WWE Smackdown Live 04/23/19 results and full recap indicate that getting things rolling is a McMahon specialty. Shane-O-Mac didn’t disappoint as he came out and showed he has some dance steps before getting down to business. To a chorus of boos, of course. The University of Nebraska made him feel right at home.
WWE SmackDown Live 04/23/19 Results and Recap: Kofi Kingston Defeats Shinsuke Nakamura By Disqualification But Gets Mauled By Kevin Owens As Bitter Feud Escalates
Looking pained, Shane recapped Roman Reigns’ attack on his father and owner of the company, Vincent K. McMahon. We were treated to some of his best poor father remarks, going so far as comparing the attack to defacing the American flag or Mount Rushmore — gotta love a good heel, right?
He then called out Reigns to answer for what he did, and for a brief second, we were teased with the “What if he doesn’t come out” angle, but Reigns did eventually come out. Once in the ring, he tossed his microphone aside as did Shane, and… Elias attacked him from behind.
Reigns fought back, but was quickly subdued by the two men, who proceeded to “teach him a lesson,” ending with Elias’ Drift Away finisher and the two left him in the ring.
It’s kinda cool to see them rekindle the old Mr. McMahon story arc with the “Big Dog” in Stone Cold’s place, so we should be in for a treat.
Finn Balor beats Andrada by pinfall.
A rematch from Balor’s last match on Raw where Andrada won thanks in large part to his valet, the always dangerous Vega. Prior to the match, Andrada accused Balor of trying to run away by leaving Raw to get away from him (Basically, it’s a feud no one wants to see end and offers the perfect excuse for Andrada and Vega to return to Smackdown after going to Raw last week), and said he not only wanted the Intercontinental championship, but to “destroy the myth of Balor” as well.
The match started well for Andrada, but Balor eventually gained the upper hand after countering with a pair of sunset flips, and even turning an Andrada powerbomb into a DDT, buying him some time. Vega tried to interfere, but Balor dodged it and took advantage of Andrada’s lack of focus to deliver a Coup de Grace for the win in a non-title match.
In a brief break from the action, we’re lucky (unlucky?) to hear Elias play his guitar and sing a little diddy challenging Roman Reigns to a match at Money In The Bank. Not hard to guess the answer to this, right? Unfortunately, we had to wait as the next match was beginning.
Kairi Sane beat Peyton Royce of Iiconic by pinfall.
At this point, could someone please take the microphones away from the Iiconic duo before the match? Please?
Since we’ll have to wait for that wish, their banter led to yet another quick loss. We have to give Peyton credit, she dished out some punishment early on, but Kairi powered through it and returned the favor, ending it with a Insane Elbow. Before the match, the Iiconics pointed out Peyton’s last loss was because she was dehydrated, so she drank a gallon of water before this one. Guess she was over-hydrated this time?
Following the match, Mandy Rose and Sanya DeVille came out and gave Paige and her team, Asuka & Sane, a patronizing applause.
Once again, any potential confrontation ends when another comes to the ring, in this case, Jinder Mahal, but more on that in a minute. Seriously, is it too much to ask to stop teasing us like that? So unfair.
Another break in the action introduces us to another new Smackdown Live member, Alister Black. In a message promising some interesting potential story lines, we’re told we know who he is, but not what he is. A perfect quote to sum him up was, “But as all good things, give it time and I’m sure the world you grew up in will have me condemned.” Talk about dark, right? Now this looks like it’s going to be an interesting character arc.
As mentioned before, Jinder Mahal headed to the ring for his match against Chad Gabble. Unfortunately, Lars Sullivan had other ideas and attacked Gabble from behind, and entered the ring. Of course, Mahal took a powder, but the Singh brothers weren’t so lucky. As Sullivan laid waste to them, R-Truth came out for revenge on Sullivan after he was manhandled by the psychopath last week. That lasted a couple of seconds before R-Truth became Sullivan’s first second-timer victim.
While it’s a fun way to introduce someone like Sullivan (Brock Lesner had the same style intro and started a feud with the Hardy Boyz), it’ll be really interesting to see who finally steps up and becomes a threat to Sullivan. Stay tuned.
WWE SmackDown Live Results: Talk about a change of plans.
Here we were, all ready to see Becky “The Man” Lynch face off against Charlotte Flair, and what happens? Two-Belt Becky is bored with Flair and wants a different challenge. Of course, Flair started the whole thing by crying foul over not being pinned to lose her title at Wrestlemania (who reads the fine print in contracts anyway?), which prompted Lynch into calling Flair out for her entitled behavior and named several women competitors she’d rather have a chance.
Since she named names, is it any surprise that Bayley answered?
After a brief exchange and some shoving, the booking was changed to Flair vs Bayley for the right to challenge Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Charlotte Flair beat Bayley by pinfall.
The match had the feel and execution of a pay-per-view event, and Bayley survived some of Flair’s attacks on her left leg to soften her up for the figure-four. Much like he father, Ric Flair, was during his time, Flair was relentless, going on the attack from the beginning, but Bayley was every bit up to the challenge and fought through her pain to nearly pin Flair on a couple of occasions, most notably, a surprise small package when Flair tried the figure-four. But Flair kicked out, then hit Bayley with a spear before pinning her.
While this was a great match, it may have served us better to see Bayley vs Lynch at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view instead, but time will tell. One thing that is going to be interesting is to see Lynch defend both belts in different matches at the pay-per-view. We’re definitely in for a treat.
And the main event is…
Kofi Kingston beat Shinsuke Nakamura by disqualification.
Yep, you read that right. Disqualification.
Why? Well, it appears Kevin Owens wasn’t a good guy after all, and turned heel on the New Day. This, of course, overshadowed the fact that Kingston and Nakamura had a great match. Both displayed some excellent creativity in their offense, and we got to see some of Kingston’s acrobatics and skills that made him a champion before he hit his SOS maneuver and went for the pin. The win was his, but Rusev interfered, forcing Xavier Woods and Kevin Owens to come to Kingston’s aid.
With things under control following Kingston pushing Owens out of the way of Nakamura and delivering Trouble in Paradise, Owens then hit Kingston with a super kick and proceeded to pummel him in and out of the ring while Woods was down. Owens even went so far as to grab the belt and taunt Kingston with it, asking why he thinks he deserves it and told him he was coming for it. Kingston tried to rally, but Owens overpowered him, and when Woods tried to help his friend, Owens apron powerbombed him, then stared daggers at Kingston as he and others tended to Woods.
Honestly, this may have been too soon as having Big E come back and having jealousy start to create problems among the group with Owens there could have been a more interesting arc. But honestly, this allows Owens to do what he does best, and adding in the treachery angle should make for a great feud going forward.
