WWE SmackDown Live – April 2, 2019 (Review)

Best Of SmackDown Live

Talk Shows

As a matter of principle I tend to hate wrestler talk shows. The problem is that these segments invariably fall into one of three tired categories: a fluff piece for the wrestler concerned, a tame brawl involving the guests and/or host, or both. And in a sense, that’s kind of what we got here too.

Kevin Owens came down to the ring before announcing his two guests on The KO Show, namely AJ Styles and Randy Orton. After a few fairly innocuous lines, things started to get rather spicy. AJ referenced Randy’s history of failed drug tests. Orton responded by accusing Styles of becoming the new John Cena – little more than a corporate shill. Owens then, noticing that things were beginning to spiral out of hand, quietly rose from his chair and casually marched out of the ring without speaking a word. That genuinely made me laugh.

And then a fight broke out, which ended with Orton countering an attempted Phenomenal Forearm into an RKO.

In the end, the animosity between AJ and Orton was made to feel real, something sorely lacking elsewhere on the card. And ultimately, that’s really all you can ask for.

The More the Merrier

The Usos teamed with Ricochet & Aleister Black to take on The Bar and Rusev & Nakamura in an entertaining 8-man tag match. There were chops, flips and roundhouse kicks. Even better, we get to see an encore in five days time, as the four teams involved will meet again for the SmackDown Live tag team titles on Sunday. Although the way this announcement was handled left a lot to be desired (more on that below).

Similarly, Samoa Joe vs. Ali was a decent bout. It only lasted about five minutes, but it was a passable five minutes. And, as much as I appreciate Ali, seeing Joe pick up the win by choking the high-flyer out was welcome relief after the recent slide the US Champion has found himself on.

Shane Calling Miz’s Dad “Mr Potato Face”

I think he meant to say “Mr Potato Head“, but this nevertheless made me chuckle. I’m secretly 8 years old.

I have to admit that the visual to end this segment was also fairly great. The Miz rose from pinning Eric Young in the parking lot (which was bad), to see Shane’s face as he rolled up the window of his SUV before speeding off (which was amazing). He looked like a very sweaty and slightly out of shape Bond villain.

KofiMania

The contract signing between Kofi and Daniel Bryan was unquestionably the highlight of the show. The crowd was insanely hot for this moment, cycling through various chants for the title challenger, while loudly booing the champion’s attempts to silence them.

Once again, Daniel Bryan was on fire here. His motivational message to “not be a bystander in your own life” was ruthlessly rebuked by the fans in attendance. He berated Kofi for being so reliant on the support of Big E and Xavier Woods, before drawing parallels between the way the fans cheer for Kofi now and the way they used to cheer for him.

Eventually though, Kofi had enough of Bryan’s sanctimony and lobbed a few truths of his own. Kingston had watched Bryan ascend to the top of WWE’s ladder within two years of his debut. He watched, he observed, he understood. This was how the business worked. And all of that was okay, because after eleven long years, Kofi was finally getting his one-on-one shot at the WWE Champion. Moreover, Daniel Bryan knew what was coming for him this Sunday… and he was scared.

After seeing Vince’s smugness last week, I fully expected shenanigans again last night. Some last hurdle for Kofi to overcome; some final obstacle for him to clear. But there was none. Just two excellent, impassioned promos, a contract signed, and a final stare-down.

I am so ready for this match on Sunday.

5 years ago by Nicholas Holicki

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