WWE SmackDown Live Review // 20th March 2018

With three weeks until WrestleMania, this week's SmackDown was perhaps the most important episode on the road to WrestleMania and will almost certainly prove to be the most memorable for the majority of the fanbase. This week saw Daniel Bryan announce his return to in-ring competition and call out Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn for their assault on Shane McMahon last week, Charlotte Flair and Natalya renew their rivalry, SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso go one on one with the Bludgeon Brother's Harper, Shinsuke Nakamura face Rusev in a rematch from Fastlane and Jinder Mahal talk about being added to the United States title match at WrestleMania...but was it any good? Here's our review. 

Daniel Bryan addresses being cleared to compete 

If it's possible to feel all of the emotions at the same time, then that's exactly what I experienced whilst watching Daniel Bryan speak about being able to wrestle again on SmackDown this week. Honestly, Bryan could have come out and said absolutely anything and everyone would have been over the moon because he can wrestle again, but what happened on 20th March was so much more than that. Obviously this being a very real situation helped a lot, but listening to the emotion in Bryan's voice as he talked about how his wife, Brie Bella, had helped him to keep fighting and to keep pushing to get back in the ring, as well as the passion with which he talked about professional wrestling was wonderful and left me somewhere between being one big pimpley goose and a human tear. Whatever happens next is a bonus for me, as the story of Bryan's return is strong enough to drive multiple storylines for years and I'm not sure it will ever be matched. Also all the crowd pointing at the WrestleMania sign when Bryan said he didn't know when he'd get to wrestle his first match might be my favourite thing that has ever happened inside a wrestling arena. 

After the segment - Charles Robinson congratulated Daniel Bryan on his return, before Dolph Ziggler told Bryan that he couldn't wait to beat him - Daniel Bryan was informed that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had arrived at the building.

Daniel Bryan calls out Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn 

Wow, what a rollercoaster this segment was, moving from comedy heat for Kevin Owens saying "everyone's dumber in Texas" to a vicious assault on Daniel Bryan on his first night back as an active competitor all within the space of ten or fifteen minutes. There was a lot packed into the fifteen minutes, but the segment essentially boiled down to Owens & Zayn assaulting Bryan because he was forced to fire them for attacking Shane McMahon on last week's episode, but because of Bryan's lengthy absence from anything resembling physicality it ended up being so much more than the sum of its parts. Watching Bryan nailing running dropkicks in the corner, like he'd never been away became an emotional experience the likes of which I never thought I'd experience watching some hit a dropkick or two, whilst the beatdown from Owens and Zayn that came after the pair had regained control got a great deal of heat as they threw punches at the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The conclusion with Owens hitting a powerbomb onto the apron was difficult to watch, a good piece of booking to throw doubt over Bryan will be able to compete at WrestleMania, with the whole picture involving the three and Shane McMahon being wide open at the conclusion of the show. A special note on Owens performance here, as as always Kevin's attention to detail was wonderful and him screaming repeatedly, showing confliction and frustration with his action was a lovely touch that added to an already brilliant segment.

SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya

Before the match - We got a hype package for Asuka, who seemingly isn't on the show tonight - Natalya tried to wind up Charlotte Flair, saying she was scared about facing Asuka at WrestleMania, with Flair agreeing to a match with Natty later on the show. 

An intriguing development at the end of a good match between Natalya and Charlotte Flair saw Carmella attempt to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase and whilst Flair nailed Carmella with the Queen's Boot before the cash-in could occur it did allow Natalya to pick up a surprise victory with a school-boy roll up. I'm not quite sure how this factors into Flair's match with Asuka at WrestleMania, but its at least WWE trying to do something different on SmackDown, rather than what could have been a paint-by-numbers victory for Flair. The match itself took a while to get into, mostly because there was a feeling that I'd seen it all before, with the having competed in eleven TV singles matches in the last two years, but the build towards the interference featured some lovely action between the pair. Natalya pulled out a gorgeous spinning sit-out powerbomb, but the highlight was a superb sequence involving the figure four leglock, that would conclude with Flair holding onto the move whilst hanging outside of the ring, after the two had rolled to the ropes. I would suspect we could see Natty & Carmella vs. Flair & Asuka at some point over the next two weeks, with Natalya's victory perhaps being used to make her Asuka's first challenger after the Empress wins the belt at WrestleMania.

Jimmy Uso (with Jey Uso) vs. Harper (with Rowan) 

Before the match - The Usos cut one of signature fiery promos, promising to not lie down when faced with the threat of the Bludgeon Brothers as they looked for their first match on the main card of a WrestleMania. 

The match was a fairly straight-forward affair with Jimmy Uso able to stay in the match by using his speed, before Harper put him away with a pretty weak looking lariat. The match was raised past a regular squash thanks to a stellar near fall from Uso, which saw the SmackDown Tag Team Champion able to dodge distraction from Rowan, before that same distraction allowed for both Usos to hit superkicks for a long two count on Harper

Rusev (with Aiden English) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Whilst not as good as their clash at Fastlane, Shinsuke Nakamura's victory over Rusev with a roll-up still provided a solid slice of television wrestling. The match ended up coming up a little short time-wise, with only around five minutes airing on TV, but still got a few decent moments and sequences in there. A lot of it was either going over ground covered in the PPV bout and using a couple of signature spots like the "Come on" thing that Nakkers does, but there was also a nice forearm sequence and a surprising amount of dominance from the Bulgarian Brute, including a near fall off a big kick after Nakamura escaped the Accolade. The finishing sequence was very well done, with Nakamura missing a couple of roundhouse kicks, before going for his rolling crossarmbreaker and then being able to reverse a Rusev roll-up (major alliteration scenes) to pick up a straight-forward victory. Not quite good enough to go out of your way to see, but enjoyable if you're a regular watcher of the product nonetheless. 

