LECLAIR’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 4/2: Alt-perspective detailed report with analysis of key segment including Bryan-Kofi contract signing, Orton-Styles, Becky promo

LECLAIR’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
APRIL 2, 2019
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND AT ROYAL FARMS ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK

Announcers: Todd Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

-The show opened with a floor shot looking up at the Wrestlemania sign as Phillips, Graves, and Saxton ran down the events of the evening, including follow up from last night’s Women’s Title angle. Phillips said the show would kick off with the Kevin Owens Show.

-Greg Hamilton introduced Kevin Owens, who was already in the ring. He welcomed fans to a “special edition” of the Kevin Owens Show. Owens said that his guests would be trying to continue their respective legacies this coming Sunday at WrestleMania. He introduced Randy Orton first. Orton came to the ring (in ring gear) as Graves and Phillips briefly touched upon Orton’s long history in WWE. Owens introduced A.J. Styles next. The announcers threw to a recap of last week’s Styles/Angle match that was cut short by Randy Orton’s interference. Both Styles and Orton took a seat at the patented “contract signing table.”

Owens asked Orton if he was proud of interfering in Styles’ match week. “Hell yeah I’m proud,” Orton said. Orton claimed he saved the audience from watching a broken down old man beat a guy who thinks he’s still at the top of his game. “You know what else I saved the WWE Universe from?” Orton questioned, “watching the match.” Styles called out Orton for only having one move after these years in the company. Orton countered, saying when the move is as deadly as the RKO, you only need one. He knocked “indy” guys for wrestling in high school gyms to dozens of people while he wrestled in front of “tens of thousands” at Wrestlemania for over a decade. A.J. said that while he was out working in gyms, Orton was in WWE getting suspended for failing drug tests. This stoked a loud gasp from the live crowd. “The truth is, A.J.,” Orton said, “if you were as good as you think you are, you would’ve been in the WWE a long, long, long time ago.” The crowd booed this statement. Orton said A.J. believes his legacy is that “hard work pays off.” In reality, Orton surmised, Styles has assumed the role of “corporate bitch” in the wake of John Cena’s absence. The camera zoomed in on Styles’ face for his reaction. Kevin Owens left the ring.

Styles and Orton stood and met face to face in the center of the ring and began trading blows. Randy threw A.J. to the apron and tried to attack, but Styles delivered an elbow to the head. As Orton recovered, Styles prepared for the Phenomenal Forearm. A.J. flew off the ropes and right into an RKO. Orton talked trash to Styles off microphone as the announcers hyped their match for Wrestlemania.

(LeClair’s Analysis: Quick, but effective segment. Styles and Orton have both gone for shock value with this respective comments in this feud and it’s served its purpose. This is the first Randy Orton match I find myself actually wanting to see in quite some time, so it’s hard to fault anything they’ve done here. Kevin Owens, on the other hand, seems to have been unfortunately reduced to the guy who runs away from his own show before a fight breaks out. I’m giving WWE somewhat of a pass here, since it appears as though he was to be Bryan’s original WrestleMania opponent and Kofi’s meteoric rise called for some shifting. Hopefully he can regain some footing as a babyface after WrestleMania.)

-Backstage, Kofi Kingston was seen holding his contract for the WWE Title match at WrestleMania, to be signed later in the show. Big E and Xavier Woods flanked him at either side. Big E held a feather and ink jar, miming signing the contract.

-Back in front of the live crowd, the lights fell and Aleister Black’s music hit. Phillips previewed an eight man tag team match, coming up after the break.

(1) ALEISTER BLACK & RICOCHET & THE USOS (Jimmy & Jey) vs. THE BAR (Sheamus & Cesaro) & SHINSUKE NAKAMURA & RUSEV (w/ Lana)

Returning from commercial, all eight men were already in the ring and the bell sounded. Ricochet and Cesaro started things off. They locked up in the center of the ring and Cesaro used his strength advantage to push Ricochet toward the corner. Ricochet attempted a hurricanrana after being sat on the top rope, but Cesaro countered out, hit an uppercut on Ricochet, and tagged in Sheamus. After a quick exchange, Ricochet tagged in Aleister Black, who took down Sheamus with a number of kicks. Quick tags to Jimmy and then Jey Uso gave the babyfaces a brief advantage, but Sheamus was quickly after to return to his corner and tag in Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura sent Jey off the ropes, but Rusev pulled the top one down and sent Jey plummeting to the outside. Rusev continued his assault around the ring, then brought Jey back inside. He tagged in Nakamura, who hit a quick knee strike. Hey briefly recovered and looked to make a tag, but Shinsuke tagged Sheamus back in and cut Jey off. Sheamus then sent Jey back outside and Phillips threw to a picture-in-picture commercial.

