SmackDown on Fox Episode #74
SmackDown Episode # 1,123
Orlando, FL – The Thunderdome (Tropicana Field)
2/26/21
It’s Friday Night, you know what that means. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
The show opens with us immediately going into the ThunderDome where the “Tribal Chief” and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns comes to the ring alongside Paul Heyman and Jey Uso. As Reigns comes down to the ring we get a recap of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber and Universal Championship match.
Reigns starts out talking about how the Elimination Chamber show needed him and that is why he stepped up and saved the show just like he does over and over again. Reigns says that even though he saved the show it wasn’t perfect and that was because of the actions of Edge. Reigns says he is going to give Edge one opportunity to walk away as he doesn’t want to hurt Edge seeing as he is a father and a husband. Reigns says he respects everything that Edge has done in his career, but he doesn’t stand a chance again him.
Daniel Bryan makes his way out to the ring as he wants to give his opinion on what happened at Elimination Chamber, and says that he thought it was very generous of Reigns to put his title on the line against someone who had just battled through a grueling chamber match, however, there are some who think that him coming out right after the chamber to defend his title was an act of cowardice and not becoming of a champion. Bryan reiterates that this is not his opinion but rather it is the rumor he has been hearing from other people. Bryan says what shocked him the most was the fact that Reigns defended the title in the second match of the night when clearly a man of Reigns’ caliber should be defending his championship in the main event.
Bryan says that he has seen just how talented Reigns is from the very beginning and he knows that Reigns wants to create a legacy, and then he proposes a way for Reigns to prove the doubters wrong and make everything right and that is by defending the title against him one more time just the two of them with at Fastlane.
Jey Uso steps up to Bryan and is heated about Bryan making excuses and tells him he better watch out or he is going to get got and if Bryan wants to get to Reigns he should go through him first. Bryan ignores Uso and faces off with Reigns who asks Bryan if he really wants to get hurt again but before Bryan can answer he is blindsided by Uso. Uso throws Bryan to the outside and then sends him over the barricade. Reigns and his entourage leave the ring as the segment comes to an end.
This was a fine opening segment and I liked how Bryan tried to use Reigns’ own high opinion of himself to try and goad him into a title match. The only part of the promo I didn’t care for was when Jey Uso stepped up to Bryan as I felt like he was way more heated than the moment called for as he was at a 10 when the moment called for him to be at a 5 or a 6.
We cut to the back where Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville are talking when Edge walks up and says he needs to talk with them and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Jey Uso apologizing for jumping the gun when he attacked Edge, but Reigns tells him he has nothing to apologize for if he is able to get the job done.
We go back to Edge talking with management and he asks Pearce what is going on as he thought the match for Fastlane was Daniel Bryan and himself going against Reigns and Uso. Pearce tells him that match was tentative and that he couldn’t pass up this match since it just fell into his lap. Pearce says that it’s no disrespect to Edge, but if Bryan beats Uso and faces Reigns for the Universal Championship then that match is a bigger attraction than just a tag match. Edge walks off displeased with what he was told.
We go back into the ThunderDome where we get the entrances for the first match of the night.
Match #1: Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs Alpha Academy
Rey slides between the legs of Otis and trips him up but Otis gets back to his feet and knocks Rey down with a body attack and then hits him with a running elbow drop. Otis picks up Rey and throws him across the ring and then he drives his shoulder into the midsection of Rey before hitting him with clubbing blows, Gable has to come over and calm Otis down so he doesn’t get disqualified. Otis drags Rey over and tags in Gable who hits Rey with a big gutbuster and then tries for a fireman’s carry but Rey lands on his feet and slides under the legs of Gable trying to make a tag, but Gable grabs the leg only for Rey to hit him with an enziguri and that allows him to make the hot tag to Dominik.
Dominik comes in with clotheslines and back elbows and sends him into the corner with the bodyscissors and then he comes off the middle rope with a tornado DDT for a 2 count. Dominik tags in Rey and then lifts up Gable so that his dad can come off the top with a springboard seated senton. Rey knocks Otis off the apron as Dominik catapults Gable into the middle ropes where both Mysterios hit Gable with a double 619. Rey goes up top and hits a frog splash which gets a 2 count when Otis breaks up the pin. Otis takes Dominik down with an ax handle blow as Dominik enters the ring and then Otis gets back on the apron so that Gable can tag him in. Otis catches Rey off a springboard attempt and hits him with the front slam and then he goes up to the middle rope where he hits Rey with the big splash to end the match.
Winners: Rey & Dominik Mysterio via Pinfall Match Rating: **
Alpha Academy has really started to grow on me both in the ring and from a character standpoint as Gable’s way of training has completely changed Otis as he is way more aggressive than he has ever been. Rey and Dominik are the perfect opponents for Otis in this new heel role as they can bump all over the place for him.
Commentary tells us that the main event for tonight will be Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets a Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at Fastlane.
