19 Results and Review

Smackdown Live took place on Tuesday night at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Let’s look at how the two-hour program went down.

Opening Segment

Smackdown Live started this week with Roman Reigns walking backstage. He was stopped by an interviewer who asked him about Daniel Bryan demanding an apology. Reigns said he will say what he wants to say to Bryan “in the ring.” After that, we went to a live shot of the crowd which looked simply sad, as there were many empty seats. Not sure why they shot such a close up shot of a poor crowd. While Kofi Kingston made his way to the ring, we were shown a video package about the ongoing rivalry between Kingston and Randy Orton. Kingston did a good promo, and Orton was polite enough to only start his titantron promo as Kingston finished his. Orton said he will save fighting him for Clash of the Champions. He told a story about a letter that was slid under his hotel room door earlier. It was a note from Kingston’s son, telling him to leave Kingston alone. Orton said he’s staying in the same hotel as Kingston’s family. Orton said he can pay a visit to Kingston’s family “right now.” This obviously disturbed Kingston, who came running backstage and started brawling with Orton. The brawl concluded with Orton giving Kingston a draping DDT off of a table.

In major storylines it seems like WWE can’t not mention family. Though I don’t mind this one in comparison to Sasha Banks mocking Natalya’s dead father. To be honest I sort of forgot that Kingston’s family was part of the storyline since I think Summerslam was the last time this was even mentioned. In their defence, it was mentioned in the video packages. This opening segment was fine I guess.

Match 1. Ali vs. Buddy Murphy (King of the Ring First Round Match)

After a commercial break, we saw Big E leaving the doctor’s office. Big E assured us that Kofi Kingston will be ready to fight for Clash of the Champions. He also said that Randy Orton might not make it to Clash of the Champions after he faces him later.

The first match on the show was a first-round King of the Ring match, with Ali facing Buddy Murphy. Murphy’s been on a roll lately, fighting Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan in recent weeks. As expected, this match was fast-paced. Ali did a hurricanrana early on, then tried for a dive outside the ring, but was hit with a knee in the ring when going off the ropes. Are failed dives the biggest trend in WWE nowadays? We went to a break after that spot. Coming back from commercials, Ali reversed a move, landing a dropkick. Murphy tried getting back in the ring but ate a kick to the head. Ali did a tope suicida. We were then shown a camera-shot of Elias backstage watching this bout since he will face the winner. Ali tried for his rolling-neckbreaker, but was caught and tossed out of the ring. Murphy did a dive over all three ropes onto Ali. Murphy went to the top turnbuckle but Ali avoided it and landed a superkick. Ali hit a reverse hurricanrana for a two count. Ali tried going to the top rope, but Murphy stopped him, doing a cheeky nandos kick and then a powerbomb. Murphy hit a knee and a brainbuster for a kickout. Ali did an insane DDT to Murphy who was draped on the ropes. He then went to the top for a 450 Splash to win the match. These guys didn’t have a ton of time but did a great job.

The Miz Calls Out Shinsuke Nakamura

Backstage, we saw Ember Moon and Bayley. Moon told Bayley that she is the face of the division. Lacey Evans then came into the shot, telling Bayley that she brings the division down. The Miz was in the ring to address last week, where Sami Zayn announced his partnership with Shinsuke Nakamura, who helped him tear apart Miz. The Miz cut a long promo, challenging Nakamura for his Intercontinental Championship at Clash of the Champions. Right, he has the belt. Sami Zayn came out after this. After Zayn refused to fight, The Miz charged towards him. Nakamura came from behind The Miz and attacked him. The brawl outside the ring ended with Nakamura hitting a Kinshasa, knocking the head of The Miz against the LED ring panel as well. Cool spot. That might make The Miz rethink challenging Nakamura. It’ll likely still happen though.

Backstage, Elias was in Shane McMahon’s office. Kevin Owens came in, which made Elias all uptight. Owens was told that McMahon wasn’t present. Maybe it was implied that Elias was defensive because he’s the 24/7 Champion? Or maybe I’m missing something. Either way, it wasn’t really explained why Elias was so short-tempered. Although when he asked why he was in Shane’s office, he said: “I’m three matches away from winning the King of the Ring, I do what I want.”