After the match - Rusev & Aiden English assaulted Shinsuke Nakamura, with AJ Styles taking so long to make the save from the guest commentary position that Nakamura ended up being able to fight off both of his attackers - Backstage, Shinsuke Nakamura told AJ Styles that he didn't need his help and that he'd beat him at WrestleMania with a "knee to face" 

Jinder Mahal addresses his United States title shot at WrestleMania

More of the same from Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Untied States Champion Randy Orton this week, after Mahal had addressed being added to the US title match at WrestleMania. Honestly, I was over this storyline about a month ago and I'm looking forward to being able to move passed it in April, because the booking continues to be lazy, the writing continues to be juvenile and the performers continue to look like they'd rather be doing anything else (well, Roode and Orton do, I suppose Mahal is just buzzing to still be riding the wave of his awful WWE title run). Mahal left Sunil Singh to Roode & Orton, with Singh taking DDTs rope-hung and Glorious, before Orton and Roode tried to hit their finishers on each other and still nobody gave a fuck. 

Also on the show

- Baron Corbin squashed Tye Dillinger in a few minutes, with the match going a little longer because Corbin botched his own finish and they had to do it again. 

- Becky Lynch & Naomi squashed the Riott Squad's Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan with Lynch tapping out Morgan with the Dis-armer after a nothing match 

- The "Hungry for Mania" moment was the entirety of WrestleMania I.

ATPW Scale Rating // 

5.88 out of 10 

Written by James Marston //

@IAmNotAlanDale

WWE SmackDown Live Review // 13th March 2018

2 days after Fastlane, WWE's SmackDown brand set its sight on WrestleMania. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura came face to face before Styles took on Rusev, Shane McMahon had an announcement to make about WrestleMania, Randy Orton celebrated his first WWE United States Championship before Jinder Mahal faced former champion Bobby Roode, The Bludgeon Brothers challenged any fit members of The New Day and The Usos to a match, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair shared a ring with WrestleMania opponent Asuka and "Ms. Money in the Bank" Carmella went one on one with Naomi. But was the Indianapolis show any good? Lets take a look!

On-Air Personnel 

Commentary - Corey Graves, Byron Saxton & Tom Phillips 

Interviewers - Dasha Fuentes & Renee Young

Ring Announcer - Greg Hamilton

Order 

1. Face-to-Face: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles vs. Rusev

2. Shane McMahon's WrestleMania Announcement 

3. Randy Orton's US title Celebration and Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal 

4. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Big E & Jimmy Uso 

5. Face-to-Face: Charlotte Flair and Asuka

6. Carmella vs. Naomi

Face-to-Face: AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura

A solid opening segment between the competitors in SmackDown's main event at WrestleMania, as Shinsuke Nakamura interrupted WWE Champion AJ Styles. We didn't really learn a lot from either man's promo, but it was cool to see the two finally share the ring, after their WrestleMania match had been rumoured for so long. In fact, I think it was the fact that we've waited so long to see it that actually managed to carry the segment, because the crowd was super hyped for it, with duelling chants and all that jazz. Styles' promo went over some old ground about his road to get to WWE and what it means to go into WrestleMania as champion, whilst Nakamura's was limited to explaining his dream was to knee Styles in the face and become champion, whilst the crowd "What"'ed him because English isn't his first language. The interruption by Rusev just as things looked to be escalating between Nakamura and Styles was well-placed and should help to rise the interest in the WWE title match at WrestleMania a little more as we begin to anticipate what the clash might look like when it finally happens. 

AJ Styles vs. Rusev (with Aiden English)

AJ Styles and Rusev battled in a good match, until Aiden English interfered to give Styles the disqualification win as Styles looked to locking in the Calf Crusher on Rusev. This a physical clash with slight elements of power vs. speed in places, but was mostly centered around the pairs various strike based offence, with plenty of forearms and kicks in this one. The best stuff of the match was a minute or so that was used to build for the Ushigoroshi from Styles, with the Phenomenal One attempting the move three or four times, before a Pele Kick would eventually allow him to it, only for Rusev's weight across Styles' knee meaning he couldn't get a pinfall. This was a nice example of making a signature move mean something and there was even a good near fall thrown into the mix when RuRu dropped off Styles' shoulders for a Roundhouse Kick that looked super snug. The little sequence before the interference was also quite lovely with Styles going for what would have been an impressive Styles Clash, Rusev escaping and going for the Accolade and Styles reversing and eventually being able to roll-through into a Styles Clash. A bit more time and bit more importance and these two could have a great match together. The finish seems to be to extend the feud a little and pad sometime for WrestleMania, because of what would follow.

