The John Report: WWE Smackdown Live 04/09/19 Review
Live from Brooklyn, New York (for the fourth time in five nights), this is Smackdown Live for episode #1025. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. If you want to support us at TJRWrestling, here’s a Donate Link for our Paypal where anything you send will go towards building the site.
The opening shot of the Barclays Center revealed balloons all around the ring including a balloon rainbow look for the celebration to start the show.
Let’s Hear from Kofi Kingston and New Day
The show began with Big E doing the big New Day introduction for the group that includes Xavier Woods and the new WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. There were “Kofi” chants from the fans. Kofi greeted his wife and two sons at ringside. Images were shown from WrestleMania on Sunday (read my review here) that showed how Kofi won the WWE Title from Daniel Bryan.
Big E was about to speak, but there were “you deserve it” chants from the crowd. I forgot to mention there were stacks of pancakes on the four ring posts. Big E said he’s not sure if you heard, but a man who made millions of members of the WWE Universe cry tears of joy and is an A+ player broke his foot off across the vegan cheeks (something like that!) of Daniel Bryan to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Xavier Woods shouted out Brooklyn saying it’s your boys The New Day. Big E said that they tried to make history on Raw and Woods asked if he was talking about the Big E splits, so Big E did it again. The crowd cheered Big E doing the splits in the ring for the second night in a row. Big E said he wasn’t talking about that. He said he was talking about the fact that Kofi was this close to becoming a dual champion much like “The Man” Becky Lynch. Loud “Becky” chants for her. Big E said there is nothing like being home right here on the blue brand. Big E talked about how they are into shenanigans, crude humor (a lot of butt stuff), but tonight is about the most important celebration.
Woods said they are there to celebrate the career of a man we are honored to call our friend, our brother and we’re here to celebrate the career of Kofi Kingston. Loud “Kofi” chants from the crowd again. Woods talked about how he remembered Kofi’s career, then when he made it to WWE to meet him, it was like meeting one of his heroes. Big E said that what makes this extra special is they got together to re-shape culture and change history. Big E said that on Sunday, that’s exactly what Kofi did. Woods said that on behalf of him, Big E, everybody in the arena and everybody in the WWE Universe, “Kofi we love you and congratulations.” Woods was a bit emotional during the speech. More “Kofi” chants from the appreciative crowd.
Kingston said he’s at a loss for words because this is incredible. Kofi said that this WWE Title wasn’t in the script, it wasn’t in the cards, but here we are. Kofi gave a special shoutout to his wife and two young sons including his oldest that was hilarious at WrestleMania. There was even a brief “Chi-chi” chant for his wife because that’s her name or the nickname Kofi used for her. Kofi said that they have supported him since day one, he loves that and he loves them so much, thank you and here comes The Bar.
Analysis: The celebration was fun. I thought Big E was hilarious doing the splits again and Woods delivered a very good speech. Kingston thanking his young family at ringside was nice to see because it felt like a genuine moment that makes him relatable to the audience. When fans see a guy pointing out his family at ringside, it makes us feel like we know more about the guy because we can see what he has at home and why we should support him in the ring.
Sheamus and Cesaro appeared on the ramp with microphones in hand. Sheamus said that Kofi owes them a big thank you for saving Kofi last night. Cesaro said that if it wasn’t for them saving Kofi and the main event of Raw, Seth would have his championship. I think fans were chanting “shut the fuck up” as Sheamus talked over the crowd saying that Kofi almost lost the WWE Title in his first 24 hours as champion. Sheamus said that it’s because Kofi didn’t have those two (Woods and Big E) beside him. Cesaro suggested that they have a six-man tag team match. Big E said it’s fine, but he’s not sure where their third guy is. Cesaro said that they made a friend when they went to Raw, so their partner later tonight will be this man…it’s Drew McIntyre from Raw. McIntyre walked down to the ring to join Sheamus and Cesaro for what could be called a European All-Star team of talent. That match is later.
Analysis: The brand split seems to have been thrown out the window this week since it’s Superstar Shakeup time next week, so that’s why McIntyre was on Smackdown while some SD guys (including New Day) were on Raw too. McIntyre is a good fit with Sheamus/Cesaro, so it’s a nice tag team match to look forward to later in the show.
