Smackdown Live Review 03/05/2019

SmackDown Live Review: March 05th, 2019

Live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

In-Ring Segment – The New Daniel Bryan, Erick Rowan, Kevin Owens
A replay of last week’s contract signing and tag team match featuring Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, and The New Daniel Bryan is played on screen
The New Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan appear in the Mohegan Sun Arena while they both watch a replay from last week. Bryan claims that he remained silent while the WWE Universe gushed over Kofi Kingston. He then continues by shutting down the already heated crowd to the point where Rowan shouts to the audience to shut up. Bryan states that Kofi Kingston is a supporting player, which is why he was taken out. He then goes onto describe his opponent at Fastlane, Kevin Owens, is a nobody, with nothing to lose. He then says that as the Planet’s Champion, he has everything to lose. Kevin Owens interrupts his promo and appears. Owens claims that for the past five months of being injured, he hated the fact that he is not doing what he does best. He claims that he hates people who disrespects the prestigious WWE championship. Speaking for his family and the WWE Universe, Owens states that he will shut his mouth come Fastlane. He then asks Bryan what makes him better than him in mockery. Owens says that he relates to the WWE Universe and states he does not have a seven foot cheerleader. Bryan responds to that Kevin does not have any friends. Kevin then ends his rebuttal by saying he does not need any friends to win the WWE title. A brawl between Erick Rowan and Owens occurs, Owens attempts a stunner on Bryan but Bryan escapes, which leads to Rowan hitting Owens with a claw chokeslam, standing tall with Bryan to end the segment.
My Thoughts:
I would never have seen the day that Kevin Owens would be a tweener! As a fan of his for five years, it is amazing to witness the mastery at work. I could tell that the Wilkes-Barre audience were a little slow in getting behind the next WWE champion but hell, I am a fan of where this will lead into Sunday! I also wanted to point out how awesome the character development was for The New Daniel Bryan. I mean, how great was it to see Daniel play off against a really heated WWE Universe? I loved how better his promos have become since turning heel. Being bias, I loved how Owens established himself as apart of the audience! He even brought back the yes movement, which I hope turns into the Yep movement!

Match #1: The Miz (with Shane McMahon) vs. Jey Uso (with Jimmy Uso)
  Before the match, The Usos cut a promo. Jimmy Uso acknowledges becoming six time tag team champions at Elimination Chamber. They then mock Shane and Miz with mockery promos. They then claim at Fastlane, they will hit harder than any tag team before them, welcoming them to the Uso penitentiary. The Miz and Shane McMahon appear and respond to their taunting. Shane McMahon will reclaim the tag team tiles. The Miz adds on by saying that if Jey loses focus in the match, he will expose the Usos for who they are. He then ends by saying that he will make his father proud in his hometown. Afterwards, a brawl occurs to send us into a commercial break.
When we returned from commercial break, the match has already begun and Jey Uso hits The Miz with a Uso superkick. Uso dominates but that immediately turns when Miz gains momentum. The Miz stops Jey at his tracks with a DDT and attempts a Skull Crashing Finale. Jey comes back and hits Miz with an Samoan Butt Splash. Jey attempts an uso splash but it is reversed. Jey then rolls up Miz with an attempted assist from Jimmy but Shane breaks it up. The Miz hits a distracted Jey Uso with a Skull Crushing Finale and gets the pinfall victory.
Result: The Miz via pinfall
My Thoughts:
That match did not give me the hype for Fastlane however, the promos beforehand did! Just having The Usos and The Miz let loose on the microphone really gave me the feels for this tag team title contest. You can tell that this match will be a good one to watch, especially when it’s in Miz’s hometown of Cleveland and his father in the front row. This also has me curious to see how they will play out Miz’s heel turn. Honestly, I believe The Miz should not be in a storyline like this where he will be in a WrestleMania kickoff like match with Shane McMahon! If anything, he should be going after that United States or WWE championship and shine like the singles star he is. Only time will tell!

Backstage Interview: Charlotte Flair, Kayla Braxton
Kayla Braxton is seen, telling the WWE Universe that she is interviewing Charlotte Flair, per her request. Charlotte Flair appears. Flair then states that SmackDown Live is missing its Queen. She then announces that she invites Becky Lynch to appear tonight. She then brags that she will win on Sunday and go onto WrestleMania to beat Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship.

