5 things WWE got right on the SmackDown after Super ShowDown

The Superstars of SmackDown were put to the test once again after a trip to Saudi Arabia. Several Superstars competed at the Super ShowDown event and were back in the ring the next day after a long flight.

Thankfully, NXT Superstars were not required to take control of the action this week as all the Superstars made it back to the States in time.

The new Universal Champion made an appearance at the show, while 16-time World Champion John Cena was also expected to make a big announcement.

The tag teams of the brand also got their big moments and matches on the show, while an Elimination Chamber match for the teams was announced during the event.

The women of SmackDown also got some quality time on this week’s show after a historical showing in Saudi Arabia just a night earlier.

In this article, we will look at the 5 things SmackDown got right on this week’s show.

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#5 Robert Roode’s heel work

The New Day lost their SmackDown Tag Team Championships on Thursday against The Miz and John Morrison, but they were determined to show they weren’t out of the race yet.

New Day’s leader Kofi Kingston took on Robert Roode in a single’s match this week, as Big E and Dolph Ziggler watched on from ringside.

Roode took control of the match early, but Kofi knows his way well and fought out to deliver some offense of his own.

In the middle phase of the match, Roode tricked the referee into thinking that Big E pushed him into the steel steps, forcing the big man to be ejected from ringside. This reminded fans of the time Eddie Guerrero used to pull off such tactics.

When the former WWE Champion had the heel on the ropes, Ziggler helped his buddy pick up the victory. This was a good match that saw both veterans do extremely well against each other.

Roode is an outstanding performer who doesn’t get the respect he deserves, and he was given a chance to shine during this match after talking the pin in the multi-man tag team match last week.

We hope the company will focus more on Roode in this team and give him more time to shine, as that could allow him to get his big moment someday.

#4 Restarted The Boss’ feud

After a WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship defense at Super ShowDown, Bayley was not happy to be in the ring once again just a few hours later. Bayley was in the ring to take on Naomi again but wasn’t too happy at the proceedings.

She spoke about the history she made, and then introduced a future award-winning artist, Sasha Banks. Banks had been missing from the Blue brand for some weeks due to injury and recorded an album during her time away.

Naomi had a face-off with The Boss, which allowed Bayley to attack her from behind. The two then attacked Naomi again, and the referee called for a disqualification. Lacey Evans then returned and made the save for Naomi, leading to a tag team match being booked between the two teams.

The heels dominated the clash until The Sassy Southern Belle got the tag and exploded into the match. The action was equal from thereon and Naomi pinned Bayley with a sunset flip.

This was a decent match that will help elongate Bayley’s rivalry with Naomi at a time when SmackDown should not rush into any new challengers. It will also help The Lady pick up her rivalry with The Boss from where they left off before Banks’ injury.

#3 The Bryan effect

Unlike many other veterans in WWE who are constantly looking for a chance to cash in on certain situations and try to rise over the newcomers and lesser-used Superstars over and over again, Daniel Bryan has been involved in giving back to the community.

The Planet’s Champion took on the lesser-used Heath Slater in a couple of matches over the past couple of weeks, and even though Bryan took the victories, he allowed Slater to have some high spots in their second match.

This week, Bryan allowed Drew Gulak to take to the announce table to back his opponent again, as he took on the lesser-used Curtis Axel.

Since his gimmick with the B-Team, fans had forgotten just how good Axel could be in the ring, and Bryan decided to let that show. Axel controlled a good portion of the match as Gulak offered his analysis regarding the performance with the commentary team.

After a few attempts to put Bryan away, Axel went for the Perfectplex but Bryan managed to counter and applied the Lebell Lock to pick up the submission victory.

Bryan working hard with some good veteran Superstars is something fans should be praising, and we hope we get a good strong rivalry between Bryan and Gulak soon.

#2 The WrestleMania buildups

The opening and closing segments of SmackDown this week did well to begin the build for two huge WrestleMania 36 matches. WWE seems to have jumped into the WrestleMania season right after Super ShowDown, and they are not wasting any time in squashing rumors and giving fans some real story.

The night started with the new Universal Champion Goldberg coming out to the ring to find out who was next on his list. Roman Reigns wasted no time and came out to face Goldberg, claiming that he was next and would fight him at WrestleMania. The short and sweet segment did much more than any other segment could possibly have, and built towards Goldberg’s first feud in no time.

At the end of the show, John Cena, who was referred to as The Greatest of all Time, returned to the Blue brand to announce his status for The Show of Shows. He spoke about how he planned to do something different this year and did not want to take the opportunity away from any of the guys who work hard all year for the chance to compete at WrestleMania.

He almost made it sound like a retirement speech and walked to the stage where he posed before leaving. However, ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt appeared behind him and pointed at the WrestleMania sign, to which Cena tipped his hat and seemingly accepted the challenge.

While there were many better ways to book this rivalry than just having The Fiend appear and point at a sign, it did enough to build on WWE’s greatest character’s next rivalry.

Looks like SmackDown is all set for WrestleMania season already!

#1 The fearless Champion

One of the top Champions of the company made his way to the ring on SmackDown this week after missing Super ShowDown on Thursday. Yes, we’re talking about Braun Strowman who walked in for a contract signing segment for an Intercontinental Championship match at WWE Elimination Chamber on March 8.

His opponent-to-be Shinsuke Nakamura made his way out with Cesaro and Sami Zayn by his side. The Monster Among Men was outnumbered as usual, but he didn’t care about it.

The Critic of Critics blamed Strowman for injuring Nakamura last week after slamming him on a piano in the Symphony of Destruction match. Nakamura had required nine staples to his head after the spot.

Strowman did not care about Zayn’s words and told him that he would fight all three of them if he had to. The Liberator took Strowman’s words literally and amended the contact to make it a Handicap match.

Afterward, the three men ganged up once again to beat down the monster, showing that the numbers game could indeed lead to Strowman’s downfall.

While Strowman did not show too much positive attitude earlier, it was good to see him with a change of hairstyle and a change in attitude. He was much more confident and seemed fearless at taking on three men for the title.

Strowman finally got his segment where he seemed like a big Superstar again, and even though we know the match at Elimination Chamber will be silly, it could well end up being one of the better matches during the night.