Even better! – SmackDown 03/26 Review

This was without a doubt better than Raw, but I can‘t help but feel that something was missing.
It was moving so quickly that it didn‘t have room to breath.
Find out the specifics by reading on!


All Photos taken from WWE.com

It‘s a vicious cycle!

Raw is too long and SmackDown is too short.
There‘s just no middle ground here.
There‘s no use complaining, it‘ll never be satisfactory.
They had so much going on that two hours just didn‘t cut it!
But more on that later.
For now, let‘s talk about New Day opening the show.
I love that Kofi just straight up didn‘t talk again.
His team mates did the talking and they said that they‘ve been through a lot over the past five years and they‘ve actually considered quitting because they just don‘t get the appreciation they feel they, and especially Kofi, deserve.
But before they quit they wanted answers.

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Vince came out, but was interrupted by Daniel Bryan and his Children of Bodom shirt (great band!) wearing intellectual peer.
New Day is a stupid comedy act and they can just get three other idiots from NXT to replace them, he said.
Kofi‘s nothing but a B+ player and they need to accept the reality.
Xavier added that the reality is that Daniel‘s scared Kofi might win and that he now stands for everything he used to fight against.
Vince told everyone to shut the heck up!
They won‘t quit!
They‘re just talking big so that Vince will do something.
Well, he will, but Kofi‘s chances are up, it‘s now on X and E to do something.
If they can survive a tag team gauntlet match later on Kofi Kingston will face Daniel for the belt at Mania.
And that‘s the problem!
A gauntlet match is long!
Really long!
Usually!
Getting ahead of myself a little let me spoil you that with everything going on they didn‘t even have an hour for the gauntlet match.
I feel like that‘s just not enough for an epic insanity last chance conclusion to the biggest story going on right now.
They wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
And they failed spectacularly at it!
They should‘ve had the gauntlet match and maybe one other thing (the next segment that happened, actually) and reserved the rest for next week.
That would‘ve made the show that much better because then the gauntlet match would‘ve truly been epic instead of tacked on.
But the episode was still good, interesting and entertaining.
So, enough ramble, good setup, let‘s move on!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

Becky was interviewed by a new interview girl.
She told her that Ronda‘s got the title and she‘s got the people behind her, but Charlotte‘s got nothing, she‘s just the third wheel and doesn‘t deserve to be the main event.
Well, back in the arena Charlotte interrupted that interview and said that she‘d show her she‘s deserving!

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Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown Women‘s Championship:

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Poor Asuka!
Poor, poor Asuka!
She deserves more than this!
I mean, you know she lost, right?
There‘s no chance after the statement that Flair just made that she‘ll retain.
Flair wanted to show Becky she‘s the best and she killed Asuka (and most likely her career) in the process.
I mean, yeah, at least Asuka‘s not feuding with stupid Mandy and Sonya anymore, but still!
Her run was wasted and overshadowed by Charlotte and Becky.
Do you wanna know how Charlotte winning the SD women‘s belt two weeks before Mania feels to me?
Like they realized they‘ve got too many matches and can‘t possibly throw on another Women‘s Title match, so they nixed everything and just gave the belt to Charlotte.
Problem solved.

All photos taken from WWE.com

Another possibility could be that they didn‘t want Mandy and Sonya to diminish the first ever female WrestleMania main event.
Dave Meltzer will probably tell you why they did it, but I will just speculate.
Either way you slice it this just feels wrong to me.
The match was really great, don‘t get me wrong!
Both women were really resilient and it was pretty even for the most part – and then Asuka tapped out of the Figure 8.
Wait, she tapped?
Didn‘t she, like, have a billion day undefeated streak before Charlotte finished her at Mania?
And now she just taps.
How fast you can fall, am I right?
Remember that we‘ve only got two hours?
That means that this could‘ve done with five or ten more minutes!
I mean, Becky didn‘t even react after Charlotte had won the belt.
She should‘ve come out and told her that it doesn‘t matter cause to her she still sucks.
I guess she‘ll do that next week, but it should‘ve been here this week.
There was just too much going on.
Speaking of which, let‘s move on!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles:

All photos taken from WWE.com

All right, partner!
Keep on rolling, baby!
This match‘ll be dope!
Absolutely epic!
AJ even stated before the match that it‘s a tremendous honor to fight Kurt!
Two of the greatest wrestlers ever fighting in Kurt‘s final SmackDown match!
It‘s gonna be so good!

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It‘ll be the best thing in the world!
Oh, wait, we‘ve only got two hours.
Never mind, it was shit!
Because it wasn‘t at all!
After five seconds or so Randy RKO‘ed AJ and the match ended without a winner.
Kurt then slammed Orton and that was it.
Wow!
Best match ever…

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Look, on paper something can be really amazing.
But if you only give five minutes to it, because you‘re in a rush, then nobody‘s gonna be the winner!
Just like in the match!
Look, I love that Randy attacked.
That‘s how this match should‘ve ended.
Neither Kurt nor AJ should have to lose.
That‘s great!
But at least give us a solid 10 or 15 minute match before that!
Make us feel like we actually got to see Kurt and AJ wrestle and not this three moves and then RKO crap.
Look, I loved this episode!
I really did!
I enjoyed it so much!
I‘m being incredibly critical because I can see the flaws and how they could‘ve improved it by tenfold!
You‘re telling me that Kurt‘s last ever SD match will now always be poop?
That makes Baron as his last opponent even worse!
God damn, I hope John Cena does something about that!

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They showed Rey and his son again, saying that Rey‘ll beat the bully Samoa Joe.
Again.
This added nothing to the show and should‘ve been left off of it!
They‘re already short on time as is, so why they‘re hard pressed on featuring everyone and their sons is beyond me!
Can we ate least get to the gauntlet match now?
No?
Well, fine then, I give up!

