WWE SmackDown Live – June 4, 2019 (Review)

The Best of SmackDown Live

Kingston the Conquering Hero

The night started as many a SmackDown has in recent times: with Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and enough pancakes to give an entire arena diabetes.

There was a distinct feel-good vibe around proceedings as well, as Kofi recounted his recent trip to his birthplace of Ghana. He was beaming as he retold stories of seeing relatives for the first time in 25 years, and teared up at the memory of inspiring the young children he met.

It was all a very sincere moment, mostly because it was delivered by Kofi and not the usual corporate suits. Kingston seemed to genuinely connect with the audience on his trip.

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A New Women’s Challenger

Alexa, Charlotte and Carmella faced off in a triple threat with a future shot at Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Title on the line. I wonder if it’ll be at Super ShowDown. WWE – the forefront of change!

Bad jokes aside, I did actually enjoy this match for a number of reasons. First off, it was a relief to see Alexa Bliss return to the ring. Despite her character shortcomings, I’d hate to see injuries cut her career short. We’ve seen that happen too often in recent years.

Second, these women put on one hell of a contest. They brawled in the ring, they brawled around the ring, they brawled up the ramp. Each competitor looked like they may win at different points. The highlight of the bout came when Charlotte had Carmella in the Figure-8 and Alexa Bliss hit the Twisted Bliss off the top rope, only for ‘Mella to break up the ensuing pin attempt. You could see it coming a mile away, but it nevertheless looked spectacular.

The contest ended when Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, who had made their way to ringside after the bout got underway, tripped up Carmella. This gave Bliss the opportunity to land the DDT on her distracted opponent to pick up the 1-2-3. I could’ve done without the unmotivated interference, but it didn’t really detract from an excellent match.

And so Alexa Bliss is now the number one contender to the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Somewhere, whatever’s left of the brand split is in a dumpster, burning.

Gold-berg! Gold-berg!

Despite my better instincts (and the last five-plus years of evidence), I can’t help but get excited when I hear Goldberg’s music. It’s a primal reaction, much like the nature of the man himself.

Once in the ring, Goldberg played off of Undertaker’s message from the night before fairly well. He assured ‘the Deadman’ that he would be getting the absolute best that he had to offer. And that come Super ShowDown, Undertaker would be next… to rest in peace!

And then the dong struck.

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The lights went out and when they came back on, Undertaker was looming behind Goldberg. The pair engaged in a tense standoff for a few seconds, before the dong sounded again and the lights went out.

When they returned, Undertaker was nowhere to be seen. Goldberg chuckled to himself (in that loud, hearty way that only a man of Goldberg’s size can pull off), and he told the ‘Deadman’ that he’d see him Friday. This was about as good as one could hope for from a makeshift feud between two part-time legends. I enjoyed it.

• review
• Goldberg
• Smackdown
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