Match 2. Bayley vs. Lacey Evans

The next match was Bayley versus Lacey Evans. At the start of the bout, Evans tried to distract Bayley but throwing her gloves in the air. That didn’t work for her, putting Bayley on the offence immediately. Bayley landed a clothesline outside the ring. After that, Charlotte Flair appeared on the ramp. We then went to commercials. Returning, Evans had Bayley in a headlock in the ring. Bayley did a suplex outside the ring onto the floor. They both beat a near count out after that. I don’t mean to fixate on things like this too much, but Evans was really getting some offense against the champ. Bayley landed a Bayley-to-belly, but Evans put her hand on the rope to break the count. Evans landed a neckbreaker, but the next move was reversed by Bayley. Bayley landed another Bayley-to-belly, then went to the top rope for an elbow drop to give her the win.

Match 3. Randy Orton vs. Big E

In an attempt to retaliate from Randy Orton’s hostilities, Big E faced him in a match. Early on outside the ring, Big E threw Orton into a steel chair and over the commentary table. He then threw Orton over a barricade. Back in the ring, Big E said “I’m here to collect. Call me hell.” Later on, Big E tried for a splash on the apron but Orton avoided it. Orton sidewalk slammed Big E onto the commentary table as we went to commercials. He tried for the same spot when they returned for the break, but it was Big E who landed the slam. Big E did three belly-to-belly german suplexes in the ring. When going off the ropes, The Revival appeared and were knocked off the apron. Big E was pushed into the ropes, which was out of the line of sight of the referee, giving The Revival a chance to hit Big E in the face. Orton then hit an RKO to win the match.

Backstage we saw an interview with Chad Gable. Shelton Benjamin interrupted it, making a short joke which looked like it destroyed Gable’s morale.

Elias sat on the King of the Ring throne on the stage with a crown and a staff. While talking, Kevin Owens approached him from behind and attacked him. He threw him in the ring and gave him a stunner. Owens stared down Elias, but didn’t care to get the 24/7 Championship! But, R-Truth came in the ring after the segment and tried for a pin. Drake Maverick pulled R-Truth out of the ring and went for his own pinfall and won the Championship to no reaction.

Match 4: Shelton Benjamin vs. Chad Gable (King of the Ring First Round Match)

Concluding the King of the Ring First round, former tag team members Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable fought each other. This match came after Benjamin was making fun of Gable for some time. Benjamin landed a spinebuster early in the bout. Gable got a spinning neckbreaker later. Gable tried for a moonsault but ate a knee to the head instead. Gable reversed a powerbomb into a sunset flip powerbomb to get a pinfall victory. Surprise surprise. He’ll face and likely lose to Andrade in the next round. While this match was a hard one to sell, they certainly didn’t make it any easier by not even talking about their past as partners.

Roman Reigns Addresses Daniel Bryan & Rowan

Finishing off the show this week was Roman Reigns coming to the ring to address Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Before he could say anything, Bryan showed up on the big screen, obstructing him to say he’s sorry. Reigns showed footage before deciding if he should apologize. The footage showed Rowan was clearly the person who tried to make a backstage set fall on Reigns. Bryan flipped out backstage, slapping Rowan many times hard. He then went down to the ring, claiming Rowan has lied to him. When he got in the ring he ate a spear from Reigns. That ended the show. This felt like a lame ending to the show. Also, I want to point out that Bryan was giving Rowan some real hard slaps. This show felt sort of lame. Almost everything just felt sort of uneventful. The highlight of the show was easily Ali versus Buddy Murphy. That was a fun one to watch.

WWE Smackdown Live 8/27/19 Preview

On Smackdown this week, the confusion behind Roman Reigns’ attacker continues, as does the returning King of the Ring tournament and other events. Live from the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, let’s preview tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live. The official preview for the show can be found on WWE.com.

