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The one thing you could always count on after a disappointing episode of Raw is Smackdown Live delivering an absolute entertaining two hours of wrestling, and on this week on Smackdown Live, the blue brand's creative team put on an episode of wrestling that gave the WWE Universe what Raw did not, and that was a spectacle.
The creative team took the duration of Smackdown Live and booked so many fresh matches, advancements in narratives and the main event of Fastlane 2019 all in two hours. It is actually quite impressive. From an NXT TakeOver classic coming to the blue brand to a fan favorite ascending a position most thought WWE would never let that star reach, Smackdown Live was truly phenomenal this week.
And while there were a few mistakes here and there, it was sort of unavoidable when WWE's plans including pushing certain superstars that need to go over other wrestlers fans feel need more momentum than the company's choice. But all in all, this was an edition of Smackdown Live that succeeded on many levels and let us go through what WWE did right on this blockbuster episode.
#7 Setting Up The Deception
The narrative between The Miz and Shane McMahon has been one of the most bizarre angles WWE had produced over the few months, as it all started when Shane McMahon took The Miz's place in the final of the WWE World Cup tournament and won the cup for his brand.
Ever since then WWE has turned Miz into a babyface that is more silly at times than actually admirable, but that is probably due to the Miz being a natural heel more than a babyface.
Moreover, Miz's pairing with Shane McMahon had affected his career ever since it started, as if you look what Miz was doing before this narrative kicked it you would see that the Miz went from a potential WWE Championship shot at WrestleMania to the lower ranks of the card. But the good news is that it seems like WWE is finally going to put an end to this unwanted narrative, as this week on Smackdown Live something interesting occurred.
The Miz came down to the ring to offer a public apology to Shane McMahon after his miscommunication with McMahon led to their demise at the Elimination Chamber event. But instead of playing the blame game, Miz went on to speak about how Shane helped him make his father proud, and that was something The Miz could never be more thankful for.
The Usos then came out and accepted Miz's plea for a rematch for the Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship, and McMahon made the match for Fastlane. Now the most interesting thing about the storyline between Miz and Shane is who's going to turn heel?
The way WWE is booking the Miz, feels like he is the man that is ready become the next top babyface in the company, from his emotional backstory with him wanting to prove himself to his father to the relationship he has worked hard to build up with Shane, Miz is the ideal babyface in today's landscape.
While on the other hand, Shane McMahon is not necessarily hinting towards any sort of heel turn, as of right now he has no real reason to betray the Miz. Maybe one could say that Miz costing Shane the Tag Team Titles warrants a heel turn, but it just isn't strong enough.
Over the next few weeks maybe WWE will expand the depth of this angle and give us some more information, but right now it just seems like WWE painting Miz as the underdog and Shane as the strength of their tag team could be a misdirection. In fact, maybe it could MIz turning heel at Fastlane.
There is so much to consider when analyzing this programme, as the creative team needs to get some credit for actually creating some ambiguity in this narrative, as it was falling for a while now.
#6 A WrestleMania Worthy Match Given Away
The one thing that drives wrestling fans away from the product faster than anything else is the feeling of boredom. Wrestling is supposed to entertain you, and whether that entertainment is so awesome it feels special or whether it is so ridiculous you can't believe what you are watching, wrestling is never meant to bore you.
And that feeling of boredom is something you hardly get when watching Smackdown Live, as the depth of the roster allows for matches to be rotated every single week, and this we got the first ever meeting of Aleister Black and Andrade on the blue brand.
Who would have thought that Black and Andrade will be competing on a random episode of Smackdown Live after delivering some of the greatest matches in NXT history during their time down in the development brand?
This was a fast-paced fight that saw Black once again pick up another win over his foe. While Andrade losing another match on Smackdown Live is not the ideal way for WWE to be booking the young star's career, Black needed this victory to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Moreover, when Black does get called up, WWE should put him on Smackdown Live, as rumors have been going around WWE's new deal with FOX to air Smackdown Live is going to make the show a more sports orientated programme. That is perfect for Black to make his mark on the show, as he is well known for his MMA like the style in the ring which will be perfect for FOX's vision for the blue brand.
#5 DIY continue to establish themselves
The NXT call ups that happened at the beginning of the year were arguably some of the worst call ups in history. These random superstars who didn't reach their peak in NXT were shifted to Raw and Smackdown Live. Fans knew that the likes of Heavy Machinery, Nikki Cross, EC3 and Lacey Evans would get lost in the mix, as WWE hardly has a plan in place for their main event superstars,
And it seems that WWE has moved past all those former call ups, as the arrival of the four biggest stars in NXT right now has shaken the landscape of Raw and Smackdown Live. The arrival of two the biggest champions in NXT right now and enemies in Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano is something surprising, as WWE had wasted no time in presenting these former teammates as the once strong unit they were back when they were known as DIY.
Some disagree with the random booking of DIY on Raw yesterday, as they just showed up, teamed up and beat The Revival. On Smackdown Live it was something of the same, as we saw DIY take on The Bar in tag team action, and boy was this match a hard-hitting affair, so hard that at one point Ciampa's leg nearly broke in half after a botched sunset flip powerbomb on Sheamus.
But Ciampa recovered and picked up the win for his team. While it is a bit odd to portray the biggest heel on NXT as an underdog in this match, it seems WWE is testing the waters with regards to the reception each of the call ups gets from the crowds.
At least the core booking methods the NXT writers have been building throughout Gargano's and Ciampa's feud is still intact, so one can only hope that they succeed on Raw or Smackdown Live when they officially get promoted.
