WWE SmackDown Live – March 12, 2019 (Review)

What was the worst part of last night’s episode?

Steven Lugo

What was I saying about the dreaded Raw format? Oh yeah. Enter, Shane McMahon, with his silly trophy and heel promo. There’s just so much about Shane being a credible threat in SmackDown Live men’s division that I hate. His promo was an explanation for his actions on Sunday, sure, but how good an explanation, really? He’s mad at fans and employees because people come to him for stock options? Well, that’s what I got out of it anyway. Seeing it was Shane and not one of SmackDown’s many up-and-coming wrestlers in this spot made me not pay attention much.

Nate Craver

Shane O’Mac as a heel.  It was AW….FUL. At least, they got it out of the way early.  Wow, Shane as a heel fell flat. Shane wasn’t able to convey any emotion. I’m not sure what else to say. It was just boring and stirred no emotion whatsoever.  I thought about going with Rey’s outfit, but it definitely got more of a reaction than Shane’s heel turn.

Kyle Payne

The crowd was such a disappointment for such a great show. If you’re going to buy a ticket, at least be excited to be there.

Nicholas Holicki

Everything about The New Day wiping out Rusev and Nakamura baffled me. On commentary, Byron Saxton was driving home the idea that Kofi and his chums had simply reached their breaking point, fed up with the treatment they’ve received from Vince McMahon in recent weeks.

While that’s notionally fine, the execution was slightly confusing. Ambushing a team halfway through a match is a decidedly heel tactic, which doesn’t gel particularly well with The New Day’s happy-go-lucky personalities. But even accepting that they have become so angry that they simply couldn’t restrain themselves, I don’t see the logic in this. Vince had already made it clear that he would be “offering Kofi a WrestleMania opportunity” later in the evening, with his mind evidently set on some larger plan. I just don’t see how ruining a tag match and beating up one of the participants would have any impact on what Vince had to say later on.

As it turned out, by the end of the night this beatdown didn’t really have any bearing on proceedings whatsoever. It was all just… really weird and unnecessary, as proven by The New Day closing the night by beating up even more people, only this time while standing their ground like true babyfaces.

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