WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 5/8: McNeill’s view on Otis revealed as mystery partner, Rose vs. Deville, Strowman and Bray go face-to-face, Four-way tag, Ziggler, Announcing, more

So when I get mad I make a fist. I grab my pen and I write out a list. Of all the wrestling stuff that hit and missed. Let’s see who’s made the WWE Smackdown Hitlist for the May 8th, 2020 episode on FOX.

HITS

Rose vs. Deville: Mandy’s not a good enough actress to act like she’s into Otis, but she was good enough to make fans believe she’s really mad at her former tag team partner. For her part, Sonya

Strowman-Wyatt (Face To Face): It wasn’t the best Bray Wyatt segment ever, but WWE made the decision to shift the focus of the Strowman vs. Wyatt feud. Nobody was buying the idea that Strowman leaving the Wyatt Family caused Bray to go into a tailspin which led to The Fiend…winning the Universal Title from Seth Rollins. It is far better to have Wyatt playing mind games with his former protégé. It also helped Strowman when Braun refused to buy in to Bray’s lunacy.

Otis As The Mystery Partner: WWE doesn’t always deliver when they advertise a mystery partner for a featured match. But there’s no point complaining about the reveal of Otis Dozovic teaming with Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak. Baron Corbin foreshadowed the move when he bashed Otis in the middle of his promo about the match. Then we got to see Bryan and Gulak pull Otis aside in a later backstage segment. If you weren’t expecting Otis to be the mystery partner, that’s on you. This move made sense.

Bayley & Sasha: The Female Megapowers are putting in the work and having fun fiddling while the Smackdown ratings burn. Here’s hoping they get some better foils.

Dolph Ziggler: What can I say? The unapologetically sleazy former World Heavyweight Champion with the knock-off black T-shirts is one of the most fully realized characters on WWE television. Say what you will, but the Showoff is consistent.

MISSES

Four-Way Tag Team Match: The work was fine, but the match was flat. The Lucha House Party needs more redemption before getting in the title picture. The Forgotten Sons had a nice awkward chemistry with Miz & JoMo, with neither side trusting the other. The New Day’s act is like Cirque de Soleil, in that it works a lot better in front of an actual audience.

The Announcers: “This is one of the most personal matches ever on Smackdown.” Right. That’s why it’s the opening match, offered with no fanfare whatsoever. I congratulate Michael Cole for lasting 22 years with those inane instructions he gets through his headset.

Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy is back. He was only away for a few weeks. Jeff did a decent job with the terrible material he was given. Yes, Hardy got to run off Sheamus, but it seemed like the point of the segment was for Sheamus to cut his promo refuting Hardy and calling a disappointment. Wouldn’t it be easier to just have Mr. McMahon deliver that promo on his own?

Go Home Hype: On the other hand, a Jeff Hardy-Sheamus feud sounds positively thrilling compared to this month’s WWE Money In The Bank. I understand why the company needs to run out the string and keep churning out fresh episodes of Smackdown. But nothing is going to feel like a must-see show until WWE can perform in front of a live audience again. It is hard to spend a month building for a show without the Stamford hype machine in full effect.

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