Simple SmackDown In A Nutshell theme this week: we have one week until WrestleMania 40, with the show next week giving us the Hall of Fame.
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And let’s be honest. There may be one week until WrestleMania 40, but we are just a few days beyond an explosive Monday Night RAW…what Cody or The Rock does next is anyone’s guess.
We do know, unrelated to WrestleMania (or is it?) that Jade Cargill will make her first appearance as an official member of the blue brand.
Orton and Owens get to team up against Pretty Deadly, which should be fun. Bianca Belair is gunning for Dakota Kai. Plus we have two more tag matches as we look to finalize that six pack ladder match.
It should be a busy two hours, especially when you consider that next week’s show tends to be a touch abbreviated with an eye toward the Hall of Fame ceremony. So, it’s time for…
SmackDown In A Nutshell: One Week Until WrestleMania 40
Let’s crack this one open and see how things go!
Best Match of the night:
This is a unique one tonight, because I will say…I don’t know that one really stood out?
I personal thoroughly enjoyed New Catch Republic defeating Angel and Humberto, but I am a big fan of Bate and Dunne. Bianca and Dakota was also really good, but I feel like that was overshadowed by Jade’s in-ring SmackDown debut.
Worst match of the night:
Not a match, but a segment. What was the point of when Nick Aldis ran into Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn? I thought maybe they’d ask for a women’s tag match or something? I think one asked about different entrance music, but it was just…weird?
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Bayley
LWO
A few others, but overall, good crowd.
Star of the Night
LA Knight was strong here tonight.
Jade Cargill was presented as a massive star during her reveal, and looked like a true Superstar to close the show. I know we heard we were getting Bianca and Naomi against Kabuki Warriors for the titles…but I have a feeling we get a six woman tag instead. While I would not hate that, we need the titles defended. Perhaps the six woman on Friday, and if the faces win, the titles get defended on Sunday?
And…throwing this in after the fact. After the show went off air, we got this announcement:
Spot of the Night:
Just going to give this one to Jade’s offense following our main event. She will be a problem for the women’s division moving forward, if everything goes as it looks.
Jobber of the Night:
Wasn’t one in the traditional sense…but I am going with Pretty Deadly.
Sure, they got the win because Logan Paul does what Logan Paul does, but for their win, both Superstars ate finishers from Orton and Owens.
Upset of the Night:
Waller and Theory over the Street Profits, but a massive assist to what Karrion Kross and Scarlett did in the back. Though, we need someone to knock out with the Dudleyz, and you’d rather see Waller and Theory get squashed than anyone else.
That and I do think we see a nice six man tag between the Final Testament, Lashley and the Profits. And perhaps Bobby calls an old friend for backup.
Speaking of big tag matches…this one seemed so logical, but we may get a traditional tag match instead.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
We have a new member of the Latino World Order. I honestly was expecting Andrade to be the call, but Dragon Lee was the “duh” choice once Rey announced it.
Of course, with the numbers now in Rey’s favor, does Andrade side with Legado, or just stay away?
Botch of the night:
A couple, nearly one after the other, in the same match.
With Angel and Berto going against New Catch Republic, we had a missed tag called a tag (during Bate’s airplane spin), where Pretty Deadly knew they were supposed to make the tag, tried to make the tag, but missed. The official called it a good tag.
That was followed immediately by a super kick which hit Humberto instead of Tyler, but Bate sold like he should have.
I also suspect Logan didn’t do the best shot with the knucks, because WWE was not showing much of that in slow motion.
LOL Moment of the night:
I could go with Orton finding Logan under the ring.
But…can I go with the Snickers ad? Montez was funny ripping into Reggie…er…Scrypts. And Bronco and the other guy too.
Noteworthy Moment:
Jade’s official in ring reveal was pretty nice. Simple and to the point. She followed it up with quite the run-in.
The final two teams in the six pack challenge? New Catch Republic and A-Town Down Under. I still think/hope that we see some team get eliminated by Bubba and D-Von.
Clips were circulating online earlier of footage “after RAW went off-air” as though it was bad. But we also saw it aired tonight, and when that happens, you know it was planned or approved. If WWE hated it, if it crossed a line? We would have never seen it on television.
Overall lowlights:
It was a good two hours. Not much to complain about. Sure, the Bloodline basically had the night off. I wouldn’t be surprised if what we did see from Heyman, Jimmy and Solo had been recorded beforehand so they had the evening off too.
But…they figure to have an insanely busy next 10 days beginning Monday, so I get it. With one week until WrestleMania 40…some top draws get some rest.
Overall highlights:
Another enjoyable two hour show. Was it as insanely hooked up as the last couple between RAW and SmackDown? No, not at all. Let’s be realistic…even in the absolute golden era of professional wrestling, it is really hard to follow a show like we had Monday. Sometimes, you need a “down” or more quiet episode. It cannot all be 1000 miles per hour. Tonight was not, but it was a quiet calm and still effective.
After the final bell:
I don’t want to call this the go-home show, because we still get next Friday in Philadelphia. But, I felt like ever since WWE went to a 2 night WrestleMania, and we now squish SmackDown and the Hall of Fame together? I kind of feel like the legit go-home show is a bit more muted. That said, the show on the eve of the biggest WrestleMania ever? It’s going to be crazy.
We have one week until WrestleMania 40…it’s beyond time to buckle up!