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Miz wanted to add a little something something to his Mania bout with Shane.
He wanted to destroy him in a falls count anywhere match and rip him apart all other the arena.
Shane came out with a billion bodyguards and Sanity and Shelton Benjamin as backup (for Miz‘s safety, of course) and told him that he‘s rewatched his assault on Miz again and again and it just fills him with euphoria.
He loves the stipulation, but is dumbfounded that Miz demanded it.
He really must be as stupid as his dad looks.
Speaking of which, his only regret was that he didn‘t punish him more for impregnating his wife and producing the Miz.
Wow!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

That was harsh and rightfully made Miz snap and kill the bodyguards all over the arena.
I can‘t wait for Miz and Shane to do a lot of crazy crap at WrestleMania!
This is an awesome stipulation for the two.
Knowing Shane he‘ll probably jump off of something way too high!
It‘s gonna be lit!
I loved this segment!
And it was probably the only thing that had the right length for what it was.
It was great, but it still shouldn‘t have been featured because they didn‘t really have that much time left now for the epic gauntlet match.
Well, what can you do!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

So, now it‘s time for the gauntlet match, right?
Nope.
The Iiconics told us how great it is that they‘ll be in the fatal-4-way for the women‘s tag belts.
That was really important, I presume!
Now, let‘s finally enter the gauntlet, shall we!

 

Tag Team Gauntlet match and if New Day wins Kofi Kingston will face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania:

 

New Day vs. Karl anderson and Luke Gallows:
Well, finally!
And with great opponents to start with they‘ll surely have a great long barn burner of a… Up Up Down Down and the two heels were eliminated.
Never mind then!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

New Day vs. Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura:

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Well, at the very least the two heels did last way longer than their predecessors.
Oh, and Kofi was having a viewing party with friends backstage.
Original, right?
I mean, New Day didn‘t do the same last week, or anything.
No, no they didn‘t.
Oh wait, they totally did.
Yeah, this was another problem I had with this.
It felt like a rehash.
But hey, at least Rusev and Shinsuke were really amazing and New Day wrestled a more aggressive style.
It was a totally awesome match portion and just had the right length for me.
I dug this!
Needles to say that an Up Up Down Down moved Kofi one step closer towards Daniel.

All Photos taken from WWE.com

New Day vs. The Bar:

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Okay, this was even better!
I can‘t hate this anymore!
This was just awesome!
I gotta hand it to the Bar!
They made New Day look like giants!
It was absolutely dope!
This match, man!
It was so good!
The whole gauntlet was!
I just wish it would‘ve been longer!
Xavier pinned Sheamus after he could barely hang in and then the bad guys went bonkers and put Big E through a table!
As they should!
Great, this was great!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

New Day vs. The Usos:

And then the Usos came out and seeing that big E was destroyed they grabbed some mikes and told them that they‘ve already earned their respect and that they wish them and Kofi good luck, because they forfeit.
Yes!
That‘s amazing!
Such a cool move from the tag champs!
I dig that!
So many great things happened on this show!
I just wish there would‘ve been more of it!
This made me feel great because it honored the history they had with New Day and showed that they‘ve actually grown to respect and like them.
It proves that they just don‘t move from storyline to storyline and that things actually have consequences.
It was perfect!
And so was that they showed that Daniel and Rowan were out of their minds over it and completely demolished their locker room.
X and B had one more team to fight and you know who it was, right?

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

New Day vs. Rowan and Daniel Bryan:

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Surprise!
I also loved this part!
The conclusion was obviously that New Day won, but how we got there was great.
After Rowan and D.B. just went rough-shot on X and Big E Rowan cleaned the announce desk, but New Day fought back, incapacitated Daniel and buried Rowan under the announce desk.
They won by count out.
This was great because nobody was pinned.
A really good way of doing this.

All Photos taken from WWE.com

Kofi then celebrated with his boys, as well as pretty much the entire locker room and Vince told an interview girl that Kofi did make it to Mania, but he‘s still not sure he‘ll beat Daniel.
Wait, that phrase!
He made it to Mania…
He didn‘t state flat out he‘ll face Daniel.
He‘s just gonna enter him into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, isn‘t he?
That‘s what should happen here.
One last obstacle.
If he can win that then he‘ll get Daniel.
I kind of feel like just putting him against Daniel now with everything they‘ve done to prevent it just feels a bit meh.
Underwhelming.
Yes, they‘ve put no other opponent for Daniel in place like they did at YestleMania all those years ago, but Daniel could just face nobody as the alternative.
I just want one more obstacle at Mania.
I probably won‘t get it, but to me that would make the story this much better.
Another idea would be to give New Day a title match and just ignore Kofi, that would be different!
Anyway, the gauntlet was really great, albeit a bit on the short side for what it was.

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

Yeah, this episode was weird!
It was absolutely incredible but it was also hella rushed.
Like, jeez, how many things they actually decided to cram into two hours just broke my mind!
It was so good that I just wanted more of it.
It could‘ve used some more room to breath for pretty much all of its segments other than Miz and Shane.
That one was perfect.
The Asuka match as well as Kurt and the Gauntlet on the other hand could‘ve all used a bit more time.
And there were just some really brief things they could‘ve simply dropped, such as Rey and the Iiconics.
All in all this was really fun, but I can‘t help but feel that the gauntlet match was a bit forced as well as Charlotte winning the belt.
Still, I liked it.
I guess I can‘t really sum this up completely.
I‘ll put it the only way I can: meh and good at the same time!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

 

Do you think Kofi will have to face just one more obstacle?
Tell me in the comments!
Feel free to share my weirdness with your friends.
I‘ll see you tomorrow for NXT.
Have a great day!

All Photos taken from WWE.com

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