayward limbs and seek contact with a purpose. Leonard is averaging nine free throw attempts per game, up from 4.6 a season ago. By shooting 97 percent from the free throw line, its easy money.Its clear he is now the Spurs engine on both ends. He averaged 4.7 finishing plays in isolations or as the pick-and-roll ball handler last season, according to Synergy video tracking. This season? Thats up to 9.6?such plays, more than LeBron James.Which brings us back to Leonards dagger over Iguodala, revealing its own secrets. In super slow motion, you can see more: As Leonard slowly dribbles into his attack, Iguodala makes two swipes at the ball, not one. And Leonard doesnt even flinch. Its like Leonard is seeing it all happen before it actually happens.Leonard calmly goes into his hard attack and pulls up sharply for his jumper, forcing an off-balance Iguodala to contest the shot from his heels. Iguodala is late by what must be just a few hundredths of a second. But its enough.As Leonard begins to release the ball in slow motion, I pause the clip. Thats when I see it.A strobe light flashes from the rafters.Additional reporting by ESPNs Michael C. Wright ' ' '