After the match - Rusev & Aiden English attempted to beatdown AJ Styles, before Shinsuke Nakamura would make the save with a pair of Kinshasas, I guess we'll see Styles & Nakamura vs. Rusev & English next week - Backstage, Shinsuke Nakamura told AJ Styles he would protect him til WrestleMania so he could beat him with "Knee to face" 

Shane McMahon's WrestleMania announcement

Before the segment - Sami Zayn blamed Shane McMahon's obsession with Kevin Owens for him not being WWE Champion right now, before promising to never be guilty by association to Owens ever again. - Kevin Owens replied to Sami Zayn, blaming Shane McMahon and calling Zayn a liar and delusional. 

A surprisingly violent angle to close the show as Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' hatred for Shane McMahon united them once more as they laid waste to the SmackDown Commissioner, moments after McMahon had announced he was taking time away from the position and placed Owens against Zayn at WrestleMania. McMahon's promo was a little rambling, seemingly thinking out loud as he wondered whether he crossed the line at Fastlane and honestly lacked the emotion that it needed to be genuinely interesting. However, once we got past McMahon's detached rhetoric and we got two performers out there in Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn the segment was energised and became a fascinating and uncomfortable piece of television. Owens & Zayn taking out referees (including a ridiculous bump to the floor by Ryan Tran) got a great shocked pop from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the vicious assault including a Pop-up Powerbomb and McMahon getting sent into the post with a steel chair around his neck, grabbed you and made you pay attention, because it felt different to the usual WWE beatdown. But the most bracing moment came when Owens & Zayn began dragging McMahon up the ramp and into the back, with an increasing sense of foreboding that some real shit was about to go down. That real shit was a nasty looking powerbomb onto some big hunk of metal, that looked super painful to take for McMahon. If you look past the fact that no one came to McMahon's aid apart from a few referees, this was a great angle, that opened up a number of questions to be answered over the next three weeks. How will McMahon look to gain his revenge? What does this mean for Owens & Zayn's friendship, that appeared to be in tatters? Will we get Owens vs. Zayn on the biggest stage? 

Randy Orton celebrates United States Championship win 

A thoroughly unnecessary segment here, as no one said anything and Jinder Mahal continued to be a drag on the blue brand's product. Out of the three promos, Randy Orton's had the most behind it as he gave Bobby Roode props after their US title match, whilst also putting over what it meant to be a grand slam champion. Roode's promo revealed that he wanted his title rematch at WrestleMania, so at least there was that development, I suppose, even if it easily could've been handled in a thirty second backstage interview. Then we get to Jinder Mahal, who manages to make me want to turn off the TV every time he pops up, especially during this storyline. Why is his character that of a school boy? The quality of the writing for Mahal here has been especially poor, but he's not exactly blessed with great promo skills either. This segment saw Mahal try to stir the pot again between Orton and Roode, by mentioning that Roode had held the US title before Orton and that was something Orton was never going to change. Why the fuck would 13 time World Champion Randy Orton give a fuck that Bobby Roode had held the United States title before he did? Get in a bin, Jinder. Get in a bin, whoever "wrote" that promo. 

"The Glorious" Bobby Roode vs. "The Modern Day Maharajah" Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh) 

Not much to talk about in this match, as Jinder Mahal managed to beat the former WWE United States Champion, to supposedly set-up a triple threat at WrestleMania, after Sunil Singh had provided the distraction. There was one nice sequence here with the pair reversing each other's signatures, with Roode managing to counter a counter with a sunset flip for a decent near fall. 


After the match - Randy Orton gave Jinder Mahal an RKO.

Jimmy Uso & Big E vs. Harper & Rowan

Before the match - Big E & Jimmy Uso cut a pair of very good promos about the Bludgeon Brothers attack at Fastlane, as they spoke about Harper & Rowan had taken away from them  and promising to bring the attack to the pair tonight - Absolute chaos before the match began as Big E & Jimmy Uso attacked Harper & Rowan as they tried to take their jackets off, but the Bludgeon Brothers were able to take control later on despite Big E & Uso holding steel chairs.

The match itself was absolute domination from The Bludgeon Brothers, as they controlled the whole match, before sending Big E into the steel steps and pinning Uso with a Harper powerbomb. 

After the match - The Bludgeon Brothers went back after Big E, with Harper throwing E into a Rowan crossbody on the floor.

Face-to-Face: Charlotte Flair and Asuka

Similar to the Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles segment earlier in the night, this segment held the attention because it had been so anticipated. The two women arguably did a better job than the men did with their promos, but this was more about introducing the match scheduled for WrestleMania, rather than anything too complex or creative. Flair's promo in particular was laden with cliches, like "iron sharpens iron" and "I've never anyone like you, but you have never faced anyone like me", which she performed well, but it was hardly to get anything excited about. Asuka's performance was a step above, as she overcame the language barrier and had the crowd reacting nicely as she explained she "bows to no one". Having the two interrupt by Randy Orton as he came to the ring for his match was a strange decision and gives out the wrong signals regarding how WWE views its women's division. Had Randy had enough of the women talking about their match and decided to hit the ring so he could talk? I get that WWE needed a way to finish the segment without the women coming to blows and it would've been weird to have just cut away without any action, but was this the only way to reach that point? I'm not convinced.

