Hope. I think that’s the theme of this episode of SmackDown for me. It’s what apparently kept the New Day from quitting and kept them willing to play Vince McMahon’s little game. You know, despite the egregious ways he’s screwed them over in recent history.
And that’s probably how I feel about everything that happened on this show, too. There were a few things that didn’t make sense, but I guess we all have to have a little hope and see where it gets us.
The New Day opened the show on a somber note as Xavier Woods thanked the entire WWE audience for sticking with the group through their incredible 5-year journey as a tag team. But with that said, their social media talk about potentially quitting was serious, and the only person who could stop them from quitting was Vince McMahon. The New Day wanted an explanation for why Vince has been so vile towards them in recent months.
The New Day asked the right question right at the start of the show. That’s excellent!
Vince swaggered out to the ring, but before he could say a word, Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan interrupted. And man, it’s just insane to hear how hypocritical Bryan is these days. He was out here telling Vince to let the New Day quit, that he could just call up some NXT kids and do the same thing all over again.
They were replaceable, in essence. And man, does that hold its own connotations.
Vince, for his part, told New Day to lay off all that “quitting crap” and repeatedly said they weren’t quitting – despite never answering their question. That was lost in all the hoopla, actually. Vince never gave an explanation for his actions. I actually quite like that. It fits with the socially-charged story, I think. The answer is what you want it to be.
You know what I didn’t like? How quickly Woods and E bought into what Vince sold them. Oh yeah guys, he totally won’t screw you over this time. Mhmm.
But that’s where hope gets you, I guess. And so they had their own Gauntlet Match that mirrored Kofi’s in a lot of ways, from the babyfaces watching the monitor backstage to Big E being put through a table after the third match. From there, there was one small change that made all the difference: The Usos.
Jimmy and Jey came out fourth in the Gauntlet, rearing to get a piece of the New Day and my mind instantly rebelled. These two were just backstage rooting Kofi on last week! And here they were hopping back and forth as Xavier hovered over Big E, trying to protect his friend.
But then the Usos stopped. They grabbed microphones. And they told it like it was: They respect the New Day. The fans respect the New Day. Kofi deserves his title shot. Therefore, they forfeit.
That breathed hope into the arena, and New Day found a way to get by the final team of Bryan and Rowan. And yes, it was silly that it took Big E that long to flip the commentary table. Who cares? Hope won out.
With that said, I still expect Vince to screw them over next week. He mentioned the importance of listening to his words a few weeks ago, right? Well, he never explicitly said Kofi would get a WWE Championship match – and until he does, I’m ready for a last-second screw job.
So...that’s where I’m at. I had a few issues with the story being told this week, but the essentials to this story are still clicking on all cylinders.
I spoke too soon
May I direct your attention to the Raw review that I wrote literally 24 hours ago?
“But with that said, I’d argue we’ve had enough twists and turns with [Rousey vs. Lynch vs. Flair]. Let’s give those moments to other matches as we near WrestleMania and instead focus on why this will be fun: the three women hate each other and all kick ass.”
WWE just uh...they just laughed in my face and threw another gigantic curveball at us.
Becky Lynch had a brief promo backstage where she was asked about being in the official main event of WrestleMania. Lynch took the chance to run down Charlotte and the fact that she brings nothing to the table for the match. So what does WWE do? They give her a SmackDown Women’s Championship match AND ARE YOU SERIOUS SHE WON.
…?!?!?!?!
My jaw dropped when it happened, so that’s a good thing, right? And yes, the match between Asuka and Charlotte was fantastic – no complaints at all about the match. But like...the implications, man!
Are we really unifying these titles at WrestleMania?! Why the hell has Asuka been thrown by the wayside so badly?! DO THEY NOT REMEMBER ASUKA TAPPING LYNCH OUT LIKE EIGHT WEEKS AGO?!
I have so many questions!!!
I still don’t know what to think. I guess I’ll have to go back to the title of the review and just have hope it all works out. But man...wow.
The Rest
AJ Styles def. Kurt Angle via DQ – Really liked the hot start here, but it makes sense in retrospect since Orton ruined the match like 2 minutes in. Nice little way for Orton to be the bad guy.
Rey Mysterio has a son – They recapped Rey’s promo from last week. Yep, Dominic exists alright. Glad they reminded us.
Falls Count Anywhere – I like the fact that Miz vs. Shane will be a Falls Count Anywhere match. Sounds like fun.
I did NOT like Shane mentioning Miz’s dad and “spawning” in the same sentence. Does anyone sell brain bleach? Please?
It was a really light episode on accessory storylines, so I’d imagine your enjoyment of this show depended on the Gauntlet Match and how you feel about Charlotte Flair being the champion. For me, that means...
Grade: B-
I like the fact that we’re getting progression on SmackDown. Things happen on this show, you know? And the Kofi story has so much fan investment that it’s still awesome even when I can question some things. But I also think it’s fair if you liked this show less than I did.
What’s your take, Cageside?