Smackdown Live Review 03/20/2018

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. The Road to Wrestlemania has only two more weeks left. The biggest news coming into this show was that earlier in the day we got notifications that Daniel Bryan has been cleared to wrestle again which is AMAZING. The Dragon Boy is back and I’m sure its going to get a lot of people tuning into Smackdown this week. I’m looking forward to see where he is going to be involved on the Wrestlemania card. The idea that Wrestlemania is two weeks away I wonder how much development we’ll get on the other matches as well. It was announced earlier that the triple threat match for United States Title that we all predicted is official between Orton, Mahal and Roode. I’d love to see how they react to the announcement. I also wonder if we’ll see any more development between Asuka and Charlotte or if we’ll get an official idea of the Smackdown tag divisions role at Wrestlemania. Finally, Smackdown Live went off the air last week with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn brutally attacking Shane McMahon after Shane said he would take a leave of absence due to his actions in recent months towards Zayn and Owens. This week we’ll find out what repercussions they’ll face. Let’s get to it.

Smackdown comes to us live from American Airlines Centre in Dallas, TX.

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

Daniel Bryan
The show kicks off with that fans already chanting “Yes!” as we go to the ring. Out comes SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan to a big pop as Greg Hamilton does the introduction. Fans chant Bryan’s name as he takes the mic. Bryan thanks the fans. He says something horrific happened to Shane McMahon last week but he will have to address it later as the two people he needs to speak to aren’t here yet. Bryan says he has something else to talk about. He says he had the hardest time of his life two years ago but he focused on one thing since then – being grateful, no matter how tough things got. Bryan says he has a lot to be grateful for and fans pop. Bryan has an amazing family, amazing friends, the best fans in the world and an amazing, beautiful wife, Brie Bella. Bryan gets emotional now. Bryan says when he was depressed or angry and trying to be grateful, and Brie saw all he wanted to do was get back into the ring, she came to him and said it’s wonderful that he’s grateful but he needed to fight for his dreams. Brie is the one who encouraged him to start seeing specialists. Bryan says when one specialist gave him good reviews, Brie told him to go see another, and another. Fans chant “THANK YOU BRIE!”
Bryan says when he saw another specialist and they cleared him, Brie told him to fight for his dreams because that’s what he does. Bryan says he wasn’t just grateful when he got depressed then, he fought. He goes on about how Brie encouraged him to fight for his dreams and not walk away, saying if he fought for his dreams then they would fight for him. Bryan says every hard thing seems impossible until it becomes real and over the last 2 months he’s asked WWE to look over his case again. WWE sent him to the best neurologists across the country and they all said the same thing – you are cleared. Fans chant “YES!” now. Bryan says there was a time when being cleared to compete in a WWE ring seemed impossible but now it is real. Bryan says he has a lot of thank yous. He says they looked at him as the person, not the wrestler, and he’s thankful for that. He’s also thankful for WWE giving his case a second look. Bryan wants to thank every fan in the arena and every fan at home because they have supported him the entire time. Bryan goes on about the fan support and says he’s incredibly grateful.
Bryan says now it’s time for the fun stuff. He doesn’t know exactly when or where he will get back in the ring but… Bryan looks up and sees the WrestleMania 34 banner and fans pop big. A WrestleMania chant starts up and Bryan asks if that sounds like a good idea. Fans chant “YES!” now. Bryan says he doesn’t know for sure if that is going to happen but will he compete in a WWE ring again? Bryan leads a much louder “YES!” chant as his music hits. Bryan leaves the ring as fans go wild.
Opinion
This was everything it needed to be and meant to be. The crowd was hot because they knew what was happening here. I know a lot of people were hoping they’d keep it as a surprise but I also know the WWE is trying to get more people to tune into Smackdown Live. I loved how at first he still stuck to business before getting to the part we all wanted to hear, his confirmation that he’s back. This was great and a special moment. Low-key being guilty of being a Total Divas/Bellas viewer and a loyal supporter of Braniel, it was sweet to see his appreciation of Brie during this entire battle to get to wrestle again. I think it goes without a doubt that Bryan will be wrestling at Wrestlemania but I think they were smart to make us hang on for the rest of the show to see how it is going to play out. Welcome back Dragon Boy.

-Back from the break and referee Lil’ Naitch congratulates Daniel Bryan backstage. Bryan asks if Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are here yet but he hasn’t seen them. Bryan asks Robinson to send them to his office when they arrive. Dolph Ziggler walks up and congratulates Ziggler, wanting to be the first to say he can’t wait to beat Bryan. Bryan says Ziggler can certainly try. Ziggler walks off.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev w/ Aiden English
AJ Styles sat at ringside for this match. They botched the graphic and showed the US Title instead of the WWE Championship on Style’s name plate. In a fun match Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev by pin fall after countering Rusev with a unique roll-up.
Rusev and English double team Nakamura after the match. AJ takes his time getting his jacket off and stands up at ringside but doesn’t enter the ring. Nakamura eventually fights off the double team and stands tall in the ring. AJ looks on from ringside and Nakamura taunts him a bit as his music plays.
Opinion
This was a fun match. They managed to protect Rusev again. He lost but it was off guard and looked like Nakamura just got one over him luckily rather than squashing him. I’m still curious to why they’re protecting Rusev and if they have big plans for him post Mania. I think it would have been predictable to have Styles help Nakamura so the idea that Styles didnt and Nakamura defended himself was intriguing. It actually builds some tension between the two.

