On the final show before WrestleMania, SmackDown finishes what Raw started: putting the final pieces of the WrestleMania card together.
SmackDown Thoughts
- The show starts with The Kevin Owens Show starring the guy who might as well still be sitting at home during WrestleMania, Kevin Owens. His guests are Randy Orton and AJ Styles, who are scheduled to go one-on-one at WrestleMania. Highlights of Randy Orton's interference during the Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles match last week. Randy saved the WWE Universe from watching a washed-up has-been wrestle a phony like AJ Styles. Styles calls Orton a one-move wrestler. Orton puts down "Indy guys," putting over his own career and his accomplishments. Styles calls out Orton for failing drug tests. Orton calls Styles "Cena's successor," and WWE's new "corporate (bleep)." Kevin Owens drops his mic and walks off before Styles and Orton start going at it. And they do. Styles goes for the Forearm, but RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!!!!
(Good opening segment here with Orton and Styles just going shoot-work in an effective way. Not in a "everything else is phony" way that Triple H dishes out every time he goes this direction. This was using reality to add more flavors to the match while within the wrestling environment, and that's why this worked so much more than the Triple H shoot promos of the past.)
- Aleister Black/Ricochet team with The Usos to take on The Bar and Nakamura/Rusev in the first match. Ricochet gets worked on by The Revival before tagging in Black. Black then tags in one of The Usos to continue the attack on Sheamus. The other Uso gets tagged in, but he gets sent into the heel corner. Nakamura and Rusev do their part to help beat down on Jey Uso, including dumping Jey to the floor to get assaulted by Rusev. The heels continue to beat down on Jey as the SPLIT SCREEN COMMERCIAL BREAK. Uso continues to be attacked by the heels during the break. They do the traditional tag tease before the heels continue the assault. Jey teases getting that tag a few times over the break. But towards the end of the break, Nakamura and Rusev press the attack on Uso.
We return from break with Nakamura continuing to punish Uso in the ring. Jey reverses a headlock into a Samoan Drop. Tag to Jimmy Uso and Rusev. Everyone in the match gets involved and starts getting in solid shots on one of the opponents. Double Superkick by The Usos puts Rusev away. 1-2-3. The Usos and Black/Ricochet win.
After the match, ALEXA BLISS comes out. She puts over the great card for WrestleMania and how different SmackDown is than when she was last on. She discusses The Usos forfeiting the Tag Team Gauntlet match last week. The Usos will be defending their Tag Team Championships against everyone in the previous match in a Fatal Four Way at WrestleMania. Black Mass to Cesaro. Ricochet dives over the top rope onto the other 5 men on the floor.
(Well, it's something for everyone to do at WrestleMania. The biggest deal about this is that Ricochet and Aleister Black will be working both NXT TakeOver and WrestleMania. I guarantee Rusev and Nakamura aren't winning this match. But it should be a very entertaining match as you know all 8 men are going to make good on the amount of minutes allotted to them for this show.)
- The IIconics come out next. After standing during a commercial break, a preview of matches at WrestleMania, and a review of what happened on SmackDown a couple weeks back, these poor girls get to do their schtick. They put over their match at WrestleMania and run down their opponents. WrestleMania will truly be... IICONIC! (Strike a pose.)
- A recap of what happened between Rousey, Lynch, and Flair last night on Raw takes place.
- The Miz vs. Sanity in a 1-3 Handicap Match is next. (Sanity doesn't stand a chance.) Miz puts over WrestleMania and his TV show after SmackDown. Miz is more motivated than ever before. In 5 days, Miz will beat Shane anywhere and everywhere. He calls Shane a "S.O.B." Sanity comes out for the match.
Shane comes out to watch the match as Sanity takes advantage going into the commercial break. We return to see Miz fighting off all three members of Sanity single-handedly. Running knees to Young and Dain. Shane says that he forgot to do something. Shane tells Miz that this match is Falls Count Anywhere, and he has a picture shown on the screen of him grabbing Miz's father's face. Sanity jumps Miz from behind, but Miz starts side-stepping all of them and gets the advantage yet again. The match goes into the crowd. Wolfe goes through a table, but Young breaks up a pin attempt. Miz fights off Young into the backstage area. Miz throws Young around backstage through doors and into steel garage doors. Miz and Young fight outside the arena into the rain. Knee to the face of Young. Miz rams a production cart into the face of Young. 1-2-3. Miz wins.
Afterwards, a police car comes up. And Becky Lynch comes out. LOUD Becky chants.
(Ok Falls Count Anywhere match to get the feeling for what the match at WrestleMania should be. Miz winning is the right call as I was afraid they would go the cheap route of Shane doing something more to add heat for himself at WrestleMania. He's already got enough heat, thanks to his tactics the last few weeks. This lets Miz show off his aggressive side a little bit more.)
- Corey Graves updates the crowd about the fact that Charlotte, Becky, and Ronda were released from jail. Becky Lynch comes out to a great ovation. Becky takes the mic and stands on the announce table. She talks to the live crowd. She puts over how things have changed in a year from last year's WrestleMania. Lynch goes over how different things are thanks to her slapping Charlotte in the face at SummerSlam. Loud "Becky" chants. The Queen vs. The Baddest Woman on the Planet vs. The Man. Head to Head to Head. Becky is going to make "one of them dopes tap." Becky promises to be the double champ by this time next week.
