Roman Reigns’ gets his first Smackdown feud! Becky Lynch gets a new Smackdown Women’s
Championship contender! And Kevin Owens turns heel on New Day just seven days after joining
their ranks. And what’s up with Daniel Bryan being removed from live events? I am Luke
Owen, have yourself a Superclick Party by pressing the thumbs up and subscribe buttons,
and leave a comment down below to answer our question of the day:
Are you happy that Charlotte Flair is once again facing Becky Lynch for the Smackdown
Women’s Championship? And vote in the poll above my head to let me know what you thought
of the show. Where you can choose from: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner,
and A Smack in the Face. This is the 23rd of April 2019 edition of Smackdown Live.
Shane McMahon opened the show this week to recap what happened last week with Roman Reigns
and Vince McMahon, quite brilliantly scolding Roman by asking what sort of person would
put their hands on another man’s father. He called out Roman to say they’re going
to settle this in the ring, which brought out The Big Dog. And can I just say, it was
so refreshing for Roman Reigns to come out to the ring without Michael Cole shouting
HERE COMES THE BIG DOG.
Roman and Shane were about to get into a fight, when Elias ran down and caused a distraction
- allowing both The Drifter and Shane to beat down Roman. So, I guess they’re best friends
now. People, let me tell you about my beeest friend! Which was furthered when we saw them
backstage bragging about beating up Reigns, and Elias later challenging Roman to a match
at Money in the Bank through the medium of song. And his Bardic Inspiration was so successful,
the stirring words made Shane jump into a limo with him. People let me tell you about
my beeeest friend! Roman accepted the challenge, and it was announced that he will face Elias
at Money in the Bank. It’s a bit of a shame that Roman’s first fued on Smackdown Live
is against a Raw guy, but this is all a vehicle to build towards Roman vs. Shane down the
line which I think is a really great use of Reigns. I just hope you’re all ready for
another match where the heel grinds Roman down with head locks before Reigns makes his
big comeback ooohaaaa.
Dasha - it is Dasha, right - interviewed Kofi Kingston backstage, and he and Woods introduced
New Day’s official newest member Kevin Owens, aka Big O. Oli Davis will be thrilled this
act is sticking together after last week. I’m sure there won’t be anything on this
show that will break his little heart.
Finn Balor then took on the man who beat him on his first night on Raw but has since jumped
back to Smackdown Live, Andrade. These two didn’t have as good a match as they did
last week, but there was some great action - with Zelina Vega’s interference backfiring
allowing Balor to hit the Coup de Grace for the win. It’s been reported that Andrade
was brought back to Smackdown because Fox wanted to feature Spanish speaking wrestlers,
so let’s hope the future is brighter for Andrade than a 50/50 feud.
And speaking of needing a brighter future, Peyton Royce of The IIconics was pinned by
Smackdown newcomer Kairi Sane in an incredibly short match. This barely went a minute. Samoa
Joe and Rey Mysterio got more time at WrestleMania. Since winning the Women’s Tag Team Championships,
IIconics have only won one match - which granted was against the undefeated and nearly unstoppable
Brooklyn Belles but that’s not the point. Not only does it suck that the Tag Champs
keep eating pinfalls, they’re now a backdrop to a feud between Asuka and Sane vs. Mandy
Rose and Sonya Deville. A bad night for The IIconics, which is a shame as their “superlame-o”
promo before the match was terrific.
Alesiter Black cut a really good promo backstage in a dark room, and then we were supposed
to get a match between Chad Gable and Jinder Mahal. I guess Jinder is back on Smackdown
now. The match didn’t get started however, with Lars Sullivan running down to destroy
Gable and the Singh Brothers. R-Truth ran down for the save, but he was also flattened
by Lurkin’ Lars. Gable would have had a better SD return if he’d grown a mustache.
Charlotte Flair came out for a promo in her gear - so I guess she’ll be having a match
in the next segment - where she recapped WrestleMania and asked why Becky Lynch was Smackdown Women’s
Champion when she only beat Ronda Rousey. Lynch came down to explain to Flair those
were the rules of the match, and that she wants new challengers rather than facing Flair
once again - calling Charlotte the web management won’t untangle her from. Bayley came out
in her gear - so I guess that’s who Flair will have a match with - and said that while
Becky has beaten Flair time and time again, she’s never beaten her.
This led to a match between Bayley and Flair - I’m as shocked as you are - which was
really, really great. The two traded big moves and nearfalls and there was a lot of drama
in the match - with the crowd firmly behind Bayley against the superb heel in Flair. But
while the match was great, the commentary from Byron Saxton and Corey Graves made this
insufferable for a stretch of time - arguing about Charlotte Flair getting another shot
at Becky Lynch’s championship. If it had been a couple of minutes it would be one thing,
but it felt like it lasted for nearly half the match.
Despite her best efforts, Bayley was pinned by Charlotte Flair’s spear - meaning Becky
Lynch will defend her Smackdown Women’s Championship against The Queen at Money in
the Bank. Sigh Lynch vs. Flair is becoming Randy Orton vs. John Cena levels of comical
now. This fued is so never-ending I’m expecting a flying dog to be part of it soon. With Smackdown
having a very strong women’s roster, I’m really hoping this is the final chapter of
this feud for a little while - make people want to see it again.