On the small screen, Jimmy came to check on his brother. Sheamus tagged in Cesaro, who slammed Jey on the apron before throwing him back in the ring. The heels continued to beat down Jey, cutting him off well before he could make a tag. Rusev and Nakamura double teamed Jey just before the show returned to full screen. Nakamura propped Jey on the top rope and delivered a jogging knee strike to the gut. He followed up with a front headlock. With the crowd getting behind him, Jey powered up into a Samoan Drop and tagged in his brother Jimmy. Shinsuke tagged in Rusev, but Jimmy immediately took control.

After hitting a super kick, Jimmy Uso covered Rusev. Shinsuke broke up the pin attempt, which brought Ricochet in the ring. He delivered a dropkick to Nakamura, but was immediately taken out by a big uppercut by Cesaro. Aleister Black entered the fold, connecting with Black Mass on Cesaro. Sheamus returned, delivering a Brogue Kick to Black. Jey appeared and delivered a super kick to Sheamus before returning to his corner. This left the two legal men, Rusev and Jimmy Uso, alone in the ring. Jimmy flipped through a backdrop attempt and into his own corner. Jey tagged himself in. Rusev charged and was met with double head kicks from the pair. They followed up with double super kicks out of the corner for the win.

WINNERS: The Usos & Aleister Black & Ricochet in 10:00.

-As The Usos celebrated in the ring, Alexa Bliss’ music hit. Corey Graves came alive, shocked that she was appearing on Smackdown. Bliss stood atop the ramp. “Long time no see,” Bliss noted, adding that she didn’t actually want to be at Smackdown, but, as the host of WresleMania, “duty calls.” Bliss said that she’s noticed Smackdown has lost its spirit of competition. She recalled that The Usos forfeited their match in the tag team gauntlet last week. She called their move noble, heroic, and deserving of repercussions. Bliss announced that, at Wrestlemania, The Usos will be defending the Tag Team Titles against the three other teams involved in the previous match. This brought all three other teams back in the ring, after a brief brawl, Aleister Black and Ricochet emerged atop the pile.

(LeClair’s Analysis: Solid match, but it followed the TV formula of having a long stretch of the heel team beat down a babyface through a commercial break, followed almost immediately but a big, ring-clearing brawl and a finish shortly after. It worked fine as a means to set up the tag title match, though, which should be very entertaining. Good to see Alexa Bliss back on the show that initially gave her prominence, as well.)

-At the announcer’s desk, Phillips, Graves, and Saxton discussed last night’s events involving Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair. They showed brief clips of the parking lot altercation that led to their respective arrests. Phillips teased that there was more to come on this situation later in the night.

-Billie Kay and Peyton Royce made their way to the ring as Todd Phillips threw to a commercial break.

After the commercial, the announcers ran down the WrestleMania week schedule and highlighted the Universal Championship match, and the No Holds Barred match between Triple H and Batista. They then quickly threw to video of The Iiconics’ surprise win over Sasha Banks and Bayley two weeks ago on Smackdown.

Billie and Peyton stood in the ring as Greg Hamilton introduced them. Billie (for some reason) brought up the just-announced Smackdown Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania. She and Peyton then transitioned into talking about all the ways they could win the Women’s Tag Team titles. They talked about pinning Natalya or her “should’ve stayed retired partner”, Beth Phoenix. They brought up pinning Nia Jax and Tamina as revenge for abandoning them on Raw. Finally, they said they could pin the champions, Sasha Banks and Bayley, because they’ve already done it once. “It’s a no brainer,” Peyton said, “we will win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.” The two promised to make WresleMania “Iiconic” as their music played them out.

(LeClair’s Analysis: I find that I’m usually a little bit higher on Peyton and Billie’s mic work than most people, but this promo served no purpose being delivered in the ring. They could have very easily delivered the same message backstage, with a little direction from Kayla Braxton or the like.)

-Back at the announcer’s desk, Phillips threw to additional footage of last night’s angle involving Ronda, Becky, and Charlotte.

