WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 2/3: Royal Rumble fallout, tag team tournament final, more

Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. Imperium – MISS

The match quality was fine, but I don’t know about a strange bedfellows team winning the tournament, especially if WWE is splitting up the tag team titles. Imperium would perform better-quality matches weekly, and the group having all titles would look slick.

Charlotte and Sonya Pre-Match Promo – MISS

The dialogue and the delivery of the pre-match promo was terrible. As a result, both Women felt awkward and uncomfortable during the entire segment.

SmackDown Women’s Championship match Charlotte Flair vs. Sonya Deville – MISS

I enjoy Sonya’s work as a character, but I don’t know if she needs to go 10 minutes for a major title during Smackdown again anytime soon. Additionally, something was off entirely with Charlotte’s and Sonya’s chemistry throughout the match, which affected the overall quality of the match. Charlotte got the win to build momentum toward WrestleMania, which is fine; however, WWE needs to reevaluate the babyface dynamic with Charlotte Flair as a babyface. Rhea Ripley is the upcoming star that should be pushed as a babyface. However, WWE presenting Rhea as a heel will be fighting an uphill battle to the Championship match at WrestleMania.

The Viking Raiders vs. The Brawling Brutes – HIT

It took a while to get there, but the 2nd half of this match was decent. I’ve mentioned this in prior reviews, but Rich Holland has come a long way since his days in NXT. Ivar showed out in this match. It’s impressive to see a man of size do what he does in the ring. The Viking Raiders go over the Brawling Brutes to set up, which should be a solid t.v between Drew and Sheamus.

Bray Wyatt segment – MISS

I don’t know the direction of Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy, nor do I do who these characters are for anymore.

Natalya vs Shotzi vs Shayna Baszler vs Zelina Vega – MISS

Natalya would have been my third choice to go over in this matchup. I understand why Natalya won to get a vague pop at Elimination Chamber, but Shayna Baszler was the better option. Shayna has won in the Chamber before, and it would have an excellent chance to rebab her as an MMA badass.

Bloodline closing segment – HIT

Roman officially embraces getting the legit boos rather than the cool group heel cheers. This is important with Roman’s pending WrestleMania opponent Cody Rhodes around the corner. Roman shouldn’t be getting cheered during WrestleMania. Sami Zayn was fantastic during this segment. I enjoyed the fire from Sami during his promo. It’s serial to think Sami went from feuding with Johnny Knoxville just a year ago to one of the hottest angles in WWE. The bloodline beatdown toward Sami was well done. After Sami was left for dead, Roman told Sami he would break him in front of his family and friends in Montreal at Elimination Chamber.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The entire show was a backdrop to the main event angle. I would have been more critical of the overall content, but the main event angle delivered, and that was the entire point of this episode. I am looking forward to what happens next with Sami and the bloodline.

CATCH-UP: Detroit set to host SummerSlam 2023