Smackdown Live had the shorter build when it came to their Wrestlemania feuds. This episode didn’t necessarily add anything new to them, but just served as a stop gap as we head into Wrestlemania Sunday.
Hug It Out: The WWE and the Smackdown brand’s main story line got saved with Daniel Bryan getting cleared and this segment was indication of that. After the months of tension between Bryan and Shane McMahon, they found common ground in becoming a tag team against the unemployed Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. In all actuality, Daniel Bryan did give both Zayn and Owens the lead way that got them in this predicament in the first place.
Later in the show, Zayn and Owens semi-took over Smackdown cutting a promo while Bryan and McMahon looked on from the back. Then McMahon did the “Na Na Hey Hey” with the crowd. My feeling is that Zayn and Owens will win the tag match and then either one or both can get traded to Raw. However, either man could be a good first singles feud for Daniel Bryan. Shane McMahon is presumably leaving after Wrestlemania and I have no idea how he’s even wrestling with all the medical problems.
Almost Got You There: The near hits of Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles continued into this week. Only this time, Styles almost hits Nakamura with a phenomenal forearm. Can I say that this was a really good tag match? Gable and Benjamin worked really good and I hope they get through this tag team muck, perhaps with a trade to RAW. A lot of fans are aware of the history between Nakamura and Styles (I hope). The mind games that they’ve been playing against each other has worked for the most part. Right now, it’s a hope that they get the proper time to tell that story in the ring. The card is going to go over seven hours. That’s pretty much a definite, so get into your most comfortable chair. In order to drive the point home that the history between these two is rich and that the Smackdown title is important, you have to book it as such as well. Brock vs. Roman is going to go a little shorter, so let Styles and Nakamura add a little strong style. Give them a separate identity.
Nobody Is Ready For: Charlotte and Natalya had a rewind of their match a couple of weeks ago. Again, they always put on solid matches together. This time, Carmella’s attempted MITB cash-in did not distract Charlotte as she was able to pick up the victory. I was also wondering if they were going to bring Asuka out (thankfully, they did) and we got a stare down. They didn’t need to get physical. This championship match is between two of the top talents in the WWE. The question lies with Carmella. You don’t want Asuka’s undefeated streak to go out with a cash-in, although that would be a hell of a surprise. Does she cash-in on the Smackdown champion…or Raw women’s champion?
Weird Cuts: Throughout the night, there were these weird double screens highlighting Wrestlemania story packages during matches. Given that this is the go-home show, wouldn’t it be best served to highlight the matches?
U.S. Title Day: Rusev is so over with the Smackdown crowd that he thankfully got into this U.S. title match last week. There was a funny part where Sunil Singh mocked Aiden English before the match. Rusev picked up the win over Jinder Mahal, then Randy Orton came with RKOs. At the end, Orton and Bobby Roode were the ones standing. Again, this did not help or hurt the fatal-four-way match on Sunday. It was a way to showcase all four men. You have to consider that the crowd is going to be SUPER pro-Rusev. I think you gotta pull the trigger and have him win the title. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise unless he gets into a main championship program.
…And Plugging The Network: Speaking of weird segments, you had The New Day, The Usos, and The Bludgeon Brothers backstage plugging the network. We get email reminders, graphics, and various advertisements about the network being free for Wrestlemania. This three way tag match is probably going to be one of the most underrated matches on the entire card. You could have did a quick little angle where The Usos and The New Day talk about their history, The Bludgeon Brothers come out, and both teams have the monsters retreat until Sunday.