The Smackdown announce team of Tom Phillips, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton were shown on camera welcoming us to the show. Later on Smackdown will be The Usos vs. The Hardy Boyz.
Aleister Black made his entrance for a tag team match.
A commercial aired for the Superstar Shakeup next Monday and Tuesday April 15/16 from Montreal.
(Commercial)
There were images shown from WrestleMania.
Shinsuke Nakamura finished his entrance leading into this six-man tag team match. The main event has an international three man heel team and so does this match.
Ricochet, Aleister Black and Ali vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev (w/Lana) and Andrade (w/Zelina Vega)
Ricochet started with Nakamura with a kick. Nakamura came back with a spin kick to knock Ricochet. Rusev hit a suplex on Ricochet followed by Andrade hitting a running hit on Ricochet for a two count. Nakamura worked over Ricochet with a knee to the ribs. Ricochet avoided a Rusev attack leading to a neckbreaker. Ali tagged in with a dropkick on Rusev, Black tagged in with stomps, Ricochet tagged in with punches, Black back in and he hit a knee to the ribs while Ricochet knee to Rusev, who bailed to the floor. Black teased a dive over the top on the heels on the floor, but then he did a backflip into the ring. Ricochet and Ali joined Black in a seated position in the ring, the crowd cheered that and it led to a break.
(Commercial)
Rusev was in control as he had Ali trapped in a bearhug. Rusev charged in, Ali moved and Ali hit a Tornado DDT out of the corner. Black tagged in against Ali with forearms, a running knee to the face a moonsault press for a two count as Nakamura broke up the pin. Ricochet back in with a missile dropkick on Rusev and Nakamura. Ricochet hit a moonsault on Rusev on the floor, but Nakamura hit a knee to Ricochet’s back on the floor. Black with a Black Mass kick on Nakamura. Andrade with a rollup for two, back elbow by Andrade and Ali tagged in with a reverse hurricanrana on Andrade. Ali went up top and hit a 450 Splash on Andrade for the pinfall win at around ten minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Ricochet, Aleister Black and Ali
Analysis: *** It was a fun tag team match with Ali getting the big win to get him back in the spotlight after he has been lost in the shuffle a bit. Even though I like Ricochet/Black together, I hope they are singles wrestlers when the Superstar Shake-up, so that they can shine as singles stars. I don’t like seeing Andrade lose like that, but somebody had to take the pin. I hope there’s a significant push for Andrade after the Superstar Shake-up because he had a lot of momentum and then they stopped using him well.
After the match, Ali was celebrating the win and Randy Orton showed up out of nowhere and dropped Ali with a RKO! Phillips had a line about how you can see him now because there was a lighting issue at WrestleMania with a bright light making things difficult during Orton’s match at WrestleMania. Kevin Owens showed up out of nowhere and hit Rusev with a Stone Cold Stunner! The crowd cheered that. Owens left to his theme song.
Analysis: It was a simple way to get Orton and Owens on the show as they hit some big moves. Perhaps they’ll have a feud if they are on the same show next week.
The Usos were interviewed by Kayla Braxton in the backstage area. Jey congratulated Kofi Kingston, Jimmy said that what remains the same is The Usos are still the Smackdown Tag Team Champions. Jimmy said that they need to win because they’ve never faced the Hardy Boyz. Jimmy said that it’s about proving who is the best tag team in WWE, Jey said it’s about being the best tag team in WWE history and The Usos welcomed the Hardys to the Uso Penitentiary to end it.
(Commercial)
A video aired from when WWE superstars visited the Boys & Girls Club to talk to kids.
R-Truth was in the ring with Women’s Battle Royal winner Carmella, who was wearing a very tight pink dress. Settle down, Graves. They talked about the largest dance break at WrestleMania and he said that Carmella won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Everybody laughed as Carmella mentioned it was the women’s battle royal. Carmella said it was a year ago when she cashed in Money in the Bank to become the Smackdown Women’s Champion. Carmella said that she couldn’t have won the battle royal without Truth’s friendship and she sees big things in her future.
Samoa Joe interrupted the promo with the US Title in his hands. Joe went into the ring, headbutt to Truth and Truth hit a jumping kick. Joe avoided another kick and slapped on the Coquina Clutch submission hold. Joe dumped Truth out of the ring.
