Before getting into the meat of this show, I just wanted to highlight something.
Edge has proven that he isn’t just here for himself. And he honestly had every right to be here for himself.
Edge had to retire before his time because of injury and he was never going to be back. He fought his way back and did everything he could to ensure he could do this and stay healthy.
He’s using his return to elevate others and it’s a beautiful thing to see. I’m so thankful that he is here to really be here, and not to cash checks as the next nostalgia act for some title matches on big pay-per-views.
Let’s get to the main hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of SmackDown, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!
Opportunistic Enforcer
Edge talked about how surreal it is to be back at SmackDown wrestling.
He said he wanted to be inserted into the Fastlane match so that Daniel Bryan gets the fair share he’s deserved. He forgave Bryan for the running knee last week because he would have done the same thing.
He then moved on to Jey Uso and said he could be one of the best in the business if he wasn’t tied down by Roman Reigns. Edge put Jey over huge here, and as we saw in the main event of the show, he really put him over.
Daniel Bryan came out later and said that Reigns shouldn’t need the help from Jey if he were to win against Edge. He said Edge thinks he can beat Roman Reigns, but Bryan knows he can beat Reigns. He said he will tap Reigns out.
Reigns came out laughing that Bryan thinks he’ll tap him out because no one has ever tapped him out. He would rather lose his arm or die in the ring before tapping out. Bryan called him delusional and said he’s going to break him.
In the main event, Edge tried to pin Uso immediately and showed urgency to get a quick win. Uso got out of a submission and Edge gave him a couple of uppercuts. Uso started working on Edge’s ribs and continued for quite a few minutes. Edge sold his ass off for Jey.
Edge finally got back into it with a knee to Jey’s shoulder, and because of that it made it harder to capitalize off of the splash. Edge speared Jey to become the special enforcer at Fastlane. This match was great and Edge really helped Jey Uso here.
Reigns speared Edge and Jey blindsided Bryan as he got into the ring. This could go a multitude of ways at Fastlane. The one that most intrigues me is where Edge “accidentally” costs Bryan the match, which would give Bryan all the rights to another one.
And maybe... just maybe that last match ends up being at WrestleMania? I want to see what happens at Fastlane first before I start fantasy booking. Remember as I said last week, Edge could call it right down the middle, but he could be helping Bryan. Does he want that?
There’s so much intrigue over this.
More dissension
The show started with a little back and forth between the SmackDown women’s champion and her challenger at WrestleMania.
Belair chastised Banks for accepting the match with Nia Jax for the title. She said she wouldn’t come out and help, to which Banks sneered at her Fastlane tag partner and said “I didn’t ask you to.”
For some reason, Reginald relaxing on the tron was supposed to add to this... thing that’s going on.
Banks started with offense, but was then dominated by Jax. At one point Jax grabbed Banks’ leg and swung her face first into the middle turnbuckle! I was expecting this match to not have a conclusive ending, but was pleasantly surprised to see Baszler miss Banks and hit Jax, which let Banks get the win. Banks and Belair are on the same page.
I started out sour because I thought where it was going, but was pleasantly surprised to see that finish. Nia and Shayna are the team that should have dissension going into Fastlane. Well... Sasha and Bianca shouldn’t even be a team in the first place but ya know semantics, right?
Later, Belair had a match with Shayna Baszler, and Jax left Baszler alone and walked away. This match got the interference treatment instead, as Tamina and Natalya ran in and attacked everyone. My guess as the reason why this is a thing is because they’re giving NaTamina a final push as the vets that haven’t gotten much traction in the past few years. Because I couldn’t tell you what this is about if its not that.
I like Natalya and Tamina, but I don’t really care about this that much. The story is Bianca and Sasha at WrestleMania. That’s it. That’s the story. There’s been so much deviation from that it’s getting quite worrisome.
Vengeance
Michael Cole asked Big E if they could settle their differences. Big E said that there’s no kumbaya, only vengeance.
He told Crews to appreciate the air and enjoy enjoy his body working perfectly. Crews will get everything he deserves at Fastlane.
Crews said he shouldn’t talk to Nigerian royalty with disrespect, and he’ll finally get what he deserves as he stands over E as the next Intercontinental champion. E walked off to find Crews, and grabbed a golf cart in search of the Nigerian soldier.
He found him and they brawled. E tossed Crews all over and battered him. This ruled. But of course a bunch of people had to come in and stop it so Apollo could get away. We know how this works.
This was a great brawl and gave Big E such intensity and seriousness we don’t see too often. I’m not sure why he chose to speak in the cadence he did during the promo. It felt a bit off, but it could just be because he’s so used to talking in a preacher-like tone? It didn’t hurt the segment for me. I’m ready for this one.
Friends again
Seth Rollins recapped (that’s my job!) his first night back, and said that he respected his fellow Superstars’ decision to be idiots and leave. But Cesaro stayed out there to disrespect him even more than they did.
If you want to hear him drone on, feel free to click that video above. Sheesh. Suit looked pretty cool, though.
But Shinsuke Nakamura came out and attacked Rollins in Cesaro’s honor!
Shinsuke saved us all. That was Rollins’ worst promo since coming back. I why are WWE making us hear his grating voice every week? My ears!
Very interesting to see Shinsuke back on Cesaro’s side. There was a quick thing last week but you never know if it will really amount to anything. Shin and Cesaro as a babyface tag team going forward is something I’d really be interested in.
The Rest
King Corbin defeated Sami Zayn
Kevin Owens went up to Sami Zayn and asked if he’s trying to twist a story to fit his narrative. Maybe he should blame himself. Zayn said he knows how the company feels about him and KO and he should come to see his match later. Owens agreed and sat at commentary for the match.
There was a quite funny video package to... uh... “hype” this match. Definitely a bit sus. Zayn poked Corbin in the eye and tried to pin using the rope, but the referee caught it. (Kevin Dunn didn’t on the first try!) The referee then had to stop Zayn from untying the turnbuckle pad and Corbin gave him the End of Days.
Owens told Zayn he didn’t see anything wrong and Zayn Helluva kicked him! I am very interested in seeing this new face/heel dynamic. They’ve wrestled each other a lot, but never with Sami as the heel and Kevin as the face. Cool, cool, cool, cool. No doubt this will be a fun one.
The Mysterios defeated The Street Profits
This match absolutely ruled, even though it was so short. I didn’t expect such great chemistry between these two teams. Ford took Dom down and both men flipped around. Rey tagged in and the Profits isolated him ijn their corner. Ford knocked Dom’s head off with a vicious clothesline. But Rey knocked Ford out and Dom reversed off of Dawkins’ shoulders to win the match. That was an unexpected and really cool finish. But then the Alpha Academy came out and things broke down between the two teams. Another match!
Alpha Academy defeated The Mysterios
Good ol’ 50/50 booking here. Rey did the senton and 619’d Gable, the referee got distracted with Dom and Otis knocked Rey off the top turnbuckle. Otis slammed Rey down with force. Dom did his tornado DDT and Otis broke the pin. Gable grabbed Dom in the 619 position and held Dom down as Otis leaped from the second rope onto him and pinned him. My goodness that looked brutal. Looks like we have four teams who wants a title shot. Sounds like a WrestleMania match to me!
Grade: B+
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?