We then got the same Firefly Funhouse segment from Monday night’s Raw, which while still
great, was the exact same thing we saw just 24-hours earlier. It’s a shame they didn’t
have a different one to show on Smackdown. It also confirms that Bray Wyatt, Bird Raptor
or Abby The Witch still don’t have a brand. So, the Superstar Shake-Up rolls on, I guess.
And in the main event, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston took on Shinsuke Nakamura in what was frankly
quite a boring match. Nakamura worked over Kofi for a very long time, and then Kingston
made a comeback - getting the win with the SOS only for it to be broken up by Rusev to
cause the DQ. To be honest, the highlight of the match was Big O and Woods providing
commentary, which was so much better than Graves and Saxton arguing about Charlotte
Flair.
Everyone then brawled around the ring, with Kofi taking out Nakamura with the Trouble
in Paradise - only to walk into a giant superkick from Kevin Owens! The former Big-O then tore
off his New Day t-shirt and beat down the WWE Champion - saying he’s coming to take
his title off him. Kofi’s desperate comeback was tremendous here, as was Xavier Woods diving
through the ropes to stop Owens giving Kingston the powerbomb on the apron. Owens instead
gave the powerbomb to Woods, and starred a hole through Kofi to end the show. The angle
was great, but it’s a shame the partnership with New Day wasn’t given more time to grow
and flourish. This is an angle that should have happened in two months time, rather than
seven days from starting. I don’t think we’ve had enough time with Owens a face
either for the heel turn to mean a great deal. With all that said, a Kofi vs. Owens program
for the WWE Championship is indeed fresh and different, and I am all for that.
And it capped off a pretty good episode of Smackdown Live. Despite my grievances with
the winner, the Bayley vs. Flair match was great and the final angle with Owens and Kofi
was excellent. The rest of the show was middling at best, but I would say this week’s Smackdown
Live was SmackTastic!
And now over to Pete Quinnel, who has the latest on Daniel Bryan being removed from
live events.
Smashing review Luke! Especially that one part where you made that joke about that one
thing, it was great.
Something else that’s great is John Cena! I don’t think 16 year old me would have
ever thought I’d be saying and yet, here we are.
Yesterday saw the 42nd birthday of one Jonathan Felix Anthony Cena Jr., with the Doctor of
Thuganomics taking to the more normal of his two public social media accounts to share
his perspective, and more importantly, share his 72000 individual muscle groups.
Seriously, I think scientists need to check that out as there may be some sort of new
discovery of muscles to be made here.
It goes without saying that Cena has been one of the largest stars the WWE has ever
seen, a view that is also shared by the owner of the company, who took to Twitter to share
his thoughts on Big Match’s John Big Day.
“Happy Birthday to WWE’s Babe Ruth, John Cena! I really can’t describe in words how
much John Cena means to me and the WWE Universe. #HustleLoyaltyResepctLove”
Aww isn’t that sweet. It’s like Cena is another son to Vince, so much going around.
I wonder what outpouring of emotion he did for his actual son, Shane’s birthday.
“Happy Birthday Shane”
*awkward tug of the collar*
Moving right along to something slightly more serious, and it appears a current champion
on SmackDown may have suffered an injury over the weekend.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that current SmackDown Live Tag
Team Champion Jeff Hardy may have suffered a leg injury at a house show in Madison, Wisconsin
this past Saturday.
This was furthered by Hardy seen visibly limping at the following night’s house show in Rochester,
Minnesota.
The Hardy Boyz were nowhere to be seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, which
could lend further credence to Hardy actually having the injury.
As the severity of the injury is as of yet unknown, it’s not clear whether this will
lead to the Hardyz being forced to vacate the titles. If they do, I’m sure they can
be picked up can by well-established tag team stars...Heavy Machinery? Nakamura and Rusev?
Who else do they even have?
Regardless, if the injury is legitimate, WrestleTalk would like to wish Jeff well in his recovery
process.
Well, that’s the sad injury story out of the way, let’s get on to something more
positive.
Daniel Bryan’s been pulled from more shows because of injury! *look*
As reported by Wrestling Inc, Bryan was pulled from both of SmackDown’s house shows in
Madison and Rochester, and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown
either.
The former WWE and current Planet’s Champion has been out of action since WrestleMania
35, where he reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury.
According to Mike Johnson of PW Insider, the injury is supposed to be a closely guarded
secret, which only adds fuel to the fire of a potentially career-ending injury, especially
given Bryan’s past neck troubles.
With Money in the Bank fast approaching and Bryan seemingly an obvious choice for the
ladder match itself, only time will tell if he is in good enough condition to compete
at the event.
Once again, WrestleTalk would like to wish Bryan well in his recovery process if this
injury is indeed legitimate. Please get well soon.
Now can everyone stop getting injured? Next time I’m here I want some happy stories
to report on!
Are Charlotte Flair and Andrade getting married? Click the video to my right to find out right
now! A special shoutout to our lovely Patrons on Patreon, some of which you can see scrolling
below me right now. Click the thumbs up, subscribe, enable notifications and leave us a comment.
I’ve been Pete Quinnell, and that, was wrestling.