Joe did a promo saying that what stands before you is a man that destroyed Rey Mysterio in under 60 seconds at WrestleMania. Joe said let that serve as a warning that he may beat up any WWE superstar in less time.
Braun Strowman showed up and he went down to the ring. Strowman went into the ring, he sent Joe to the corner and hit a splash. Joe got a boot up to block another corner splash attempt. Strowman broke out a Coquina Clutch attempt. Joe tried to hit a Powerslam on Joe, but Joe slipped out and retreated like the heel that he is.
Analysis: Joe and Strowman would be a very good feud to do after the Superstar Shakeup if they are on the same show. They were on Raw together, but this wasn’t really explored as a feud. I’d like to see it happen in the future. Strowman has been booked poorly for several months now. Working with a veteran like Joe will help him.
When Strowman went up the ramp to celebrate his appearance The IIconics duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay walked up to Braun. They wanted a handshake, but Braun had no interest in that, so Braun kept on walking. The IIconics have a championship match up next.
(Commercial)
The same creepy video aired that was shown on Raw with a “buzzard” emerging from a walk followed by Bray Wyatt’s laugh. No word on when Bray will come back.
The IIconics were in the ring with Kay saying that two nights ago at WrestleMania they defied all odds. Royce said that they emerged with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Kay said that champions say they are fighting champions that will defend anytime anywhere against any tag team. Royce said that they are defending the titles against the best tag team they could find in Brooklyn. They introduced two unknowns as their opponents and claimed this team was undefeated leading to their iconic pose.
The IIconics – Peyton Royce and Billie Kay vs. The Brooklyn Belles – Karissa and Kristen
Royce and Kay were working over one of the girls as Paige was shown watching on a TV backstage. Kay hit a spin kick to the face. Kay kicked the woman in the woman in the ring, Royce with a boot to the throat and they whipped the challenger across the ring. Kristen was in the ring with Kay hitting a boot to the face. Royce held up Kristen and Royce hit a knee strike to the face. That led to the pinfall win after two minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The IIconics – Peyton Royce and Billie Kay
The IIconics celebrated the win as if it was a big deal.
Analysis: 1/2* It was just a squash match win to put over the new champs against unknown opponents. There wasn’t much to it other than to get heat on the champs.
Paige was shown watching that celebration. Kayla Braxton asked Paige what she was doing there. Paige said that she wanted to get a closeup look at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions while noting they ended the undefeated streak of the Brooklyn Belles. Paige said that next week she’s going to bring an impressive tag team of her own…and she said bye.
Analysis: It sounds like Paige is going to be in a managerial role since she is unable to wrestle anymore. That’s fine because she’s a good talker and the fans react to her as a star. If the team is NXT stars Kairi Sane and Io Shirai that would be awesome. I’m not sure who it will be.
Shane McMahon entered the arena at a slow pace to sell the match he had at WrestleMania. He’s up next at the top of hour two.
(Commercial)
Shane McMahon was in the ring for a promo. They showed images from WrestleMania when Shane beat The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere Match after landing on top of Miz following a suplex spot off a platform onto some padded area in the arena.
Let’s Hear from Shane McMahon
Shane was in the ring with the Best in the World trophy. Shane had a black eye around his left eye, which looked fake. Shane wanted to reflect on WrestleMania like Seth Rollins becoming the Universal Champion, Kofi Kingston becoming the WWE Champion and Becky Lynch became the Raw & Smackdown Women’s Champion by defeating Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey. Shane said why did every over 80,000 people jam MetLife Stadium? Why did they tune in on WWE Network? Shane claimed that they all wanted to see Shane McMahon defeat The Miz, which he did 1…2…3. Shane said now The Miz is in his rear view mirror and he noted that Miz was tending to George Mizanin aka Mr. Miz.
Shane tried to continue, but there was a “Mr. Miz” chant. Shane said that Mr. Miz had the audacity at WrestleMania to come into this very ring, then Mr. Miz aggressively put his hands up and Shane pointed out the black eye claiming that Mr. Miz caused that, which led to “you deserve it” chants. That’s a “you deserve it” chant that I like. Shane said that he had to put Mr. Miz in the ground and that’s why he had to do what he did. Shane said that 68-year-old baked potato face and his son had exactly what they had coming to him. Good line. Shane said they found out that he is what he says he is…the best in the world. There were “CM Punk” chants after that since that was Punk’s moniker. Shane said “Please” with an eye roll. Well played.
