HEYDORN’S SMACKDOWN RECEIPT 2/26: Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair effective in straightforward WrestleMania hype

This week’s episode of WWE Smackdown has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-I know Edge vs. Reigns is the WrestleMania match, but man, Daniel Bryan and Roman have some chemistry, don’t they? Bryan’s promo was delivered in classic Daniel Bryan fashion that balanced sympathy and confidence. Bryan was able to run Reigns down as the heel he is without burying what makes Roman’s heel act so effective. That’s art.

-Edge feeling disrespected by Adam Pearce is a strange little nugget from the show. Are they setting the table for potential tension between Edge and Bryan? Pearce and Edge? Either way, all of those guys are babyfaces and with Edge set to face WWE’s most successful heel in years at WrestleMania in Roman Reigns, positioning him directly against other babyfaces is an odd choice.

-The Otis and Gable push continues at Rey Mysterio’s expense. I’m buying a vowel. Unless you treat Rey Mysterio as the big deal he is, beating him is just as impactful as beating R-Truth at this point. WWE has seemingly forgot that fact on all things surrounding Rey since he returned.

-Apollo Crews is finding himself in front of our very eyes. His promo on the show was the best of his WWE career and laid a much-needed foundation of who he is. How high he can build on it remains to be seen, but just the fact that it’s there is a step in the right direction.

-Tamina is being pushed again? What is the over/under on weeks before the push is over … again?

-Professional wrestling does not have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be cute. It doesn’t have to be overly produced. Simple can work. Put two stars against each other, put some stakes around their fight, let them shine. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair exemplified the brilliance of that simplicity. Both Banks and Belair looked like the alphas of their division and they both confidently engaged with the other. Their WrestleMania match feels like a big fight at this point and the rest of the build will be fun to follow. Can they get this hot enough to truly main event one of the nights of WrestleMania? Based on this promo, that’s certainly in the cards.

-Find some range, Seth. The Rollins promo on the show was a rehash of every other Rollins promo for the last year. I’m enjoying the boost this is giving to Cesaro and Cesaro looks refreshed with his new position on the show, but Rollins has a ceiling with this act as it stands now. It needs more depth.

-Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso was good as expected. If we saw Edge run out to make the save for Bryan the tag team match at Fastlane between Bryan & Edge and Reigns & Uso that Pearce teased earlier in the show would have been almost confirmed in my eyes. He didn’t, so future next steps are a little cloudy. Still, that appears to be the endgame, though technically Bryan still has a claim to a title match since this match ended in a double count out. Sidebar. WWE needs to be careful with finishes like this. Bryan vs. Uso and the stakes they put behind it were major league. Not paying it off teaches fans not to believe your own hype on important matches.

NOW CHECK OUT HEYDORN’S DYNAMITE RECEIPT: HEYDORN’S DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2/24: Omega muddies up the tone that Moxley set for their match at Revolution