            Match #2: United States Championship Open Challenge – R-Truth (with Carmella) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade
R-Truth stands in the ring before the match and claims that John Cena is his childhood hero. He also states that he is tired from last week’s defense. Carmella says to Truth that he is has to be brave after they break into their seven second dance break. R-Truth then opens the challenge. Lacey Evans appears and walks to the back. R-Truth responds jokingly by saying that she don’t want none. Carmella states that Truth is ready to defend that United States Championship. Joe enters and answers the call. Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega both answer the challenge. The match turns into a fatal four way match.
After commercial, the match finally gets underway and Samoa Joe stands tall dominating the match. Joe throws out Andrade and Truth outside the ring. Joe hits Rey with a scoopslam and attempts a pinfall but is unsuccessful. He then tosses Truth into the barricade and chops the life out of Mysterio and Andrade. Joe throws Andrade back into the ring and again, chops the air out of him. He gets brought into the corner. Andrade fights back and stuns Joe. Andrade then misses with a corner running strike and goes over the top rope. Joe slams him into the announce table and picks all the competitors apart piece by piece. Joe throws Rey over the barricade but R-Truth dropkicks him to send us into another intermission. Coming back, Andrade hits the vintage three amigos suplex on Rey. Andrade mocks Eddie Guerrero and attempts a rope suplex. R-Truth comes in and attempts a tower of doom with Rey but Joe interferes.  R-Truth comes back but is stopped by Joe. Andrade takes out both Joe and Mysterio. Andrade hits an amazing double moonsault but Joe throws him out. Truth then tries to comeback which features a spinebuster on Joe. Truth hits a five knuckle shuffle on Rey and Joe. Truth attempts a scissor kick but is reversed with a coquina clutch attempt which is then turned into a 619. Rey attempts a hurricanrana on the outside but is reversed by Andrade into a powerbomb. Zelina Vega injects herself into the match and takes out Truth. Samoa Joe then hits Andrade with a STO and pins Andrade to become the NEW United States Champion!
Result: Samoa Joe via pinfall, NEW UNITED STATES CHAMPION
My Thoughts:
My mouth has dropped to the floor and there is a tear in my eye! But before I get into that, seriously what a helluva match. All four competitors absolutely killed it out there! Seriously, I never expected to see something top what the US Open Challenge Triple Threat match entailed. How can you, the fan who fully invests in this product, not love the chemistry between Andrade and Mysterio? I firmly think that they will put on a classic at the granddaddy of them all. Aside from that, R-Truth surprisingly held his own in that match. True, he attempted to steal another win but it was fun while it lasted. No words can describe how much I loved the decision to have Samoa Joe in the mix and win! Joe has put in the work for almost twenty years in professional wrestling, so give him credit where it is due people! The SoCal Submission Specialist will really have a fun title reign in my opinion. There is no debate that whether it lasts past Fastlane and WrestleMania, you will be feasting your eyes!

Backstage Interview: Kayla Braxton and Samoa Joe
Kayla Braxton appears and introduces the new united states champion, Samoa Joe. Braxton asks Joe why he has failed to win the big one. Joe claims that the competition will be scared to face him and that the title will never leave his sights!

Match #3: Tag Team Match – Ricochet and Aleister Black vs. The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro)
The match begins with Ricochet and Sheamus locking up. Ricochet displays his tremendous athleticism with a standing moonsault. In the nix of stunning Sheamus, Cesaro provides the distraction. This leads Sheamus to hit the One and Only with a knee strike to the outside to send us into commercial. After coming back, Cesaro dominates and tortures the elbow of Ricochet. Ricochet comes back to take out Sheamus and hits The Swiss Superman with a rolling DDT. He tags in Black while Sheamus is tagged in. Aleister Black makes a comeback and while attempting a pin, Cesaro breaks it up. The Bar hit an assisted back breaker on Aleister. Black then hits a Black Mass on Cesaro out of nowhere and tags in Ricochet. Black takes out Sheamus. Ricochet hits a 630 splash and gets the pinfall victory. A brawl occurs post match when Rusev and Nakamura appear to attack the NXT newcomers. The Hardy Boyz appear to make the save. The four individuals take out the heel teams and stand tall to end the segment.
Result: Ricochet and Aleister Black via pinfall
My Thoughts:
Am I the only one who thinks that this NXT call up on both brands is not that great? Honestly, what the hell is placing NXT’s best in title contention when its in tag team form? I get it, they are both a team in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic but why call them up as a team? Aleister Black made his main roster debut on an episode of Main Event a couple of years ago and that made me more invested than the same tag team matches. Do not get me wrong though, I love the showmanship that these two have representing NXT (which is WWE’s superior brand) and their tag team chemistry! However, Teddy Long is not running the show people. This is not Matt Hardy and MVP trying to one up each other. Other than that, that match did not disappoint but the way that SmackDown’s tag team division is built around is a different story. WE NEED FRESH NEW TEAMS ON TELEVISION!! That is why The Hardy Boyz are the only exception. 

Match #4: Mandy Rose (with Sonya Deville) vs.  Naomi
The match starts and both women lock up. Naomi gains the upperhand but is distracted by Sonya Deville at ringside. This leads to Mandy Rose to hit Naomi with her finisher and gain the win. In the post celebration, Asuka attacks Fire and Desire and takes them out.
Result: Mandy Rose via pinfall
My Thoughts:
Do I really have to give my thoughts on a match that did not last a minute? Do I really have to comment about a rivalry that was put last minute to attempt to outshine the RAW Women’s number one contender’s match between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair at Fastlane Sunday? It makes me upset of how WWE establishes Mandy Rose as a top contender when the REAL top contender whose name is Sonya Deville should really be the one to be pushed. I get it WWE, try to make the blue brand’s Women’s title relevant during Mania season. But in reality, it has hurt the prestigious championship more than trying to save it.