-“I Came to Play” hit the PA system and The Miz confidently strutted to the ring. Phillips teased that he’d be in a 3-on-1 handicap match against Sanity after the break.

After the break, The Miz stood in the ring with a microphone. He said that WrestleMania means different things to different people. For the women in the main event, it means making history. For Kofi Kingston, it means finally breaking through. “For me, “ Miz stood tall, “it means retribution.” Miz plugged Miz and Mrs., but said it’s not a cheap plug. He said it’s something he did with his family and that he’s proud of it. He promised that he’s given his family the best version of himself. Miz recounted what Shane McMahon has done to him, and said that in the past, he fought for his father’s approval, but now he’ll fight for his honor. “And Shane, you’ve got a dad,” Miz stared directly into the camera, “so I guess that makes you a son of a bitch.”

(LeClair’s Analysis: I thought the early portion of this promo was strong, and continued to build on the babyface persona Miz has been working toward. The shock line at the end didn’t have much of a punch, though, and it didn’t really make a whole lot of sense without any precursor or context.)

Saxton called this match a product of Shane McMahon stacking the deck against The Miz as Sanity made their way to the ring. Shane McMahon’s music hit, and he danced on the entranceway. “I just wanted to come out here and see this up close and personal,” Shane said. He forced Greg Hamilton to introduce him with his preferred exaggeration. “Ding, ding, ding, Mr. Referee” said Shane.

(2) THE MIZ vs. SANITY (Eric Young & Killian Dain, & Alexander Wolfe) – 3-on-1 Handicap match

The Miz immediately began throwing shots at Eric Young. He mounted Young in the corner and continued his attack until the referee forced him down. Miz took Dain and Wolfe off the apron and the show went to a quick commercial break.

Back live, Miz was outsmarting Killian Dain. Dain tagged out and Miz continued his dominance, connecting with “yes” kicks on Eric Young in the corner. He hit Dain with a running knee in the opposing corner. At this point, Shane returned. He announced that, like their match at WrestleMania, this match would now be falls count anywhere. Before leaving, Shane put up the image of him grabbing Miz’s father’s face on the tron. With Miz distracted, Sanity took control, mounting a 3-on-1 attack. Miz regained control, side-stepping a bulldoze attempt by Dain on the outside and brawling with Wolfe into the crowd. Miz backdropped Alexander Wolfe through a table in the crowd and covered him. Eric Young managed to break up the pin attempt.

Miz and Young fought to the backstage area. Miz threw Eric Young into trash cans, walls, and in and out of rooms. Killian Dain returned, attacking Miz and carrying him out toward the parking lot. Miz slid down Dain’s back and shoved him face first into an electrical box. Eric Young returned, and he and Miz battled outside into the parking lot. Miz drove his knee into Young’s face, who was propped against covered equipment. Miz found a cart near a production truck and ran it into Young’s head, crushing him between the cart and the equipment. He pinned Young for a three count.

WINNER: The Miz in 10:00

(LeClair’s Analysis: A nice win for Miz here, who I think continues to show off his ability to not only function well as a babyface on the mic, but in the ring as well. Sanity is pretty much a non-factor, so a loss here doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Conversely, while the win isn’t anything of note for Miz, it shows an aggressive side of him that we are to assume he’ll need to beat Shane on Sunday.)

-Miz sat stoic on the ground for a moment, then stood in time to see Shane McMahon in the back of an SUV parked nearby. Shane smiled at Miz before the vehicle drove off. Miz looked on in disgust as a police car pulled into the lot. Becky Lynch stepped out of the backseat, jovially slapped the rim of the driver’s window, and headed toward the arena, glancing at a downed Eric Young on her way. Phillips excitedly declared that Lynch was in Baltimore as the show cut to break.

-After commercial, a video package highlighting the Ronda/Becky/Charlotte angle from last night aired (again), with added headlines from media outlets about the women main eventing for the first time.

In the ring, Corey Graves confirmed that Ronda, Becky, and Charlotte were all released from prison earlier today. He then introduced Becky Lynch, who headed to the ring wearing her mugshot t-shirt and signature leather jacket. The crowd stood and cheered in approval.

