Smackdown - 5/7/19

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Here's to more attempted murder and peach cobbler-scented letters.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

This match would be much better if there was an actual story.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

WWE doesn't care about Reigns being booed, but they edit out Reigns getting boos. Makes sense.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Yes. Editing out his boos when youâ??re trying to tell an inspirational story makes perfect sense.

Itâ??s not like him having leukemia was a storyline. Dude literally fought something, multiple times, that can kill you if itâ??s bad enough.

But hey, make this about WWE.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Yes. Editing out his boos when you’re trying to tell an inspirational story makes perfect sense.

It’s not like him having leukemia was a storyline. Dude literally fought something, multiple times, that can kill you if it’s bad enough.

But hey, make this about WWE.

You shouldn't have to do that for the most pushed wrestler of all time.

WWE is using Reigns' leukemia to get him cheered. That was the whole point of the video package. What else is the point? Do we really need a 3 minute reminder of who Reigns is?

[Fire Marshall Bill]

You shouldn't have to do that for the most pushed wrestler of all time.

And all credibility is lost.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I'll admit that was hyperbolic. Reigns is the most pushed wrestler in recent memory, but all time there's other names who are more pushed.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I wouldn't mind Daniel Bryan and Rowan winning the tag belts.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

They might as well put Matt and Truth together.

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought SmackDown Live was a pretty good s how tonight. The show is infinitely easier to sit through than Raw and there just almost always seems to be a much looser, energetic atmosphere.

They had a solid opening segment setting up an interesting main event, they provided good overall hype for MITB, Shane was out there a little much for my tastes but at least he has reasons for being out there.

Wrestling action overall was pretty good. I figure Ali vs. Andrade was 2.75 to maybe 3 stars, I didn't mind the interference as neither guy really needs to lose right now, but I would've had at least one of them come out leaving the other and Orton laying rather than Orton coming out on tope. We've just seen it so often and it would've left fans with a positive impression of someone like Orton being laid out by one of these fresh faces.

The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan was a fun, 3.5 star match that, a few times, had me thinking the Usos might actually win the SD Tag Team Championship despite being on Raw. I was glad to see Rowan getting in the thick of things and was pulling his weight rather than it simply being all about Bryan, as it was during Bryan's run as WWE Champion, and I though tit was fitting that Rowan pick up the win for the team. I'm perfectly fine with Bryan as one half of the blue brand's tag team champs, it's preferable to Shane sticking the titles on himself and Elias, which I thought was a possibility, and Bryan is someone that's shown he can do well in any spot on the roster whether it's in the tag team, mid-card or main event picture.

The triple threat main event with Kofi Kingston defending the WWE Championship against AJ Styles and Sami Zayn was another enteraining, 3.25 to maybe 3.5 star bout. After Sami Zayn hit the third Blue Thumderbomb on Kofi and knowing that AJ wasn't anywhere around to break up the count, I thought Kofi might lose and I think fans were thinking it as well, given their reaction to Kofi king out of the move three times in a row. It's a shame Zayn had to lose here but Kofi is defending his title against Kevin Owens and Styles is facing Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship, so Zayn had to be the one. To be perfectly honest, I'm at a point where I wish they'd just put Zayn on 205 Live. Zayn has lots of personality, can go in the ring and probably has a better chance of bein gused well there than on Raw or SmackDown.

Overall, I give tonight's show a B-, maybe a B. I thought it was a solid, all around show that was easy to sit through, fun to watch, had good action overall, some interesting developments in the tag team scene, solid hype for MITB and just a general purpose for everything on the show.