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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 4/9: WrestleMania Fallout, Kofi celebration, Miz and Shane, target on Becky’s back, Smackdown is IIconic, Usos defend titles

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch Specialist

April 9, 2019

Kofi Kingston (art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
APRIL 9, 2019
BROOKLYN, N.Y. AT THE BARCLAYS CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton

Arena, Smackdown Results Pertinent to Smackdown, and Items Advertised by WWE

WWE stays put in Brooklyn, N.Y. as we wrap up a long stretch of wrestling events in The Barclays Center tonight.  Tonight’s show is the “Smackdown after WrestleMania.”  I will be the on-site correspondent on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show tonight and look forward to sharing our in-arena experience especially after the ending to Raw last night.

Here are the results from WrestleMania pertinent to Smackdown:

  • Carmella won the women’s battle royal on the kickoff show
  • A.J. Styles defeated Randy Orton
  • The Usos defeated Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev, Aleister Black & Ricochet, and The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
  • Shane McMahon defeated The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match
  • Kofi Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship
  • Samoa Joe defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the U.S. Championship

Here is what’s advertised for the show tonight:

Matches & Segments:

  • The New Day celebrate Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship win at WrestleMania
  • The Usos and The Hardy Boyz square off for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles

Storyline Follow-Up:

  • How will the Miz bounce back after crushing loss to Shane McMahon?
  • Will the target on Becky Lynch’s back get even bigger?
  • How IIconic will Smackdown LIVE be?

ADVERTISED MATCHES & SEGMENTS 

Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship Celebration 

On Sunday, Kofi Kingston completed the long journey and captured the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan.  The match went around 24 minutes and ended when Kofi hit his signature Trouble in Paradise and scored the pin.  He celebrated with his New Day partners and brought back the original leather and metal one.  Kofi’s sons joined in the festivities and New Day also revealed new t-shirts showing Kofi as champion.

Last night on Raw, New Day made a surprise appearance.  Kofi challenged new Universal Champion Seth Rollins to a winner take all match in the main event.  They started their match but were interrupted by the Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) who also made a surprise appearance on Raw.  They would have a tag team match against Kofi and Seth, scrapping the winner take all match.  This was NOT well received by the crowd.  Kofi and Seth would go on to win.

Tonight, New Day celebrates Kofi’s WWE Championship victory.  Here’s a WWE.com exclusive following his win:

Frank’s Analysis:  I hate piling on, but what in God’s name was WWE thinking last night?  It’s not that we didn’t get a finish to the winner take all match, but they have the Bar interfere and have it led to a tag team match?  Give me one person in the audience or watching on TV that would have been excited about that.  I guarantee you won’t find him or her.  Also, they have a commercial before the Seth-Kofi match advertising Kofi’s celebration tonight which all but gave away that there wouldn’t be a finish.  It’s just tone-deaf and sloppy on a lot of levels.  There were thoughts that WWE was concerned about going up against the NCAA Championship game and that’s why they advertised a winner take all match.  I wonder if Vince thought that well, people complained about the lighting and the length of WrestleMania?  Who do you think you are to complain?  Now you’re going to get a virtual middle finger by getting a non-finish in a big match and a tag match in which you have no interest.  Give me a break.  At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see how the crowd responds to Kofi tonight considering we got to see him last night already.  It takes the steam from seeing him on Smackdown for the first time as WWE Champion.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (champs) vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff)

The Usos retained the Smackdown Tag Team Championship by winning a fatal four-way match at WrestleMania as I noted earlier. 

It could be argued that the Usos are one the best tag teams if not the best in the past ten years with their popularity and six championships overall.  If you back an additional ten years, many more teams join that conversation and one them is without question Matt & Jeff Hardy.  In addition to their individual accolades, the Hardys have won eight tag team championships overall under the WWE banner and have had many memorable matches.

You can make the analogy that the Hardys are to Edge & Christian as the Usos are to New Day, as these teams had great long-term feuds.  You could say the best of the 2000s meet the best of the 2010s as the Usos defend their championship against the Hardys tonight.  The Hardys last won the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania in their epic return at that show in 2017.  Here’s the Usos after their win at WrestleMania:

Frank’s Analysis:  You could argue that this should have been on the WrestleMania card and it probably should have, but with so many matches it’s almost better that this is on Smackdown as it will stand out.  Something to consider here is that the Superstar Shakeup is next week.  The Usos have been on Smackdown since 2016.  A move to Raw wouldn’t hurt and the Hardys winning the title wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.  They could hold it short term and build up somebody else in a feud.

