After the turmoil the WWE’s been embroiled in the last few weeks, they needed something good to happen and looked to Friday Night Smackdown to deliver.
In some ways, Smackdown delivered.
The Highlights
- Opening the night with an Intercontinental Championship match was a great way to inject some excitement and draw the fans in. The fans responded as expected, especially considering the challenge was Roman Reigns.
- Teaming Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns together. Not only does this put two of the WWE’s best together, it’ll help hype the Team Hogan and Team Flair match at Crown Jewel since Reigns is now Team Hogan’s captain. Bryan will push everyone to be at their best, and that’s good for the fans. After all, he carried the main event and got the WWE Universe on their feet. It’s been a while since we’ve had something to really cheer about on Smackdown, so hopefully he stays a face for a long time.
- Shorty Gable, er, Shorty G (per his request) is the new Golden Boy. Gable gave an awesome speech about using his being short to examine who he truly was and stepping up as a role model. It’s a role he’s perfect for and should continue growing into it and making it his own. The WWE has been looking for a hero, and since their efforts of forcing Rollins down our throats has failed (like Reigns before him), it looks like they’re grooming Rollins’ counterpart for Smackdown (On this note, gotta wonder what they have planned for Kofi? He deserved better than he got against Lesnar, so there should be something big in store.) Hopefully, they don’t force him on us like they did Rollins and Reigns, or this may go badly.
- 8 man tag match. Heavy Machinery (Ottis and Tucker) and New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E with Kofi Kingston) showed good chemistry as they teamed up against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode and the Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder). Ottis and Big E seemed to work specially well together, perhaps hinting at future team ups? Ottis stole the show like always as he’s having fun and it connects him with fans in a way that few superstars are capable of. Seeing him break off into singles action soon wouldn’t be surprising.
- Bayley’s new entrance. A week after her new look, she rocked the building with a new entrance as she made her way to Miz TV with Sasha Banks at her side. Oh, and comparing her to Brock Lesnar isn’t a bad thing, Miz. Just saying.
- Nikki Cross winning the 6 pack challenge. Over the last few months, Cross has connected with fans, and under the wing of Alexa Bliss, she’s grown significantly in that time. The thing with her had been her wins have seemed like flukes and not statements. While this match kinda fits into that trend, it was a bigger statement match than she’s been in to date, so that’s a move in the right direction.
Final Thoughts
For the second week in a row, Smackdown was entertaining. Given its recent… issues, that would normally be considered a feat had Bruce Prichard not already been running it for months.
The highlight was definitely Daniel Bryan. He not only carried the main event, but helped end Smackdown on a huge high for the WWE fans.
