Smackdown Live Review 03/21/2017

Last week on Smackdown the Shane McMahon/AJ Styles rivalry came to the forefront leading to Shane-O challenging AJ Styles to a match at Wrestlemania at the end of the show. However, there wasn’t much progress on the Corbin/Ambrose and Orton/Wyatt feud and I’m hoping to see that tonight. The American Alpha are defending their tag titles against the Uso’s this week after losing to them last week. The Miz and Maryse also promise to expose the Nena relationship with never-aired Total Bella’s footage over social media. I think we’re in for a very interesting Smackdown Live being less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania.

Smackdown comes to us live from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT

The show kicks off with a video package showcasing the controversy that took place last week.

– Daniel Bryan announces that for the first time ever Baron Corbin will be facing Randy Orton. AJ Styles enters Daniel Bryan’s office looking for Shane McMahon. Daniel Bryan says that Styles would still be fired if it was up to him. Dragon Boy continues saying that Shane is not like the other McMahon’s who would’ve ruined his life. Shane wants to handle this like a man and Styles has no idea what’s in store for him. Styles asks Bryan if Shane’s here? Bryan he’s on his way. Styles says it’s like deja vu, so he’s going to go out again and talk about how great it is to beat up Shane McMahon.

AJ Styles Promo
It’s been seven days for Styles to reflect about what he did to Shane McMahon. Styles is not sorry for anything he did last week. You have no idea how good it felt to put his fist in Shane’s face. It made his heart swell. Everything that Shane McMahon has put him through, he’s glad that he put Shane through a car window. Then Shane has the audacity to come out after he is fired to be put into a match? Shane is crazier than anyone ever thought you were. Styles accepts Shane’s challenge.
Why would a superior athlete and a former WWE Champion want to be in the ring with Shane McMahon? He wants to be part of the Ultimate Thrill Ride, WrestleMania. Why would Shane want to be in the ring with AJ Styles? It’s because without AJ Styles, SmackDown plummets. Without AJ Styles, Smackdown’s social media crashes like Shane McMahon into a car window. Styles is untouchable. He can put Shane through a car window and he can get into a match at WrestleMania. Styles is going to meet Shane in the parking garage. Things can go from bad to phenomenally worse.
Opinion
This was good and what you expected it to be further progressing this rivalry. It feels weird and I don’t know if its something that happens every year but I feel a lot of these Wrestlemania matches are getting confirmed so close to the event and giving them very little time to build. Besides the Triple H/Seth Rollins feud everything seems to have been planned last minute. Anyway, AJ Styles shoots some truth and fire here and gives us something to stay tuned in for to see if we get another Shane McMahon/AJ Styles parking lot brawl. I wonder if this match will have a stipulation.

– Daniel Bryan is shown backstage talking to Shane-O on the phone letting him know Styles is waiting for him and they come up with some sort of plan. Baron Corbin enters the room and the exchange words about the whereabouts of Dean Ambrose. Corbin wants Ambrose at Wrestlemania but Byran tells him to worry about a guys he’s never faced before in Randy Orton.

Tag Team Championship Match: Usos def. American Alpha
In a really good back and fourth match The Usos defeat American Alpha after a super kick on Jordan by Jey Uso.
Opinion
I’m a fan of the Usos’ and I’m happy for them but it feels so close to Wrestlemania for the straps to just change. Also, it feels like American Alpha just won those belts and barley defended them before losing them so easily. It’s hard for me to lean either way on this match because I like both teams but this seemed like something they could have held off on until Wrestlemania. I don’t know what happens from here. 

– They show AJ Styles waiting backstage in the parking lot waiting for Shane McMahon.

– Luke Harper cuts a promo on Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Sister Abigail. He says he’s going to destroy Orton next week.

Miz and Maryse expose John Cena and Nikki Bella Part One
This was a parody where Maryse acted as Brie and Nikki Bella and The Miz played the part of John Cena. It started with Maryse playing both Bella’s having a stupid conversation about Cena popping the question and proposing. Miz comes out as Cena and disciplines them for breaking house rules and pops a balloon that has “Question?” on it. This is going to be continued throughout the show.
Opinion
It was cheesy but quite funny. Maryse portraying Brie and Nikki as dumb bimbos and Miz portraying Cena as a robot dictator.

