SmackDown Review 04/24/2020
Smackdown Review 04/24/20
Hello! Welcome back to this weeks Smackdown review. Tonight’s show coming to us from the WWE performance center is something for the books as we celebrate twenty five years of The Game, Triple H. Not only that, we will also see Sasha Banks battle Lacey Evans and Drew Gulak battle Baron Corbin in money in the bank qualifier matches. Plus, the women’s tag team championships are on the line as the defending team of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross take on the newly formed duo of Dana Brooke and Carmella. All that and more, so, let’s get into it!
Live from the WWE Performance Center
The New Day
We kick off the show with a short highlight package for Triple H, more on his celebration coming later. Michael Cole and Corey Graves run down what’s to come tonight, and suddenly they’re interrupted by the new Smackdown tag team champions, New Day. Kofi and Big E boast about being eight time tag team champions. Kofi praises Big E for being the one to capture the titles for them. They say they don’t mean to brag, but they’re proud of their accomplishments. Big E points out that they have more championships than Tampa’s newly acquired Tom Brady, which Kofi, a known Patriots fan, looks offended by this. Big E tells him that he’s joking. But, suddenly they’re interrupted by Lucha House Party, who get very few words out before they’re interrupted by Miz and Morrison. They complain that they continuously get the short end of the stick and they want another shot. The Lucha house party once again but in, saying that they should get a spot. The Forgotten Sons suddenly make their way to the ring. A word battle back and forth between Forgotten Sons and Miz & Morrison starts up, Wesley Blake tells them that they can strike without them even noticing and suddenly he elbows Big E in the face. A giant brawl breaks out, Miz and Morrison run for the hills as The Forgotten Sons lay waste to LHP and New Day.
My Thoughts
This was a good opening segment, I really like that they threw the new guys, The Forgotten Sons right into the fire already, and I also enjoy the Lucha House Party are getting a chance, like they said in their promo, they don’t get much of a chance, and I agree. But, now it’s time. Hoping this leads to a big tag match at money in the bank.
– More Triple H highlights shown.
⁃ Miz and Morrison interviewed backstage, they say that the Lucha House Party started the whole thing and tonight they’re going to teach them a lesson.
Baron Corbin vs. Drew Gulak (w/Daniel Bryan). – MITB Qualifier.
Right from the opening bell of this match, Drew Gulak was in the drivers seat. He stayed on Corbin and took the fight to him, all while Daniel Bryan shouted instructions and encouragement from ringside, which I really enjoy. The show went to a commercial and upon return, Corbin was in control. He kept bringing the fight to Gulak, but also kept getting distracted by Daniel and the referee. The frustration started to set in when he couldn’t keep Drew down, and that caused the tide to turn once again. Gulak started to gain his comeback, firing himself up all while keeping his foot on the gas pedal. Nakamura and Cesaro suddenly appear on the outside, attacking Daniel Bryan. When Gulak tried to help, it backfired. Corbin took control and finished Drew off with the end of days. King Corbin advances to the money in the bank match. Post match, Cesaro, Nakamura and Corbin triple teamed Drew Gulak and laid him out.
My Thoughts
Right off the bat, i dug this match a lot. Always a pleasure to watch Drew wrestle, and this was no different. Nakamura and Cesaro getting involved was expected, and it happened. More shenanigans to get the heel the win, but here it works. I didn’t expect Gulak and Bryan to both be in the ladder match, so Corbin winning was the correct choice.
⁃ Money in the bank flashback highlights are shown.
Sheamus vs. Daniel Vidot
Just like in all recent matches, Vidot runs right at Sheamus to try to get a head start, but fails. Sheamus beat down Daniel Vidot with some vicious strikes before finishing him off with a brouge kick.
My Thoughts
Another squash for Sheamus, nothing special. But, it seems to be leading into a feud with Jeff Hardy as we continue to see Jeff hyped right after Sheamus’ matches.
⁃ Jeff Hardy’s Chapter 3 of his redemption story was shown. This time going over fatherhood and his WrestleMania return.
⁃ More Triple H 25th anniversary highlights are shown.
⁃ While we began to get ready for the next match, Sheamus is back down at ringside and rips Michael Cole’s headset off and stares him down for a little bit before leaving.
The Miz & John Morrison vs. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado
Lince and Miz start off this match with the quickness, good pace to start the match. Quick tags between both teams keep things fresh, as the match never lets up in the early moments. I really enjoyed that it continued to be a back and forth battle, especially with John Morrison in the ring, showing off some flashy highlight reel moves against the Lucha House Party, they meshed very well. But, once Miz was tagged in, Gran Metalik caught him off guard and pinned him. Just like that the match ended, commentary was shocked, and so am I! It happened so fast.
My Thoughts
The match was good while it lasted, the finish really caught me off guard and came right out of no where. But, I love that Metalik and Dorado got the win. Getting a win over the former champions is huge, especially going into what I assume is a potential title match against New Day.
Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks (w/ Bayley) – MITB Qualifier
Sasha Banks came out with a picture of Lacey’s daughter, and Bayley flaunted it at her right as the bell rang, causing Sasha to attack Lacey from behind. Sasha on a absolute war path, beating down Lacey Evans, even going as far as smashing her hand into the ring post. Banks then continued to work on the injured hand of Evans, but one mistake from Sasha led Lacey to turn the tide of the match, but not for long. Lacey tried her best to bring the fight to Sasha Banks but the injured hand was visibly bothering her and Banks took advantage of that. As the match went on, it became very even with some nice back and forth action. The pace these two kept was absolutely perfect too. Lacey hits the women’s right, but after a interference from Bayley, Sasha was able to get out of it. But, Bayley was still caught up with the referee, and Banks got visibly angry with Bayley, even going as far as shouting at her. Sadly for her, Lacey took control again and hit another womens right, then picked up the win. Lacey advances to money in the bank. After the match, Tamina came out and super kicked Bayley, laying her out on the stage.
My Thoughts
The pace these two kept from bell to bell was nothing short of amazing. This may be my favorite match of the night. The attack by Sasha from the start, and continuing to stay on her, all the way until Bayley evidently screwed Sasha over causing Lacey to win, this match was action packed and I can’t complain at all. Simple as that. Tamina also leaving a statement at the end was a nice finishing touch.
– We take a look back at Braun Strowman’s time as a member of the Wyatt Family. This then turns into showing us a video package for the upcoming match between Braun and Bray.
– They announce the next two qualifier matches for next week. Mandy Rose vs. Carmella and Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler.
⁃ Dana and Carmella are backstage talking about how tonight they’re going to win the women’s tag team championships. Carmella also says that Dana inspired her to enter a money in the bank qualifier match.
⁃ More highlights are shown for Triple H.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Dana Brooke & Carmella – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match.
Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross start the match off and in the blink of an eye, the match spills out of the ring. Alexa runs over to check on Cross, but Carmella takes her out with a apron dive. This leads us right into commercial. When we return, Carmella and Alexa are legal in the match. Carmella was in control, and had Alexa in a perfect place to win, but Cross gets a blind tag and takes control of Carmella, cross tags Alexa right back in and they hit a modified 3-D tag team move for the win. That was fast. Bliss Cross retain.
My Thoughts
It started off well, and then before it could get going, we went to commercial. So then when it came back, and started to get hot again, it ended. That was very weird and very short. I can’t say it was good, but I also can’t say it was bad. What I can say is, it basically never happened. Bliss & Cross regain and we move onto Carmella’s qualifier match next week, i guess. That was a strange one.
⁃ They announce that Week Daniel Bryan and Baron Corbin will go one on one, as well as going over next weeks qualifiers once again.
Triple H 25 Year Celebration
Triple H is here to celebrate his 25th anniversary in the WWE. As he enters the ring and grabs a mic, he barley gets more than 3 words out before being interrupted by Shawn Michaels. Shawn comes out to say that he’s here to celebrate with Triple H. He says that he send out so many invitations to everyone to come celebrate, but as we can see, no one showed up. Shawn asked Triple H if he remembers his 25th anniversary show, to which Triple H plays along with him, pretty funny back and forth between the two. Shawn then shows a highlight package of Triple H’s greatest moments, showing some funny moments of his career. Shawn then says Triple H has had a great WrestleMania career. He then shows him every WrestleMania loss he had. Triple H didn’t seem amused. Shawn then calls his wife “Stephanie No Fun”, then starts mocking her. Stephanie then FaceTimes Triple H, and starts berating Shawn, but Triple H hung up on her. Ric Flair called next to congratulate Triple H. He tells him to not let Shawn super kick him to end the segment, then cries. Road Dogg calls next, laughing at Flair crying, Triple H then hung up on him too. Vince McMahon suddenly comes out onto the stage. Vince speaks some touching words to his son-in-law, praising him and also calling him boring at the same time. Vince brings up some bad segments in wwe history and says Triple H isnt that bad, to which Triple H laughs. Vince tells them to wrap it up. The lights start to shut off, and the sound of crickets ring through the building as the show ends. What a troll Vince is.
My Thoughts
Pretty funny segment here from all involved, twenty five years of Triple H is summed up by his closest friends and family making fun of him, and I feel that’s the best way for this to go. It was a nice feel good segment with a barrage of comedy, and i enjoyed it a lot. Happy 25 years, Triple H.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed tonight’s show, but not as much as I have been in recent weeks. The women’s tag team championship was so quick it was almost pointless, the men’s tag team match had such a random finish and wasn’t too long itself, and I was not much into those finishes. But, both qualifier matches were solid so that is a plus. Lots of segments and things feeling rushed is what really drew me out though. The finishing segment was funny as a mentioned so I enjoyed that. More good than bad overall, but still some low points. Next week we have two more qualifiers featuring Mandy, Carmella, Ziggler and Otis as well as a singles match between Bryan and Corbin, so hopefully they go well. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
