Smackdown Live Review 02/13/2018

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. The WWE is on the Road to Wrestlemania and Smackdown Live has one more stop before it gets there which is WWE Fastlane. Dolph Ziggler returns to Smackdown Live to face off against Baron Corbin to see who will be added to the WWE Championship match at Fastlane. Also how will Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn react to Shane McMahon’s decision to add another challenger? Will we hear Styles thoughts about the Fastlane match? Whats next for the Usos? Will Bobby Roode seek retribution on Randy Orton after being levelled with a RKO outta nowhere last week? Will things spice up in the women’s division? Lets find out.

Smackdown comes to us live from Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are on commentary.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attack Corbin and Ziggler
As Ziggler waits for Corbin to join him in the ring he never comes out. Backstage, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are beating down Baron Corbin. After they Super Best Friends layout Corbin, Owens says one down, one more to go. Owens and Zayn make their way to ringside. Ziggler tries to leave but Zayn cuts him off. Owens and Zayn swarm Ziggler. Owens and Zayn dismantle Ziggler in the crowd. Owens tosses Ziggler over the barricade back to ringside. Ziggler tries to fight back but the numbers are too much. Owens lifts Ziggler to his feet. Zayn hits a Helluva Kick, sending Ziggler careening to the mat. As Owens and Zayn walk up the ramp Corbin appears and attacks them. Owens sends Corbin into the barricade. Officials pull Owens and Zayn off Corbin.
Opinion
This was an awesome way to kick off the show and completely different from what they have been doing in previous weeks. It still set up the matches for the rest of the night but it was creative. I liked how Corbin wasn’t just out after the first attack. I also liked how the commentators played it as if Corbin was trying to play mind games with Ziggler when speculating what was taking him so long to come out. This was awesome. I also appreciate that it involved zero authority figures and kicked off Smackdown Live with a bang. It makes sense that Owens and Zayn don’t want anyone else in the match.

Charlotte Flair w/ Becky Lynch & Naomi def. Sarah Logan w/ Riott Squad
In a solid match Charlotte defeated Sarah Logan after hitting her with a Natural Selection. Following the match Charlotte says she only has one more member to beat.
Opinion
This was a solid match and I’m glad they had Becky and Naomi out there with Charlotte this week to even the odds. Right now it looks as if the rivalry is Charlotte Flair against the Riott Squad but there just isn’t any heat or excitement behind it. The Smackdown women’s division seems to be lacking excitement at the moment. I hope that changes getting closer to Fastlane and definitely before Wrestlemania. This was Logans best singles match so far since she’s been on the main roster.

– Backstage, Shane McMahon barges into Daniel Bryan’s office. Shane says Owens and Zayn proved tonight that they have no business being WWE champion. Bryan tries to speak but Shane talks over him. Shane says Corbin will face Owens tonight and Ziggler will face Zayn. If either one of them wins their match the title match at Fastlane will become a fatal four-way or a fatal five-way. If either Owens or Zayn gets involved in the other’s match they are out of the title match. Shane walks out as Bryan nods okay. The tension between them seems to be dying down but it still there. I’m still curious if its leading to anything.

Fastlane WWE Championship Opportunity on the line
Baron Corbin def. Kevin Owens
In a hard-hitting match Baron Corbin defeats Kevin Owens after reversing a pop-up power bomb into an End of Days for the victory.
Opinion
This was a great match with a shocking finish. Thus far, Corbin’s main roster career has been lackluster with him earning great opportunities and then squandering them. Due to that its hard for me to take him serious and be satisfied with the fact he got a clean victory over Owens. However, he is now added to the match at Fastlane and maybe he can change my perspective on him.

Bobby Roode US Championship Open Challenge
Bobby Roode says from the moment he won the United States title he wanted to be the greatest U.S. champion of all time. Roode has to steal something from a man he wants to surpass, John Cena. The United States Championship Open continues now! Roode hopes that the man who comes out will meet him face-to-face and not attack him from behind and hit an RKO out of nowhere. Randy Orton answers the challenge.
Before the match can start, Jinder Mahal comes out. Mahal says the Smackdown Live roster doesn’t respect him. They voted him 9th on the Smackdown rankings. Mahal needles Orton about his ranking. Mahal says they have had their issues but he actually respect Orton. Mahal says the rest of the roster thinks Orton has already plateaued. Orton says he doesn’t care about a list. Mahal says Roode has been here for six months but he is ranked higher than Orton. The crowd chants RKO as Mahal laughs.
Mahal says he knows that Roode fancies himself a legend killer. Roode says this is big talk coming from someone who couldn’t even make the list (Mahal). Roode says he respects Orton and all he has done. BUT with all due respect, Roode has an idea why Orton was only nine on the list. Maybe, just maybe everyone else is like Roode; tired of getting attacked out of nowhere. Orton says like when he does this and RKOs Singh. Roode tries to DDT Mahal but Orton grabs him from behind. Roode decks Orton. Mahal hits the Khallas on Roode, then Orton.
Opinion
I absolutely loved this segment. I also think they were smart to not give us Randy Orton and Bobby Roode tonight as they already had two big matches on this card with Corbin/Owens and Zayn/Ziggler. This way they were’t putting all their eggs in one basket and saving stuff for a later episode of Smackdown Live or even smarter, the upcoming PPV. I was also glad to Jinder Mahal being back in the picture. The Modern Day Maharaja was just the WWE Champion for most of 2017 and it would be ridiculous investing that much time in him just to put him on the back burner now. The RKO outta nowhere that Randal hit on Sunil was great too. Roode and Orton are both already over so Jinder standing tall in the end made a impact and was the right choice.