Randy Orton def. Baron Corbin
Randy Orton picks up the win when Dean Ambrose appeared near the entrance way standing on a forklift distracting Corbin allowing Randy Orton to hit him with a RKO out of no where. Dean Ambrose accepts to face Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania with the Intercontinental Championship on the line and then hits him with a dirty deeds.
Opinion
The match was solid and what you’d expect from a solid TV match. I expected Orton to get the victory and I expected Ambrose to be involved in that. It was the only booking that made sense. We haven’t seen Ambrose since he was crushed by a forklift by Corbin so it was cool to see him come out with a forklift. I thought it might have been leading to Ambrose challenging Corbin in some sort of match involving a forklift but instead it was just a prop for distraction. I hope more happens between these two next week because I miss Ambrose being more relevant.

Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton Backstage
Renee Young interviews Randy Orton backstage. Orton claims he doesn’t know how to get rid of Wyatt once and for all and thought he did everything. The lights start fading out and Orton starts calling for Bray. There are a bunch of feet showing on the ground and next thing you know a bunch of men in sheep masks appear behind Orton. He tries to fight them off but there are way too many of them. They hold Orton against a wall and Bray Wyatt appears. Wyatt starts performing a ritual on Orton with some sort object with a red “x” on it. Bray Wyatt tells Orton that he showed Wyatt’s only weakness and flaw but what he didn’t know that revealing it would only make him stronger. Wyatt says Abigail and himself are one now. Bray sings “he’s got the whole world in his hands” as the show fades to commercial
Opinion
I loved this as it was different and very Attitude-esque. It reminded of the creepy voodoo like stuff you’d see in a rivalry featuring The Undertaker or Kane. It’s only possible because Wyatt is such a unique character. I thought it was really produced, made you wonder what would happen next and made Bray look powerful again considering we thought he would get weaker when Orton burnt the compound. I don’t know what the conclusion to this rivalry is going to be but I’m looking forward to it. How will Orton overcome the new stronger and more powerful Bray Wyatt? Will Bray Wyatt be able to destroy Randall? I’m intrigued but the complaint I have is that the WWE Championship doesn’t feel relevant at all. Although, further thinking lead to me realize the belt wouldn’t have fit in any other of the Smackdown Live Wrestlemania matches.

– AJ Styles is shown grabbing his stuff from the locker room with The Uso’s questioning his actions. He’s met outside the locker room by Daniel Bryan and some cops. AJ Styles asks Bryan

John Cena def. Fandango
We are getting Chet Chetterfield vs. Lance Catamaran. Fandango comes out with Tyler Breeze dressed as Nikki Bella and refers to her a Breezy Bella. Before the match Fandango gives Cena a bunch tickets since you know he’s one half of the fashion police. Cena calls for Nikki Bella to come out. In a quick match and with the assist of Nikki Bella, John Cena defeated Fandango by submission. Nikki Bella had Tyler Breeze in the STF as well at the same time.
Opinion
This was fun and yet again cheesy, but cheesy enough that it was sort of funny. I love Fandango and think Breeze has a ton of potential and almost feel like they are under-utilized on TV considering how talented and charismatic both guys are. I hope one day they’ll be able to break away from being a comedy act and be taken seriously but as for now this was great. I’m getting a lot more immune to seeing Cena and Nikki on TV together and the chemistry between them on TV is starting to feel a little bit more organic. This still feels like Nikki is in the sky with joy for this angle while Cena is just doing it because it makes her happy which makes him happy.