Becky took the microphone from Corey, but immediately left the ring and hopped onto the announcer’s desk. “No disrespect to you, Corey,” Becky said, “but I don’t answer to you – I answer to these people!” Becky pointed to the audience. She said that, while in the back of a cop car, she thought about what a difference a year makes. She said all the stars had aligned for Ronda Rousey to face Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, until The Man came along and slapped Charlotte in the face at Summerslam. “That one strike changed everything,” Becky said. Lynch said after that, she became determined to whatever it took to get into that match, and she did it. “The real revolution…is going to explode this Sunday,” Becky said. She said that, after Sunday, she’ll be the champ she always said she was, “the double champ!” Becky dropped the mic and pointed to the WrestleMania sign as the crowd cheered her on.
-Backstage, Daniel Bryan and Rowan were shown looking over the details of Bryan’s WrestleMania contract. The announcers teased the signing for later on tonight. In another backstage area, a random crew of babyfaces talked amongst themselves in preparation for an 18-person mixed tag team match coming up after the break. “It’s the largest match involving men and women in the history of WWE,” said Saxton. At ringside, the camera focused in on the trophies for the respective WrestleMania battle royals before going to a picture-in-picture commercial.

(3) THE HARDY BOYS (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) & R-TRUTH & HEAVY MACHINERY (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic) & ASUKA & NAOMI & NIKKI CROSS & CARMELLA vs. LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON & ANDRADE & SHELTON BENJAMIN & EC3 & MANDY ROSE & SONYA DEVILLE & ZELINA VEGA & LANA – 18 Person Mixed Tag Team Match

Nikkie Cross and Zelina Vega started things off. Nikki screamed at Zelina and Vega begged off. They locked up and Nikki quickly took control. Lacey Evans’ music hit, and she strutted down the ramp and back up again, as usual. Vega used this distraction to her advantage, kneeing Nikki Cross from behind. After a brief exchange, Zelina retreated to her corner and ECIII tagged himself in. Jeff Hardy entered from the opposing team. Jeff quickly tagged in his brother, Matt, who hit a side effect on ECIII. Matt quickly tagged in Otis, who then immediately tagged in Tucker Knight. The two performed a modified version of the Hardy’s Poetry in Motion. “Wonderful!” Matt screamed from ringside. Otis hit a big elbow on ECIII as the show went to commercial.

Back from the break, Naomi and Mandy Rose were fighting to their respective corners. Andrade and R-Truth were tagged in and Truth took Andrade down. This brought Carmella into the ring, and the duo shared a brief dance break. It was broken up by Gallows and Anderson. Mayhem ensued, with all competitors entering the ring. The referee called for the bell. Men and women began throwing one another out of the ring. Otis briefly locked eyes with Mandy Rose, screaming “pretty lady” and oddly girating his hips. Shelton Benjamin cut…whatever this was short by throwing Otis out of the ring. Nikki Cross climbed onto Shelton’s back and both tumbled out of the ring. Jeff Hardy hit a Twist of Fate on ECIII. Asuka kicked ECIII in the head, then Jeff threw him over the top rope. Asuka threw Jeff Hardy over the top rope to become the last person standing.

WINNERS: No contest in 8:00

(LeClair’s Analysis: A clunky affair that made the battle royals out to be little more than a joke. I’m not sure when Anderson and Gallows turned heel, either. Each year, WWE seems to take these matches less seriously, which leads to ridiculous multi-person matches like this that can’t possibly end in any satisfactory manner. I’ll give them a slight nod of approval for at least giving Asuka the moment at the end of the brawl, but it corrects the trajectory of her career of the last several months.)

-Todd Phillips quickly ran down the two battle royals taking place at WrestleMania, then again highlighted the Universal Title match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins, before throwing to a brief hype video. The announcers continued running down the major matches on the WrestleMania card.

-The New Day were briefly shown backstage, hyping themselves up for Kofi’s contract signing later on in the night.

-Samoa Joe’s music hit and he calmly walked to the ring, U.S. Title in tow. Corey Graves said Joe’s road to WrestleMania hits a detour tonight, when he takes on Ali after the break.

Back from commercial, a Hall of Fame graphic is shown. Phillips remarks that tickets for the event are still available.