Naomi vs. "Ms. Money in the Bank" Carmella

Before the match - Carmella announced that she'd be taking part in the Fabulous Moolah battle royal at WrestleMania, declaring herself the modern day equivalent to Moolah...perhaps not the person you want to be comparing yourself to, Mella. 

Carmella picked up a big win over Naomi in a disappointingly short match, that the pair managed to fill with physicality and a couple of really nice sequences. Carmella repeatedly ducking roundhouse kicks, only for Naomi to counter a forth duck with a massive knee to the face was particularly well done, before a creative finish was Mella trip Naomi as she went for a springboard, before hitting a hair-aided rope-hung neckbreaker for the win. 

Also on the show

- Kid Rock is going into the WWE Hall of Fame and we get the same look at his relationship with WWE that was aired on RAW. 

- WWE played the promo package for the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal again...will they actually keep the name?

- Rusev & Lana and Bobby Roode & Charlotte Flair cut promos ahead of their Quarter Final match in the Mixed Match Challenge.

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.79 out of 10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE SmackDown Live Review // 6th March 2018

This week's SmackDown Live was the go-home episode for Fastlane and saw the final piece of build for the Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship act as the main story. WWE Champion AJ Styles was originally scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler in the main event, but the pair would eventually find themselves in a show-closing teaser Fatal Five-way match as Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin joined the fray. But how did it all go down in Green Bay? Lets take a look! 

Commentary - Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves & Bobby Roode
Ring Announcer - Greg Hamilton
Interviewers - Dasha Fuentes

AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler segment 

Before the segment - - Sami Zayn repeated his pledge to lie down for Kevin Owens in the six-pack challenge at Fastlane, whilst it was more than hinted at that there were underlying issues between the pair - Baron Corbin cut a handheld promo promising to put a stop to John Cena's Road to WrestleMania, referencing their rivalry from last summer as the reason. 

Leading into their match, AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler clashed on the microphone in a solid segment that added depth to their bout, as well as clearing up their relationship ahead of the Six-pack challenge. Styles initial promo was decent, as he addressed John Cena's points from RAW, discussing how much he and the fans wanted to see Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania, letting us know he was "fighting for us". The content was a little cheesy, but Styles managed to just about make it work. Where the segment picked up was once Ziggler made his entrance and cut a passionate promo on Styles and the WWE Universe. It went over some old ground as Ziggler discussed his Money in the Bank cash-in and his love/hate relationship with the audience, but his stuff trying to warn Styles against relying on the crowd was well-reasoned. The Show-Off discussing never having a singles match at WrestleMania almost certainly came from a real place of frustration as there's no chance that Nick Nemeth is happy with his highest profile Mania bout including Snooki. All this lead to the match between the pair that had been scheduled for the main event happening straight away after Styles laid down the challenge. 

AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn would eventually get involved in this one causing the DQ, which is always going to feel like a letdown, but Ziggler and Styles still had about twelve minutes of television time to put on their match. For me, considering the pair had just had a heated exchange on the microphone, the match had a surprising lack of intensity, with portions of the match feeling a little flat. The two bought a sense of urgency with a couple of finisher attempts, but whilst the next sequence of amateur style wrestling was lovely, it went against the initial immediate feel. Elsewhere there was a nice spot with Ziggler knocking Styles off the apron with a hip attack, alongside Styles' gorgeous Phenomenal Blitz strike combination, before the two had a really well-done back and forth sequence, featuring various signature move attempts being smoothly reversed, before Ziggler blocked a superkick by swinging Styles' leg onto the middle rope and hitting a ZigZag for a good near fall. This is where Owens & Zayn joined proceedings, meaning the 4th TV bout between Styles and Ziggler was left without a winner.

After the match - With Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn putting the boots to AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon made an appearance to book the four in Fatal Five-Way also including Baron Corbin to happen straight-away.

AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin 

A very good main event this week, concluded with a shocking victory for Sami Zayn after he nailed his best friend Kevin Owens with a Helluva Kick for the pinfall and a shit-tonne of momentum heading into the WWE Championship match at Fastlane. The five-way was a good advertisement for the six-pack challenge on Sunday with the five men putting in a great effort in a well-structured multi-man collision. This included Baron Corbin dominating, which made sense with the Lone Wolf being the freshest man in the match, whilst Owens & Zayn also controlled portions of the contest through teamwork. With the WWE Champion spending most of the match as sweeper, breaking up pinfalls, the bout introduced an interesting concept that could provide some dramatic moments come Sunday. The action was fast-paced throughout with a number of sequences involving multiple competitors going back and forth, including a one in, one out section that lead into the advert break, a cute sequence in the turnbuckles with Ziggler, Zayn and Corbin that concluded with a Blue Thunder Bomb near fall for Zayn on Ziggler and Owens flying into a Deep Six from Corbin. The finish was lovely stuff, with a good sense of energy and movement, bringing up Styles' sweep as role, as he set-up for a Phenomenal Forearm, only to have to fight off Corbin and Ziggler, before Owens knocked the champion off the apron and found himself in the perfect position for a surprise boot to the face from Zayn for the pin. With John Cena added to the mix on Sunday, it will be interesting to see how the lads use this match and build upon it to create a higher level bout and how each competitor comes out with just four more SmackDown's before WrestleMania.

