SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN TV REPORT
APRIL 21, 2023
COLUMBUS, OHO AT SCHOTTENSTEIN CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON FOX
Announcers: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin
[HOUR ONE]
-After the “WWE Then, Now, Forever, Together” brand signature, the Smackdown opening theme aired. (For what it’s worth, Bray Wyatt is still in the opening despite disappearing during WrestleMania hype season.)
-They went live to the arena where Michael Cole introduced the show as the camera panned the crowd. He hyped that the WWE Draft is one week away. Cole and Wade Barrett hyped the line-up, including billing Riddle vs. Solo Sikoa in a no DQ match as the main event.
(1) THE JUDGMENT DAY (Finn Balor & Damien Priest) vs. REY MYSTERIO & SANTOS ESCOBAR
As Balor and Priest made their ring entrance, the augmented reality graphics showed four hooded people in the ring the size of skyscrapers. (I normally like WWE’s use of augmented reality for ring entrances, but having Balor and Priest stand and look at the ring from ringside as if they could see the hooded figures in the ring was cheesy.) They cut to clips of the Bad Bunny angle on Raw three weeks ago when Priest chokeslammed Bunny through the table at ringside. Cole said Bunny will be at Raw on Monday. The bell rang six minutes into the hour. The heel duo isolated Rey for the first couple mininutes. Rey hot-tagged Escobar at 3:00 and then helped slide Rey under the bottom rope for a splash on Balor on the flor, but Priest yanked Balor out of Rey’s path so Rey went splat. Escobar set up a dive, but Balor caught him with a running clothesline. They cut to a break. [c]
Escobar was taking a beating after the break until he caught a charging Priest with a dropkick. Both were down and slow to get up. Rey and Balor each tagged in. Rey went on a flurry against Balor and then set up a 619, but Priest tagged in. Rey sent him over the top rope and then setup Balor again for a 619. Rey tagged in Balor, then delivered a 619. Escobar then top rope splashed Balor, but Priest was legal. Priest then gave Escobar a South of Heaven chokeslam for the win.
WINNERS: Priest & Balor in 11:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good action but quite formulaic in format.)
-They went to Cole and Barrett at ringside who narrated clips of the backstory for the Solo-Riddle main event. Then they showed the Usos and Solo walking backstage. [c]
-They showed Adam Pearce texting on his phone when in walked Zelina Vega. (Imagine how great a scene it would have been just showing Pearce text if Zelina hadn’t walked in at that very convenient moment on live TV!) She told Pearce she’s the only female Puerto Rican on the roster, and she has to fight and represent Puerto Rico at Backlash in a title match against Rhea Ripley. She said her height has been used against her during her whole life. (Even when she was 2? Who are those people?!) She said she has something to prove. Pearce said he’d talk to upper management and Rhea about it as it’d surely be a great match.
-They went to Cole and Barrett at ringside. Cole said it’d be one of the biggest upsets they’ve seen if Zelina upset Ripley.
-A vignette aired on Shinsuke Nakamura touting his explosiveness and his precise striking.
-Backstage, Karrion Kross spoke about how it takes a lifetime to find identity and a 1,000 lifetimes to find out if it’s really yours, and then in three seconds it can be destroyed. Scarlett walked up with a hand full of cards. He said the cards hurt people, not him. He said you don’t know who you are until someone takes something away from you. He said they took away Madcap Moss’s joy and Drew McIntyre’s temperament and Rey Mysterios’ patience. He said they plan to take Nakamura’s honor from him.
(Keller’s Analysis: The imagery and delivery was good here, not going too far into cartoon faces. There were fewer empty platitudes and more descriptive specific language about what they’ve done and plan to do, too. So this was a good segment to get across their personalities and what their mission is against Nakamura.)
-Braun Strowman and Ricochet made their entrance. Cole called them “modern day superheroes.” A clip aired of the Raiders attacking Ricochet and Strowman last week. [c]
(2) BRAUN STROWMAN & RICOCHET vs. THE VIKING RAIDERS (w/Valhalla)
The bell rang 37 minutes into the hour. Barrett said every team is sniffing new opportunities now that the Usos strangehold on the tag division has ended. Braun clotheslined Ivar to thge mat and then mean-eyed Valhalla at ringside. Braun tagged in Ricochet and yank Beal threw him into the ring. I’m not sure if he was meaning to throw him into Ivar and just missed, but Ricochet’s landing was hard. Cole said he got overly excited. Ricochet handspring dove over the top rope onto the Raiders at ringside. [c]
The Raiders were in control after the break.When Ricochet hot-tagged in Braun, Cole said all of the Raiders’ work was just erased. Braun landed a dropkick on Erik. Barrett said you don’t see that too often from Braun. The Raiders took over until Ricochet hot-tagged at 10:00. Ivar cut off his momentum. Barrett said, “Too big, too strong.” Ricochet made a comeback and tagged Braun back in quickly. Braun launched Ricochet off of his shoulders for a senton splash on Ivar for the win. Barrett said this sends them high in the tag team ranks.
WINNERS: Strowman & Ricochet in 11:00.
-A clip aired of Chelsea Green throwing a beverage at the face of Liv Morgan at Raw earlier in the week. Cole said it was to send a message.
-Kayla Braxton interviewed Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Liv was hyped up about getting revenge. Rodriguez calmed her down and told her to save it for the ring. Liv said, “Watch us. Ha ha ha ha. Woo!” Then she headed to the ring.
-Liv and Raquel made their ring entrance. [c]
-Barrett plugged the Riddle vs. Solo main event.
