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Until the last few moments of the show, SmackDown Live's Fastlane fallout episode was a dud. The end salvaged it to some degree, but it is clear SmackDown Live is not doing well. The writing felt haphazard and the storylines felt half-baked. And this is happening at a time when we're just days removed from WrestleMania 34.
Welcome to the 'Best and Worst' of SmackDown Live. As always we invite you to leave your comments in the section below. If you thought differently from us, or even if you echo our sentiments, please let us know.
For our part, here's our analysis of the latest episode of the WWE blue brand!
#1 Best: The final few moments
It's always a shame when the best part of the show has us fast forwarding to the last few minutes. We believe that this segment was a great foreshadowing of the actual WrestleMania match. From the looks of it, it will be a triple threat contest. Owens and Zayn set the stage in a painful manner for Shane McMahon.
We loved how they dragged a McMahon all the way to the back. The disrespect was felt through every single move. The powerbomb on to the ladder was an epic finishing touch.
Looks like Shane McMahon's leave of absence will become mandatory now, at least in storyline, based on recent happenings. McMahon should have a lot of babyface sympathy when he does return before WrestleMania 34.
What crazy stunts do you think he will pull off, this year?
#1 Worst: Two feuds, one storyline
Two homegrown American Champions. Two international Japanese challengers. Four babyfaces. Two dream matches.
The build for both the 'dream matches' at WrestleMania have exactly the same storyline. WWE is building them by having the two babyfaces exchange strong words of mutual respect in the middle of the ring. As it is, people are confused with regard to whom to root for, in babyface vs. babyface contests.
We do hope that in the coming weeks, WWE does show a semblance of innovation and tries to book the babyfaces creatively. Despite the fact that Brock Lesnar hasn't shown up on RAW on the road to WrestleMania, his match still has a better build.
In-ring ability alone can only get one so far, in WWE.
#2 Best: A fun little opening contest
Rusev is pretty competent inside the squared circle. AJ Styles is the best wrestler of our generation. Despite the fact that they've been on the same brand, they haven't really had the chance to mix it up. The match felt fresh, despite the DQ finish.
We loved the aftermath of the match as well. We loved how Nakamura came to his WrestleMania opponent's aid, taking on both Rusev and English. We also loved their backstage interaction later.
AJ Styles cannot have a bad match. The little we saw of the match felt fresh and exciting.
Maybe the two men can have a real program in the future someday.
#2 Worst: Nakamura & Asuka on the microphone
We do realize that English was never Nakamura's first language to begin with. The same holds true for Asuka. However, their mystique is lost when we see them struggle on the microphone week upon week. And if anything, it diminishes the WrestleMania 34 dream matches significantly.
The issue is far more prominent in Asuka's case. Her delivery and cadence are all wrong. When Brock Lesnar does part ways with WWE, we may need Paul Heyman to lead a Japanese stable comprising these superstars.
Imagine the backlash when either of these two do become Champion. It may even rival Roman Reigns heat.
#3 Best: Rebuilding Carmella
She teamed up with Natalya to pick up a victory at Fastlane. She fared well on SmackDown Live too. Carmella is slowly but surely being groomed into a top superstar. To her credit, she's upping her game.
Carmella has shown an aggressive side in recent weeks, that we'd not seen in quite a while. She has the look, and now, thanks to the work that she's putting in, she has the in-ring work as well to be recognized as a Champion for when she does cash-in eventually.
#3 Worst: Interrupting the women yet again!
It's bad enough that the US Title picture isn't exciting at all. What got our goat this week was how Orton interrupted Charlotte Flair and Asuka in the middle of the ring. The same had been done with Bobby Roode as well. Couldn't Creative find a better way to cap the segment off, any better?
Somehow, Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton are not lighting the world on fire. Even with Asuka struggling as she did on the microphone, her segment seemed more exciting.
#4 Best/worst: Daniel Bryan's absence
One would imagine that with WrestleMania season under way, the SmackDown Live General Manager would be in attendance. Especially in light of all the events that were ongoing. We were never told why Daniel Bryan missed Fastlane. We were just informed that he'll be back next week.
The one positive to emerge out of that is the fact that the show was about the superstars and not the General Managers. Well, the Commissioner did book himself in the main-event segment. But even then, the passive-aggressive Bryan-McMahon rivalry was put on hold.
Of course, we know that the real reason Daniel Bryan was missing is because he was at a wedding. It would have been nice for WWE to have provided some kind of excuse.
And that's all from us this week, good internet folks!
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