After the match - Sami Zayn spoke about why he turned on Kevin Owens, with the former NXT Champion launching into an angry speech about being overlooked and the victory proving that he was the best.

Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh)

In a poor match, Jinder Mahal got another victory over Randy Orton, putting away the 9 time WWE Champion with the Khallas, after Bobby Roode attempted to get involved from his position on commentary. Seriously, this was not good at all, with mostly dull plodding action during the ad-break, being followed up by an Orton comeback sequence that saw Mahal struggle taking almost every single move, with Orton's inverted headlock backbreaker looking particularly weak. The fact that these two have had 23 matches since May 2017 on TV and live events and are still putting on matches this sloppy makes Mahal's WWE title run even more baffling. To his credit, Orton at least tried to bring some intensity to the bout later on, attempting to get the crowd into the match and firing up, but it wasn't enough to save this. The highlight was Sunil Singh reprising his ridiculous release backdrop driver spot on the announce table, before some generic guest commentary spots resulted in Roode distracting Orton by trying to get in the ring for the finish. Orton vs. Roode has potential at Fastlane, but if both are unmotivated and tread water before a Jinder Mahal interference spot then it could end up being an insomniacs dream. 

Becky Lynch vs. "Ms. Money in the Bank" Carmella

Before the match - From last week on WWE.com, Becky Lynch asked Twitter if they wanted to see her face Carmella as the pair sat with Natalya in the lockerroom. 

Carmella continued to have no win since the start of October, as she tapped to Becky Lynch's Disarmer in a short but fun contest. Whilst the booking of Ms. Money in the Bank continues to leave a lot to be desired, this match (Mella's first televised singles match in 2018) was much better than I had expecting it to be, with Carmella showing off a range of impressive offence in a bout that was dominated by the Princess of Staten Island. The turnbuckle handstand frankensteiner looked lovely, whilst Carmella also did a sound job of getting the crowd involved in what felt like a throwaway bout, with some hair pulling on the outside before some smack talk with ringside. A superkick near fall with a foot on the ropes was followed by nice little sequence, that whilst it could have been smoother, had a number of nice ideas and resulted in Lynch rolling through into the Disarmer for the submission victory. The finish was mildly spoiled by referee Mike Chioda loudly calling "One minute", precisely one minute before the tap out! 

After the match - After Natalya mouthed off backstage, Naomi challenged the Queen of Harts and Carmella to tag team match against her and Becky Lynch on Sunday.

Charlotte Flair, Riott Squad & Bobby Roode segment

It was wonderful to actually hear the women speak on this episodes, after weeks and weeks of paper-thin storyline and repetitive matches. We finally got to find out what the Riott Squad was all about as we got some Storytime with Ruby Riott as the former AAW star put in a solid performance on the mic, letting us know that the Riott Squad was originally formed to take down Flair, because of some perceived myth surrounding her. Flair's promo, however well performed, felt misguided as she talked about the struggles of having a famous father and how "I have to be transcendent". As a heel promo (with a few tweaks) it actually would've worked pretty well, as Flair came across as a little entitled and the word "transcendent" isn't particularly one you'd expect from a babyface when talking about themselves. Riott closed with a fairly generic sounding "You're just going to be another bleached blonde failure with a famous last name" line, before United States Champion Bobby Roode's entrance was enough to stop Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan from circling Flair, in a nice nod to their Mixed Match Challenge partnership. Whilst the feud still doesn't have the depth it could've needed heading into the PPV, Flair vs. Riott has potential to produce some top level action on Sunday if given the chance. 

Also this week

- A superb hype package looking at the history of The Usos and The New Day, using last week's fire promos from the two teams. 

- Rusev challenged Shinsuke Nakamura to a match at Fastlane in another entertaining performing from the Bulgarian Brute, as he compared Aiden English to Billy Joel, before Nakkers warmed up his pipes to sing "Nakamura Day". 

- We saw a cameraman fall over in the snow, what a dork. 

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.88 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE SmackDown Live Review // 27th February 2018

It was the penultimate SmackDown Live before Fastlane as John Cena made his return to the show in an attempt to work out his Road to WrestleMania. That road would lead him to a main event match with WWE Champion AJ Styles, with the opportunity to be added to the WWE Championship match at 11th March PPV. But how did it all go down in Los Angeles? Lets take a look! 

Commentary - Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips & Kevin Owens.
Ring Announcer - Greg Hamilton 
Interviewers - Renee Young

Daniel Bryan gave John Cena an opportunity

The opening segment was nothing special, but managed to move from point A to point B relatively quickly, whilst continuing to develop the issues between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. Basically, John Cena wanted in on the WWE title match at Fastlane, McMahon said some things about the Land of Opportunity but didn't seem too interested in putting Cena in the match, but then Bryan interrupted and booked Cena vs. AJ Styles in the main event, with Cena being added to the WWE title match if he could beat the WWE Champion. There's not really much else to talk about, Cena came across as a little entitled and there was nowhere near the same feel that his promo gave off on RAW, but we got a rematch of last year's best WWE match, so it's hard to complain that much.

