SmackDown Live LD, April 16th 2019 - Shake Your Booty
So far, not too bad*. Monday Nights got a pretty good deal this year, strengthening the main event with the arrival of AJ Styles who came out like a ball of fire, scoring the pinfall win in the big six man tag main event that capped off Raw's broadcast. The Miz is back on the same brand as the Intercontinental Championship, where he's close to the records for reigns and accumulative time with the title. He does seem to still have unfinished business with Shane McMahon before pursuing those accolades. Elsewhere, the red portion of the tag team division was strengthened with the arrival of The Usos (and by virtue of being married to one of them, Naomi) while Ricochet & Aleister Black remain a tandem, both signing exclusively for RAW. Lars Sullivan, Lacey Evans and EC3 are all also up from NXT and permanently on Monday's, while Cedric Alexander will transition from 205 Live soon. Andrade (with Zelina Vega of course) and Rey Mysterio seem to be the new Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, perpetually locked together after a prolonged and exciting feud as both men move across from the blue brand. Oh, and Eric Young moved onto RAW too. So no more SAnitY. Soz.
Tonight its SmackDown's chance to shine. Vince McMahon is advertised to make an announcement dubbed "the biggest acquisition in SmackDown history". Maybe he really did buy that pissant company? More likely is a major shift from a star the caliber of Ronda Rousey or Brock Lesnar - something that would make sense given the shift in tone the show will likely be experiencing in the wake of the move to Fox this autumn. Other names to keep an eye out for are Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre as both men made appearances on last week's SmackDown Live, Nikki Cross and Heavy Machinery (the remaining NXT call-ups that stuck and weren't signed by RAW) and Buddy Murphy who seems to have wrapped up his business with his fellow Cruiserweights. No doubt there will be more, and maybe even a few surprises along the way!
Also, Kofi Kingston continues his reign as the man atop the throne in WWE - someone is likely coming at him, but as they say, when you come for the king, you best not miss.
*Minus The Viking Experience. Fuck that noise.