Backstage Interview: Kayla Braxton and AJ Styles
Kayla Braxton welcomes AJ Styles backstage. Braxton asks Styles what he would do if he was in Kevin’s shoes. Styles responds by saying that Kofi got robbed and Kevin did not deserve that opportunity. Randy Orton appears and states that because of Styles’s complaining of conspiracy theories, he jokes why it took WWE all these years to hire him.

(Main Event) Match #5: Kevin Owens vs. Erick Rowan
 The match begins and Rowan immediately dominates. Rowan hits a dropkick on Owens, which gets him rolling to the outside. Owens then hits Bryan who badmouths him. Rowan attacks and hits him with a scoopslam. The New Daniel Bryan and Rowan start the handicap attack which causes the match to end in a no contest. Mustafa Ali appears to save Owens. While making the save, Daniel attacks Ali. Owens then hits Bryan with a stunner and sends him packing with Rowan to the back.
Result: Kevin Owens via disqualification
My Thoughts:
Full disclosure, my thoughts are fully bias. Witnessing Kevin Owens display his brief inner Kevin Steen was beautiful. I can really tell that WWE is confident enough to finally give him the main title picture. All aspects aside, you thought Zelina Vega would be a huge factor in a match, look at Rowan! Surprisingly, I have became more of a fan of Rowan after calling him the useless piece from The Wyatt Family and The Bludgeon Brothers. He is actually making himself a real threat. The combo of him and Bryan makes me have the feels of The Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson in 2008. I love the combo of the eco-friendly villains of WWE. Although this was shorter than what I expected, that gave me hype towards the WWE title match. Plus, MUSTAFA ALI RETURNED!!! Again, as I pointed out before, Mustafa Ali is going to need redemption after having his WWE Championship opportunity taken away with injury. Will he ever touch championship gold? Who knows? But honestly, I think if anything, Ali will establish himself on SmackDown, which I believe he has done great transitioning from 205 to the main roster. It will be interesting to see where it all falls from here.

Closing Segment: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch
Charlotte Flair makes her presence known and shushes the crowd for a replay of last night’s Raw episode. Flair then taunts the Wilkes Barre audience to chant Becky to make Lynch appear. The crowd emerges with an uproar of Becky chants. Becky Lynch appears, limping with a crutch. Lynch claims that she is in Charlotte’s head. She admits that Ronda Rousey hit her with her absolute best but she is still here to fight. She admits that although she is battered up from last night, she claims that damaged people are the most dangerous. Charlotte then attacks Lynch and aims after the injured knee. Flair then hits Becky with a crutch. However, Lynch comes back and locks in the Dis-Arm-Her on Flair which cause officials to break it up. Charlotte walks away, clutching her left arm. The segment ends with Becky standing tall, claiming that she will see Flair on Sunday.
My Thoughts:
Even on one leg and a severely damaged arm from last night, The Man came around and with good reason! Charlotte Flair from the start of her rivalry with Becky back at SummerSlam of last year till now has cemented herself as a tremendous heel. The Queen knows how to work a crowd. I know people are comparing her to Vince McMahon and Becky to Stone Cold in this rivalry but I really think that Flair is holding her own on this one. Honestly, it was obvious to know that this was a set up from the start. A call out? Yeah, sure. But then again, The Man held her own as well, fighting back from the heinous attack. If this segment says anything, it means that this Sunday will be a pay-per-view to see. Unlike most, I actually have the feeling that WWE might drop the ball and have Flair vs. Ronda at WrestleMania. I do not know what is making me think that but considering Brock defeated Roman at WrestleMania last year, it is hard to call what the powers at be will have as the finish. Hopefully, we will open the creative’s eyes and get what we have been asking for, a triple threat main event at the grandest stage of them all.

Final Thoughts
In comparison to last week’s episode, the go home edition of SmackDown Live for the first episode of March did not disappoint! Although it did not disappoint, I think that the show was rushed considering how long the first hour was. If you take a look at the finishing segments, matches were shorter than five minutes and the main event ended in a disqualification finish. Accordingly, as a guy who loves and gets hyped about each and every week, I think this week was a lion-tamer. In my definition, a lion-tamer of a show means that it was good but did not outperform the previous show. The go-home show did not disappoint nor excite. I really hope I can be proven wrong this Sunday and witness an outstanding pay-per-view! Should I say anything more? Maybe I should end this review with this: aside from a few pops, having SmackDown rushed the last half of the hour was immensely difficult to watch. Hope there is a better direction in the future post Fastlane!