Shane called ring announcer Greg Hamilton into the ring. Shane noted that Greg’s intro was a little weak tonight. Greg said that he had WWE fans threaten him saying that if he called Shane the “Best in the World” then something bad would happen to him. Shane said it’s Brooklyn, so that happens. Shane said that this is the best city in the world and it’s because the best in the world (himself) lives there. Shane told Greg he didn’t have to worry about any of these people doing anything to him, he needs to worry about Shane. Shane told Greg to say it with conviction and to do it with pride. Greg introduced Shane, but Shane said it wasn’t good enough. Greg tried it again, so Shane told him to get this right. Shane grabbed Greg by the tie and they left the ring. Shane walked him down the steps out of the ring. Shane said that Greg isn’t trying hard enough. Shane told Greg it’s his last opportunity to get this right. They were on the stage. Shane said he knows he wants to do because Greg believes in Shane. That led to Greg doing a very loud version where he showed a lot of enthusiasm for it. Shane approved of it. There was another “CM Punk” chant and Shane told Greg to please continue as the announcer while Shane left.
Analysis: It was a solid bragging heel promo from Shane although it didn’t further much. I think his promos as a heel have always been better than his face promos. The McMahons (Vince, Shane and Steph since Linda really wasn’t a regular character) are better as heels. It’s just how it is. Good job by Hamilton with the intro. He’s great the ring announcer job. I assume there will be another Miz/Shane match with Miz going over because it makes sense in the story.
A clip aired from Raw with The Undertaker interrupting the Elias concert. That led to Undertaker giving Elias a Chokeslam and a Tombstone.
The Hardy Boyz made their entrance for the Smackdown Tag Team Title match. Corey Graves said he’s predicting that the Hardys will win the titles. Good pop for them.
(Commercial)
More images were shown from WrestleMania.
The end of The Usos entrance was shown. It’s weird that they didn’t have time to show the full entrance of the Smackdown Tag Team Champions.
Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy)
The Hardys hit a double team leg drop, fist drop on Jey to start the match. Jimmy tagged in, Jeff did an arm wringer and Matt tagged in with an elbow to the shoulder. Jey with a blind tag leading to Jimmy hitting a Samoan Drop into a cover. It looked like they wanted to do a neckbreaker combo there, but it didn’t work. Jey left the ring, punch to Matt and he sent Matt into the barricade at ringside. Jimmy went back in with a hard whip that sent Matt into the turnbuckle. Jey tagged in with a forearm to the throat of Matt. They went to break there.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Jeff was back in the ring with a double leg drop and a dropkick combo for two. Jey hit a spinning kick to the head of Jeff. Jimmy tagged in, back elbow to Jeff, top rope attack missed and Jeff came back with a Whisper in the Wind corkscrew attack for the two count. The crowd was really coming alive now for that nearfall. The Hardys hit the Poetry in Motion followed by Matt hitting a Side Effect for two. Jimmy came back with a superkick on Matt. Jeff got a rollup for two. Jimmy with a great superkick on Jeff and Jey tagged in with an Uso Splash off the top rope for a two count with Jeff kicking out at the last moment. The Usos were shocked by that. The fans were chanting “this is awesome” and both Usos went up top. Jey had to kick Matt off the apron as a distraction. The Usos jumped off the top, Jeff moved and the Usos hit the mat hard. Matt tagged in, he wanted a Twist of Fate on Jimmy, who pushed Matt into the corner, Jeff tagged back in, Matt hit a Twist of Fate and Jeff went up top with the Swanton Bomb for the one…two and three! New Smackdown Tag Team Champions! It went about 9 minutes.
Winners by pinfall and New Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Hardy Boyz
Analysis: ***1/4 Good match that was very competitive with a crowd that was into the match. The finish was well done with the Usos missing the double splash and the Hardys capitalized to win like they have done so many times in their careers. It would have been nice if they got five more minutes to really build up the excitement a bit more. The Hardys winning likely means that The Usos are going to be moved to Raw (that means Naomi too since she’s married to Jimmy), which makes sense since they have been on Smackdown for three years. I’m happy for the Hardys, particularly Matt, who has dealt with injuries in the last year and then worked his ass off to get back into great shape. Hard work pays off, my friends.
