What’s good, wrestling fam? The Superstar Shakeup is in fact still happening as evidenced by a certain team’s appearance on this episode of Smackdown. We’re gearing up for Money in the Bank so let’s take a look at what happened on the blue brand!
A New Challenger
Kofi Kingston opened up the show, tossing his signature pancakes. We saw highlights of the various obstacles that were thrown at Kingston in his quest to get his title match at WrestleMania. Kingston said that it’s about fighting through the lows and also gave credit to the New Day. He said the New Day believes in giving people second chances and Kevin Owens took advantage of that. This eventually led to him proposing a match between himself and Kevin Owens for the WWE Title at Money in the Bank, which Owens accepted. I really liked that Owens said that both the WWE universe and Kingston himself don’t believe that Kingston is championship material. It plays into the whole “B+ player” thing quite well and makes you want to pay attention. This was a solid segment with my only real complaint being that there were too many flashbacks.
Grade: B
Bayley vs Becky Lynch
This was being hailed as a first-time-ever match, which is true for the main roster as these women have faced off before in NXT. Lynch also got a fancy introduction. She did try to play up her knee “injury”, but Bayley wasn’t having it. Bayley did look to be nursing a re-aggravated shoulder injury, or she was selling really well. Post-match, Charlotte Flair attacked both women. Though she did eventually tap out to the dis-arm-her, Bayley showed a lot more confidence and aggression in this match than she’s been showing in recent months. She was in it until the end and honestly carried the match. Being the dual champ has exposed some of Lynch’s weaknesses in the ring.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Grade: A-
Backroom Promo
Aleister Black talked about fear and said that his opponents try to figure him out, but end up losing matches in their efforts. This is a nice resetting of Black’s character. He does so much better in these types of cryptic promos than he does when trying to talk for long periods of time.
Not Graded
Hardy Boyz Announcement
Jeff came down to the ring using a crutch; apparently Lars Sullivan injured him when he attacked the brothers after they had won the belts. Jeff said he needs surgery and he’s going to be out for a while so the Hardy Boyz had to vacate the titles. Sullivan showed up and tossed Matt around before ultimately turning his attention to R-Truth again and giving him a liger bomb for his efforts. I’m wish Jeff all the best with his recovery, but are there even any teams left on Smackdown at this point? And what are we doing with Lars Sullivan? This showing up and throwing people around is going to get old fast.
Grade: B-
Who’s in the ladder matches?
The Smackdown superstars competing in the men’s ladder match are Ali, Andrade, Finn Balor, and Randy Orton. It seems weird to have Balor in the match when he’s already holding the Intercontinental Championship. And at this point, it seems like they just put Orton in things for the hell of it. At least he can be counted on as a safe pair of hands and to deliver when needed.
The women’s ladder match contenders are Bayley, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, and Carmella. Sonya Devile actually agreed to let Rose take the ladder match spot so I wonder what’s going on there. With both Carmella and Alexa Bliss in the match, we have two previous winners competing. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue but this is only the third women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (well technically 4th but we don’t talk about it). I think the winner needs to be a different person.
Not Graded
Asuka and Kairi Sane vs Enhancement Talent
The IIconics were on commentary for this squash match. It was a very short match with Sane and Asuka making quick work of their opponents. I think the IIconics spent more time talking than there was time in the match. I didn’t mind it; Asuka and Sane are still finding their stride as a team. I did like the way they mixed the pair’s music.
Winner: Asuka and Kairi Sane
Grade: B-
Superman Punch Felt Around the World
Roman Reigns said he wanted to make a good first impression on Smackdown so he knocked out Vince McMahon. Fair enough! Shane McMahon shuffled out and the two had a little back and forth. In this, Shane acknowledged that he’s going to be in a steel cage match against the Miz. Word. Shane then sent out the B Team to fight Reigns, whose soul visibly left his body. Apparently Shane has two feuds going on at the same time.
Grade: B+
Roman Reigns vs B Team w/ Elias as special guest referee enforcer
Reigns took a lot of punishment in this match, which was pretty much the point. Elias, the sneak that he is, used his enforcer position to both get in some illegal hits and disrupt the match in his favor. It was all for naught though as Reigns managed to dodge a guitar hit, kick out of a Perfectplex, and Spear his way to victory. It was actually a pretty good match and it’s nice to see that Reigns has gotten a little more agile; he’d mentioned that his chemo pills have arthritis as a side effect.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Grade: B+
Firefly Funhouse
We saw this second episode on Raw last night so I won’t harp on it too much. Is Rambling Rabbit on meth? In all seriousness, I am actually enjoying these little spots and the references to the previous incarnation of Bray Wyatt. I can’t wait for him to snap on all of us.
Not Graded
Finn Balor and Ali vs Andrade and Randy Orton
Andrade came out and basically said he didn’t respect anyone in the match. Also, his English is sounding great so kudos to him. There wasn’t anything special about the match; everyone looked good and had good chemistry with each other. We even got a surprise RKO at the end, always a nice treat.
Winner: Ali and Finn Balor
Grade: B
KO Show
The KO Show had a very sparse set. Owens invited Xavier Woods out, but pulled out action figures of him and Big E instead when he didn’t show. He basically said he was going to take the WWE Title away from Kofi Kingston at Money in the Bank. Kingston showed up though and went right after Owens, who escaped through the crowd. The show ended with Kingston up on the turnbuckle. Visually, this was a great way to end the broadcast. It showed that Owens sees Kingston as a threat. It also adds to the code switching that the New Day does, going between goofy and serious depending on the situation.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
I think that this was a solid show for being two weeks out from Money in the Bank. Sonya Deville has got me wondering what she’s up to. I also want to know why Shane McMahon is involved in two feuds on different brands at the same time.
Overall Grade: B+
