This week, on SmackDown In A Nutshell…we’ve got Riddle keen for revenge. Solo Sikoa is up first as The Bloodline battle continues.
But all of the Bloodline will do!
The Original Bro was one of the only bright spots from the post-‘Mania RAW, and he’s going to be all over the place.
Including this week’s SmackDown.
Because, after all that happened to him in 2022, Matt Riddle keen for revenge against The Bloodline makes total sense.
Which works out well, because Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn could use a third. Funny how that lines up, isn’t it?
That isn’t all for this week, of course-it never is.
This week’s SmackDown gives us the long-awaited return of Shinsuke Nakamura.
And, as this show unfolds, there’s surely going to be fans speculating as to whether it’s Vince or Triple H running things tonight.
Regardless, it is time for us to get into…
Riddle Keen For Revenge : SmackDown In A Nutshell
Let’s crack this one open and see how things go!
Best Match of the night:
Is there any question? This one is absolutely Riddle and Sikoa.
Riddle keen for revenge was a nice headline, but the night belonged to Solo.
Worst match of the night:
You’d think Nakamura and Moss…and you’d probably be right.
But, I hated the Knight/Woods match.
Well, let me rephrase…I didn’t hate the match, so much as I hated the result.
Star of the Night
Welcome back Shinsuke. Now while they’ve got Kross dialed up for him…hear me out….
Shinsuke…King of Japanese Strong Style.
GUNTHER…
I mean…could they go harder than what we saw from GUNTHER, Drew and Sheamus?
And then, let’s go with Solo Sikoa and Matt Riddle.
Spot of the Night:
Rey out of nowhere works for me.
Jobber of the Night:
Sorry, but this one is all Madcap Moss.
He was no match for Shisuke Nakamura…but we knew that the King of Strong Style was winning his return.
On top of that, it surely feels like Moss was almost turning heel there, didn’t it? Trying to attack Nakamura after the match…
Upset of the Night:
LA Knight was definitely not happy with how he wound up losing to Xavier Woods.
Only Knight can grab the tights, right?
But seriously…decent match, but Knight needs some wins, no?
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Xavier Woods used the trombone to anger Imperium, and set himself up for a title shot.
More interesting in the exchange, in my opinion, is how it felt. The way Woods implied he’d be “the hottest free agent in a few weeks” has me expecting New Day might finally be split up.
I had hoped this would have been a face to face, in the ring encounter…but we got Scarlett working with her Tarot cards again.
And minutes after he’s physically back on SmackDown, Nakamura is being targeted by Karrion Kross.
That could be a really good feud, for sure.
Things that make you go hmm…
Botch of the night:
There was a fumble by an Uso during that opening segment-on the mic, about championships, but he said champion…and then fixed it.
And while it worked out, the code breaker that Liv delivered to Sonya missed by like 2 feet.
It doesn’t always look so bad, as the long hair helps things out, but Sonya’s face didn’t look like it was anywhere close to the right spot.
LOL Moment of the night:
Madcap Moss during his walk to the ring.
First…can’t he please, pretty please, go back to Riddick?
But…what was up with that? He walked down with Emma, made his hand gestures and stepped back…and no pyro.
Not saying he was supposed to…but how he was acting, it looked like you’d expect some.
Thus, it made me LOL.
Noteworthy Moment:
I absolutely LOVED Shinsuke’s return entrance. It felt like the fans missed him.
Hard not to love the back-to-basics intro, with fans singing along as they’ve done for him before.
According to the graphic, the WWE Draft starts two weeks from tonight, finishing on the following RAW.
Timing makes me cringe-I’d have expected it after Backlash, not before.
Then again, with Heyman announcing the tag title rematch for the same night, I have to think this is a TV ratings sweeps period or something.
Also, this is one where I’d love to see it as like, a Saturday WWE Network special. Think of it like a PLE, but no matches necessarily.
Doesn’t have to be on either show, might feel a bit more authentic. I’ve said that before, and I know no one in WWE cares.
Overall lowlights:
Madcap is another character that needs some sort of reboot. He’s not seen as a threat or anything.
It wasn’t that long ago that he was on the rise…but it seems like forever ago.
Overall highlights:
While I hate that the WWE titles are rarely seen currently, while Roman “works” toward 1,000 days…the entire angle is in good hands with the Usos and Solo Sikoa.
Latino World Order could be fun…I mean, they already are.
Plus, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle are strong as well.
Really good open and close to the show. And with Cole name-dropping Orton…I do wonder…
Hell of a strong end for Solo.
After the final bell:
Pretty good show, in my opinion. I know I was happy.
Riddle was keen for revenge, but he came up short…for now.
But, everything is there for this program to morph into an expected six man tag at Backlash, I would think.