STORYLINES ADVERTISED FOR FOLLOW-UP

Next Up for Miz & Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon defeated the Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match at WrestleMania.  He won when Miz suplexed him off a camera platform but freakishly Shane was on top of him and scored a pin.

Their story goes back to when Shane McMahon won the World Cup at Crown Jewel, when he replaced Miz in the finals of the World Cup tournament.  They went on to briefly hold the Smackdown Tag Team Championship and when they failed to recapture the titles, Shane turned on Miz.  That lead to the match at WrestleMania.  Here’s Miz and Shane separately on Twitter:

Frank’s Analysis:  I had Miz winning, thinking Shane would go away as he usually does after WrestleMania.  Shane winning points to this feud continuing and that’s fine.  The match delivered and I’m sure we can expect something on a future episode of Smackdown if not the next Saudi Arabia show.  With WWE having Saudi shows after WrestleMania, we can start to see feuds continue past ‘Mania rather than end as they typically do. 

The Target on Becky Lynch’s Back

As we know, Becky Lynch won both the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania from Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair.

Last night on Raw, Becky thanked the fans and called herself “Becky Two Belts.”  She told Ronda, who was not in attendance, that when she was done “sulking” she can come back and get her head slapped off her shoulders.  As far as Charlotte, she sarcastically said the McMahons will probably hand her the tag team championship to make her feel better.  In the end, she realized she’s a marked woman but is ready to “slap the heads off y’all.”

Lacey Evans would interrupt Becky leaving and the two would brawl.  Becky almost put the Disarm Her on Lacey before the refs pried her off.

Here’s Lacey on Twitter.  You wonder if there will be social media banter between these two if they start a feud:

https://twitter.com/LaceyEvansWWE/status/1115614805879029761?s=20

Frank’s Analysis:  There are multiple reports that Ronda Rousey broke her hand at WrestleMania, so it looks like that feud will get a break.  It’s hard to say if the feud with Charlotte is getting a break as well, but we’ll find out on Smackdown.  Lacey Evans while she hasn’t done much except for multiple struts and a Royal Rumble appearance, wouldn’t be a bad option opposite Becky for a while.  The two interesting things to see play out is which women move in the Superstar Shakeup next week combined with Becky holding both titles.  Charlotte and Asuka are the ones to which I will pay attention.

The IIconics Begin their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Reign

The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) captured their first WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania in a fatal four-way I mentioned earlier.

Peyton and Billie are childhood friends that came into the WWE system in 2016, debuting as the Iconic Duo on NXT.  They never won any titles, but Peyton did take part in a fatal four-way for the NXT Women’s Championship at Takeover in November of 2017.

They debuted on last year’s Smackdown after WrestleMania and attacked Charlotte Flair, leading to Carmella cashing in her Money in the Bank contract to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship.  One year later, they are the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.  Here they are in a WWE.com exclusive following their win:

Frank’s Analysis:  I’m not sure the IIconics should have gotten the tag titles here, but with Bayley losing a quick match to Alexa Bliss you wonder if they are splitting her and Sasha Banks in the Superstar Shakeup.  I don’t hate this win either.  There’s a story to be told with these two.  They’ll need some opponents to be built up for their run to mean something.

Other Items to Anticipate Tonight:

  • Lars Sullivan finally made his debut on Raw last night, and Sami Zayn made his return after a 10-month absence.  Lars attacked Kurt Angle and Sami came up short in an Intercontinental Champion match against new champ Finn Balor.  We’ve seen multiple callups from NXT so, it’s hard to imagine getting any more tonight.  Lars was to have been called up in November but had mental health issues which he has appeared to have overcome.

Start Time & Matches Advertised on the Arena Website

The Barclays Center’s website advertises a start time of 7:45 p.m. local time.  Oddly though I got an e-mail that says the event starts at 7:30, with doors opening at 6:00 p.m.  As they did with last night’s Raw, they advertise no matches nor wrestlers appearing.

205 Live will follow the main show.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or e-mail me at fpeteani@gmail.com.  Questions and discussion are welcome.  Thank you for reading!

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