- An 18 Person Mixed Tag Team Match is next featuring performers from both WrestleMania Battle Royals. Naomi, Asuka, Nikki Cross, The Hardy Boys, Heavy Machinery, R-Truth, and Carmella vs. Shelton Benjamin, EC3, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Zelina Vega, Andrade, Lana, and The Good Brothers (Anderson and Gallows).
But all that doesn't matter. Because the main reason ANYTHING happens in WWE these days in the undercard happens: Lacey Evans walks down the aisle and back up to the back. (God I hate that. And not in the heat-seeking way either.) (You remember that really old Survivor Series match with the 10 tag teams on 2 separate teams. Yeah. This is a lot o like that.) The Hardys and Heavy Machinery team up on EC3. Caterpillar and Elbow Drop on EC3 takes us to the commercial break.
We return to see R-Truth and Andrade get tagged in. 7-Second Dance Break during the match with Carmella and R-Truth. Anderson drops R-Truth. For some random reason, the bell rings. And now everyone starts fighting each other. We see the women and men break up into different groups and start throwing each other over. Nikki Cross throws out Mandy Rose. Then she attacks Shelton Benjamin. She won't stop choking him even as they both go over the top rope to the floor. Twist of Fate by Jeff to EC3. Asuka and Jeff Hardy team up on EC3. They are the last two in the ring, but Asuka throws Jeff over the top to the floor. Lol.
(Another lackluster promotion for the battle royal. I really hate how WWE books their hype for battle royals. They make up so much forced drama for a match that really doesn't exist. And then they follow that up with some ludicrous booking of the cannon fodder in the match.)
- Samoa Joe vs. Ali is next. (Ali lost his WrestleMania spot possibly to Kofi Kingston. And now, he's lost his first name. Poor dude.) Ali dropkicks Joe in the face to the floor and hits a Suicide Dive to Joe on the floor. Ali kicks Joe in the mouth and hits a Tornado DDT. 2 count. Ali kicks Joe in the ear and hits the Rolling X-Factor in the ring. Ali goes to the top. 450 misses. Clutch is locked in. Good night Ali. Ali passes out.
(Again, you have to feel bad for Ali. He was getting a good push, and he made the cardinal sin: He got hurt. And now, he's losing in 2 minutes on TV. And you can definitely make the argument that he'd be in Kofi's position if he had stayed healthy.)
- Daniel Bryan comes out next for the contract signing with Kofi Kingston. Michael Cole is out as well and introduces The New Day. LOUD "Kofi" chants. Bryan is out there to "educate the masses." Loud "KOFIMANIA" chants. (This is amazing. So happy for Kofi to get this at this stage of his career.) Bryan calls Kofi "complacent." It's a life lesson: Don't be complacent. (The energy in this building is amazing.) Another lesson: Don't be a bystander in your own life. Bryan goes off-the-rails on the crowd and really gets them going. (Bryan's performance is outstanding.) One last lesson: Don't mistaken "fad" for "reality." Bryan tries to teach Kofi a lesson not to trust the "parasite" fans. The fans call Bryan an "a-hole." Bryan tells Kofi to enjoy it while it lasts.
Kofi grabs the mic and tells Bryan to be quiet while he educates him. Kofi tells Bryan he doesn't know anything about him. He watched Bryan become World Heavyweight Champion within 2 years of coming to the company. He watched it, he observed it, he understood it... He's okay with not getting a title shot for 11 years. It led to this moment. He sees it in Bryan's eyes. Bryan knows that he's ready. "YOU DESERVE IT" chants from the crowd. They both know what comes next: Kofi beats Bryan to become WWE Champion. He signs the contract and hands it off to Cole.
(What great energy from that crowd to end the show. This was EVERYTHING missing from the end of last night's Raw. The crowd was pumped, energetic, on-fire, and about to blow the roof off of the building in support of Kofi. Kofi's time is now. Kofi did what he needed to do here. Bryan was masterful in this role and has been a great heel champion. I can easily see him regain his championship from Kofi by time summer comes around. But WrestleMania may just well be Kofi's time. God help Vince McMahon if he decides to swerve just to be Vinny McSwerve.)
What I Liked
- Styles vs. Orton promo
- Kofi/Bryan Contract Signing
- Becky Lynch promo
- Miz going hardcore.
What I Didn't Like
- The 18 Person Tag Match
- 8-Man Tag Team Match
Overall, I thought this was a good "Go-Home" edition of SmackDown going into WrestleMania and a better overall show than the 3-hour Raw. (If you remove the rest of Raw after the Lynch-Charlotte-Rousey segment, Raw would easily win.) SmackDown did what it needed to do to put the bow on many of the storylines going into Mania. And now, the question is "Which of the big title matches is going to break the fans' hearts: Lesnar/Rollins, Kofi/Bryan, or the Main Event?"
WrestleMania, here we come.
(Be sure to check out the blog later this week for a WrestleMania and NXT TakeOver prediction post as well as reviews for both shows. And I plan on covering the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard show as well.)
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Comments
Post a Comment