Does it feel like WrestleMania week to you? We know that when Raw ended this week, it did not feel so. SmackDown wasn't the perfect show, but fared much better than Raw in terms of building up to The Ultimate Thrill Ride’.
While one segment this week stole the show and the rest of the episode contained a lot of ho-hum moments, it was still a pretty solid showcase before Wrestlemania. As always, here's your post show recap of the best and worst of Smackdown Live. The final one before WrestleMania.
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#1 Best: The roast of The Miz & Maryse
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Kudos to these two men and women for taking a match that nobody was interested in at first, and creating a lot of hype and hoopla around it. The Miz and Maryse were hilarious in their spoof of ‘Total Bellas Bull**it’, as they also parodied Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan this week.
With John Cena’s robotic pronouncements of love and Miz and Maryse hammering in the fact that Cena would never ask Nikki to marry him, this segment would have been a winner on its own merit. But oh no, the fun was just beginning at that point in time.
John Cena grabbed a microphone and just lay the Smackdown on The Miz and Maryse. The two heels just stood dumbfounded as Cena took jab after jab at them, even stating that The Miz shot ‘blanks’.
By the end of the segment, we almost felt sorry for The Miz and his wife, Maryse. If the match lives up to the build, it will be a treat to watch for sure. Moving on to the negatives of the show now.
#1 Worst: No SmackDown Tag Team Championship match at Wrestlemania
American Alpha dropped their tag team championships to The Usos, two weeks removed from Wrestlemania. This week, we found out that they wouldn’t be defending their belts at Orlando, but would be part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal instead.
Not only is this disrespectful to the Champions, it also devalues the importance of the tag team titles. We are certain that every tag team in the battle royal would have preferred to be a part of a tag team environment instead. Hey, but WWE booking is what it is. Sigh!
#2 Best: The return of Naomi
Naomi is a babyface who gets a babyface reaction, a rarity in modern day WWE. Unfortunately, she had been injured after winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship and had to relinquish her belt and her dreams during an episode of SmackDown Live, a few weeks ago.
This week she made her big return during the tag team match that involved the women of Smackdown and announced that she will be a part of the multi-woman SmackDown Women's Championship match at Wrestlemania. We even believe that she can pick up the win, considering the match is happening in her hometown- Orlando.
#2 Worst: Just another normal in-ring match?
Shane McMahon is not really a wrestler. His basics are weak and his punches are laughable. What makes him a special attraction are the crazy spots he performs, putting his life and limb on the line every time he steps out.
This week AJ Styles mentioned that the match between them will not include any stipulations. Nobody wanted AJ Styles and Shane McMahon to be in a program together in the first place but following their parking lot brawl, fans took consolation in the fact that it seemed like it was leading to a street fight at Wrestlemania.
From the looks of it, this doesn’t seem to be the case here. Let’s hope Styles carries McMahon throughout.
#3 Best: Solid showing from Luke Harper
The SmackDown main event was a grudge match between Bray Wyatt and his former follower- Luke Harper. While the match didn’t go long and ended abruptly, it was a great platform for Luke Harper to showcase how good he really is.
Luke Harper jumped and flew around like a Cruiserweight and it’s a shame he's not on the WrestleMania card. Someone as good as him deserves a spot at the top of the card. In any case, he opened many eyes this week and we are certain he will open many more during his singles run.
#3 Worst: SmackDown women will only be on the kickoff show
While the women from Raw grab a coveted spot at the top of the card, the women of Smackdown are relegated to the kickoff show. What a shame it is! Each one of them deserves better. Especially someone like Becky Lynch who was part of the best match of WrestleMania last year.
On that note, we bid farewell and kiss you good night.
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