Carmella vs. Becky Lynch
Natalya is at ringside for this match. The match I think ended in a no contest when Natalya hits the ring attacking Carmella after Ellsworth tries helping Carmella win by grabbing Lynch’s foot. This brings out Mickie James and Alexa Bliss to join the brawl. Ellsworth even gets taken out by Becky Lynch with a missile drop kick. The girls go down one by one until Alexa is the last one standing holding her title up in the middle of the ring.
Opinion
This wasn’t quite a match but more of a segment to build the women’s title match at Wrestlemania. I liked it though. I liked how Alexa was the one to stand tall at the end since she is the champion. I would have liked to see a match but I know the time constraints when it comes to Smackdown so this was fine. I wonder if we’re going to get any surprise entrants to this match at Wrestlemania such as Summer Rae or Naomi making a return. I know Summer was drafted to Raw but anything is possible since she’s been healing an injury for a months now. Naomi returning and winning the belt back in her home town would be amazing. No pun intended.

Miz and Maryse expose John Cena and Nikki Bella Part Two
The Miz, still portraying Cena, keeps saying “Nikki I love you” and then he asked if the cameras were still rolling and then they showed a guy holding cue card with those words on it. They’re going to give a tour of the house this time. Maryse still portraying Nikki continues to act ditzy and dumb. They keep playing on the fact that Cena won’t propose to Nikki Bella. They mock their relationship as fake and more about greed and looking good for the cameras.
Opinion
Once again cheesy enough that it was funny. There were a lot of jokes geared towards the fact that Cena won’t propose to Nikki to be his wife in this skits and it has everyone, including myself wondering if maybe this is all leading to Cena proposing to Nikki Bella at Wrestlemania. The Miz and Maryse are all just apart of the plan from a backstage perspective. Imagine that?

AJ Styles/Shane McMahon
Renee Young is backstage asking AJ Styles what his intentions are and Styles tells Renee she knows exactly what his intentions are. A trucks rolls up and Styles thinks its Shane-O but instead its Rhyno and Heath Slater.
Next thing you know Shane McMahon makes his entrance into the arena. Shane gets in the ring and calls Styles out to the ring. It cuts back to the parking lot area where Renee lets AJ Styles know that Shane is waiting for him in the ring. They cut to a commercial.
As we come back from commercial, Shane continues to call out Styles. Shane says that Styles is a tough guy when his back is turned. Shane wants Styles to prove how tough he is. He would be willing to discuss the issues that Styles had with him. They could have thrown down if it had escalated.
Styles decided to blindside him. Styles attacked him when he was not looking. Whatever issue there was, it has just gotten worse. Either Styles is coming out here or he’s going back there. Styles finally makes his way to the ring. Styles wants Shane to calm down. Shane has to understand where Styles is coming from. Styles thought he had the main event of WrestleMania and then he didn’t. Did he go off the deep end? Maybe. Styles apologizes. Shane did him a favor. Styles wanted a match and Shane gave it to him.
Daniel Bryan is right that Shane is not like the other McMahon’s. Styles will look Shane in the eye and say he’s sorry and then shake Shane’s hand. Styles enters the ring and Shane immediately goes after him. Shane tosses Styles out of the ring. Styles rams Shane into the ring apron. Styles sends Shane back first into the ringside barricade. Styles clears off the announce table. Shane suplex’s Styles. Shane attacks Styles with the TV Monitor. Shane places Styles on the announce table. Shane with a flying elbow drop off the top turnbuckle through the announce table to close off the show.
Opinion
This was great. I see it like this. If you are into this match or just fine with it like I am, then you enjoyed this segment. If you are one of those people totally against this match and strongly disappointed that AJ Styles isn’t in a higher profile match with another talented active wrestler than you most likely didn’t like this segment. I think it served its purpose and further developed the rivalry between the two. Shane-O got the better of AJ this week with that leap of faith flying elbow, I expect AJ to retaliate next week before the big show.

Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed Smackdown Live this week as unlike last week which seemed to mainly be focused on AJ/Shane, this week seemed to further develop the other matches for Wrestlemania featuring the Smackdown Live stars. Also, there was two very solid matches in the tag title match and Orton/Corbin. There were parodies all throughout the show which was entertaining and everything seemed to serve a purpose. That is the one thing you can count on when it comes to Smackdown. Every segment serves a purpose and time never feels like it’s dragging on slowly filled with random segments like it does on most three hour Raw’s. A lot happened, some questions were answered, some weren’t and rivalries escalated to new levels. I’m intrigued to see what happens next week, so good job Smackdown.
Rating – 7/10

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