The WWE Smackdown Reaction for 5/28/21 by Kelly Dishnow
Welcome to the Smackdown Reaction, where I offer my take on this week’s show. As always, you can check out John’s full in-depth report here.
We open the show with a Roman Reigns pep talk with the Usos ahead of their match with the Street Profits.
The Street Profits enter the Thunderdome to hype their match with the Usos before the Usos come out to continue the hype. We’ve got the match of the night and it hasn’t even started. The match finally starts and good lord, what a match. It was absolutely fantastic and lived up to the pre-match hype. They got the time to tell the story in the ring. The Usos looked fantastic in their first tag match in over a year, not missing a beat. Cool spot with Montez Ford doing a somersault dive over the top turnbuckle onto Jey on the floor (that’s the main image at the top of this post). In the end, the Usos picked up the victory and I’m down for a rematch. This should have been the main event.
We joined our next match already in progress with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina taking on The Riott Squad. Apparently, The Riott Squad took Tamina out before the match started during the commercial break, but nobody could be bothered to show us a replay much less let it happen live. Anyway, the tag champs win a non-title match in a quick throwaway match. I felt bad for them having to follow the Street Profits/Usos match but why should we care about this match when the big moment (the attack of Tamina) happens during the commercial break and nobody bothers to show a replay? Both teams deserved better and maybe will get a proper match soon.
Next week, we get The Usos taking on the winners of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship main event for the tag team titles. This should be a great match.
Up next was Carmella taking on Smackdown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. Bayley showed up for whatever reason to screech on commentary about where’s her rematch? This isn’t Raw where rematches are handed out like Oprah handing out cars. The match was acceptable for a Carmella match. Bianca picked up the win and Bayley started laughing at Bianca after the match.
Promo Time with the birthday boy, Seth Rollins, is up next. I’m surprised Becky let him out of the house dressed like that. The promo was good to further his feud with Cesaro. I’m guessing we can pencil in them as one of the Hell in a Cell matches at Hell in a Cell.
Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews took on Kevin Owens next. If you blinked, you missed Owens going berserk on Crews so Azeez had to hit the Nigerian Nail for the DQ ending. Owens sold it like he got his throat ripped out. We later find out that Owens gets a title match next week with Azeez banned from ringside.
Another backstage spot with Roman asking Jey why did he downgrade from the main event to the opening match? Roman said to get his head in the game before the fans forget which Uso he is. That gave Jey something to think about. I’m not sure yet where this is going, but I’m confused as to why Roman would not want the family to carry more gold.
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the Rick Boogs entrance for Shinsuke Nakamura but here he is to play Nakamura to the ring for his match with Chad Gable. We get a quick match to put over the Baron Corbin crown feud more than anything. Nakamura and Gable should have had more time to put on a better match. Oh well, maybe next week.
The main event is up next with Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Mysterios defending against Dolph Zigger and Robert Roode. We start off rehashing the WrestleMania Backlash angle only reversing the roles with Rey being the one attacked. Dominick goes out to defend in a handicap match until Rey’s music distracts Ziggler so Dominick can pin Roode and get into a face off with the Usos to end the show. It was a rushed angle, into a rushed match, into a rushed finish. Let’s hope that the Mysterios are done with Ziggler and Roode.
Let’s look at tonight’s highs and lows:
The Highs
The Street Profits/Usos match was simply amazing. The story was great and the Usos haven’t missed a beat. It is a must-watch match and you will not be disappointed. I’m hoping for a rematch down the road.
The Lows
There were quite a few quick matches that didn’t really mean much. A couple of them progressed storylines, but that could have been achieved in other means outside of throwaway matches. The middle almost felt like a Raw instead of Smackdown.
The Smackdown Tag Title match just felt rushed and poorly executed. Hopefully, it ends the Ziggler/Roode feud and the Uso match next week will be far better.
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That’s all I’ve got. Until next time.