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The final episode of WWE SmackDown before the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view had a lot of interesting twists planned for the viewers. We saw another match added to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. In addition to that, Otis and Chad Gable turned heel after attacking Rey Mysterio. Finally, we saw Edge back on the Blue brand, and he made a strong statement before Roman Reigns attacked him.
In this article, we will take a look at Superstars who impressed us on WWE SmackDown and those who did not.
#1 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Reginald
An exciting booking decision on WWE SmackDown saw Reginald team up with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair as the trio faced Bayley, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler. It all started when the women’s tag team champions appeared as guests on Bayley’s talk show. They were bragging about their accomplishments but were soon interrupted by Reginald.
He took it upon himself to defend Sasha Banks on the mic, but the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion took things into her own hands. Bianca Belair decided to join Sasha Banks well, and it led to a three-on-three match. This bout was mostly in favor of Banks’ team, and Reginald was particularly impressive throughout the bout.
The creative team wrote this segment well with subtle moments that showed a budding alliance between Banks and Reginald. The latter helped the champion in escaping from serious beatdown on multiple occasions and eventually squared up against Nia Jax. Reginald mostly relied on attacking from behind and looked genuinely hesitant to go after Jax in a believable segment.
The closing moments of the match saw Reginald attempting an attack on Jax that distracted the one-half of the women’s tag team champions for a long time. Banks made most of this opportunity and attacked Jax before Reginald pinned her. This victory for Banks, Reginald, and Belair certainly did not sit well with Carmella, who appeared on WWE SmackDown during a backstage segment.
She seemed concerned about Reginald’s loyalty and was angry after she was served flavorless wine. Carmella threw her drink on Reginald’s face, humiliating him during the segment. This turn of events have led us to think about Reginald’s real intentions behind playing nice with Banks. Is he helping her? Will he catalyze in Banks’ heel turn in her feud against Belair? But most importantly, is this all a part of a long con on WWE SmackDown?
Things will surely get interesting in the coming weeks. But for now, Jax and Baszler will have to defend their tag team titles against Banks and Belair, with Reginald on the latter’s side. Reginald has been praised for his in-ring ability, but it must be said that he is equally good at mind games. His future undoubtedly looks promising on WWE SmackDown.
#2 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Cesaro
The main event of WWE SmackDown saw a six-man tag team match between all the Superstars who will compete inside the Elimination Chamber for a shot at Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship. Out of all the six men, Cesaro ended up looking like the strongest challenger inside the ring with his resilient performance against all the heels.
Cesaro’s one-on-one encounter with Sami Zayn, King Corbin, and Jey Uso throughout the match was as impressive as it could get. He successfully came out on top against each of those men and subjected them to a brutal beatdown. On several occasions, we saw him turn the match in favor of his team on WWE SmackDown.
Cesaro has enjoyed significant momentum on WWE SmackDown in the last few weeks, and he has been dubbed as the favorite to win the Elimination Chamber match. His booking tonight was perfect as he came across as the best challenger without drawing too much attention towards himself. Instead, the creative team allowed Daniel Bryan to win the match for his team to ensure that Cesaro still comes across as an underdog.
#3 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Jey Uso
While Cesaro was the best babyface in the main event of WWE SmackDown, Jey Uso claimed superiority amongst the heels. He delivered a dominant performance inside the ring. If not for his alliance with Roman Reigns, Jey Uso would have come across as the Universal Championship's best challenger.
He looked like a man on a mission as he did not shy away from inflicting damage upon all the others present inside the ring. He commanded over his team on WWE SmackDown and even ended up putting Cesaro through the announce desk to stop the latter from capitalizing on his momentum. He kept both Corbin and Zayn on their toes, and was refreshingly convincing as a leader.
It was evident that Jey Uso will mostly concentrate on hurting all the other Superstars inside the Elimination Chamber as much as he can so that they struggle to face Roman Reigns later that night. He is bound to play a crucial role in Reigns’ title defense.
After the main event, he was attacked by Edge as The Rated-R Superstar delivered a Spear. Soon after that, Reigns attacked Edge with the same maneuver and held his title high to end the final episode of WWE SmackDown before Elimination Chamber.
#4 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Shinsuke Nakamura
Last week on WWE SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura answered Big E’s open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, and the two Superstars delivered an engaging match. Unfortunately, their bout came to an end after Apollo Crews interfered and attacked both of them inside the ring. This week, the creative booked a match between Nakamura and Crews with Big E at ringside.
Both Crews and Nakamura looked determined to pick a win, hoping to win a shot at Big E’s title. As we have discussed before, Nakamura has started to look a lot like his old energetic self on WWE SmackDown. He successfully turned the match in his favor multiple times. Nakamura landed hard-hitting blows and was smart in dodging Crews’ attacks.
In the end, Nakamura picked a dominant victory over Crews without making his opponent look weak. It was great to see him win the match, but Crews attacked Nakamura soon after it ended. He then turned his attention towards Big E and hit him with the steps. In the end, Crews stood tall as Nakamura laid on the floor while Big E was carried out on a stretcher.
#1 and #2 Flopped on WWE SmackDown: Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan
This week on WWE SmackDown, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan locked horns with Natalya and Tamina. It would be fairly easy to say that the Blue brand has not been the best for the two Superstars over the last few weeks, and tonight was no different. The Riott Squad were subjected to another underwhelming loss at the hands of their opponents.
During this match on WWE SmackDown, Natalya looked particularly aggressive as she went straight after both her opponents. Even Tamina did her job by putting on a few dominant moves on display. However, both Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan struggled throughout the match, and things got worse when Billie Kay decided to walk towards the ring.
Kay was seen sporting a T-shirt with Tamina’s name written over it as she attempted to pledge her support to The Riott Squad’s opponents for a change. The latter was still distracted and ended up taking another loss on WWE SmackDown. This booking has unfolded on the Blue brand every week for over a month now. At this point, it is dull, to say the least.
