By Mark Armstrong@MarkArmstrong
We’re in a transitional phase for SmackDown at present. We’re past WrestleMania 34 and the Superstar Shake-Up, but we’re days away from the Greatest Royal Rumble and less than two weeks from Backlash. A lot of activity can make for some interesting television, though, and the signs seemed promising for the blue brand after the roster reshuffle from a week ago.
The show opened with the tribute graphic for Bruno Sammartino that we saw on Raw (the full tribute video for Bruno last night was superb), followed by The Miz making his way to the ring. Miz wasn’t on hand for his official return to SmackDown last week, but he was present this week, to host a familiar talk show …
Miz TV w/ Daniel Bryan
Miz (sporting a blue pocket handkerchief on his suit coat in a neat touch) noted that he is missing his Intercontinental Championship, and vowed to regain it this Friday at the Greatest Royal Rumble. After explaining the similarities between him and Daniel Bryan, and how he dropped much of his rage towards Bryan after the birth of his daughter, Miz then introduced his guest, and the man with whom he is about to rekindle a classic feud.
Well, that was his intention. Because instead, Big Cass (who drilled Bryan with a big boot at the end of last week’s show) made his way to the ring. Cass is still a heel; we know this because he was wearing a suit (reviving a villain’s trend that was popular in WWE earlier this decade). Cass insisted that Miz interview him, with the seven-footer saying “Nobody cares about Daniel Bryan”, and he made clear his frustration that people were more concerned about Bryan’s return from injury than that of Cass.
Far from being united by their dislike of Bryan, though, the fighting talk then began between Miz and Cass. At least, until Cass further explained why he didn’t care for Bryan, and how he overcame some of his past issues by growing to be seven-feet tall (the fans responding with “And you can’t teach that!” made me laugh). After emphasising his star qualities, Cass stated that he would put Bryan back on the shelf to avoid him casting a “shadow” over Cass again.
No appearance by Bryan, then, and after the segment, we saw Daniel backstage having been taken out by an, erm, unknown assailant. Obviously, we’re heading towards a Bryan-Cass match before we get to see the Bryan-Miz feud restart properly. The question is, despite their initial animosity here, are Miz and Cass working together to take Bryan out? It should be interesting to see where this goes; WWE could potentially stretch out such a storyline for months, given the potential that the rivalry between Bryan and Miz has.
After a commercial, we saw The IIconics in the ring (no televised entrance already?) for a promo about their opponents Becky Lynch and Asuka, building off the scrapes involving all four (and Carmella and Charlotte from a week ago). Not much to see here, to be honest, so let’s move onto the match itself.
Becky Lynch & Asuka vs. The IIconics
Because of another break, we (as in UK viewers) joined this week in progress. Becky looked good on offence with her usual signature moves, such as the Bexploder on Peyton Royce. Billie Kay tagging in swung things around momentarily, partly because of a cheap shot from ringside by Royce, and the two would make numerous quick tags as they aimed to isolate Lynch. A double clothesline paved the way for Asuka to tag in, and the Empress Of Tomorrow began dominating Royce. Some cool double-team moves followed, which Peyton halted by shoving Becky into Asuka, knocking her off the apron. Royce then drove Becky into the post, and pinned her with her feet on the ropes.
Rebounding from a defeat last week, this result gives The IIconics a boost amidst rumours of a Women’s Tag Team Championship. That Asuka’s team lost here, even though she didn’t lose the fall, is not a good sign for the formerly-undefeated Empress.
Backstage, AJ Styles revealed that he would face Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev Day later in the show, saying that his partners would be “Too Sweet”. Yes, he was referring to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
A vignette aired for Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega, followed by a chit-chat between The Usos and Naomi regarding the brawl involving Jimmy, Jey and The Bludgeon Brothers from last week.
Erick Rowan vs. Jimmy Uso
As a fan dressed as Hulk Hogan held up a sign saying “Is this a Nickelback concert?”, Rowan started with a huge dropkick on Jimmy. From there, the fast-paced bout essentially became a repeat of last week’s clash between Luke Harper and Jey Uso, only with a bit more time. After bulldozing Jimmy at ringside, Rowan was about to hit a running powerslam, only for Naomi to make an appearance (to distract Rowan, despite Jimmy asking her not to come out beforehand). Jey then levelled Harper at ringside, and Jimmy rolled up Rowan following a superkick for the win. A set-up all along, you might say, as The Bludgeons lost a televised match of some form for the first time in months. The two teams meet in Saudi Arabia for the titles this Friday.
Carmella-Charlotte Contract Signing
This, of course, was to make their SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Backlash official. Renee Young was on hosting duties; no appearances by either Paige or Shane McMahon. Carmella refused to let Renee introduce Charlotte, commenting on how disrespectful it was to introduce the titleholder before the challenger. Slating the fans who were really on her back (“You can’t wrestle!” was amongst the chants), Carmella demanded that her highlight video from last week’s Mellabration be reshown, but this time to a standing ovation after it was presented. And the video was indeed shown again, but there was no standing ovation, amongst most fans anyway. Are you surprised?