The Hardys celebrated with the titles. Matt greeted his kids (next generation Hardy Boyz) at ringside. They are now 8-time Tag Team Champions in WWE. The guys from the TV show Impractical Jokers were shown celebrating the win.
The Hardys were about to be interviewed in the ring post match by Kayla Braxton, but they couldn’t say a word because Lars Sullivan made his entrance. He debuted on Raw one night earlier and this was his Smackdown debut.
Sullivan went into the ring, he shoved both Hardys down, clothesline to Jeff and he tossed Matt out of the ring. Sullivan picked up Jeff and hit him with the Freak Accident. Sullivan picked up Matt and dropped him with a front powerslam. Sullivan went up top and hit a headbutt to Matt’s chest. Some fans tried a “you can’t wrestle” chant, which is dumb, but it was just a small chant. Sullivan did some growling and left.
Analysis: It was another beatdown of legends from Sullivan after he beat up Kurt Angle on Raw. Doing it right after the title change is going to piss off fans, which is what WWE wants for a heel like Sullivan. I like the way he lands the headbutt on his side, so there’s less of a bump on his head. We’ve seen guys do it a lot of different ways where there is a rough landing for them and I know Harley Race has talked about it being a dangerous move to do because he did it for most of his career. Chris Benoit is an obvious example of a guy doing the move for decades and he had brain damage. That move likely played a part in it. I’m glad Daniel Bryan stopped doing it. Anyway, Lars is going to be booked in a dominant way as a big guy that WWE wants to push hard. It will be like Braun Strowman three years ago when the brand split started and he beat everybody including many squash matches. Go back over a decade to Great Khali’s debut when he beat The Undertaker with a chop to the head. Even Vladimir Kozlov beat Undertaker clean after his debut and few people beat Undertaker clean. My point is that this is how WWE books these guys. Go back over the last 35 years for most big guys and see how Vince McMahon booked them. It’s nothing new in WWE, but it’s a new person, so they’ll see how he does.
Still to come is the 6-man tag team match main event. Becky Lynch is up next.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch entered with the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championships in her possession just like when she was on Raw. She liked using the moniker #BeckyTwoBelts even though WWE doesn’t want their superstars saying “belts.” Highlights aired of Lynch winning the two titles at WrestleMania.
The crowd was humming along to the Lynch theme song, so she said they had the voices of angels. Lynch said “what a week” leading to the familiar “Becky” chants. Lynch talked about how on Sunday she did what she said she would do in the main event of WrestleMania. In doing so, she became the first ever women’s dual champion, she called herself the “Champ Champ” and also “Becky Two Belts.” This crowd did a better job with the “Becky Two Belts” chant. Becky said that she felt like that was cause for celebration, so on Monday she tried to do that, but let’s see what happened.
A clip aired from Raw when the “Sassy Southern Belle” Lacey Evans got into a brawl with Lynch after Evans punched her in the face. Evans got away before Lynch could slap on the armbar.
Lynch said that Lacey Evans decided to get her gloves dirty, so Lacey hit Becky with her right hand. Lynch said that even though the Superstar Shakeup is next week, as long as she’s holding those titles she’ll be pulling double duty. Lynch said that she knows there are a tsunami of challengers coming for The Man and to that she says, bring on every last one of them. Lynch wants to make this the most talked about run in all of WWE and if she has to sleep with one eye open for the rest of her career then she will. Lynch said that she fought like hell in her career to get these and you will run into a red-headed devil if you try to take the titles from her.
Lynch left the ring and made her way up to the stage where she turned her back, which was a mistake. That led to Lacey Evans showing up with a hard punch to the face that knocked down Lynch. Evans was dressed in her traditional “Sassy Southern Belle” look while Lynch sold it like she had trouble getting back up to her feet. Evans walked to the back.
Analysis: That was a typical solid promo from Lynch talking about how she’ll be ready for all challengers. It was cool to have her specify that as long as she’s holding both titles she’ll be on both shows. Evans is in a big spot as a rival of Lynch, so we’ll see how she does as they build to a match probably at Money in the Bank next month. Perhaps WWE will even have Evans beat her for one of the titles depending on what show Evans is on.