The final two first-round King of the Ring tournament matches will take place tonight. In two matchups – those being Ali versus Buddy Murphy and Chad Gable versus Shelton Benjamin will give the wrestler’s the final spots in the round of eight, which also includes Elias and Andrade on the Smackdown side. The RAW side of the bracket is completed, with Samoa Joe versus Richochet and Cedric Alexander versus Baron Corbin set for the round.

Smackdown ended last week with another plot twist in the Roman Reigns conflict. For weeks now, Reigns has been searching for a mysterious attacker who tried to throw a backstage set on him and hit him with a car. Daniel Bryan and Rowan revealed the attacked last week, with the supposed perpetrator being a Rowan lookalike. This week we will hopefully get some answers to the questions which were made as the show went off air last week.

Last week, Bayley crashed Charlotte Flair’s guest appearance on “A Moment of Bliss,” hosted by Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. The segment ended with Bayley pushing Flair out of her chair. Flair’s reaction to the situation has yet to be seen, but the preview hints at the storyline continuing on this show.

In the men’s title picture, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston attacked Randy Orton last week, giving him a Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere. The next step in the rivalry will likely be seen on TV tonight. Practical logic says they will face each other at Clash of the Champions.

Also promoted for the show is Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe, Xavier Woods and Big E.

Smackdown Live 8/20/19 Results and Review

Last week, Smackdown Live ended with Daniel Bryan saying he will reveal the culprit in the attack against Roman Reigns next week. From Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA, a very suspenseful Smackdown Live show started with Randy Orton.

Kofi Kingston Confronts Randy Orton

The evening began with Randy Orton coming to the ring. On the previous night at RAW, Orton interfered in a New Day tag match, taking out the trio with the help of The Revival. We were told by the commentary team that Xavier Woods is not present at tonight’s show. Speaking of the commentary, David Otunga was replacing Corey Graves this week. He talked about how Kingston dodged their championship match at Summerslam. He then bragged about his attack on Monday, continuing with the “Kofi is stupid” tagline he’s been running with for a while. New Day music hit as his promo was wrapping up. In very Orton-like fashion, Kingston came from the crowd and gave Orton a Trouble In Paradise out of nowhere. When you thought Kingston was leaving, he took a steel chair and wedged an ankle of Orton between it. He went to the second rope but got distracted by The Revival, who came down to the ring. He teed off on Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson with a chair while Orton got away. The commentary described this segment like we’ve never seen Kingston like this, although isn’t that what we got at Summerslam when he snapped? It was an okay segment though.

Before the break, we saw a video package the recent situation between Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Rowan. We were reminded that Bryan said he would come forward with the attacker this week. Honestly, this has been an interesting storyline so far. It’s had a legitimate cliffhanger for a week that I’ve been interested to find out about

Andrade w/ Zelina Vega vs. Apollo Crews (King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match)

In the first of two King of the Ring matches on this episode, Andrade faced Apollo Crews. Before the match, we were given the first televised announcement that NXT is moving to the USA Network on Wednesdays soon. The idea from people within the business was that it would be announced on Monday, and really that seems like the logical way to announce it, but whatever. Before the match, we saw Kevin Owens talking with Shane McMahon backstage. Owens was still torn apart about the 100k dollar fine he was given last week. Owens asked him to reconsider, to which McMahon said he will think about.

Starting off the match quickly, Crews gave Andrade a clothesline for a kickout. Isn’t that how a King of the Ring match started on Monday? Just like Monday, we got a replay of it seconds later as well. Andrade did double knees in the corner for a two count. Crews went for a rollup pin for a two count. Andrade did a hold while on the ropes. He went to the top rope but was hit with a dropkick on the way down. Crews caught Andrade outside the ring, but Andrade turned it into a huricanrana into a steel staircase as we went to break. I really liked that spot. Back from the break, Crews caught a crossbody. Crews hit a double knees for a two count. They traded strikes when they got back up. Crews did a jumping-clotheslines. Crews hit an Olympic Slam for another kickout. Andrade landed a boot after countering a move. He went to the second rope but was hit with a dropkick. Crews picked up Andrade but dropped him due to a hurt hand. Crews was thrown into a corner. Andrade tried for another double knees but Crews avoided it. Crews did a standing shooting star press after a few moves by both fighters. Crews tried picking up Andrade, but Zelina Vega held onto him from outside the ring. When they separated, Andrade hit a spinning back elbow. Andrade hit his Hammerlock DDT for the win. It’s weird how the commentators tout how good Andrade is (referencing how he made Rey Mysterio contemplate retirement), but don’t call out how he cheats to win. Even after the match they praised him.