John Cena def. AJ Styles // Pinfall 

Was this ever going to anything but great? Especially, considering it was on television and not PPV. After a high impact contest, John Cena walked out with a spot in a six-pack challenge at Fastlane after pinning the WWE Champion with an high-angle variant of the Attitude Adjustment, having escaped a Calf Crusher moments earlier. Whilst the early part of the match that included Cena hitting a tornado DDT that lead to Styles head connected with Cena's hip bone had me a little worried about where the match was heading, but a sequence that saw the two trade near falls with Styles coming close with an Ushigoroshi and a Rack Bomb and Cena almost getting pins with a TKO stunner and sitout electric chair front drop saw things begin to pick up. In an interesting piece of booking both men hit their finishers for two counts during the break with Styles kicking out of an Attitude Adjustment and Cena a Styles Clash, this meant that as soon as the show came back from the break it hooked in the audience, letting us know this wasn't a regular TV bout, whilst also making sure that Los Angeles was hot once SmackDown was back on air. Whilst the match wasn't as rich as their Royal Rumble match last year, there was a tonne of gorgeous action after the break, including Styles rolling into a pin whilst still hooked in the STF, Cena trying an failing to do the wrist control AA (he's obviously been watching a lot of Kazuchika Okada lately) and a really well-done countout spot after Styles had originally broke the count, only to get AA'ed through the announce table with Cena more than happy to take the countout victory this time round, which was a lovely bit of storytelling. The result leaves us with a ridiculously stacked six man scramble match at Fastlane, with Cena now joining Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in the main event.

After the match - Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin blindsided John Cena & AJ Styles, with Dolph Ziggler initially coming down for the save, before taking a swing at Styles and getting an Attitude Adjustment from Cena for his trouble.

Baron Corbin def. Sami Zayn // Pinfall

The show's semi-main saw Baron Corbin level his series of matches with Sami Zayn at two a piece, after a clean victory with the End of Days. This was a solid outing for the pair, as Corbin begins to look more and more comfortable in his current spot and whilst I'm still waiting for his breakout singles match, it feels like it's getting closer and closer everytime he steps in the ring with competitors like Zayn. The pair did struggle to hold the crowd at times, with a "Rusev Day" chant moments after coming back from the ad break (which was split screened and mostly sleeper holds), which may have been down to both men being heels, even if Corbin was positioned as the bouts psuedo-babyface after Zayn weirdly slapped the Lone Wolf's chest in the corner before stalling. There was a few added elements for the viewers at home, that both hurt and improved the viewing experience. This included a funny turn by Kevin Owens on commentary, who repeatedly ripped into Corbin, which included the line "Corbin, if you're looking for your hairline, its on top of your head", as well as a number of weird cutaways to Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, as they discussed Bryan's decision to allow Owens to appear on commentary, with no real consequence. What did have consequence and may have been the highlight of the bout (expect perhaps for a quality sequence into Corbin's Big Bossman lariat) was Dolph Ziggler jumping to barricade to nail a superkick on Owens, that looked vicious and got a nice pop from LA, with the high impact moment leading directly into Corbin's victory as the intriguing interplay between competitors in the WWE title match at Fastlane continued. 

After the match - Dolph Ziggler nailed Baron Corbin with a ZigZag - Daniel Bryan asked if he could go home to see his wife and daughter, Shane McMahon allowed this - Shane McMahon caught up with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, telling them to go after Daniel Bryan because "Brie doesn't like when [they're] late for dinner" - Dolph Ziggler cut a handheld promo putting himself over ahead of the Fastlane WWE title match

The New Day and The Usos renewed their rivalry, before The Bludgeon Brothers interrupted 

Before the segment - Actor Josh Duhamel appeared to promote his new TV show, Unsolved, in a fun backstage interaction with Breezango and The New Day.

Fuck, I loved this segment. Both teams bought their A-game on the microphone and completely changed my mind about wanting to see them feud again, because after this these teams can feud for the rest of time and I don't think I'd mind. New Day did some stuff where Kofi Kingston would repeatedly have to spritz Big E's crotch with water, which was odd, but actually lead pretty well into what SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos had to say, as they ripped on The New Day for being a comedy act and liking bright colours, comparing them to the old, face-paint wearing Jimmy & Jey. The stuff with the tag champs discussing never having appeared as a team on WrestleMania was very strong, with a real feeling of frustration and determination, that is easy to relate to and easy to get behind. After the year that these lads have had, they deserve a spot on the biggest show of the year. The New Day seemed closer to the heel turn that was teased during their match with Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable last week when Big E teed off on the twins with a couple of stingy zingers, including "We hosted WrestleMania when the two of you were in the back eating catering" and "We didn't get here because of our Daddies", whether they go full villain before Fastlane is yet to be seen, as The Bludgeon Brothers hit the ring with their styrofoam mallets and both teams bailed. The interruption felt a little unnecessary but I suppose creative needed a way to end the segment without the teams coming to blows.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Aiden English // Pinfall

Before the match - Aiden English and Rusev went to see Shane McMahon about not being on the show for the last few week's with English ending up booked in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura. - English sang a song about being the only true Artiste of WWE, before telling Los Angeles they didn't deserve to celebrate Rusev Day, which, of course, got loud "Rusev Day" chants anyway. 

