SmackDown In A Nutshell: Road To WrestleMania Goes Through Miami

It’s time for this week’s SmackDown In A Nutshell, and this time around, the Road to WrestleMania goes through Miami.

As with every show this time of year, anything and everything will be lining up matches for WrestleMania.

What more will we see between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, as they race toward their big match?

And what about Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville, as they don’t yet have a match, but it seems exceedingly likely…

Plus, what about that supposed big push for Ricochet? Will we see it get rolling tonight?

And, now that Vince McMahon has offered Pat McAfee a WrestleMania match…will we find out who is opponent is?

Also, let’s not forget…Ronda Rousey will do something tonight that she’s never done before-wrestle on SmackDown on FOX.

See, it’s a big night for this Nutshell as we are on the Road to WrestleMania. It goes through Miami tonight on the way to Dallas…and it seems like the beach is heating things up.

So, no more delays, it is time for…

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Road To WrestleMania Goes Through Miami

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

It’s nice to see Ronda work, and her and Sonya worked a nice match…but it was kinda short, and we knew there was zero chance Rousey was losing.

However…

For me, the one I enjoyed the most? Ricochet and Sami Zayn.

This makes me think there is legit hope in the supposed push for Ricochet.

He looked good, he broke out some innovative moves, and, most importantly…he won the title.

Worst match of the night:

Really didn’t care for the Big E-Sheamus match.

It does feel like they are angling for that to be a tag match at WrestleMania, if I was to harbor a guess.

But that poor ATV…

Star of the Night

When you win a big singles title, you deserve some love.

That is why this one is all about Ricochet.

Spot of the Night:

Just going to leave this here…

WHAT?!?! HOW?!?#SmackDown #ICTitle @KingRicochet @SamiZayn pic.twitter.com/SeZpK8Rda5

— WWE (@WWE) March 5, 2022

Jobber of the Night:

Jinder Mahal feels worthy of this tonight. I mean, there was zero chance Drew was losing ahead of WrestleMania.

I could say Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura, too. They didn’t even make it to the ring, taken out by The Usos, so that Reigns could talk.

Wonder if the reward there is that duo becoming Jimmy and Jey’s opponents in Dallas.

Upset of the Night:

I would not say we had an upset in any matches.

Corbin might have been upset that Drew put his sword through the dart board though…

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

I was skeptical about that purported Ricochet push that was coming.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been.

For now, Ricochet is your new Intercontinental Champion!

Botch of the night:

If there was one, I missed it.

Commentary of the night:

Not a line, but it involves commentary.

30 minutes into this week’s SmackDown, we know another WrestleMania match.

Austin Theory came to Miami, and declared that he was Pat McAfee’s WrestleMania opponent.

I have to say…this should be good and could be sneaky good. However…I think Corey Graves and Pat McAfee could have been really good and easy to set up, too.

Noteworthy Moment:

Well, just after Sami Zayn took the IC belt off of Shinsuke Nakamura, I questioned the logic of the change. Anyone paying attention knew full well that Zayn and Johnny Knoxville were going to fight in Dallas.

And, I didn’t want to see it be for the title.

Unless something changes…it won’t be.

Knoxville came down, didn’t really do much (barely a distraction, I would say), and Ricochet got the 1-2-3.

Ricochet is the new champion, and now there is an even bigger reason for the Zayn-Knoxville match. We didn’t really need one, but there it is.

Overall lowlights:

I am bummed WWE didn’t take my idea of announcer versus announcer, but the McAfee opponent should lead to a good match.

Otherwise, very little to complain about.

Overall highlights:

Honestly, there was a lot to like about the whole show.

It’s funny, in a sense. I felt that this show was loaded top to bottom, and felt like some recent go-home shows.

Meaning, there was a lot crammed into it…but at the same time, WrestleMania is still a month away.

That means that, for a change, it feels like WWE has a lot of solid matches booked already, announced already, giving the Superstars time to build to the crescendo.

After the final bell:

The show started off hot, and it never really cooled down.

My only letdown? No Brock.

Then again, we cannot always get Lesnar…and the rest of the roster had a chance to deliver tonight.

I do believe that they did.

The Road to WrestleMania continues, and for this night, we watched as it went through Miami…and man was it fun.