Backstage, we saw Daniel Bryan and Rowan carry someone into a room with a towel over their head. After that, we saw Elias spot an undercover referee backstage. The referee told him that Drake Maverick was in a container. He made Maverick read a statement from Shane McMahon that suspended the 24/7 Championship for the night so that Elias could focus on his match.

A Moment of Bliss w/ Charlotte Flair

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross hosted A Moment of Bliss with their special guest this week being Charlotte Flair. Bliss said that Flair asked to be on the show. Flair said she is the “Queen of all eras” and the “face of the Smackdown women’s brand.” Bliss claimed that “some would say” Bayley is the current face. After Flair explained why she thinks she’s better, Bayley came out to confront her. Bayley said Flair is angry that she isn’t the champ. Flair said she will restore the belt’s value when she beats her at Clash of Champions. Bayley accepts the challenge to face her at the PPV. She pushed Flair off of her chair and then left. Wow, easy night for Bliss and Cross. I don’t like Bayley being this very cocky character. It just doesn’t feel right on her, especially because of her track record as not being a super cocky character.

Daniel Bryan w/ Rowan vs. Buddy Murphy

Backstage we saw Roman Reigns confront Buddy Murphy. Murphy said he thought it was Rowan who attacked him. Reigns said he will beat him up if he lies again. A week after he faced Reigns, Buddy Murphy faced Daniel Bryan this week. Before the match, Bryan called him a liar. Similar to Bryan’s Wrestlemania 28 match, he was distracted when the bell rang, and was hit right of the bat. Murphy hit a flying knee for a two count. He gave Bryan landed tons of kicks in the corner. Later, Murphy sent Bryan outside the ring with a clothesline then landed a dive over the top rope as we went to commercials. Back from the break, Murphy landed a dropkick off the second rope. He went to the top rope again, landing a double knees this time. Bryan put in a Lebell Lock and then transitioned into a Rings of Saturn. Going back to the Lebell Lock, Murphy put a foot on the ropes to save himself. Bryan started doing Yes Kicks. Murphy avoided a kick and landed one of this own. Murphy was hung upside down in the ropes and was given a dropkick to the head. Bryan put Murphy on the top rope and did a belly-to-back superplex for a two count. He did kicks to Murphy in the corner while screaming “Liar! Liar!” Murphy reversed a move, doing a superkick in the corner and a running powerbomb for a close kickout. They got up and traded punches. Bryan tried for a move but was reversed into a rollup. Murphy did a brainbuster after a few strikes, but Bryan put his foot on the rope to kick out. Rowan got on the apron. Murphy got distracted by Rowan. Bryan tried for a rollup but was thrown off and into Rowan. Murphy tried for a superkick but hit Rowan. Bryan tried for a roll-up but couldn’t get it. Murphy landed a knee and then a Murphy’s Law to win the match.

This was a very good match. I have no real issues with it. Maybe a few too many pin attempts, but the match was great overall. It wasn’t really clear why Rowan stayed on the apron for so long, or got on it in the first place. Maybe he just wanted a better view.

After the break, Buddy Murphy was going to get interviewed backstage. He was jumped before the interview got off the ground, with Rowan beating him up. Bryan screamed at him about being a liar the whole time.

Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder (The Revival) vs. Otis & Tucker (Heavy Machinery)

The Revival came out and challenged The New Day to a Championship match. Their promo was cut off by their opponents for this week, Heavy Machinery. Both Revival members had wrapping around their mid-section due to the steel chair attack earlier. Tucker and Wilder started the bout. Tucker put Wilder in a bear hug. He tagged in Otis, and passed Wilder to him, where he continued the bear hug. Tucker got tagged back in. They did dual vertical suplexes, holding their opponents high for a long time. We went to break after that spot. After the break, Wilder and Tucker were back in the ring. Wilder did a bulldog off a corner for a two count. Dawson got tagged in and tried for a senton but Tucker avoided it. Otis got the hot tag against Dawson. He spun around Wilder before doing a slam. He did a splash in a corner, and then did his famous caterpillar elbow drop. Otis tried for a compactor but got it broken up. Tucker took down Dawson but Wilder went for a rollup to get the win because of the predicament. It was a decent match but the finish made it fall flat.

Chad Gable cut a promo backstage about being called an underdog in the King of the Ring tournament. Behind him, his opponent Shelton Benjamin put a sign on a door. The sign said “You must be at least this tall to participate in the King of the Ring Tournament.” He didn’t find that too funny.

MizTV w/ Sami Zayn

We were given another reminder that NXT is moving to Wednesdays. In the next segment, The Miz hosted another episode of MizTV with Sami Zayn. In a two-hour show, two of these talk show segments feels like too much. Zayn admits early that he only wanted to be on this show so he could get TV time. He said there is people on Smackdown who needs his help. He brought Shinsuke Nakamura out. Nakamura said Zayn speaks for him. Nakamura kicked Miz in the groin, then did tons of knees. He did a kick in the corner and a Kinshasa to end the brawl. So I guess Nakamura is a follower of Zayn now, which is weird since Nakamura has a belt and Zayn is on a losing streak.

Elias vs. Kevin Owens (King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match)

We saw Daniel Bryan and Rowan backstage again. They went into the room where the disguised attacker was. They said Roman Reigns was on the way. Shane McMahon brought Kevin Owens back into the room. McMahon asked for an apology for laying his hands on him last week. Without hesitation, he apologized. McMahon said if Owens ever touches another WWE official he will be fired. McMahon refused a handshake before Owens walked off.

In the final match of the night, Kevin Owens faced Elias in the first round of the King of the Ring. Elias landed a shoulder tackle early on. Owens send Elias over the ropes, but avoided doing a dive as Elias ran out of the way. Elias threw Owens into a barricade before throwing him back in the ring. Owens did a cannonball in the corner of the ring for a two count. After this, Shane McMahon’s music hit and he sat at ringside. Owens did a frogsplash onto the floor during the commercial break. Later on, Owens did a dropkick off the second rope and then a senton. He tried for a pop-up powerbomb but Elias reversed it. Owens went to the second rope, but Elias put him on his shoulders and landed a powerbomb for a kickout. Both on the top rope, Elias was knocked onto the canvas. Owens tried for a Shooting Star Press but Elias put his knees up. Owens sent Elias outside the ring and then did a cannonball off the apron. Outside the ring, McMahon interfered. He took off his shirt and revealed his referee shirt. Owens was back in the ring and distracted, getting attacked by Elias. Owens tried for a stunner but was almost thrown into Shane. Elias went for a roll-up, with McMahon giving him a fast count to end it. Well, I guess that’s better than being fired.

The Attacker Is Revealed

Backstage, we saw Roman Reigns arrive in the room backstage. They unmasked the person, who looked like a Rowan lookalike. Apart from balding grey hair, he had a similar face and the long ginger beard. All three of them stared at a confused Reigns as the show ended. So, quite a way to end it. Um, I guess Reigns’ emotion at the ended conveys mine as well: pure confusion. Going into next week it’s not as intriguing, but I’ll still be interested to see where they go from here.

This show had some pretty good matches. The best was easily Daniel Bryan versus Buddy Murphy and Andrade versus Apollo Crews. While this show had it’s flaws, it flew by pretty quickly.

Smackdown Live 8/20/19 Preview

Smackdown Live heads to the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for this week’s episode. Along with some first-round matches in the King of the Ring tournament, a big reveal will come on the show when Daniel Bryan and Rowan will supposedly reveal the mystery attacker of Roman Reigns. Let’s look at what’s planned for this week’s episode of Smackdown.

