{"id":11802,"date":"2019-03-28T16:15:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T20:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=11802"},"modified":"2019-03-28T16:15:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T20:15:57","slug":"smackdown-live-review-26-03-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/28\/smackdown-live-review-26-03-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Smackdown Live Review 26\/03\/2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Smackdown\n3\/26\/19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Hump Day, wrestling fam! I hope the\nweek is finding you well as we are eleven days from WrestleMania! It seems like\njust yesterday I was packing up for the Royal Rumble and now we\u2019re so close to\nthe biggest show of the year. Some interesting things happened this week on\nSmackdown so let\u2019s take a look at what went down on the blue brand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serious\nNew Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xavier Woods talked about how despite the\nfive years they\u2019ve been together and done awesome things, they\u2019ve been thinking\nof leaving WWE after all the nonsense Kofi Kingston has had to go through.\nVince McMahon showed up, but he was interrupted by Daniel Bryan who said the\nNew Day could be replaced by a trio of NXT talent who throws waffles. Woods\ncalled Bryan a hypocrite who\u2019d turned into everything he hated. Mr. McMahon set\nup a tag team gauntlet match: if Woods and Big E won, Kofi would get his\nWrestleMania match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:\nThe New Day showing their serious side throughout this whole run has been one\nof the highlights of the story. But I am a bit tired of the gauntlet matches\nthough; we\u2019ve seen too many over the last couple of weeks. And kudos to Xavier\nWoods for reminding us about the parallel between Daniel Bryan and Kofi\nKingston.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade:\nB+<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asuka\nvs Charlotte Flair-Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship Match<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becky Lynch was being interviewed and said\nthat Flair was bringing nothing to the match. Flair\u2019s entrance interrupted her\nand she said she would show Lynch how deserving she was of being in the triple\nthreat match so we had a women\u2019s title match between her and Asuka, the\nchampion. The match itself was actually very good as the two have a lot of ring\nchemistry. Asuka tried to lock in the Asuka Lock but she was unable to fully\nlock it in. She got a triangle on the challenger, but Flair powered out of it\nthen power bombed her. The Figure Eight won the match and we have a new\nchampion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winner:\nCharlotte Flair<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:\nCharlotte Flair now holds the record for most all-time women\u2019s title reigns,\nofficially surpassing Trish Stratus. That\u2019s a wonderful achievement and I think\nshe does deserve it. However, I see this as a potential way of either unifying\nthe Raw and Smackdown women\u2019s belts and having only one champion or protecting\nFlair taking the pin in the triple threat by making her fight an extra match. I\nam upset that Asuka and the rest of the Smackdown women, have been treated like\nan afterthought this entire time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade:\nA-<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurt\nAngle vs AJ Styles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was supposed to be Kurt Angle\u2019s last\nmatch on Smackdown, and it was the first time Angle and Styles met in a WWE\nring. Angle and Styles shook hands and hugged before they locked up. Angle hit\na German suplex but Styles rolled it into a calf crusher. Angle then clamped on\nan Ankle Lock. Styles fought out of it but Randy Orton came out of nowhere to\nRKO him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winner:\nKurt Angle via DQ<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:\nI was actually looking forward to this match and I\u2019m a tad miffed that it was\ninterrupted in this manner. This could\u2019ve been a really great match on Angle\u2019s\nfarewell tour. But I\u2019d be lying if I said I didn\u2019t find Orton RKOing Styles to\nbe entertaining. I\u2019m looking forward to their match at WrestleMania.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade:\nD+<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security\nAround Here Sucks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Miz came out and basically requested a\nFalls Count Anywhere Match at WrestleMania. Shane McMahon came out with some\nsecurity including one of the Colons, Shelton Benjamin, and Sanity. He mocked\nMiz\u2019s parents and said what he did to him at Fast Lane was euphoric. He\naccepted the Falls Count Anywhere  and\nthen Miz charged him and they fought all into the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:\nYo, this Falls Count Anywhere Match is gonna be awesome! I wonder what\nridiculous thing McMahon is going to jump off of. Is Mr. Miz gonna do a\nrun-in?!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade:\nB+<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gauntlet\nMatch: New Day vs The Good Brothers vs Nakamura and Rusev vs The Bar vs The\nUsos vs Bryan and Rowan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kofi Kingston was barred from ringside for\nthis match and instead watched backstage with the rest of the roster\u2019s\nbabyfaces. Xavier Woods and Big E dispatched Gallows and Anderson fairly\nquickly with the midnight hour. The midnight hour also finished Shinsuke\nNakamura though there was a bit more fight in this match. The Bar added some\ndrama into the gauntlet match as they put Big E through a table after being\ndefeated. The Usos came out, said how much they respected the New Day and\nwished Kingston good luck before forfeiting their match. Backstage, we saw\nDaniel Bryan going mental over this and he kicked the television and destroyed\nhis locker room. The final boss was Bryan and Rowan and the ending sequence to\nthe match was great. Woods DDT\u2019d Bryan on the floor and Big E toppled the\nannounce table over on Rowan, earning the New Day a countout victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards, Vince McMahon said Kingston\nwas going to WrestleMania and all the babyfaces came out to celebrate with the\nNew Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winner:\nNew Day<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:\nDespite my complaint about gauntlet matches, I actually really enjoyed this\nmatch. I loved seeing Woods and Big E fighting for their friend\u2019s chance to go\nto WrestleMania and them overcoming the odds. I loved the show of respect and\ngood will from The Usos. I have loved this entire storyline, especially with\nall the nuanced undertones. And to think this all started with Kofi Kingston\nreplacing Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade:\nA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final\nThoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve added some more pieces to WrestleMania,\nbut we still have one more week left. Things can change in a heartbeat so we\nshall wait and see if\/how the layout changes next week. We\u2019re so close and I\u2019m\ndefinitely in the WrestleMania spirit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall\nGrade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Wynter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smackdown 3\/26\/19 Happy Hump Day, wrestling fam! I hope the week is finding you well as we are eleven days from WrestleMania! It seems like just yesterday I was packing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,22,193,35],"tags":[217,47],"class_list":["post-11802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-reviews","category-smackdown-live","category-wwe-reviews","tag-smackdown-live","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-34m","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/smackdown-1.jpg?fit=1364%2C768&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11803,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802\/revisions\/11803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}