Ricochet VS Happy Corbin
SmackDown kicked off with the one and only Ricochet taking on Happy Corbin. This was a solid match and a nice opening to the show. Happy was in control for a lot of this and he once again shows just how underrated he truly is. In the end, Ricochet won with a shooting star press. Ricochet is slowly climbing his way back up the rankings of this show and he should continue this upward trajectory. Corbin receiving another loss makes you feel that he isn’t going to be happy for much longer. Pat McAfee analysis after the match was good fun.
Grade: B
Second Chance Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match
The Street Profits where seen walking backstage and they had a little interaction with Hit Row which I guess makes sense? We then saw the first of two videos for Drew McIntyre, this one was based on his first run in WWE and how he went on to be fired by the company. Karrion Kross then cut a promo in a different area than you would usually see which is cool as it makes the character feel unique. Kross is a good promo, and he makes his in-ring debut next week.
It was then time for the Second Chance Fatal 4-Way Tag Team match. This was a match between the four teams who lost in the first round of the Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament. I didn’t like that this match was a thing, it would have made more sense for Raquel and Aliyah to automatically qualify for the final or, have NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose take Gigi Dolin’s place. It was made even worse by the bad match. It was sloppy at times and all the frequent tags didn’t help. This match would have been better had it of been 1 member of each team in the ring. Deville then hitting a superplex onto everyone on the outside and then throwing Nikki A.S.H. in and just pinning was a poor ending. Even though Gigi Dolin’s injury effected there plans, this could have been done a lot, lot better.
Grade: E
Sheamus and Gunther Promo, Roman and Sami Part 2
Sheamus and Gunther both cut pretty cool promos. There both well respected wrestlers who would most of the time be the opponent no one wants to fight. Sheamus wants to win the one title he hasn’t yet won whilst Gunther wants to add Sheamus to a list of top names that he has defeated. Also, when Ludwig Kaiser was brawling with Buch and Ridge Holland, Sheamus and Gunther didn’t care and just stared down each other. I am really looking forward to this match.
Grade: B+
Sonya Deville and Natalya then cut a promo on how they are going to beat Raquel and Aliyah and that they will advance to the Final. In the background, Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. where having an argument so it looks like they could be splitting up pretty soon. Sami Zayn then went to speak to Roman and even though The Usos weren’t too impressed, Roman was happy to have him. Reigns getting Sami to do whatever he wants makes sense as Sami feels like he has allies, something he hasn’t had for a while. Jey Uso doesn’t like him at all which is quite funny.
Women’s Tag Team Championship Semi Final, MMM, The New Day return
Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY arrived on SmackDown to the delight of Pat McAfee and the opposite feeling for Michael Cole. Bayley was out for commentary for the semi-final matchup between Sonya Deville and Natalya VS Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah. This match was really a showcase for Raquel Rodriguez as Aliyah just vanished from the match. Raquel is really good, she was on NXT, she still is now, and I could see her being Women’s Champion by WrestleMania 40. After Raquel won with the Tejada Bomb, Aliyah reappeared which was a bit silly, and Bayley even took the mick out of it. I’m glad that this is the final, Raquel and Dakota have so much history and also, Raquel took the NXT Women’s championship off IYO so both of Bayley’s crew need a bit of redemption.
Grade: C-
Maximum Male Models where seen doing another photo shoot, this time in a car park so they clearly don’t have the greatest of budgets. Hit Row’s music started playing in a big truck which annoyed Max Dupri, and this ended with them wrecking the bus thinking it was Hit Row’s, but it wasn’t. It was the Street Profits, and they weren’t happy with it. This wasn’t great.
Grade: D
The New Day returned to SmackDown and admitted that they underestimated the Viking Raiders. They weren’t in their normal happy mood but that makes sense as there legacy was literally burnt last week. The Raiders then came out and said that the thing that Vikings hate the most is weakness. Woods, who was seen sitting in a wheelchair, managed to trick the Vikings by chucking a kendo stick to his partner before attacking the Raiders to stand tall. This was solid
Grade: C
Drew McIntyre VS Sami Zayn
Backstage, Sami Zayn wasn’t happy with Jey Uso giving him negative vibes before he headed to the ring for his match. Drew then had part 2 of his WWE Career, this time his run that took him all the way to being a two-time WWE Champion. This video package put Drew over as a major challenger. I hope they do more of these for other people.
The main event saw the self-proclaimed locker room leader face off against the Scottish Warrior in a solid match. Sami wanted to win even more than before to keep him in the Tribal Chief’s good books whilst Drew McIntyre barely ever loses. At one point in the match, The Usos tried to help the Great liberator, but it didn’t end with a Sami victory. Drew then hit the Claymore kick to get the victory. After the match, Roman Reigns came out and attacked his challenger. Drew fought him and The Usos off but in the end, the numbers where too much and Roman hit him with a Spear. They then continued to beat him up and Sami Zayn even got involved by hitting a Helluva Kick. Roman then locked in the guillotine and sat on a chair that was setup above the knocked-out warrior. This was a really effective way to put over how big a bad guy Roman is. Drew is a fighter but even he can’t beat those odds. Next week is the 2-year anniversary of Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship run which is crazy.
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