5 Things WWE got right on this week’s SmackDown (April 24, 2020)

This week’s SmackDown had a lot of hopes and expectations attached to it as it was supposed to host the 25th Anniversary Celebration for Triple H. Apart for that, King Corbin was set to face Drew Gulak to determine who would make it to the Money in the Bank match, while Lacey Evans was up against Sasha Banks.

Things started off well this week as The New Day took control of the night but lost it to the other tag teams. After a few decent matches, we saw the final match between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, and the team of Dana Brooke and Carmella for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.

The night ended with a bizarre celebration for Triple H that did not offer anything special and ended rather awkwardly.

In this article, we will look at the five things that SmackDown got right on this week’s show.

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#5 The Forgotten Sons' statement of intent

This week’s show was kicked off by the eight-time Tag Team Champions, Big E and Kofi Kingston. The New Day was all up for celebrating their SmackDown Tag Team Championships victory last week after Big E defeated The Miz and Jey Uso in a Triple Threat Match for the titles.

After the duo had a bit of fun, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado walked out to congratulate the new Champions and challenge them to a match for the titles. Before Big E and Kingston could answer the challenge, former titleholders The Miz and John Morrison came out to complain about losing the title in a singles match last week.

The Forgotten Sons were out next and managed to make the biggest impact as they were able to beat down the Champions while Miz And Morrison, and the Lucha House Party decided to bail.

The Forgotten Sons were largely overlooked during their time in NXT and it was good to watch them stand up against some of the top men in the business. SmackDown also managed to show just how much depth their tag team division has with a single segment.

#4 Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross retained the titles

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were all set to defend their titles against Dana Brooke and Carmella this week. Brooke and Carmella tried to make the most out of the opportunity and went after the Champions from the start to gain the advantage.

While the action was a bit chaotic as the partners waiting for the tag were all over the place, they still managed to make the match work somehow.

After the action traded a few times, it was the team of Bliss and Cross that managed to hit their interesting finisher and pick up a win to retain their titles.

The short match did not do much for Brooke and Carmella except give them some screen time and a match after some weeks. Brooke is already in the Money in the Bank ladder match while Carmella could get her spot next week. They should now focus on that after this filler match.

Bliss and Cross proved to be good Champions in their first reign, and it was the right decision to give them the victory to allow them to move forward and possibly have another good reign as the Champions.

#3 The Lucha House Party's triumph

After the crazy, yet impressive, opening segment on SmackDown, the Lucha House Party competed against the team of The Miz and John Morrison this week.

The match started off a bit slow but quickly picked up pace as Miz and Lince Dorado got right at it. Miz took control of the match early on and the former Champions continued to dominate the luchadors with some impressive takedowns.

As soon as The King of the Ropes exploded into the match, the trajectory changed completely. After several high-flying moves, Metalik tried to hit the moonsault on The A-lister for the victory. However, Miz got his knees up to block the moonsault, but Metalik was still able to roll-up the former WWE Champion to pick up the victory for his team.

This was a rather interesting decision to make as The Miz and Morrison have gone from SmackDown Tag Team Champions to losers against an enhancement team. However, the Lucha House Party needed a push and a reason to push for a SmackDown Tag Team Championship shot. Another loss for the team at the hands of The Miz could lead to differences appearing between them.

#2 Baron Corbin’s victory

The only men’s Money in the Bank Qualifier Match saw King Corbin take on Drew Gulak in a rather interesting match. With the apparent size advantage, Corbin was able to work over Gulak rather easily and throw him over the top rope to the outside.

Gulak recovered and started working on the technical aspect of the game as he took down Corbin with a few holds and submissions.

However, Corbin was able to power out and kept Gulak down for some time. Gulak made a short comeback and hit Corbin with a dropkick outside the ring, but it was difficult for him to keep the King of the Ring winner down for long.

While the action was getting closer, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro appeared to attack Daniel Bryan at ringside which led to Gulak being distracted. Corbin took advantage of the situation and hit Gulak with The End of Days to pick up the victory.

This was the right thing to do as Corbin’s value had been falling in recent months due to one-sided bookings as the heel had been losing quite a few matches. Since Bryan is already in the MITB match, WWE did not need Gulak to go up against The Planet’s Champion and create any differences between them.

#1 More cracks between Bayley and Sasha Banks

We’ve watched Sasha Banks and Lacey Evans feud on and off for months now, and the two squared off against one another in a WWE Money in the Bank Qualifying Match.

The two went after each other right from the opening bell and Banks managed to get the upper hand in the opening moments. However, The Sassy Southern Belle managed to make a good comeback and show how she’s improved in the ring.

Late in the match, Evans slammed Banks’ head into the ring post several times to come close to victory. After a lot of to and fro action, Banks was able to roll Evans up for the pin, thanks to Bayley’s distraction. However, the distraction lasted way too long and did not allow the referee to get back to the middle to count the pin.

This allowed Evans to kick out and hit The Women’s Right on Banks for the win in a rather awkward finish. After the match, Tamina hit Bayley with a Superkick to send a final statement.

This was a decent match that did everything it could to turn Banks and Bayley’s friendship into a rivalry. Fans have been waiting for this for months, and it feels like the rivalry is finally coming.