– Backstage, Charlotte is watching an Asuka promo from a monitor. Natalya walks in and tells Charlotte that she can see that Charlotte is scared. Charlotte says Natalya should lay off the catnip. Charlotte says Asuka is her toughest challenge yet and this offended Nattie. Natalya says she is better than and can beat both of them. Charlotte challenges Natalya to a match tonight.

– Backstage, Nakamura tells Styles that he didn’t need his help. Styles says he knows and tries to walk away. Nakamura stops Styles and tells him he has one more thing to say. Styles says he knows what Nakamura is going to say,  “you’re going to beat me at WrestleMania”. Nakamura tells Styles that he should have more confidence… but yes, with a knee to face.

Baron Corbin def. Tye Dillinger
In a quick match Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger after hitting him with an End Of Days.
Opinion
This was good Corbin who has no direction to get on television. Dillinger was there too.

Natalya def. Charlotte Flair
In a solid match Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair by catching Flair with a rollup when she got distracted by taking Carmella out with a big boot as Ms Money in the Bank was gong to attempt to cash in.
Opinion
It’s always great to see Natalya and Charlotte face off against each other. They bring the best out of each other. I think it was unfortunate that Asuka didn’t make an appearance even though she was backstage considering the MMC follows Smackdown Live. I feel like if they cut the Corbin/Dillinger match they could have had Carmella and Nattie try to set up a beat down on Charlotte, only for Asuka to make the save. On that note, another Carmella cash in tease was fun. I really hope that when she does cash in she doesn’t lose.

The Usos
Jimmy says at Fastlane it was the Usos battling the New Day for the tag team championship. That is until the Bludgeon Brothers got involved. The Bludgeon Brothers didn’t just come for the tag titles, they tried to end them all. The Usos don’t know how to back down. All they know how to do is survive. Doesn’t matter what percent the Usos are at, as soon as they step into the ring, it’s locked down. The Usos welcome the Bludgeon Brothers to the Uso Penitentiary.
Opinion
Another great promo by the Usos and they are more over as babyfaces now than they ever have been. I liked that they arent showing any fear this week and call out the Bludgeon Brothers.

Luke Harper w/ Erick Rowen def. Jimmy Uso w/ Jey Uso
In a hard-hitting, back and forth brawl Luke Harper defeated Jey Uso after discus lariat.
Opinion
This was a great hard-hitting match up. The highlight of it to me was seeing The Usos actually almost get the better of the Bludgeon Brothers when it came to singles action. There was a point in this match where it looked as if Jimmy could have pinned Harper for the win. Quality stuff.

Jinder Mahal/Bobby Roode/Randy Orton
Jinder Mahal calls everyone hypocrites. Mahal doesn’t have to be here. Mahal could be the biggest star in Bollywood. Mahal is the one who put the WWE title on the map and brought prestige back to it. Jinder Mahal says he will bring prestige back to the United States Championship as well. Glorious hits and Bobby Roode interrupts. Roode tells Jinder that he is the only hypocrite here. Mahal doesn’t deserve any respect. The only thing Mahal deserves at WrestleMania is Roode beating him at WrestleMania and its going to be GLORR..Randy Orton interrupts Roode mid-word and Orton joins his WrestleMania challengers in the ring. Orton tells Mahal to shut up. Orton tells Mahal that he doesn’t understand why people don’t respect him and why he’s not in the same class as other former WWE Champions. The reason is that without the help of his little stooge Mahal sucks. The Modern Day Maharaja takes off his jacket as if he is about to fight. Mahal pushes Sunil Singh into Orton and runs out of the ring. Singh tries to escape but Orton DDTs him. Orton sets up the RKO but Roode hits the Glorious DDT instead. The three opponents stare each other down.
Opinion
Its great to see that both the IC and US title matches at Wrestlemania involve top stars and are being defended at Wrestlemania. I’m also really glad that Jinder Mahal is involved in a important match at Wrestlemania. This is also Roode’s first time at the big show and he’s doing the thing. I liked how they held off from any major confrontation here. I think Jinder might be the one to go over as he’s the one being built as the major underdog here. Orton is going to be the Wrestlemania vet in there guiding these two in their first big Mania match. I dig it.

– Naomi and Becky Lynch make their way out to the ring.

Becky Lynch & Naomi def. Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan w/ Ruby Riott
In a quick competitive match, Becky Lynch and Naomi defeat Logan and Morgan when Lynch counters Logan’s suplex into a disarmher.
Opinion
This was quick match to help hype the Women’s Battle Royal for Wrestlemania. The babyfaces got the much needed win after the loss at Fastlane. It was a good stuff and served its purpose.

