Smackdown Review 05/08/20

Smackdown Review 05/08/2020

Hello! Welcome back to this weeks Smackdown review. Tonight’s show coming to us from the WWE performance center is the go-home show for this Sunday’s Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View. It will be one to remember as finally we get to see the return of the charismatic enigma, Jeff Hardy, plus, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt come face to face, Sasha Banks & Bayley battle it out against Tamina & Lacey Evans and King Corbin, Cesaro & Nakamura take on Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak and a mystery partner! Who could it be? Lets find out!

Live from the WWE Performance Center

– The show kicks off with Otis and Mandy backstage, Otis is hyping up Mandy for her match, it then cuts to Dolph Ziggler who’s hyping up Sonya for the match as well, and this match will kick off the show.

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville
Mandy Rose fires off a bicycle knee strike right as the bell rang, and then proceeded to put a beating all over Sonya. Mandy though, sporting a taped up thigh from the attack last week, and Sonya took advantage of that. One quick shot to the injured though turned the tide for Sonya. Deville worked over Mandy on the ground, putting her in different holds and even pulling off her eyelashes at one point, which seemed brutal. As the match continued on, Mandy gradually fought back, and the whole match broke down into a big brawl. Both women beating the living hell out of each other, it what I could describe as a very emotionally charged fight. This isn’t a match, it’s a straight up fight. But, this fight cake to an end when Mandy took a few seconds to gloat, and Sonya caught her off guard with a roll-up pin, picking up the win.
My Thoughts:
This was pretty short, but for what it was, I enjoyed it! Just two people going out there and fighting it out. Plus, with the outcome, it’s very obvious that this feud isn’t quite over yet.

New Day & Lucha House Party vs. Forgotten Songs & Miz and Morrison (8-Man Tag Team Match)
Miz and Kofi kick this match off. I’m very curious to see how each team gets along, considering they’re all against each other this Sunday. As for the team of New Day and Lucha House Party, they seemed to be working together great as things broke down, all four teams flood into the ring, but Miz, Morrison & Forgotten Sons get taken out and laid out at ringside as we head into commercial break. As we come back, the two legal men were Big E and Wesley Blake, but, Big E’s team mad a barrage of quick tags to keep the match fresh. With Kofi as the legal man, Morrison and his team started to take control, keeping one half of the tag team champions cornered and blocked off the ring for a few tags theirselves, but, after being on the receiving end of a beat down for a good few minutes, Kofi started to fight back. But, his comeback was short lived as he was taken out on the outside of the ring. It seemed like Kofi would never get the upper hand, but with John Morrison taking his eyes off the prize for just a second, Kofi was able to make a tag to Gran Metalik, who came on on fire, taking out everyone in his path, Lince was then tagged, who spiked Morrison on his head and then hit his signature shooting star press, but the pin was broke up by the forgotten sons. Everything broke down once again, the chaos was all over the place, it ended up being Lince and Morrison as the last two men standing. Morrison tried to hit the starship pain, but Lince moved. Luckily for Morrison, Miz made a blind tag. Lince never saw it coming and was hit with a skull crushing finale for the victory. Miz, Morrison & Forgotten Sons stand tall to end off the segment.
My Thoughts
I didn’t dig the match involving these men last week, but this week they did much, much better. Very chaotic at times, but still throughly enjoyable. We shall see how they do this Sunday all against each other.

⁃ Kayla Braxton was backstage with King Corbin. She asked about his match tonight, to which he said Bryan and Gulak won’t even be able to find a partner. He then began to run down all the competitors in this Sunday’s money in the bank match. Corbin says this Sunday he will be King money in the bank.

Jeff Hardy Returns
Renee Young is out in the ring for a in-ring interview with Jeff Hardy. Renee asks with his very successful career, what else does he have to prove. Jeff Hardy begins to answer the question, and we see Sheamus watching from backstage. Jeff Hardy asks the fans to stick with him for one more big run, he then calls out Sheamus, who answers the call. Sheamus comes out and says this is the saddest thing he’s ever seen. He asks Jeff who he thinks still cares about him, he runs him down, continuing to tell Jeff how the fans are tired of Jeff Hardy. Tired of his releases, suspensions, no shows and wasted second chances. Sheamus says he respected Jeff Hardy, but he needs to realize he’s never really coming back because his next failure is right around the corner. He says it’s time for him to finally put out Jeff’s flame. Sheamus gets in the ring and a brawl ensues. A whisper in the wind, followed by a twist of fate and a Swanson Bomb takes out Sheamus.
My Thoughts
A good segment. Very cool to see Jeff Hardy finally back, I just assumed we would get a match instead of a promo segment and a brawl, but hey, at least Jeff is back for good now and I’m looking forward to see where this goes.

Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt Face to Face
Braun Strowman is out next. He cuts a promo talking about how he came in with the Wyatt family, but Bray didn’t make him. He tells Bray he should be scared, and if he has something to say, then say it to his face. Bray Wyatt, in his fun house attire makes his way out to the ring. Bray tells Braun all his wants is an apology. Bray says he knows Braun better than anyone, he knows exactly what he’s going to do and say. Bray tells him that he needs to come home. He just needs to remove Braun’s burden, which he then points to the universal championship. Braun retaliates by saying that Bray does not know him and at money in the bank it’ll all be over. Bray tells him that he’s just getting started. He pulls out a black sheep mask and holds it out to him, asking him to take it and come home. The sound of the puppets saying “come home” ring through the arena. Braun then declines the offer and tells him that he will be keeping his title. He then mocks Bray and says “Bye! See you Sunday!” While waving. Braun leaves as Bray stares him down while yelling “i tried!”.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed the segment, I particularly think it’s interesting that it seems Braun will get fun house Bray at the PPV, which i don’t mind, I think that’s a smart decision and can avoid hurting the Fiend or Braun. Also, i could see the feud continuing regardless of the outcome this weekend. Can’t wait to see what happens.

⁃ Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak approach Otis backstage, they ask him if he heard what Corbin said about him. When Otis says no, they ask for him to take a walk with them as the walk down the hallway.

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Tamina & Lacey Evans
Tamina and Bayley start off the match after Tamina attacked both opponents at the start of the bell. Bayley tried everything she could to get out of the grasp of Tamina, and she did. Quick tags between Sasha & Bayley back and forth as they kept Tamina cornered. When Tamina started to fight back, Sasha and Bayley fled the ring, but Lacey made sure they didn’t get too far. Sasha was taken down, Bayley was sent back into the ring and Tamina regained control of the match. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but this match seems to be dragging so slow, only comparable to a slug. As Sasha and Lacey both become legal in the match, things started to pick up. Sasha got the upper hand on Lacey pretty quickly, but just as quick, she tagged Bayley back in. Bayley got a few shots in before quick tags back and forth began to start again. Lacey was getting beat down in the corner, but after reversing a double team move, Lacey got away to make the tag to Tamina, who came in on a rampage. Sasha gets taken out, Bayley gets tossed around like a rag doll before getting smashed in the corner. Sasha tries to interfere again but fails. Tamina goes for a splash but Bayley gets her knees up. Bayley-to-belly to Tamina followed by a elbow almost got the win, but Tamina kicked out at the very last moment, surprisingly. Lacey and Sasha both get in the ring, Lacey takes Sasha out, but then gets attacked by Bayley. Suddenly, a super kick by Tamina sends Bayley into the ropes, followed by a Samoan drop for the finishing touch. Tamina picks up the win for her team.
My Thoughts
I was not into this match at all until the end. It felt very slow and dragged a lot, but the finishing sequences were fine. After seeing this though, I don’t have high hopes for the title match this Sunday.

⁃ Corey Graves gave us a inside look at the wwe headquarters heading into the money in the bank match this Sunday.

⁃ Kayla Braxton is back with a interview with Carmella and Dana Brooke. Kayla asks Dana is lightning can strike once again for her, and could she win this Sunday. Dana says she has just as good of a chance as anyone. Carmella says she thinks she has an advantage being a former Mrs money in the bank. This Sunday it’s everyone for themselves and she will remind everyone that Mella is money.

⁃ We get another promo from the mystery man behind a hood. He says payback is coming and it’s coming real soon.

King Corbin, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak & Otis
As I suspected, since they talked to him earlier, Otis was selected as the third man for the team. Daniel and Corbin start off the match in a fast pace fashion. Bryan, obviously furious after being tossed off the stage last week, went head first into a striking battle with Corbin. But, Corbin quickly put a stop to it. Bryan was able to tag in Gulak, and Corbin was able to tag in Cesaro, who also came in on fire, this match feels super speed compared to the last match and I’m loving it. Otis came into the match and cleared house heading into a commercial break. We come back to Gulak and Cesaro as the legal men once again, and its such a joy to watch. Very hard hitting and rough, mixed with some absolute beautiful technique back and forth. Corbin gets tagged in, but everyone decides to just get in and things start to break down. The ring gets cleared and Corbin hits Gulak with the deep six for the win. Abrupt ending.
After the match, both teams continue to brawl all over the arena, which then spilled backstage. Corbin was the only one out by the ring, so he set up a ladder and started to climb. But, everyone ran back out and stopped him. Otis tried to climb the ladder but the rungs broke. Corbin attacks him again, but then gets taken out by Daniel Bryan. Bryan tried to climb the ladder, but once again was taken out by Corbin. King Corbin climbed the ladder and took down the briefcase, standing tall to end the show.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed the match, especially when Cesaro and Gulak were in, they never disappoint. After the match though, the brawl was very odd. They went backstage, but then only Otis and Bryan came back, they kept knocking each other down and getting back up, then brawl lasted almost half as long as the actual match. But, a solid way to end the show to get us somewhat excited for the PPV.

My Overall Thoughts
There were some good and some not so good tonight, so I’d say it was overall just a solid show. Not the best go-home show to a Pay-Per-View, but, not terrible either. Nothing was really hyped up for next week, but of course it’ll be the fallout of Money In The Bank. Plus, i have a feeling the mystery person behind the hood will be revealed on Sunday or at the latest, next week, so, we may have that to look forward to. Can’t wait to see the outcomes on Sunday and maybe one of smackdowns own will be crowd Mr or Mrs. Money In The Bank. Thanks for reading, see you next week!