Unimpressed, Carmella insisted it be shown once more, and it was! This time, though, it was interrupted midway through by Charlotte, much to the disgust of the champion. Carmella began to mock Charlotte with a Flair-esque pose, and then we finally got down to the contract signing. Charlotte signed without any issues, and simply unleashed a “Woooo!” before ramming Carmella’s face into the contract table. A fun segment here, better than their interaction last week, and it provided evidence that Carmella could be a great heel if she antagonises fans in the same manner that she did here.
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin
This was a rematch from a pretty good bout held on last week’s show. Hardy’s left leg seemed to be bothering him on his entrance, which is either consistent selling or the sign of an injury. No matter, because in a role-reversal of what we saw a week ago, as Randy Orton interrupted Jeff’s entrance to instead face Benjamin. So, to clarify, it was Orton vs. Benjamin, not Hardy vs. Benjamin.
In their first televised singles match since 2004 I believe, Orton and Benjamin began with the typical feeling-out process, as Jeff observed from ringside. Some cool back-and-forth reversals followed, as Tom Phillips noted that they were familiar with one another from their time in OVW (this show was held in Louisville). You don’t hear many OVW references on WWE TV. Some stiff kicks to the side of the head from the apron put Benjamin in control heading into a(nother) commercial.
A high knee to the face by Shelton sent Orton to the floor and kept him in control, as did a Dragon Whip for a two-count. A back duplex brought Orton into his WWE 2K18 comeback sequence, including his signature DDT through the ropes. Benjamin rolled out of the ring to avoid an RKO, but Orton grabbed Shelton and appeared to prepare to throw him into Hardy. Jeff moved, so Orton settled for a back suplex on the announcers table.
In the meantime, a masked man chop-blocked Hardy out of nowhere (pardon the pun). Orton unmasked him, revealing his identity to be Sunil Singh (Hardy faces Jinder Mahal in Saudi Arabia), and dropped him with an RKO. Distracted, he was dropped with a Paydirt by Benjamin for a surprise victory. Maybe we’re getting a three-way (Hardy vs. Orton vs. Benjamin) for the United States Championship at Backlash?
Backstage, there was a confrontation between The New Day and The Bar, as Sheamus and Cesaro interrupted the “launch party” of The Book Of Booty.
Daniel Bryan revealed that he would indeed face Big Cass at Backlash, noting everybody is the same size when they’re down and tapping out. And yes, it was Cass who had attacked Bryan earlier in the evening. We also got a pre-tape from Samoa Joe, which again noted how he planned to become Intercontinental Champion at the Greatest Royal Rumble and defeat Roman Reigns at Backlash.
AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev Day
Between the entrances and one more break, it was a while before the bell finally rang for the main event. Of note, Nakamura debuted a new, rock-based remix of his theme music (Corey Graves stated that he changed his tune because he dislikes the fans singing along to it). Styles and Nakamura were set to start, but Shinsuke instead tagged out to Aiden English. AJ nailed Nakamura as he left the ring, though, and The Club combined to dominate Aiden and Rusev in the early going.
AJ remained distracted by Nakamura, though, and this allowed Rusev to strike AJ with a hard kick to the face. This allowed him and Aiden to wear Styles down, as did Shinsuke who tagged in only when AJ was vulnerable (and during a mid-match promo for GRR, which was a bizarre sight for something hyped up as a dream scenario only three weeks ago). The frequent tags between the heels (assuming Rusev Day actually are heels right now, it’s hard to tell) continued to prevent Styles from tagging out himself, but a big dropkick to English slowed their momentum, as did a Pele Kick to Rusev.
AJ tagged in Gallows, who unleashed the typical babyface fire off a hot tag. A pump handle slam and splash to English led to everybody getting their spots in, particularly Nakamura who scored a blind tag from Aiden, and he drilled Gallows with a Kinshasa for the win. Post-match, AJ pummelled Shinsuke, but the Artist struck back with yet another low blow. Nakamura aimed a Kinshasa at Styles, but Anderson dived in to take the shot for his friend. As AJ writhed in pain, Nakamura hit Anderson with another Kinshasa, and looked pretty damn scary in the process as the show went off the air.
There was nothing must-see about this week’s episode of SmackDown, but there was nothing major to gripe about either. Carmella and Shelton Benjamin, and possibly Big Cass, gained the most based on their performances in their respective matches and segments; Asuka, meanwhile, is somehow without a win in her last two televised matches. Still, as I noted at the beginning, it feels like the blue brand is going into a fresh, positive direction; after the Greatest Royal Rumble, we’ll likely reap the full benefits of the new-look SmackDown.
