WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES (3/14): Heyman with a rare miss, plus Drew-Damian, Cody Crashes Miz TV, B-Fab vs. Charlotte, Gunther vs. Axiom, more

Smackdown feels back on track, barreling towards WrestleMania with explosive power! Whoa, that might be an overexaggeration. It’s just that this show was awesome, and the past few months have been a bit of a struggle. So, when something awesome comes along, I tend to notice it even more. The wrestling, the promos, the angles…all of it clicked this week. Of course, not everything was perfect, but it was all entertaining! As always, I’m Chris Adams, and you can reach me at chrisowj@gmail.com.

HITS

FATU AND STROWMAN RUN IT BACK: A triumphant L.A. Knight opened the show as the new United States Champion, and the crowd loved it! He’s back, which means all those hunting for his gold are back too. Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu came to claim the title, but it turned into a wild six-man tag team match. Within this awesome match, a simmering cauldron of fury bubbled over. Once again, Fatu and Strowman found themselves locking horns—two true titans of squared-circle violence. Their ongoing feud has been somewhat of a dark horse, surfacing now and then. But when it does, it’s something special. There is a chemistry between these two wrestlers that promises a collision certain to shake the earth. The crowd can do nothing but cheer when they watch these giants trade blows. We need this again, and again, and again!

B-FAB LOOKED FABULOUS: Walking to the ring while cutting a promo in Spanish made B-Fab feel like a star. She has the look, the attitude, and the mic skills to succeed in this business, as long as she gets the opportunity. She received that chance tonight as she faced Charlotte Flair. I wonder who booked this match. Did Charlotte request B-Fab? Did HHH decide to finally give B-Fab the spotlight? None of that really matters, because I’m just grateful she had this opportunity. Charlotte was more generous and giving than I expected, and her demand that B-Fab ‘bow down’ felt disgustingly heelish, which is exactly what Charlotte needs. I fear B-Fab will be forgotten since the post-match brawl between Charlotte and Tiffany Stratton took up so much airtime. Nevertheless, it was an awesome showing for a rising star!

CODY CRASHES MIZTV: As Cody kicked the Miz and went for his trademark slap, my son jumped up and shouted, “I knew it!” He guessed that we weren’t going to be subjected to a full segment of Miz TV, and thank God he was right. The swerve was wonderful. I was dreading sitting through a talk show segment, so watching Cody deliver the goods to the Miz was incredibly satisfying. Cody continues to do amazing work on the microphone on this road to Wrestlemania, and I love seeing this less controlled side of our champion.

DREW AND DAMIAN GET TO WORK: I’m glad Shinsuke Nakamura is no longer the United States Champion. The work he put out while being champion was not that of a workhorse. Help me understand why it seems he had more fire in a match with no title on the line than in any of his matches as champion. Still, while his match with Damian Priest was good, but it wasn’t as impressive as the work Drew McIntyre did with Damian after the match. No one is going to remember Nakamura’s performance. They will remember the absolute venom and fury pouring forth from Drew McIntyre as he stood over Damian’s body and delivered a blow to his head that left Damien twitching. Their feud is heating up and has the potential to be extraordinary. I hope they lean into the opportunity to tell an amazing story, even if it isn’t the one they wanted for this year’s WrestleMania.

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ORTON AND HAYES FLY HIGH: The three wrestlers I highlight in my column more than anyone else are Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, and Carmelo Hayes. I love this guy! I love his swagger. I love his attitude. I appreciate his athleticism and the explosiveness of his moves. Most importantly, I can finally say I enjoy the story they’re telling. I genuinely hope last week’s alliance with the Miz won’t return. The story of an upstart fighting his way from the bottom, believing he should be at the top, is evolving into a rewarding narrative about someone learning humility. I hope WWE recognizes Carmelo Hayes’ potential and continues to give him opportunities to shine, even if he never becomes a world champion. This match also featured incredible in-ring storytelling, and they were wrestling at a speed I haven’t seen Randy Orton display in a while. I can still feel the floor vibrating from that fast and powerful snap powerslam, and I assure you Carmelo Hayes still feels it in his lower back!

GUNTER AND AXIOM GO TO WAR: We knew the outcome, but we didn’t care. We were in it for the love of the game! This was a match that drew us into the story they were telling and allowed us to naturally set aside what we knew about the outcome in order to simply get caught up in the tried-and-true David and Goliath tale of the hometown hero facing off against the town’s biggest bully. In very simple terms, that’s who Gunther is becoming—a bully. He has good reason to be a bully, thanks to his skill, strength, and ring IQ. But he is a bully nevertheless, and Axiom was there to try to knock him down a peg or two. This should serve as Axiom’s tryout for the main roster, as it’s clear he can compete with the best of them on the biggest stages of all.

PROFITS MADE PROFIT: A much-deserved victory for the Street Profits, the crowd in Barcelona ate this match up. It was time for DIY to drop the belts to the Street Profits. Or, better yet, it was simply time for the Street Profits to be dripping in gold. If they aren’t going to give Montez Ford a singles run, at the very least, thank God he is adorned again with championship gold because both of these men deserve the spotlight, the accolades, and all the money that WWE is willing to throw at them. Check out this match if you want hard-hitting, fast-paced, incredible tag teamwork.

MISSES

PAUL HEYMAN’S PROMO: It’s hard for me to believe that I typed the name Paul Heyman under to the word “miss.” This promo was mediocre. It felt like he was only 90 percent sure of what he wanted to say, and it didn’t seem like this was intentional character work. Everyone can have an off night, but I don’t expect that from Paul Heyman. I’m also growing increasingly frustrated by Roman Reigns’s manager being sent out to announce that he’s coming back in a couple of weeks. To me, Roman doesn’t seem like the attraction he once was. Maybe the business moves too fast now for him to be gone as often as he would like. I could also be the only one who feels this way, so if you think I’m wrong about Roman Reigns, just be nice when you send those angry emails.