SmackDown Live comes to us tonight from inside the Schottenstein Center in Colombus, Ohio!
Kofi Kingston Addresses Kevin Owens
Kofi Kingston and Michael Cole kicked off SmackDown this week by going through Kofi’s journey to WrestleMania where he ultimately won the WWE championship. He talked about fighting through the lows to get to the impossible.
Cole called the match where Kofi won the title and told him that it might be the greatest moment ever at WrestleMania. They replayed the moment and Kofi said he’s still emotional about it all. However, now that he’s champ, Kofi’s got a target on his back.
Kevin Owens capitalized on Kofi last week, turning his back on New Day and beating him down last week. Kofi said that some people say that he should’ve seen this coming. In New Day, they believe in second chances. It didn’t work out that way.
Kofi challenged KO to a championship at MITB. This brought KO out and he accepted the challenge.
KO said that moments are just that, moments; they end. Kofi’s moment is over and now everyone sees that he’s not championship material.
Xavier Woods jumped KO from behind until KO recovered and laid him out. Kofi helped Woods up and KO left the arena.
Kofi cut a great promo here. He showed that he’s not just all rainbows and unicorns and that’s what we need out of him as WWE champion.
The MITB match between these two was inevitable and this was a solid way to get it booked.
Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
These two four horsewoman squared off one on one and once again, Bayley came out on the short end of the stick. Lynch won the match via dis arm her.
Charlotte Flair laid Lynch and Bayley as soon as the match ended and left standing tall.
Bayley was announced for the woman’s MITB match earlier in the night. She seems to be a favorite to win the bout. That seems to be the best way to turn around the awful reactions and bad pushes she’s been dealt lately.
Flair looks to regain her thrown atop SmackDown Live. Lynch seems to be struggling with working Raw and SmackDown these past few weeks and it’ll be interesting to see if she can keep it up heading into MITB.
The Hardyz Relinquish the SmackDown Live Tag Team Titles
The Hardy Boyz came out to announce the future of the SmackDown tag titles. Lars Sullivan injured Jeff after they won the belts and now he needs surgery.
Matt announced that they will have to relinquish the championships. This brought Sullivan out to the ring.
He laid out Matt with ease and R Truth came out of nowhere with a steel chair but was still no match. He destroyed Truth, looking like an absolute monster in the process.
Smackdown Live Men’s & Woman’sMITB Competitors Announced
The Men’s MITB competitors were announced tonight on the SmackDown side of things.
Ali, Finn Balor, Andrade, and Randy Orton will all be in the match. These four join Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, and Ricochet.
The Woman’s MITB competitors were announced later in the night. Bayley, Carmella, Ember Moon, and Mandy Rose will be joining Natalya, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, and Dana Brooke in their match.
Roman Reigns
Reigns wanted to make a big first impression on SmackDown Live and there is no bigger way to do so than to knock Vince out. He said that this is his yard now.
The Big Dog came out at the top of second hour of SmackDown Live tonight to address why he hit Vince McMahon with a super man punch.
Shane McMahon came to the ramp. He’s here to remind Reigns that while this might be his yard but the McMahon family owns the land.
McMahon brought out the B Team and booked a handicap match and Elias will be the special guest enforcer.
Reigns held his own in this handicap match for the most part. Reigns was about to pick up the victory until Elias took out the ref. He overcame the numbers and was able to take out Elias and spear Curtis Axel for the win.
Just because Reigns is back and everyone is happy about it doesn’t mean this story will work. Reigns vs. the Authority didn’t work five years ago and it won’t work now. He doesn’t need to be booked like he was before or the fans will turn on him regardless of the situation.
The Kevin Owens Show ft. Xavier Woods
Owens is out for tonight’s main event segment. He wants to help Xavier Woods. He said he will take the burden that is Kofi Kingston away from Woods when he defeats Kofi at MITB.
Woods wouldn’t come out so KO brought out a Xavier Woods action figure. He also brought out a Big E figure with a taped leg. He called them useless pieces of trash and threw them away.
Kofi ran to the ring and the pair went at it. Kofi got the upper hand and beat down KO on the outside. He threw KO over the announce table and threw chairs at him.
KO raked Kofi’s eyes and he took off through the crowd before Kofi could get back up. The show ended with Kofi standing tall in the ring.
Kofi & KO are one of the hottest feuds in the company and tonight lit that fire even more!
Overall, this was a good episode of SmackDown Live. The MITB matches were finalized and the WWE title feud is heating up.
Here’s to a great week of wrestling!