New Day Segment
The New Day – Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. There’s a table with several trays full of pancakes in the ring as today is Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday. Woods says Big E is going to destroy the record of eating 113 pancakes in 8 minutes. Big E starts devouring the pancakes but he’s not really swallowing them all. The music interrupts and out comes Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin. Gable knocks The New Day for all the pancake nonsense. Benjamin says maybe they should take their pancake act on the road. Maybe they could open their own version of IHOP, and then they can leave the SmackDown tag team division to a few serious competitors. Kofi picks his nose while Woods asks if they’re trying to say Kofi isn’t a serious competitor. Big E flashes his chest as Woods asks them the same thing about Big E and then himself. Woods reminds Gable and Benjamin about The New Day’s longest-reigning record. Woods asks who even wants to see Gable and Benjamin with the titles… nobody! Gable hushes them and they start tossing pancakes to the mat, taunting and mocking The New Day. The New Day are getting serious now. Big E warns them not to touch their cakes. Gable says they have some news for The New Day – nobody likes pancakes. Fans boo. Benjamin wants waffles from now on. They toss a tray of pancakes to the mat and Big E is ready to fight for it. Kofi and Woods hold Big E back.
Opinion
There was so much of this that had me confused. Does anyone know why or how The New Day got associated with pancakes? Did they just start bringing them out and then got it over? Was it some inside joke or a dare? Anyway, the disrespect towards pancakes by Gable and Benjamin led to a match. I understand the lack of heel tag teams on Smackdown but I feel like Benjamin and Gable were better off as babyfaces. I didn’t really enjoy this at all but I’m sure some people did.

The New Day def. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
In a decent tag team match The New Day defeated Gable and Benjamin after Kofi and E hit the midnight hour on Gable.
Opinion
I dont know. I feel like every time Gable and Benjamin gain momentum, they cut them off. The New Day is still as over as they have ever been but they dont need these victories to stay over. This match was a grudge match over pancakes and I just couldnt get into it.

– Renee Young is backstage with Dolph Ziggler for comments on the match. Ziggler says he’s been away as he’s been a little more selective when it comes to his spot but now he’s got another opportunity. Ziggler says he loves it, it’s about doing what he was put on this planet to do – perform in the ring. Ziggler goes on about how he is the best. He says Sami and Owens attacked him from behind because they know what he’s capable of. Ziggler says the only reason he’s back is because he wants the one thing that has alluded him his entire career – he wants to main event WrestleMania and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t enter the show as WWE Champion. We go back to commercial as Ziggler walks off.

Usos Backstage Promo
There is a backstage promo from SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos about how they are the top tag team in the division. A screen showing the promo backstage is suddenly destroyed by The Bludgeon Brothers, Rowan and Harper. They stare at the cameras to end the segment.
Opinion
Interesting to say the least. Looking forward to see what happens next.

– Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are backstage as Sami prepares for the main event. Sami mentions that Owens let him down by losing earlier. Sami says there is no “we” in this WWE Title match at Fastlane, it’s every man for himself. Sami walks off, leaving Owens looking shocked.

Fastlane WWE Championship Opportunity on the line
Dolph Ziggler def. Sami Zayn
In a fast-paced competitive match Dolph Ziggler defeated Sami Zayn after blocking a helluva kick and connecting with a super kick on Zayn. Thus making this WWE Championship match at Fastlane a Fatal-Five Way.
Opinion
This was a really solid main event and I enjoyed it. I was curious to see how they were going to book Ziggler for his return since he left in such a dramatic way. The Royal Rumble appearance and him getting his ass whooped to kick off this show weren’t great signs of what was to come but this was a huge much needed victory for him. I definitely dont see Ziggler winning at Fastlane or main eventing Wrestlemania but I am curious on what sort of role he’ll pay at Wrestlemania this year. There is some tension between Zayn and Owens again.

Final Thoughts
There were some dull points on this weeks episode of Smackdown Live but it was much better than last week. I enjoyed the opening segment and the two matches that came out of it. I also really enjoyed the segment between Roode, Orton and Mahal. I’m glad they realized they can have less wrestling on these shows and they can use these shows to build on characters and storylines. I miss seeing Carmella and Breezango on Smackdown Live. They could have cut that pancake segment and had a Fashion Files segment and the last time I was really invested in the Smackdown Women’s Division was a couple of weeks back when Carmella teased cashing in. I’m also surprised that we didnt have any AJ Styles or Nakamura on this show but it is what it is. Check it out.
Rating – 7/10