#4 Mandy Gets The Biggest Win Of Her Career
The question the wrestling community has been asking for the last few weeks has been a simple one, and that question was, where is Asuka? After beating Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble in a great match, Asuka was nowhere to be seen on Smackdown Live, and that is a shame as women's wrestling is hotter than ever, and a few years ago, Asuka was the most feared competitor in the entire women's division.
"No one is ready for Asuka" is a catchphrase WWE loves to associate with Asuka, but it was not just a catchphrase a few years ago; it was the truth. No wrestler was on Asuka's level in NXT: not Ember Moon, not Bayley or even Sasha Banks. Asuka was a beast.
But on the main roster, WWE has watered her down to the point it doesn't feel like they have any legitimate plans for her going into WrestleMania, and by losing to someone who should not even be on her level this week on Smackdown Live was a real downer for the Women's Champion.
But it was a positive for her opponent Mandy Rose, as Rose is possibly the least talented in-ring star in the women's division according to most fans, but that doesn't stop her from being a huge star in the WWE.
Her appearance, character, and marketability helps her stand above most of the stars in the blue brand's women's division, and to be honest, Mandy does do a good job in playing her role, as the more diversity in characters the women's division offers fans, the more successful it will become.
And by beating Asuka this week on Smackdown Live, might be the best thing that has ever happened in Rose's career, as this may be her star in the making moment even if it came at the Women's Champion's expense.
#3 WWE Is Building Up A Future Champion In Ricochet
The highflying style has evolved a lot since its inception, as we have gone from seeing fans consider top rope splashes to be the pinnacle of the high flying style to fans wanting to see wrestlers dish out 450 splashes from ladders. Therefore, this style has evolved because the crowd is always eager to see something new.
And with this style of wrestling becoming more and more overused these days, it has lost that special feeling as taking a move like a superkick, for example. It has been overused so much these days, when you see Shawn Michaels himself perform it, it doesn't get you excited anymore.
Wrestlers need to be unique, and Ricochet may be doing just that with his wrestling style. Some may love the insane ability of this man while others hate that it looks like a choreographed dance with his opponent, but one can't deny it keeps you watching.
And this week on Smackdown Live, Richocet got a chance to showcase more of his insane moves against the leader of the forgotten faction Sanity. Now the fact that Sanity is this irrelevant in WWE after being one of the better factions to exist on NXT for a long time is just shocking, and why is WWE wasting them like this?
There is no even point in answering that question, as we don't truly know the answer, and we will never really know, as rumours of Sanity not being on television due to the creative team having nothing for them to do is just unacceptable.
But getting back to the point at hand here, Ricochet was a human highlight reel in here, as he took down Eric Young in this singles match in spectacular fashion, and its good to see WWE keep him on a roll. But the only one real complaint here is maybe Ricochet should try and incorporate some realism into his moveset, as all the flashy moves he does needs to have reasons for being done.
As that was the reason why people were blasting him when his match with Will Ospreay broke the internet a couple of years ago, as many felt it looks like a rehearsed dance. If Ricochet improves that aspect and focuses more on his underrated power game, then he will surely be taken serious enough by management to be a huge star in the future.
#2 Setting Up Fastlane
The Fastlane pay-per-view is one of the most unnecessary shows WWE has ever come up with, as other from Goldberg winning the Universal Title and Brock Lesnar competing at the event, there has been nothing really special about this event in the eyes of WWE fans.
But any event in WWE can be special if the company puts effort into making fans wanting to watch the matches on the show, and so far they have not really been able to do that until Smackdown Live gave us some indication how the match card will play out.
And sorry for harping on this topic, but this was another reason why this week's episode of Raw was a failure, as WWE setup nothing from the flagship for Fastlane, but on Smackdown Live we saw a Tag Team Title match, WWE Title match and possibly a Women's Title being set up for the show.
Shane McMahon used his authority to set up another match between for himself and The Miz against The Usos for the Tag Team Championship, whereas later on the show Shane O Mac would use his powers once again to set up the WWE Title match (more on that match later).
Moreover, it seems that Asuka has her opponent for Fastlane set, as Mandy Rose's victory over the Empress of Tomorrow could warrant her a title shot at the event. This was such an eventful episode of the blue brand, and this creative team only had two hours to pull all of this off. Maybe Raw should take notes, as the earlier the matches on the event are announced, the more time the writers have.to build the programme.
#1 Kofi Gets The Chance Of His Career
The ending to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view might have been the most emotionally charged ending to a pay-per-view in a long time, as Kofi Kingston being just fingertips away from realizing an impossible dream had fans all over the world screaming at their screens.
But even though Kofi had taken the WWE Champion Daniel Bryan to the limit, it just was not enough, as Bryan took advantage of Kofi's one mistake and managed to crawl away with his title.
But on Smackdown Live this week things took another turn, as after the six-man tag team match which saw the team of Kofi, AJ Styles, and Jeff Hardy beat Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, and Randy Orton. Shane McMahon came out to inform the WWE Universe that Kofi will be getting his WWE title shot against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
This is a match that is not only going to guarantee a wrestling classic, as both these men are in the prime of their careers, but it will create such an interesting road to WrestleMania that fans will want to tune in every week to see where WWE takes this programme. Bryan is the hottest heel in the company, and right now Kofi is the hottest babyface, so WWE is actually giving fans a match they organically want to see, and that is a great decision by the higher-ups.