As already mentioned, Daniel Bryan and Rowan will have a big reveal on the episode tonight. In recent episodes, Roman Reigns was attacked. In the first encounter, he was nearly squished by backstage equipment. In the second situation, Reigns was hit by a car in the parking lot of a venue. Upon interrogating Buddy Murphy, he was told that Rowan was the mystery attacker. Last week we found out that Murphy lied, and Rowan is actually innocent. The show ended on a cliffhanger last week, with Bryan and Rowan saying they did an investigation and said they will reveal who did it on this week’s episode.

The King of the Ring tournament will have it’s next series of matches tonight, with the first two of four Smackdown matches happening. On Monday, Cedric Alexander defeated Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe beat Cesaro to advance in the second round of the bracket. On this episode of Smackdown, it will be Kevin Owens versus Elias and Apollo Crews versus Andrade in first-round matches. Next week, Ali will face Buddy Murphy and Chad Gable will fight former tag team partner Shelton Benjamin on the Smackdown side of the bracket. Ricochet versus Drew McIntyre and The Miz versus Baron Corbin will also take place on RAW next week.

A faction started to form last night, with The Revival and Randy Orton beating up The New Day. Kingston and company are billed for the show, as well is Orton. This isn’t the first time that Orton has formed a trio with henchmen, as faction “Legacy” with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. forming in 2008. We’ll have to wait and see what happens on this episode as two trios are expected to continue their feud.

Also billed for the show is Bayley, Drew McIntyre and Samoa Joe. Their appearances aren’t guaranteed to be on TV. Also, as usual, 205 Live will be airing right after Smackdown on the WWE Network.

WWE Smackdown Live 8/13/19 Preview

This week’s episode of Smackdown Live will feature the fallout from Summerslam on Sunday. WWE.com published a preview for tonight’s show earlier today. Smackdown will take place at 8PM EST, live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event will be the fourth and final appearance from the promotion in Toronto this week.

On Monday afternoon, Buddy Murphy challenged Roman Reigns to a match on Smackdown via Twitter. Later that day, Roman responded and of course accepted the challenge. The match is scheduled to be the in-ring debut for Murphy, who has limited himself to the Cruiserweight brand 205 Live before. Murphy was attacked by Erick Rowan on the Summerslam pre-show on Sunday. This attack happened because Murphy told Reigns that Rowan was the mystery identity who attacked him recently. After his Summerslam match was interrupted, Murphy claims the match tonight will be an opportunity to “show what I can do.”

In the highest profile Smackdown match on Sunday, Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton ended their WWE Championship bout with a double count-out. What happened after the bell became the most discussed, as Kingston teed off on Orton with a kendo stick after Orton stared down his family, who were sitting at ringside.

Kevin Owens got on Sunday in a grudge match against Shane McMahon, defeating him with the help of a low-blow when the ref was distracted and a stunner. It may be seen on TV this week whether Owens will continue to feud with Shane or if he will move onto another conflict.

Ember Moon will face Charlotte Flair on the show, which is ironic since Flair was a winner on Sunday while Moon wasn’t. Moon took a loss to Bayley in the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Summerslam, while Flair defeated WWE alumni Trish Stratus. Bayley is also expected to show up at the event.

Also promoted for the show is Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Xavier Woods, Big E and Rowan. Whether the appearances will occur on or off TV is not known.

WWE Smackdown Live 2/19/19 Results and Review

Smackdown came back on Tuesday after WWE Elimination Chamber took place on Sunday. Live from New Orleans, Louisiana, let’s look at this week’s Smackdown Live.

Smackdown Live started with Shane McMahon coming to the ring. As he made his way there, we were shown a video package about the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match. As Shane was talking about the show, The Miz came out. Miz said he had to get something off of his chest. He acted guilty about how they lost their tag belts on Sunday. Miz confessed that he used Shane. His speech eventually went into the idea of a rematch against The Usos. So it looks like The Miz is going to use him again. The Usos came out and trashed talked a little. Shane booked the rematch for Fastlane.

