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You know what, guys? I really enjoyed this episode of SmackDown Live, and could honestly find few faults with it from start to finish. Some may call it the Kofi Kingston show, which it was, but it was also a very entertaining show. I loved every single moment of it, quite honestly.
But yes, of course, there were faults during the course of the two hours, I felt. It wasn't a perfect show because of a variety of reasons. I shall elaborate on each of them in this article for your reading pleasure and invite you to leave a comment.
Did you think this was the right show to get you pumped for Elimination Chamber? Or would you have preferred something else to happen during the show?
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#1 Best: A career-defining performance
Kofi Kingston is one of those WWE superstars who has always been around but never been given the opportunity to become a main eventer. For everything that he has achieved in his career, this may have been his most career-defining moment in the company thus far.
Kofi Kingston has achieved everything but he's never been WWE Champion yet. When Mustafa Ali got injured, WWE decided to reward Kingston for his years of service by putting him in the Elimination Chamber match, and by default, the gauntlet match as well. I daresay that this was perhaps a major improvement over Mustafa Ali being a part of the mix.
Do I think that Kofi Kingston will become WWE Champion? No, I do not.
But I'm glad that he got a chance to show that he can still go in this week's fantastic gauntlet match!
#1 Worst: Samoa Joe's weak booking
Can anyone take Samoa Joe seriously anymore, considering he just keeps losing? I thought he was supposed to be this unbeatable monster with a legitimate MMA background. The fact of the matter is that to portray someone in such a manner, he needs to be protected and treated as a monster. And Joe lost to Kofi Kingston in decisive fashion.
The fact of the matter is that Kofi Kingston was shown to be worn out from defeating two top stars including the WWE Champion. And when he did, Samoa Joe strode forth with fury and rage on his mind. I assumed that he would be able to choke Kingston out and move on to the next opponent.
Only he could not. Kingston got one over on Joe and made him look like an absolutely weak character and not the imposing monster he should be.
This would never happen to someone like Strowman.
#2 Best: Four geniuses on the microphone
Unfortunately, the match between The Usos against Shane McMahon and The Miz will not be nearly as good as say a match between The Usos and The Bar, or The New Day. But that said, I thought that the build was quite extraordinary. All four of the men involved brought their A-game in terms of cutting promos.
It is almost surreal just how good The Usos are on the microphone and this explains why WWE is scared to lose them. The rumour mill indicates that The Usos have their contracts expiring this April. And that they would be a great catch for AEW because The Young Bucks need a good team to work with.
While their departure does not seem like a big deal at face value, The Usos keep reminding us of how gifted they are. They're just as good in the ring as they are at cutting believable promos.
#2 Worst: Not anticipating Randy Orton's RKO
Some of you may not consider this a big deal, and if so, I understand. But I'm often bothered by just how stupid the booking of babyfaces is in WWE. Almost everyone knew that Randy Orton would arrive from the crowd and hit an RKO on Styles, except for Styles himself.
This is certainly not the first time that Orton has hit a move like this. You would expect a superstar as ring savvy as AJ Styles to be able to anticipate the fact that Randy Orton could step in from anywhere at all, to deliver his patented move. But somehow, Styles never saw the move coming, really.
And I really think that this is one of the reasons that so few babyfaces are actually over with the WWE Universe, because they're portrayed as dumb. When the audience at home and in the audience can anticipate something, why can't they?
#3 Best: Charlotte Flair's promo
Remember how taken aback Ronda Rousey seemed to be when the WWE Universe turned on her on RAW, a few weeks ago? This wasn't the case with Charlotte Flair at all, who seemed to thrive on the hate from the audience.
Much like her father, Flair seems like she's a much better heel than she is a babyface. As a result, she allowed the crowd to air their dissatisfaction, played beautifully off it and angered them to no end that their favourite Becky Lynch will not be in the WrestleMania 35 main event match.
Ric Flair's 70th birthday will be celebrated on RAW on the week after Elimination Chamber and I'm sure that Becky Lynch is going to crash that party. I would love to see what happens between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in that segment as good and bad collide.
What did you think of Flair's performance?
#3 Worst: Still no R-Truth or Asuka
Why was R-Truth made the United States Champion? He hasn't been on the show ever since he won the title, and the value of the Championship has fallen significantly since then.
I understand that there are a limited number of slots but I find it hard to believe that nobody in the back thinks that these two titles deserve to get screen time at all. If you compare the buzz around Ronda Rousey's title to that around Asuka's, there's a huge difference really.
Things are only going to get significantly worse when the Women's Tag Team titles are introduced because everyone will be competing for screen time then. Why introduce a brand new Championship when the existing ones aren't getting any real screen time?
I really hope that both of these Superstars have an opponent for the pay-per-view, even if it's on the Elimination Chamber Kickoff show.
#4 Best/worst: The tag team match
I liked and disliked the Women's Tag Team match on SmackDown Live in equal parts. While they were both still not 'The Usos', Naomi and Carmella were both individually impressive in the ring. I liked that the IIconics did not participate because they didn't have to. Corey Graves did a fantastic job on commentary, elaborating on their strategy.
That said, I thought Rose and Deville are still not 'there' yet. And none of these three teams are even half as good as say, Sasha and Bayley, and so I'm a little fearful for the division. It does not matter how strong the protagonist is, if the antagonists are not convincing.
So that was my analysis of this week's episode of SmackDown Live. Like I said at the beginning that I thought there was far more good than bad, really.
I would also like to hear your opinion!