Shinsuke Nakamura got a straight-forward victory in his first TV match in almost a month, pinning Aiden English in a filler bout. Whilst the action was fine and highlighted by a nice diving crossbody roll through, the only thing the match really had going for it was Rusev's interference on the outside, with the crowd being loudly split between Nakkers and RuRu producing a couple of cool duelling chants that lifted the action. Nakamura controlled most of the match, with Rusev interfering on a couple of occasions, including a nice looking roundhouse kick on the outside, but for a match that was so clearly a forgone conclusion it felt unnecessarily long and didn't feature anything that would've made it feel like anything other than an excuse to get Nakamura back on TV somehow. A match with Rusev at Fastlane would give Shinsuke a good warm-up bout for WrestleMania, but with only one show left before the PPV it comes across as incredibly rushed, as the booking of Nakamura post-Royal Rumble win has been less than inspiring.

Ruby Riott def. Naomi // Pinfall

The only women's bout on the show and the one that felt like it had the least focus was Ruby Riott's victory over Naomi, with the Riott Kick. The match itself was alright, with a number of moments where Naomi showed glimmers of the promise we've occasionally seen out of her over the last few years. The sequence where both missed roundhouse kicks at pace, before connecting at the same time was well-timed and easily the highlight of a match that felt like it never got the chance to get going. Riott's victory appeared to come out of nowhere as she deflected a running bulldog that sent Naomi into the top turnbuckle before connecting with the overhead wind-up kick for the win, this would seem to be a way of building up the move for the title match with Charlotte Flair at Fastlane, but didn't come across well on television. 

Also This Week

- Randy Orton interrupted a Bobby Roode interview, claiming his issue wasn't with the SmackDown Top 10 list, but that the Viper just wanted to win the United States title for the first time in his career 

- Noelle Trent from the National Civil Rights Museum was joined by Titus O'Neil, Mark Henry and Alexa Bliss to discuss the Freedom Rides as part of Black History Month.

- Highlights of The Festival of Friendship with Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens from the 13th February 2017 episode of RAW aired for some reason. 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.29 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE SmackDown Live Review // 20th February 2018

This week's SmackDown continued to build towards Fastlane, building on the relationships between the competitors in the WWE title Fatal Five-way match with a pair of big singles matches. The main event had WWE Champion AJ Styles going one on one with Baron Corbin, whilst Kevin Owens found himself opposite Dolph Ziggler. But how did it all go down in Phoenix, Arizona? Lets take a look! 

Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens interrupted AJ Styles' interview

This week's main story included a lot of characters and took up around half of the show, beginning with Renee Young's interview with WWE Champion AJ Styles being interrupted by Baron Corbin and then Kevin Owens. This was going okay, not great, but okay, until Styles made a quip about Owens having a boil lanced off his back. The boil turned out to be some kind of metaphor for Sami Zayn and resulted in an audience grown from the Phoenix audience. Seriously, whoever wrote that line should be fired. It made Styles look like a goof, made even worse by the fact it was clear that the Phenomenal One wasn't at all behind the line. The rest of the segment included Styles discussing the dangers of a five-way match to his title run, Corbin claiming he could beat AJ (and indeed he did back on the 10th October SmackDown) and Owens both continuing his never-ending feud with Shane McMahon and burying Zayn for his loss to Dolph Ziggler last week. Eventually, McMahon did what Owens had been complaining about by placing him in a match with Ziggler that would happen immediately, whilst also booking Styles vs. Corbin as the main event. What should have been a simple segment ended up being a complete mess, because of awful dialogue and an awkward payoff.

then 

Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler // Pinfall

Kevin Owens got back to winning ways for the first time since Boxing Day with a Sami Zayn-aided victory over Dolph Ziggler in what turned out to be the match of the show. Whilst Owens match with Baron Corbin last week had struggled because of it being unclear who was the heel, this match just kept the action coming so there was very little time to even worry about such a situation. Indeed, the back and forth nature of the match was felt more like an all-face contest, as the two started hot and kept going, with no one hitting more than two moves in a row. Phoenix was hot for this, pretty much throughout, surely helped by it being the first bout of the evening, popping for small things like Owens missing a senton, with the competitors lifting their game for a handful of very good alternating sequences. Whilst a sequence out of the corner that concluded with a Fameasser near fall felt like the peak, the highlight would come moments later after Owens blocked a ZigZag by grabbing the ropes, Ziggler countered a superkick with one of his own, which was in-turn blocked by Owens, who sent the Show Off into the ropes for a Pop-Up Powerbomb, with Ziggler escaping and hitting a ZigZag for a strong false finish. It was a shame to see Zayn heading out to result in the finish (which was vicious superkick to the back of the head from Owens), but the ending did open up a number of interesting questions regarding Owens and Zayn's relationship going forward, whilst also giving Ziggler an out for the loss. A backstage segment later on the show saw Zayn promise that he would lay down for KO in at Fastlane.

then

"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles def. Baron Corbin // Pinfall

