SmackDown Live comes to us tonight from Uncasville, CT!
Kofi Get’s One More Chance
The New Day kicked off SmackDown Live tonight. The trio thanked the fans for being with them from ‘New Day sucks’ to ‘New Day rocks’. They’ve always been there to support them unlike some in WWE management.
Big E announces that all 3 are considering walking away from WWE. They asked for Vince McMahon to come to the ring to give New Day answers.
McMahon comes to the ring and gets cut off right away by Daniel Bryan. Bryan called New Day stale and told Kofi he’s a B+ player. He also lists off all of the reoccuring loses Kofi has had recently. Bryan agrees with McMahon, he doesn’t deserve a title opportunity.
Xavier says that Bryan is a hypocrite and that he’s standing up for everything he use to fight against.
McMahon had enough and wanted to talk about them quitting. He mocks Kofi and told him that he doesn’t have the courage to quit. He knows Kofi is a B+ player and he wants to know if Big E & Xavier are a B+ tag team.
Big E & Xavier have to go through a tag team gauntlet match later in the night. If they win, Kofi’s going to Wrestlemania.
Great segment to start off the show! Kofi has the spotlight right now but this is a great opportunity to showcase that Big E & Xavier Woods are still top guys too!
Charlotte Is the New SmackDown Woman’s Champion
Becky Lynch is backstage to do an interview. She called Charlotte Flair the third wheel of the Wrestlemania main event.
Charlotte interrupted Becky Lynch’s backstage promo by going to the ring. She said that she’ll show Becky who the ‘third wheel’ is.
Out comes the SmackDown Woman’s champion, Asuka. Ring announcer, Greg Hamilton annouces this as a SmackDown Woman’s championship match.
The pair had a solid match going back and forth the whole time. There were some big high spots, including a Spanish Fly off the top rope at one point. The finish came when Charlotte locked in the figure-8 leg lock and Asuka tapped.
Charlotte Flair will be the SmackDown Woman’s champion going into the main event of Wrestlemania. She is now an 8 time champion, most ever by a woman in WWE history!
I’m all for making Charlotte look strong and having her as a champion going into a match she has no chance to win, makes her look better going forward after Wrestlemania.
I don’t agree with making Asuka look this bad. She tapped out Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble and since then, she’s been irrelevant and probably won’t make the Wrestlemania card. It’s a shame. Good match though.
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
The Kurt Angle farewell tour continues tonight against AJ Styles!
Just like last night with Joe, these two had put on classic matches over the years in TNA. This is another one of those match ups that five years ago, wasn’t possible in WWE.
The two traded signature moves early. Before the match really got going, Randy Orton came from out of nowhere to hit an RKO on Styles. Angle retaliated by giving Orton an Angle slam.
The minute and a half that these two got to work were phenomenal (pun intended). I wish we could have got to see these two work for a little longer but Randy had to get involved there.
Tag Team Gauntlet Match
Big E & Xavier Woods are in the ring, ready for their gauntlet match. Their first opponents, the Good Brothers, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. They finished them with ease and now on to the next.
The next, being Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura. This match went longer and the pair gave New Day some trouble. Despite the trouble, Xavier was able to pin Nakamura for the win.
The Bar is up next. New Day are getting tired at this point. Sheamus & Cesaro wore Big E out early but came back to tag Woods who was on fire, taking out both members of The Bar. Both men, tired and beaten came back to defeat The Bar with a roll up. The Bar threw Big E through a table after the bout, stacking the odds even more.
The Usos are out now and they have microphones. They said that no one deserves a chance more than Kofi and he’s earned respect from everyone. The Usos decide to forfeit the match. Daniel Bryan threw a fit backstage.
Bryan and Rowan come out to be their final opponent. They beat down New Day before the bell rang. Woods gets a flurry of offense during the match and Big E caught fire as well. After a good near fall, Rowan takes over. Big E pushed the commentary table over and trapped him underneath. Rowan didn’t make the referee’s 10 count and that’s it!
New Day win the gauntlet and Kofi Kingston is going to Wrestlemania! Vince McMahon confirmed this in a backstage interview after the match. Many WWE superstars came to surround the ring to celebrate with New Day as the show ends.
Overall
This was a great episode of SmackDown Live! Good story progression throughout as well as great wrestling! The only problem I have with the show is how Charlotte won the Woman’s title out of nowhere although it makes the Wrestlemania main event more interesting.
One more week to build to the show of shows. All eyes are on next week’s episode of Raw and SmackDown Live next week as WWE wraps everything up before Wrestlemania!