Aleister Black vs. Andrade w/ Zelina Vega

At RAW the night before there were many NXT wrestlers who got shown to the mainstream audience. It happened again this week but on Smackdown this time. The first match was between Aleister Black and Andrade. Andrade and Black were in a close battle for quite some time. Andrade tried for his Hammerlock DDT, but Black escaped and landed the Black Mass Kick to end the match. Not a bad match. Backstage we saw Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa being interviewed. Sheamus and Cesaro came over and told them to leave Smackdown. Gargano said that they are there to break the bar. This made Sheamus and Cesaro burst into laughter, and that was it. Kofi Kingston gave an olive branch that had pancakes on it to Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles as a way to apologize for being opponents on Sunday.

The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)

The next NXT versus Smackdown Live was one between the previously mentioned Bar and #DIY. During this match Ciampa did a Sunset Flip off the second rope on Sheamus, but looked very scary. It looked like Ciampa nearly buckled his left knee with the move. It seemed to really scare the commentary team. Gargano put Cesaro in the “Gargano Escape” but Cesaro got out of it. Sheamus gave Gargano a knee off the top rope with help from Cesaro, but Ciampa broke up the pin attempt. Gargano was hit with a backbreaker from Sheamus for another two count. Sheamus was given a Superkick for a two count. Gargano tried for a roll-up and then tagged in Ciampa who did a roll-up to win the match. This caught Sheamus off guard because he was attacking Gargano in the corner at the time. An enjoyable match by all four. While I like these matches, I do feel that they can get sort of lame since they are basically special attraction matches.

Asuka vs. Mandy Rose w/ Sonya Deville

In the ring we saw Asuka get interviewed. She said that she’s ready for a challenge. Who answered her call? Mandy Rose. The match was made, but wasn’t for the title. Not even a minute into the match, Lacey Evans came out. She did he walk down the ramp, and then turn around and left. This actually distracted Asuka, giving Mandy an opening. She went for a pin attempt after putting Asuka into a corner, but wasn’t successful. Asuka landed a Shining Wizard later on for a two count. Rose faked a face injury to make Asuka let her guard down. She then shoved Asuka into a corner and then did a roll-up to win the match. Asuka was undefeated at one point in her career. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Ricochet vs. Eric Young w/ Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe

Ricochet versus Eric Young in the next match. Ricochet landed his 630 Splash to end the match. Of course, Ricochet had a good showing.

Kofi Kingston, Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles w/ Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Samoa Joe, Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan w/ Erick Rowan

The main event was a tag match including all members of the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match. Daniel Bryan talked to the crowd on his way out. You could see huge welts on his chest from Sunday. Bryan says that his next opponent will be none of the men from the Chamber match since they’ve all been defeated. During this match Kofi had the crowd behind him (as he should to be honest). Kingston tried for a dive off the top rope but was shoved off by Bryan. Orton threw Kingston onto a commentary table, but it did not break. He did it again after a commercial break. Styles and Bryan were in the ring when Styles gave him a Calf Crusher. It was broken up by Samoa Joe, who was given a Twist of Fate. Orton slid Hardy out of the ring and then got clotheslined out by AJ. Bryan put AJ in an Labell Lock after a combination of moves. Bryan tried for a knee but got hit with a Pele Kick. Kingston got a hot tag but got dumped to the outside where many people were. Kofi came back in and did a dropkick off the top rope. He went to the top rope and did a dive to the outside onto Bryan and Rowan. Kingston landed a Trouble In Paradise to win the match. After the match Shane McMahon came out and booked Daniel Bryan versus Kofi Kingston for the Fastlane PPV.

Is this happening? Kingston is legitimately big with the crowd, and he’s getting some real wins. I’m ready to see this match. I don’t think that Kofi will legitimately win because this has all been so short term, but I’m excited to see what they can do in the next week weeks and in their match at the PPV.

This show felt somewhat lame. Like sure the NXT dudes are putting on good matches, but WWE needs more than just good matches to keep me interested. They need storylines that go along with them, which none of them really had. The main event was fun, and helped further build Kingston as a fan favourite.