Written by Michael Vacchiano
Pre Show Thought: Friday Night Smackdown 4/24 is celebrating the legendary career of “The Game” and EVP of WWE himself, Triple H! Over the past 25 years, “The Cerebral Assassin” has carved his legacy as one of the company’s all-time greats. Prior to the show I wasn’t sure if there’d be some sort of in-ring celebration, or just various video highlights and packages showing his best moments. Either way, there is no shortage to choose from in the “King of Kings’” quarter century reign. As for in-ring action, we have a scheduled match for the Women’s Tag Team Titles, as well as qualifying matches for both Money in the Bank ladder matches for the upcoming PPV. Plenty to get to, so let’s dive in…
The New Day enter the ring, with Big E and Kofi celebrating them winning the tag team titles last week for the 8th time! They’re soon interrupted by Lucha House Party, who congratulate New Day and issue a challenge for the titles. Former champs John Morrison & The Miz storm past LHP on the stage, demanding a rematch for the belts. But all three tandems are soon put on notice by the recently debuted Forgotten Sons, who go on the attack and lay waste to the faces.
Clip is shown of the 1995 debut of Triple H as the former blue blood Hunter Hearst-Helmsley! Damn, I feel old…
Backstage, Miz and Morrison are sick of being disrespected, and challenge Lucha House Party to a match tonight.
MITB Qualifying Match: Drew Gulak w/ Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin
Ever since his awesome match with Bryan at Hell in a Cell a few months back, Gulak continues to get chances to showcase his excellent grappling and technical skills. The bigger and more cocky Corbin complemented him nicely tonight with his brawling tactics, still proving himself as one of the best natural heels in the company. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura attack Bryan on the outside near the end of the contest. The distraction allowed Corbin to ram Gulak face first into the ring post outside, followed by the End of Days for the win, plus a post match shot with the scepter.
Winner: King Corbin
Sheamus vs. Daniel Vidot
A current talent at the Performance Center, Vidot went on the attack right away. But the Celtic Warrior easily overpowered him within seconds and polished him off with a Brogue Kick for the easy victory. Thanks for coming, fella!
Winner: Sheamus
Another video package is shown of the Jeff Hardy redemption story, showing some of the demons and trials that “The Charismatic Enigma” has had to overcome. Sheamus again feels disrespected by Michael Cole’s words of praise about Hardy and rips off his headset in frustration. When will this eventual program begin?
Triple H Celebration Night continues with the classic bit from 1998 when he led Degeneration X during the Monday Night Wars. Seeing him lead the troops and storm WCW Headquarters brought back memories, and it’s still one of the great moments of the Attitude Era.
The Miz & John Morrison vs. Lucha House Party
Gran Metallik and Lince Dorado have always been extremely talented, but are never consistently featured in the tag team division. They seem to randomly pop in for some of these multi-team feuds, and tonight feels no different. Even so, both masked men hit a few nice aerial moves before the arrogant former champs took control. Morrison still shows how smooth and fluid he is with his move transitions, and no one can talk smack like Miz. But taking LHS lightly is what cost them, as Metallik reversed an attempted Skull Crushing Finale into a short victory roll to get the upset 1-2-3!
Winners: Lucha House Party
MITB Qualifying Match: Sasha Banks w/ Bayley vs. Lacey Evans
The personal feud between these two ladies went up a notch, as Banks came to the ring with a small cardboard photo thingy of Lacey’s daughter. The unfocused anger of the Sassy Southern Belle lead to Sasha getting the advantage and working over Evans’s right hand and arm throughout the match. The Boss tried to get Lacey to tap to the Bank Statement, but the former Marine escaped and landed a Woman’s Right out of nowhere!
Bayley’s attempt to help her BFF did not go over well with Banks, as the referee was distracted from counting for her, and she told the Smackdown Woman’s champ to stay out of it. It was Sasha’s undoing as she turned around into another right hand finisher from Evans, who got the win and punched her ticket to Money in the Bank. Pun intended. As the heels retreated to the stage, Bayley was met with superkick from Tamina, her challenger for the title at the upcoming PPV. Can the slightly shaky friendship between Bayley and Sasha stay intact for that one?
Winner: Lacey Evans
A video package is now shown about the history between Universal Champion Braun Strowman and his opponent at Money in the Bank, Bray Wyatt. We see footage of Braun’s debut in 2015 as a member of the Wyatt Family, and of Bray’s recent remarks of being the one to take him out. I am definitely interested…
Another highlight of Triple H’s career being featured tonight? His deafening return to WWE in 2002 after tearing his quad muscle eight months earlier. Still remember Madison Square Garden going insane for that one!
Women’s Tag Team Championship:
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Carmella & Dana Brooke
Surprisingly, this match was much shorter than I expected. The challengers took control early, and Brooke hit her handspring elbow on Cross on the outside. But it wasn’t long before Carmella found herself without her partner, who had been shoved hard into the barricade by Bliss. The champs then finished off the Princess from Staten Island with a unique 3D-like double team maneuver. Pretty cool to see, but would much rather have seen this match go 5-10 minutes longer.
Winners and still champions: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
Triple H 25th Anniversary Celebration
Friday Night Smackdown 4/24 closed out with the celebration of The Game’s career. The Game is immediately joined in the ring by his longtime friend and fellow Hall of Famer, “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels! The two joke around and reminisce about the good ol’ days of DX, as well as all of Hunter’s Wrestlemania moments. The King then reads off the list of names of his greatest in-ring rivals (Rock, Austin, Foley, Taker, Batista, Orton, and HBK himself) and thanks them.
Stephanie McMahon, Road Dogg, and the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair all call in on Facetime to congratulate the man of the night. The cherry on top is the arrival of WWE owner himself and Triple H’s father-in-law, Mr. McMahon! He tells both men in the ring how much he loves them, and thanks them for all they’ve done. The night ends with the founding fathers of Degeneration X hugging and smiling in the ring.
Final Thoughts for Friday Night Smackdown 4/24
Tonight’s Smackdown was a decent episode at best. The Triple H celebration was a nice stroll down memory lane, and it was great to see Shawn Michaels make an appearance and bring back some of that comedic chemistry they’re known for. However, the focus on the past came at the expense of the present, as the stars of today took a backseat. With a little over two weeks until Money in the Bank, spots on the card still need to be filled in and tonight’s Smackdown only took small steps in doing that. Plus, with the fantastic in-ring product and matches featured this week on Raw and NXT, I also would have preferred SDLive to follow suit. Unfortunately, that was not the case, but it was still nice to see WWE to respectfully salute one of their company’s all time greats.