The six-man tag team match is next.
(Commercial)
The ring was full with the six competitors in the main event.
Sami Zayn made his entrance on the stage. The fans were humming along to his theme song even after it stopped playing. Zayn shook his head no. Zayn: “Yeah, you’re not worth it.” And he left.
Sheamus, Drew McIntyre and Cesaro vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E)
Woods started with Sheamus with Woods hitting a corner splash, Kingston tagged in and hit a double foot stomp to the chest of Sheamus. When Woods tagged back in, Sheamus hit him with a clothesline over the top to the floor. McIntyre picked up Woods on his shoulders and gave him the reverse Alabama Slam face first into the announce table. Drew to Woods: “This is my idea of fun.” Good line.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Big E getting the hot tag leading to his usual sequence with two belly to belly suplexes to Cesaro, the side belly to belly slam and then the running splash for Big E. I have written about a lot of New Day tag team matches. Cesaro came back with a knee that blocked Big E’s attack. Big E knocked Sheamus off the apron. Cesaro jumped off the top, Big E was supposed to catch him and roll over to pin, so they did that, but it was a bit sloppy. Sheamus tagged back in, knee to the face of Big E and double team White Noise led to a two count with Woods breaking up the pin. No sign of McIntyre, who got injured during the match. Woods with a back body drop on Cesaro over the top. Sheamus hit the Irish Curse backbreaker on Woods. Sheamus charged at Big E with the Brogue Kick, but Big E stopped him with a clothesline. Kingston tagged in with a Frog Splash to the back of Sheamus to put him down. Kingston kicked Cesaro off the apron and a dive over the top on Cesaro. Kingston kick to the head of Sheamus. Kingston went for Trouble in Paradise, Sheamus caught him, Kofi broke free and hit the Trouble in Paradise kick for the win. It went about eight minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The New Day – Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E
Analysis: **1/2 A solid win for New Day to continue the positive momentum for Kingston. As I mentioned in the play by play, Drew McIntyre was not part of the match after the commercial break due to an injury. The announcers didn’t mention him or an injury at all, so Cesaro and Sheamus tried to get through it as best they can. I don’t know if Kofi was going to pin Drew or if they finished how they were supposed to.
After the match, it looked like Kofi asked referee Mike Chioda how much time was left and Mike let him know. There was about two minutes left for a celebration.
Kingston brought his oldest son into the ring to celebrate with New Day. He brought his other son in, then replays were shown and Kofi’s wife was in the ring holding their youngest son. Kofi celebrated in the ring with his family while his oldest son posed on the turnbuckle again. He’s a natural! The announcers kept pushing the Superstar Shakeup while talking about how this could be the last time New Day is together. Kofi held up the WWE Title while posing by the turnbuckle and that was the end of the show.
Analysis: There’s no clear indication for Kofi’s next opponent for the WWE Championship. They could opt for Daniel Bryan if he remains on Smackdown. Perhaps Drew McIntyre could be the guy that gets moved to Smackdown to challenge Kingston if Drew is healthy.
Three Stars of the Show
- The Hardy Boyz
- The New Day
- The Usos
That’s 7 people, but it’s hard to separate the teams.
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 6.5
2019 Average: 6.97 (Raw is 5.54)
Last 5 Weeks: 6.5, 7, 6, 7, 7.5
2019 High: 8.5 (February 26)
2019 Low: 5 (January 15)
Final Thoughts
I give this week’s Smackdown a 6 out of 10.
This was just an average wrestling show. There was nothing special or must see about it although the Hardys winning the Smackdown Tag Team Titles was cool. The three men’s matches were all tag team matches and two of them were six-man tags with the faces going over, so they felt like copies of eachother.
The commentary during the show really pushed the Superstar Shake-up a lot to the point where it got annoying. They kept saying it repeatedly with the same comments. It’s a problem with WWE where they use the announcers to try to make a point, but then they drive the point home so much that it hurts the show. On Raw, they did push it a lot, but on Smackdown especially in the second half of the show, it was annoying.
There were no call-ups from NXT in terms of people we didn’t expect. If you like surprises like that then you were probably disappointed. I guess WWE felt like they didn’t need to call anybody up this week because they might be saving it for next week at the Superstar Shake-up, or they’re just content with the main roster talent they have already.
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John Canton
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