A solid main event saw AJ Styles pick up a straight-forward victory over Baron Corbin with a Phenomenal Forearm, before Corbin made the save for Styles after Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn headed to ringside. An interesting development for Corbin, for sure, but the match was another case of Corbin not quite looking ready for a spot at the top of the card. Whilst the match was held back by only going around ten minutes, it still felt like Corbin was lacking that special something needed in order to be a top star for the company. I'm not quite sure what it is that Corbin lacks in the ring, because he has a number of interesting signature sequences, like the Big Bossman spot on the outside and Deep Six (which might be my favourite move in WWE right now), but the whole package is certainly not coming together at the moment. What we did have here though was another example of why AJ Styles is considered the best in WWE right now (Seth Rollins put a big claim to that crown together on RAW, however) as the Phenomenal One excelled opposite the larger man. The spot where Styles got threw over the announce table, only to land on his feet, leap over the table and nail a Phenomenal Forearm to a kneeling Corbin was superb stuff, which the commentary sold for the spectacular moment that it was. 

With the post-match attack and subsequent Corbin save hinting that the Lone Wolf could be due a babyface turn, perhaps that could be the missing piece of the puzzle for Baron, who has clearly worked hard on his in-ring work over the last 12 to 18 months.

Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan def. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi // Pinfall 

The never-ending, never-evolving feud between The Riott Squad and SmackDown's top female stars unsurprisingly continued this week, with Ruby Riott able to give her team their third win in a row, after pinning Becky Lynch with a Riott Kick. Whilst I'm still waiting for any kind of development in this feud, there was a lot to like in this one, particularly at the beginning and the end. Naomi's face shine concluding with a slingshot crossbody on Riott and Sarah Logan before Liv Morgan sent Naomi into the steps had a lot of energy and also began a pattern where Morgan actually looked like the star of the Riott Squad. The final two or three minutes were also lots of fun, with a pair of hot tags from Lynch and Charlotte Flair, leading into a strong one in, one out strikes fest and then a quality near fall for the face team with Morgan making the save for Riott after a lengthy period trapped in Lynch's Disarmer submission. It was a shame then that Logan ended up looking completely out of her depth. Her selling looked awkward and her offence looked sloppy and considering she was given a solid amount of time in the middle of the bout, it felt like she ended up completely fumbling the ball that she was given. This comes after a disappointing effort with Flair last week and I'm beginning to wonder where the hype surrounding her came from in the first place. 

Later in the show, Flair and Riott both cut handheld promos challenging each other to a match at Fastlane, with it being confirmed that the SmackDown Women's Championship will be on the line on 11th March moments later.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship #1 Contendership // Big E & Xavier Woods def. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable // Pinfall 

After a good outing last week, The New Day's beating Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable this week with questionable tactics after a short match ended up being the show's biggest disappointment. Five minutes of television wasn't enough for these two teams to tell a satisfying match and instead they went for a relatively generic tag bout, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but any regular watch would expect more. The one bright point was a superb sequence off of Big E's hot tag, as he went back an forth with Gable, as they blocked belly to belly suplex and did a ridiculous backslide trade before Gable actually came out on top, nailing a belly to belly on the former Intercontinental Champion. The finish seemed to suggest that New Day turning heel as Kofi Kingston popped up on the apron to distract the referee as Benjamin had Big E pinned after a Powebomb/diving clothesline combination, before Xavier Woods was able to take advantage and pin Benjamin with a Shining Wizard. Turning New Day would make logical sense if they're to face The Usos again for the tag belts, after a lengthy feud with the Usos as heels earlier in the year.

After the match, Harper & Rowan, the Bludgeon Brothers had a stare down with the New Day, before picking up a fun squash match victory over Eduardo Especiale & Norville Rogers.

Jinder Mahal outsmarted Bobby Roode and Randy Orton...again

Jinder Mahal continued to stir the pot between United States Champion Bobby Roode and Randy Orton in a segment, where a number of good ideas where hidden by a lame SmackDown Top 10 gimmick. Basically, Mahal said he had a secret about Roode, which turned out to be that he didn't include Orton in his SmackDown Top 10 list (but hilariously included Zack Ryder, who hasn't won a match since June). Who gives a fuck? The stuff about Roode wanting to become the new "Legend Killer" and having no respect for Orton's legacy is actually pretty damn cool, whilst having Jinder involved as the spoiler to help prolonge a feud towards WrestleMania is also another solid idea. The segment actually did more to help build up Mahal than his five and half month WWE title run, as whilst his promo wasn't the strongest, he ended up being the only man left standing. This was after a beautifully produced moment saw Mahal sneak back into the ring to hit Roode with the Khallas, with Roode's Glorious Domination theme still playing after the US Champ had left Orton laying with a Glorious DDT.

Later in the show, Shane McMahon booked Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton for the United States Champion at Fastlane after having another argument with Daniel Bryan, which considering Jinder Mahal had just laid out the pair of them for the second week in a row made little to no sense.

Also this week 

- A hype package looking at Shinsuke Nakamura and his victory in the 2018 Royal Rumble match.

- Roman Reigns and Mark Henry, alongside Noelle Trent (Director of Interpretations, Collections and Education at the National Civil Rights Museum) discussed the Lunch Counter Sit-ins as part of Black History Month. 

- Apollo & Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode cut promos to promote Mixed Match Challenge, which airs directly after SmackDown on Facebook Watch. 

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.29 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale