{"id":12099,"date":"2019-04-10T23:52:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T22:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=12099"},"modified":"2019-04-11T00:02:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:02:09","slug":"smackdown-live-after-mania-4-9-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/10\/smackdown-live-after-mania-4-9-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Smackdown Live After Mania 4\/9\/19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Wynter@<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WynterStorm24\">WynterStorm24<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you to everyone who joined me for my live tweets over the past couple of nights. Anyways, it\u2019s the Smackdown Live after WrestleMania so ish had to pop off right? Well, not exactly. There wasn\u2019t a single one-on-one match on this episode. But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself. Let\u2019s take a look at what happened on the blue brand this week. I\u2019m trying a little bit of a different format for my review this week so let me know if you like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The New Day&#8217;s Celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First of all, there was a rainbow arch over the ring! Big E busted out another impressive split, Kofi Kingston thanked his family, and Xavier Woods talked about how he considers Kingston his hero. It was a very nice opening celebration segment, bringing back memories of Jeff Hardy\u2019s celebration after winning the big one a decade ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bar interrupted the celebration and proposed a six-man tag team match, bringing Drew McIntyre out as their third partner. Was this a teaser for McIntyre coming over to Smackdown after the Superstar Shakeup? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: A-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Aleister Black, Ricochet, and Mustafa Ali vs Andrade, Rusev, and Shinsuke Nakamura<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was an okay match, with nothing really sticking\nout about it. I definitely liked Black, Ricochet and Ali doing the cross-legged\nsit down taunt together. Ali won the match with a 450. Black and Ricochet have\nhad a fantastic run and even pulled double-duty over Mania weekend, with two\ntag team championship matches in 48 hours. They had a great WrestleMania\nmoment, but I think it\u2019s time to break them apart again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the match, Randy Orton RKO-ed Ali and Kevin Owens gave Rusev a stunner. I enjoyed Orton coming out of nowhere and if this what his character is now, just RKO-ing folks for the hell of it, I\u2019m all for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Winner: Aleister Black, Ricochet, and Mustafa Ali<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: C<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fabulous Truth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carmella and R-Truth came out to the ring and of course, Truth got confused about what exactly Carmella won. Samoa Joe arrived, looking like he was in the mood to murder someone, and talked about his win over Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania. Then Braun Strowman stormed out. They had a little tousle and Joe climbed him like a spider-monkey to lock in the choke hold, but Strowman powered out of it. Color me interested in this match if indeed Braun Strowman is heading to Smackdown. Or whenever, really. It\u2019s not like superstars don\u2019t randomly show up on other brands already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: B+<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>IIconics vs Kristen Stadlander and Karissa Rivera-Women&#8217;s Tag Team Championships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IIconics bragged about their win and then said they were going to be fighting champions\u2026so they brought out some local enhancement talent and squashed them. I didn\u2019t mind it at all. It was a good squash match for the new champions and also goes along well with their more opportunistic, almost cowardly heel characters. How well they are going to do when they have to defend their belts against either the former champions or a set of real challengers is the question. Afterwards, Paige said she\u2019s bringing in a new tag team next week. I wonder who it\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Winner: IIconics<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: C<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Here comes the (evil) money!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shane McMahon showed up with his evil shuffle and ran down The Miz and his dad. He also brushed off the CM Punk chants from the crowd. He pulled Greg Hamilton into the ring because he was disappointed in his intro. He then yanked Hamilton around the ring and up the rant by his tie, eventually making Hamilton do the intro again with the longest fermata ever. I don\u2019t think this really added anything to the show. Yeah, it reinforced Shane\u2019s role as a heel and Miz\u2019s role as a face, but\u2026that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Grade: C+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Usos vs The Hardys-Smackdown Tag Team Championships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This match has been teased for a few weeks now and it was great to finally see it. It was definitely a clash between the past and the present as both teams are sets of brothers that are beloved by the crowd. Also the Usos were coming off a WrestleMania win and being one of only two champions to retain their titles at the show. Alas, the Hardys became the new champions after Jeff hit a Swanton Bomb for the win. I had wanted this match for WrestleMania, but the more I think about it, the more I\u2019m glad that the Usos got their big Mania moment since the Hardys had theirs with their surprise return two years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afterwards, Lars Sullivan showed up to cut the Hardys\u2019 celebration short and whoop their butts. I noticed that Sullivan didn\u2019t get much of a reaction here or on Raw, which is vastly different to the pops he used to get down on NXT. I feel like his prolonged absence, coupled with the unsavory things we\u2019ve learned about him, have perhaps closed the window on his push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Winner: The Hardys<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: B-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Becky Two Belts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Becky Lynch came out and cut a promo about being a\ntarget and said she\u2019s ready to take a beating and sleep with one eye open as\nshe pulls double duty. Lacey Evans showed up and took her out with the women\u2019s\nright as Lynch tried to leave. I\u2019m guessing Evans is the next feud for Lynch,\nwhich is interesting because she could technically challenge for either of\nLynch\u2019s belts as she has never officially been assigned a brand. I think it\u2019s\ngood that we\u2019re setting up for a feud quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Afterwards, Sami Zayn came out but said the fans aren\u2019t worth it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Grade: B<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>New Day vs The Bar and Drew McIntyre<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was the third tag team match on the show and\nwhile it didn\u2019t set the world on fire, it wasn\u2019t bad. I\u2019m glad Kofi Kingston\nwon the match for the trio, getting a Trouble in Paradise on Sheamus. For a\nmain event match, it did feel rushed. Also what was the point of the Bar having\nDrew McIntyre as a partner other than having three people for the team? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Winner: New Day<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <em><strong>Grade: B-\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Final Thoughts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> This was a solid middle of the road episode of Smackdown. We got potential feud setups but that\u2019s about it. Keeping Lars Sullivan as the only call-up was a good idea in my opinion as the other call-ups, minus Aleister Black and Ricochet, still haven\u2019t quite found their footing on the main roster. Also the Superstar Shakeup is happening next week so we\u2019ll see who ends up where and whether it actually makes any difference at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Overall Grade: B-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Wynter@WynterStorm24 Thank you to everyone who joined me for my live tweets over the past couple of nights. Anyways, it\u2019s the Smackdown Live after WrestleMania so ish had to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":10754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"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":[2,22,193,185,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-reviews","category-smackdown-live","category-wwe","category-wwe-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-399","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\/12099","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\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12099"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12105,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12099\/revisions\/12105"}],"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=12099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}