(3) LIV MORGAN & RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ vs. CHELSEA GREEN & SONYA DEVILLE – WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match
As Sonya and Green came out, Sonya told the fans to show them some respect. Green said they couldn’t expect “these normies” to wake up every single morning knowing what it feels like to be winning. Green said Liv and Raquel are losers. Green squirted water at her. Liv acted like Butch and had to be held back by Raquel. The bell rang 57 minutes into the hour. Sonya leaped off the ring apron and hit Raquel with a flying knee. Liv flipped onto a celebrating Green and Deville on the floor and then scored a two count on Green inside the ring at 3:00.
[HOUR TWO]
After interference by Deville, Green tried to pin Liv with her feet on the ropes, but the ref caught her. Four-way action broke out a few minutes later and all four were down and slow to get up. As the ref turned to get Raquel out of the ring, Liv poured water all over Green. She then sunset flipped Green. Raquel helped add leverage to the cover, which the ref didn’t see as he counted to three. Barrett was outraged by the refereeing.
WINNERS: Morgan & Rodriguez in 7:00.
-Braxton interviewed Matt Riddle about facing Sikoa later and teaming with Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at Backlash. She asked about why he’s “risking it all” by stepping into the ring with Solo tonight in a no DQ match. Riddle said Solo will end up buried under a table this time. He said he considers KO and Sami his “step-bros.”
-Xavier Woods made his ring entrance with his trombone. [c]
(4) GUNTHER vs. XAVIER WOODS – Intercontinental Title match
Barrett lamented Xavier getting this title shot simply for irritating Gunther with his trombone last week. Cole said this would be a huge upset if Xavier can stop Gunther, noting no one has done that in a year. He said Gunther is the embodiment of what the Intercontinental Title is all about. The bell range 12 minutes into the hour. Xavier put up a fight early and exchanged strikes with Gunther. Gunther had enough and chopped Xavier to the mat hard. They cut to an early break at 1:00. [c]
Cole asked Barrett if he was ever chopped like Gunther chopped Xavier. Barrett said Sheamus came close and this match reminds him of why he’s at the broadcast table and not in the ring anymore. He said Gunther is so well-rounded. Xavier rallied and even scored a leverage two count at 9:00. Cole excitedly the champion was stunned as Xavier took him to the limit. Gunther rolled to the floor. Barrett called it superb instincts. Xavier slidekicked him into the barricade and then a flip dive over the top rope that landed on Gunther’s head and shoulders. Xavier knocked Gunther down with a kick in the ring and then leaped off the top rope with a legdrop for a near fall. Xavier lifted Gunther onto his shoulders. Gunther applied a sleeper. Xavier escaped and leveraged Gunther’s shoulders down for a near fall. Xavier landed an enzuigiri. Gunther began to fight back, but Xavier dropped him with a clothesline. Gunther then surprised Xavier with a sleeper and won seconds later via submission. Cole said Xavier lost, but has nothing to be ashamed of.
WINNER: Gunther in 11:00 to retain the Intercontinental Title. [c]
-A video package hyped next week’s WWE Tag Team Title match between Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos.
-As the Usos made their ring entrance, the announcers hyped the Backlash line-up so far. Barrett said there will be a three-way match with Austin Theory defending his U.S. Title against Bronson Reed and Bobby Lashley. They added Seth Rollins vs. Omos and Ripley vs. Zelina for the title to the line-up.
-The Usos stood mid-ring. Jimmy mock-interviewed Jey about losing their tag titles and how he feels about it. Jimmy kept saying “dude” as he asked questions. Jey said their mission is to regain the gold and they’re coming straight at Sami & KO. Jimmy said next week is a “big, big, big rematch.” They talked up the match and then said they’ll dedicate their win to Roman Reigns.
-Solo made his ring entrance. [c]
-They showed a graphic advertising the WWE Draft next week with everyone on the roster crowded into it.
(5) MATT RIDDLE vs. SOLO SIKOA – No DQ match
Riddle jump-started the match by attacking Solo from behind as his entrance music began. The bell rang 42 minutes into the hour. Solo fought back immediately with a hard clothesline. Barrett said what chance does anyone have against Solo if Riddle can’t gain an advantage from attacking Solo from behind like that. Solo began methodically beating Riddle with a kendo stick. Riddle made a comeback at 4:00 and threw Solo into the ringside steps. Then he landed a Broton. As Riddle celebrated, they cut to a break. [c]
Solo was in control after the break. Solo charged, but Riddle threw a chair at him. He followed by side-stepping Solo and sending him head-first into the chair. He followed with kendo stick shots and then a jab with a chair to the cut and then a chairshot across Solo’s back. He followed with a kneelift of the chair into Solo’s head and scored a two count.
A minute later Solo set up two chairs, but Riddle suplexed him onto them and scored a two count. They fought to ringside. Riddle blocked Solo from dumping the announce desk on him. He landed a flash knee and then tipped the table onto Solo. He yelled in celebration. The Usos came through the crowd and attacked him at 13:00. Fans booed as the Usos threw Riddle into the ring and set up a 1D. Riddle threw them to the floor instead and then flip dove onto them at ringside. He crawled back into the ring. Solo rise from under the table. “Buried no more!” said Cole. Riddle looked on in amazement. He leaped off the ringside steps toward Solo, but Solo caught him and gave him a uranage. Back in the ring, Solo went for a Samoan Spike. Riddle ducked and landed a flash knee. Solo came right back with a hard Samoan Spike for the win. Cole mis-called it a clothesline at first, but corrected himself.
WINNER: Solo in 15:00.
-After the match, the Usos and Solo triple-teamed Riddle. Barrett said this is how they get back in the good graces of Reigns, who is surely watching. The Usos gave Riddle a 1D through a table set up in teh ring. They stood over him as the show ended.
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