(4) SAMOA JOE vs. ALI

(No longer Mustafa) Ali headed to the ring as the announcers talked up his participation in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Samoa Joe charged quickly when the ball ring, cornering Ali and delivering a series of body shots. Out of the corner, Joe hit Ali with a pair of chops, dropping Ali to his knees. Ali fought back with a dropkick, which sent Joe to the outside. Ali followed it up with a dive through the middle rope. After battling back into the ring, Ali kicked Joe in the mouth and took to the middle rope, connecting with a tornado DDT on the U.s. Champion. Ali hit a rolling jawbreaker, then headed to the top rope. He attempted a 450 splash, but Joe rolled out of the way. Samoa Joe returned to his feet, looking crazed. He locked in the Coquina Clutch on Ali, who faded quickly. The referee called for the bell. “Ali passes out at the hands of Samoa Joe,” Phillips remarked. He said the same thing could happen to Rey Mysterio on Sunday.

WINNER: Samoa Joe in 2:00

(LeClair’s Analysis: Good, strong win for Samoa Joe. I’m not entirely sure Ali was the right opponent here, given how quickly he lost relative to the push he was receiving, but alas, Joe needed this. I wish there was more to his match with Mysterio, but unfortunately, what we’ve got will have to do.)

-Before Joe could exit the ring, Daniel Bryan’s music began. He and Rowan walked out on the stage. Under his blazer, Bryan wore a t-shirt with a black-and-white image of a sloth. That’s not heel. The show went to commercial break.

Returning from commercial, Daniel Bryan sat at the “contract signing table”, and Michael Cole was in the ring with a microphone. (Why Cole?) He introduced Bryan, then Kofi Kingston. Big E’s voice came over the speaker system, and the crowd chanted along. New Day casually bounced to the ring, still dispersing pancakes. Kofi took in a modest “Kofi” chant and took his place opposite of Bryan.
Cole said that Kofi requested time, but Bryan cut him off. The crowd broke into a loud “Kofi” chant. “Shhhhh,” Bryan said. “Michael, I’ve got it from here.” The crowd’s chant grew louder, abruptly died off, then resurfaced as “Ko-fi Rocs.” Bryan said he’s come to educate the masses. The crowd erupted into a “KofMania” chant. Bryan asked the crowd to shut up, because he was about to teach them an important life lesson.

“Baltimore is so ignorant,” Bryan said to Rowan. He told the crowd not to be complacent like Kofi Kingston. He told them not to think “good” is good enough for eleven years. The crowd grew louder. Bryan told the crowd not to be bystanders in their own lives. He accused Big E and Xavier Woods and the audience of pushing Kofi to the top while Kofi just sat idly by. Bryan said he had one more life lesson before he lets Kofi sign the contract. The crowd broke into another huge “Kofi” chant. Bryan grew more irritated. “Don’t mistake a fad for reality,” Bryan said. Daniel said he’s been in this spot before. He told Kofi that he knows how it makes him feel. “You don’t feed off of them, they feed off of you,” Bryan said angrily. He called the crowd parasites. A loud “asshole” chant broke out. “This is the best it’s going to be,” Bryan said.

Kofi stood up and took his mic. “Now it’s time for you to shut your mouth while I educate you!” Kofi yelled. Kofi said Bryan claims to be him, but in reality, he knows nothing about him. He reminded Bryan that he became World Champion within two years of coming to WWE. “You have not been what I’ve been through,” Kofi proclaimed. “You know that I am ready.” Kofi stared down at Bryan intently. The crowd broke into a “you deserve it” chant. Kofi said the one thing that the two of them have in common is that they both know what comes next – “I beat you and I become the WWE Champion!” Kofi signed the contract and stood tall. Bryan stood to meet his glare as the show faded to black.

(LeClair’s Analysis: Wow. What a segment. Bryan continues to knock it out of the park with these heel promos, knowing exactly what to say to ensure the crowd never sides with him. Meanwhile, Baltimore finally came to a fever pitch for Kofi Kingston and added plenty to the segment. Big E and Xavier’s reactions behind Kofi were excellent, and Kofi delivered his speech with passion and fire and fury. Despite the convoluted false-starts over the last month and half involving Vince McMahon, Kofi and Bryan were able to rise above it all tonight and deliver a truly memorable go-home moment for WrestleMania.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: The multi-person matches were a bit of a chore, but the closing segment more than made up for an otherwise uneventful go-home show. Bryan and Kofi deserve a lot of credit for overcoming the obstacles unnecessarily placed upon them by creative, and the energy of the crowd in the final segment is a testament to how good the two of them can be without any needless shenanigans.