– Daniel Bryan is backstage when a staffer informs him that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have arrived. Bryan wants them told that he will meet them in the ring.

Daniel Bryan/Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn
Daniel Bryan is in the ring doing a “Yes!” chant with fans. Bryan says tonight has obviously been very big for him but he has one more thing to address. He calls Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens to the ring. Sami and Owens hit the ring next. Owens says they weren’t going to come tonight because Shane McMahon isn’t here but then they got the big news that everyone has been waiting for for years, Bryan getting cleared to return to the ring. Owens says they raced to get here so they could be with Bryan for the big moment but they got pulled over for speeding, but talked their way out of it. Owens disses the people of Texas for boos. Sami says this is big and is something they wouldn’t miss because Bryan has been one of their biggest supporters. Sami goes on and says SmackDown is definitely the A show now because they have him, Owens and Bryan. Sami says actually that sounds like a dream team. Fans boo. Bryan appreciates the comments but that’s not why he brought them out here. He says he brought them out here because of what happened last week. We see a replay of Owens and Sami destroying Shane last Tuesday.
Sami and Owens are laughing at the replay. Bryan asks if they think that was funny. Owens says they did get carried away a bit and Sami says Bryan has to agree that Shane kind of deserved it. Bryan doesn’t think Sami and Owens get it, they’re acting like this isn’t a big deal. Bryan says this is a big deal and asks if they realize what they did. Bryan says he believes they truly are two of the best performers of this generation and Shane was right when he said Bryan was living vicariously through them because they come from the same places and they’ve known each other for 15 years. However, what they did was more than get carried way, they assaulted their boss. Bryan is having a hard time understanding because they won – Shane came out and gave them a match on the grandest stage of them all. Bryan tells them to imagine working an armory years ago in front of 300 people and someone telling them that they could fight each other at WrestleMania. Bryan says they even got what they wanted with Shane leaving his duties as SmackDown Commissioner but they still felt the need to attack their boss. Bryan says Shane was right and he really doesn’t want to do this…Bryan says he got fired from the company one time and became a better man. You can learn and grow from it. Bryan says he hates to do this but Sami and Owens are fired. The crowd cheers.
Bryan says this doesn’t mean they are gone forever, they’re just gone for now. Bryan says he is so sorry and they know how much they mean to him. Sami and Owens stare at Bryan as he extends his hand for a shake. Zayn and Owens both shake Bryan’s hand. Fans start singing “goodbye” to the two. Sami and Owens turn away but Owens turns back and floors Bryan. Owens screams at Bryan and blames him for what happened. Sami joins him but Bryan fights back as the crowd pops. Bryan unloads with kicks in the corner on Owens as fans chant but Sami comes over. Bryan hits a German suplex on Sami. Bryan with corner dropkicks for each man now. Bryan with more offense to each of them in the corners. Bryan gets riled up as fans pop big for him. Sami gets the upperhand as they both beat Bryan down now. Referees run down to try and stop things from ringside. Owens holds Bryan in the corner as Sami runs in with a Helluva Kick. The boos continue. Fans chant “you suck” now. Owens is screaming like a mad man at Bryan.
Owens and Sami end up with Bryan on the floor. The referees try to get them to back off. Owens hits a huge pop up power bomb on to the edge of the apron that leaves Bryan laying on the floor. Owens continues screaming. Sami stares down at Bryan. Paramedics rush down with a stretcher as Bryan is laid out beside the ring. It sounds like fans are chanting “you’re still fired” now. Owens continues yelling as he and Sami head up the ramp. SmackDown goes off the air as Bryan is loaded onto the stretcher.
Opinion
WELL…thank god. This was awesome.The beautiful thing about this segment was the fact that since Bryan retired we haven’t seen him get this physical, hit anybody, take a hard bump or fight back like we did tonight, so it felt so much special when he finally did. I’m also extremely happy that we’re getting a payoff to the Owens/Zayn/McMahon/Bryan angle instead of them throwing it away to just have Owens and Zayn turn in each other or have it end with Bryan getting fired. They actually had a long and slow burning build for this match that goes all the way back to last Summer and they’re actually tying up all the loose ends to give us a suitable payoff at Wrestlemania. I dig it.

Final Thoughts
It’s great to have Bryan back and it couldnt have been at a better moment. At this particular moment the Smackdown roster with Bryan just seems stacked. The amount of dream matches just on Smackdown involving Bryan are undeniable. This was a solid episode of Smackdown that had some flaws but there was more good than bad. There was angle advancement for the matches at Wrestlemania. The return of the Dragon and everything surrounding him is more than enough of a reason to watch this episode of Smackdown and make it memorable. For the first time in months all the drama involving the Authority figures feel like they worth it. If you are a Bryan fan, definitely tune in.
Rating – 7.5/10