WOAH
- Shane McMahon comes out and awkwardly brings up that the NXT callups from last night will also be appearing on Smackdown tonight. Okay, cool. They get a better reaction tonight.
- What do brands mean? What do callups mean? We have ten people floating around on a bunch of different brands. Not that I'm complaining, but the Women's Tag Titles are floating, too.
- The Miz comes out and cuts a good promo begging Shane McMahon to bypass the lack of a rematch clause and make theirs happen because he needs it. This was really good.
- Also really good was The Usos "woah" promo, where they really tore The Miz a new one before Shane McMahon stepped in.
- "You do not disrespect my partner like that, ya dig?" - Shane McMahon, a middle aged white man. (via Anna)
- Shane McMahon confirms the re-match will happen at Fastlane. McMiz vs. The Usos.
- Later on Miz sees Shane McMahon and says Mr. Miz will be ringside at Fastlane.
Aleister Black defeated Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega)
5.75/10
- "I do love Black gets to debut on SD with his wife by ringside, even if she is yelling profanities at him"- Anna.
- Good work as is expected between these two. Almas is the right person for Black to be facing tonight.
- Black is dumped over the top rope, but has a really great Meteora hit. Andrade gets double knees in the corner himself.
- Black Mass lands -- kind of. It was not one of Black's best, that's for sure. Technique wasn't there and it landed on Andrade's chest. He wins.
- Solid match, but not long enough to be memorable.
- DIY are watching the match backstage.
DIY defeated The Bar
6/10
- DIY cut generic promos and are confronted by The Bar. The Bar says nobody knows who they are. DIY says they don't set the bar, they break the bar.
- This is really hard hitting. Fortunately The Bar are more than capable of keeping up in the ring with DIY's speed.
- A funny spot before the commercial sees Ciampa fly at Cesaro and into a camera man, but Cesaro is so strong he saves it with a back breaker. The past two years have easily been the greatest era of camera man wipeouts in pro wrestling history.
- A not funny spot was Sheamus landing on Ciampa's knee on a sunset flip powerbomb. The ref throws up the X. That's terrible news. Sheamus ALSO has stenosis.
- Gargano is tagged in and goes wild, taking out both opponents and applying a Gargano Escape.
- The Bar get a big backbreaker knee drop, but Ciampa is back and breaks it up! He tags in and pins Cesaro in a really good spot.
- I hope both Ciampa and Sheamus are okay. We've seen Ciampa work an entire main event held together with duct tape, so who knows. That was an ugly spot, but neither team let it slow down the match.
- I'm told from backstage at Smackdown Tommaso Ciampa says he is fine, and the same with Sheamus. You may remember that Sheamus has admittedly battled stenosis. The subsequent "x" call was for Ciampa.
Mandy Rose (w/ Sonya Deville) defeated Asuka
5.75/10
- Asuka is ready for her next challenge, and is greeted by Mandy Rose and Sonya. Asuka vs. Mandy is next.
- As the match starts, Lacey Evans comes out and distracts Asuka.
- An extended live event run with Lacey Evans working with Asuka or Sonya Deville would do her wonders in the ring.
- For some reason a big deal is made about Mandy trying to capitalize on the distraction. She hits a nice gutwrench slam and a GREAT bicycle knee from Mandy.
- Asuka lights Mandy up with some strikes, including a better Black Mass than Black.
- Mandy eats a pop up knee and asks for a timeout because of her injured eye. It was all a ploy. She pins Asuka.
- That was clean as a sheet. Not a cheat tactic to outsmart someone.
Ricochet defeated Eric Young (w/ Sanity)
5.5/10
- Oh, hey. Eric Young is around.
- This isn't a showcase for Ricochet as you'd imagine. He sells through most of the match before making a comeback and going through his spots.
- A standing star press gets two for him.
- Sanity get involved, and Ricochet takes them all out with a Fosbury Flop.
- 630 wins the match. This was really paint by numbers.
Backstage Crappenings
- Charlotte Flair cuts a promo about Becky Lynch and taking her spot.
Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy (w/ New Day) defeated Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton & Samoa Joe (w/ Rowan)
6/10
- Let's ditch the pancakes already. Kofi offers AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy a pancake branch.
- New Day are interviewed backstage and say this moment wasn't a week in the making, it was 11 years in the making. Big E mentions Kofi has been in WWE longer than Empire, which has done crazy things to keep it interesting.
- Daniel Bryan cuts a really great promo and says nobody in the ring will take him on at Fastlane, because he beat them all in the Elimination Chamber.
- Bryan wants no parts of Kofi Kingston. He tags out to get away from him.
- Kofi ends up eating a Singh Bomb before the commercial. Another one hits after the break.
- Tom Phillips brings up the irony of Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan working so well together in New Orleans.
- Styles and Bryan get the big tags, and Styles RUNS WILD. Styles gets an Ushigoroshi on Bryan and applies the Calf Crusher.
- Hardy Twist of Fate on Joe, then Orton SLIIIIIIDES him out of the ring. While all this goes on, Styles is placed in the Lebell Lock, but gets to the ropes.
- A Pele on Bryan leads to Kofi getting the tag. A back body drop sets up a tope con hilo on everyone. Trust Fall on Rowan and Bryan! Trouble in Paradise for the pin!.
- Kofi is SUPER OVER right now.
- It's not WrestleMania, but Kofi Kingston is getting his one on one WWE Title match at Fastlane. The right call! Shane McMahon makes the announcement.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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