Daniel Bryan issues a challenge for Wrestlemania. Who will be involved in his first match back and what are the stipulations? Shinsuke Nakamura takes his mind games with the WWE Champion to the next level.
Daniel Bryan’s path to Wrestlemania seemed unclear following a brutal assault. Shane McMahon’s medical status also remains questionable. Will former WWE employees Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn escape punishment for their heinous attacks on Smackdown Live management?
Smackdown Live comes to us from Pittsburgh, PA with just twelve days left until Wrestlemania.
Rusev Shows Up and Wins
Randy Orton and Bobby Roode must coexist in a tag team match against ahead of their United States Championship match at Wrestlemania. Their opponent Jinder Mahal substituted Sunil Singh with Rusev minutes before the match. The appearance of Rusev drew the best crowd reaction of the four superstars.
Roode and Orton were of course challenged to act as a cohesive unit. The ground work Mahal is laying for his opponents’ mutual hatred is beginning to work to his advantage. This strategy could pay dividends at Wrestlemania in their triple threat match.
A frustrated Orton would deliver an RKO to his tag team partner just before Rusev would capitalize on the distraction. Interestingly, Rusev would pick up the victory in this match over the United States Champion. None of the three Wrestlemania triple threat match participants would obtain the push from a victory here.
Bobby Roode in particular needs more momentum after loosing the United States Championship. The WWE have missed the opportunity to turn him into the true star he can be. Pairing him with Randy Orton at Wrestlemania with a well executed build would be a step in the right direction.
Although Jinder Mahal has made tremendous strides this year he seems out of place in this match. Although he serves as the antagonist to Orton and Roode, the Modern Day Maharaja is taking focus away from what could be a compelling feud.
Lynch Looks Strong
Ruby Riott continues to gain momentum despite lackluster booking of her Riott Squad. She is looking great against seasoned competitors such as her Smackdown Live opponent Beck Lynch. It will be interesting to see Riott’s interactions with the expanded pool of entrants to the Women’s Battle Royal. Also, the question still remains if the respective women’s factions be maintain their allegiances during the chaos?
We saw shades of a dysfunctional Riott Squad as an attempted distraction by Liv Morgan backfired on both Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan. Lynch would maintain focus and capture a pinfall victory over Riott.
This is a welcomed victory for Lynch ahead of Wrestlemania. It is easy to imagine Lynch going crazy and unleashing repeated suplexes on the women’s roster during the battle royal. Lynch has suffered from lack of air time in recent months. The Women’s Battle Royal seeks to provide a spotlight on individual female talent with the added drama of a “one against all” feel. This match should do better for the women’s roster than a last minute tag team match that historically gets cut short.
Daniel Bryan Match Confirmed
Daniel Bryan is finally drawing a line in the sand with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. He officially challenges the ousted WWE employees to a tag team match at Wrestlemania and selects Shane McMahon as his partner. A victory for the Canadian duo ensures continued employment with WWE. Bryan advises that McMahon should be ready to go come April 8th and explains why he is bringing Owens and Zayn back for one final opportunity.
It has been revealed why Bryan continues to give Owens and Zayn chances. Bryan revisited the struggles of being an independent wrestler and how both of his opponents helped him over the years. Owens and Zayn are also arguably among the best performers in wrestling today.
At Wrestlemania Bryan has advised that fans will see a different side of the Smackdown Live General Manager. It is personal for Bryan now. It could be that the American Dragon will channel some of his independent scene viciousness when he faces his attackers on the grandest stage of them all.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnRs9InyaA0]
The build to this match has been slow but it is certainly compelling.
The months of agonizing and sometimes confusing actions of all parties are finally painting a picture of revenge for Bryan and McMahon. Owens and Zayn have also done a great job keeping up the angle of their firing online. This match is one of the better developed feuds at Wrestlemania and has the most potential for in ring storytelling.
Close Call For The New Day
The Bludgeon Brothers ran through The New Day and almost used their hammers to permanently sideline the pancake wielding group. The Usos would run down to the ring to stop Harper and Rowan from straight murdering their opponents. This caused an abrupt disqualification and the Bludgeon Brothers would stand tall as the other two teams barely survived the encounter.
Harper and Rowan’s recent dominance of all relevant tag teams on Smackdown Live seems to overshadow the epic feud between the other two tag teams as we head towards Wrestlemania. The Usos and The New Day seem to be helping each other out in recent weeks which also reduces the focus on their previous heat.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le9XaVm6er4]
As the three teams come together for Wrestlemania they have clear motivations but not enough time has been spent on making the match seem as significant as the rest of the card.
The Mind Games Continue
In a departure from recent weeks, Shinsuke Nakamura requested back up from his friendly rival and Wrestlemania opponent AJ Styles. Nakamura’s opponent for the evening is Shelton Benjamin who will have his tag team partner Chad Gable at ringside during the match. Styles is only agreeing to this to protect the sanctity of their dream match at Wrestlemania.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEYLZVtvxlk]
Benjamin and Nakamura stand to create their own dream match on Smackdown Live. Both competitors have extensive experience in and outside of the WWE and bring technical ability to the ring. This could be a preview of the Styles vs Nakamura match. There were some intense grappling segments but otherwise this match was business as usual for Benjamin and Nakamura.
Nakamura won the match and called Styles into the ring.
Nakamura explained that he never really needed help from Styles and that he would inevitably beat the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania. It seems as though any a mutual respect may be slowly giving way to a grudge rivalry. Nakamura continues to put down Styles and already nonchalantly claims victory in the championship match.
The constant bragging is starting to enrage Styles who continues to overcome insurmountable odds.
The Dream Match
This feud is just starting to pick up but will it be enough to live up to the in-ring action WWE fans are anticipating from this match? It is exciting to see some animosity injected into this rivalry but Nakamura is starting to come off as a heel. This could mess with the pure competition aspect of this match which is a unique attribute on April 8th’s card. These two superstars have extensive history outside of the WWE. While the WWE acknowledges that this is indeed a dream match they have not drawn on prefabricated heat these two could have for one another.
A likely reason for this could be to avoid portraying this as a recycled NJPW feud. While Christ Jericho notably crossed over into NJPW the WWE may not want to draw attention to a competitor especially in April.
Despite these small critiques Smackdown Live has done a wonderful job setting up their half of Wrestlemania this year. The matches are stacked and feature emerging stars with solid back stories. Once more all matches promise excellent wrestling and storytelling. With the announcement of Daniel Bryan’s return and Charlotte defending against Asuka, Smackdown Live can certainly give the Raw matches a run for their money.
