SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
APRIL 10, 2020
ORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST
Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Top 10 Moments from Last Week
WrestleMania Results Pertinent to Smackdown
- Cesaro defeated Drew Gulak on the night one kickoff show.
- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) to regain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
- Elias defeated King Corbin.
- Sami Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
- John Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston of New Day and and Jimmy Uso of the Usos in a ladder match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship for the Miz and himself (hey hey, ho ho).
- Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg to win his first Universal Championship.
- Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler. He then kissed Mandy and carried her out.
- Bayley defeated Sasha Banks, Naomi, Lacey Evans, and Tamina to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
- “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a Firefly Funhouse match.
Arena and Items Advertised by WWE
Tonight’s WWE Smackdown has been pre-recorded and once again took place in the WWE Performance Center with no audience. We move away fromWrestleMania, “too big for one night,” (🙄 how many times did they say that) and head towards Money in the Bank, at least for the time being. The event was advertised during WrestleMania and according to Wikipedia, is scheduled for May 10 in the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD. We’ll soon find out what happens with that as we still continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, we’ll (perhaps) anticipate a roster move or two. Apollo Crews arrived on Raw via an “expiring draft pick” (🤪 well at least they explained it) and Bianca Belair arrived saying “she goes here now,” referring to Raw. Here’s what’s on tap for tonight thus far:
- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross welcome the Kabuki Warriors to Smackdown for title rematch
- Braun Strowman ushers in Universal Championship reign on Smackdown
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (champs) vs. the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross regained the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship from the Kabuki Warriors at WrestleMania after losing the titles to them back at Hell in a Cell in October. It’s their second run with the titles, and if you’re keeping score at home, they are the fourth team to hold the titles since Bayley and Sasha Banks won them initially at Elimination Chamber in 2019. Here’s Alexa & Nikki celebrating their win in a WWE exclusive:
Tonight, they put their newly won titles on the line against the team from which they took them in the Kabuki Warriors. Two weeks ago, on Smackdown, Alexa picked up a singles victory over Asuka. We’ll find out if Alexa & Nikki’s luck continues tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: Technically shouldn’t this rematch be on Raw since Asuka & Kairi Sane are members of that show? I’m nitpicking and it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things right now (logistics are playing a part I’m sure), but I had to point it out, nonetheless. I don’t expect a quick title change, although you never know. I’m ready to see what Kairi can do on her own. We already know Asuka can be a top-of-the-card singles act.
Braun Strowman’s Universal Championship Reign Begins
After pursuing the title for nearly three years, Braun Strowman finally captured the WWE Universal Championship after beating Goldberg at WrestleMania during night one. The match went about two minutes and I honestly lost count of the spears and powerslams. Braun was a replacement for Roman Reigns who backed out of the match out of concern for his health, seeing as he is in remission for leukemia. Here’s Braun in a WWE exclusive celebrating his win and video of his photoshoot if you care (I don’t, but some of you may so here you go):
Frank’s Analysis: There were so many times Braun should have been given the “Kane” treatment and given a month-or-two run as champion. They could have had him beat Brock and then lose it back, and at least it would have meant more. This is so after the fact for it to mean much. That said, I was still in favor of Braun beating Goldberg. They won’t keep the title on Braun for long. I would think eventually all roads lead to Roman Reigns, although I’m starting to question that now.
Other Match Results and News Items from Last Week:
- Smackdown Tag Team Champions Miz and John Morrison had New Day and the Usos on MizTv to hype their triple threat ladder match ultimately won by John Morrison.
- Tamina defeated Lacey Evans and Naomi. Here’s Bayley in a WWE exclusive after defeating these three women and Sasha Banks at WrestleMania:
- They replayed the Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair match from WrestleMania 24 in 2008 in which Michaels defeated Flair to retire him from WWE. This was the match where Michaels famously said “I’m sorry, I love you” before super-kicking Flair and scoring the pin.
- Tucker defeated Dolph Ziggler via DQ. They then revealed that Sonya Deville commiserated with Dolph Ziggler to send Otis the text from Mandy Rose’s phone saying she was running late, enabling Dolph to get to the dinner table before Otis. Here’s Otis and Mandy in a WWE exclusive after Otis defeated Dolph at WrestleMania:
- Daniel Bryan defeated Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Cesaro got involved. He ultimately came up short against Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Here’s Sami in a WWE exclusive:
- John Cena accepted Bray Wyatt’s invitation to a Firefly Funhouse match to close out the show.
Final Thoughts
I always look forward to what comes of the shows after WrestleMania. Usually we get some roster moves and returns and thus tonight should be no exception. I have a few ideas for what they should do for Smackdown, but I’ll just sit back and watch what they do and evaluate. I don’t have high expectations for Braun as Universal Champion, but I’m glad they gave it to him despite it being after the fact. Smackdown is thin on talent so hopefully with this being “post-WrestleMania” season they make some moves to boost the roster.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!
“Technically shouldn’t this rematch be on Raw since Asuka & Kairi Sane are members of that show?”
BlissCross are champs, why shouldn’t they get “home court advantage”?