We see a recap of Apollo Crews attacking Big E last week which caused Big E to be stretchered out and then we see Crews standing in the Gorilla position getting pumped up as he will be in action after the break.
We come back and Apollo Crews makes his way down to the ring and grabs a mic for a promo.
Crews says that people have been asking him what has happened to him as he is not the same Apollo Crews they have come to know, but to be honest nobody has a clue who the real Apollo Crews is. Crews says that for far too long he has been nothing but the happy and smiley guy who is all nice and humble, but that facade hasn’t gotten him anywhere and nobody respects him for being that guy and that is just unacceptable given who his ancestors are. Crews says the real Apollo Crews isn’t from the hood or suburbia he is from Nigeria which means that he is a real African American.
Crews continues on saying that his ancestors are Nigerian royalty and his great grandfather ruled the Tiv nation which means that he controlled the richest lands in Nigeria, Crews says that his grandfather had five wives and his word was law and his power was feared. Crews says that is who he really is and who he represents. Crews holds the scarf he is wearing and says that the green and white colors of the Nigerian flag mean wealth, power, and dominance. Crews says that Big E told him to go back to catering but instead he went back to his roots and he then closes the promo by quoting his grandfather “show your opponent steel and he’ll never disrespect you again”.
Shinsuke Nakamura makes his way out to the ring and Crews attacks him from behind and then sends him to the outside where he looks to hit Nakamura with the steps just as he did Big E last week, but the referee gets between them and Crews drops the steps and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to the match already in progress.
Match #2: Apollo Crews vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Crews pulls Nakamura out of the corner and hits him with a short-arm clothesline and then he sends Nakamura hard into the corner. Crews hits Nakamura with a nice crisp suplex for a 1 count and then he locks in a reverse chinlock but Nakamura eventually fights his way out of it only to be hit with a release German suplex by Crews, but Nakamura quickly recovers and hits Crews with a single leg dropkick out of desperation. Crews gets to his feet first and looks to pick up Nakamura, but he breaks free and hits Crews with a flurry of forearms and then pelts him with a series of kicks. Crews reverses a whip into the corner, but when he charges in Nakamura moves out of the way and then he drapes Crews across the top rope and hits him with an ax kick to the back of the head, and then he follows that up with a sliding knee strike which gets him a 2 count.
Nakamura looks to pick up Crews but he grabs the hair and hits Nakamura with an elbow to get back in control and then he hits him with the rolling German suplexes for a 2 count. Nakamura counters an attempted whip into the ropes and hits him with a spinning heel kick which causes Crews to stagger back into the corner, Nakamura charges in, and Crews attempts to get his boots up but Nakamura catches the legs and spins Crews around so that he can hit him with the sliding German suplex. Nakamura goes for a cover but the referee won’t count as Crews is too close to the ropes. Nakamura goes over to set up for the Kinshasa, but Crews rolls out of the ring for a breather. Nakamura goes out to follow up on his attack only to be caught by Crews and sent into the steps.
Crews throws Nakamura back into the ring and goes for a press slam, but Nakamura escapes out the back and locks in a sleeper hold, but Crews walks over to the corner and grabs the Nigerian scarf and uses it to pull Nakamura face-first into the top turnbuckle. Crews hits Nakamura with an enziguri and an Olympic Slam which is enough to keep Nakamura down for the 3 count.
Winner: Apollo Crews via Pinfall Match Rating: **¼
This was a fun match and it was so nice to actually care about an Apollo Crews match. I really liked the promo before the match that Crews cut as we got to know more about him in that 5-minute promo than we have in his six years of being in the WWE. I know that WWE likes to give everyone a nickname and wonder if after that promo his nickname becomes “The Real African-American”. I don’t like Crews using the Olympic Slam as a finisher and I didn’t really care for it when Angle used to use it either, I never found the move to be impactful or spectacular enough to be considered a finisher and given Crews’ power and athletic ability I’m sure they can come up with something way more fitting or they could just go back to using the spin-out powerbomb which I liked. I really hope this is a serious sustained push for Crews and not just something they do for a couple of weeks and then give up on for no reason.
We go to the back where Heyman walks up to Reigns and tells him about the main event for the show and Reigns asks if that means the tag match is off and Heyman stresses that Bryan only gets a title shot “if” he wins tonight against Jey Uso.
We then go to a commercial break.
We come back and go to our next match of the night as both participants are already in the ring.
Match #3: Liv Morgan w/ Ruby Riott vs Tamina w/ Natalya
We get a lockup and Tamina powers Liv into the corner and goes for a clothesline but Liv rolls under and then tries to catch Tamina in a schoolgirl, but Tamina doesn’t budge and she knocks away the hands of Liv. Tamina then goes for a big right hand only for Liv to duck it with a matrix backbend which Tamina breaks when she kicks Liv’s leg out from under her. Tamina goes to lift Liv by her hair, but Liv kicks Tamina in the head repeatedly and then comes back with some forearms before she hits Tamina with a running hurricanrana which sends Tamina into the corner, Liv walks toward her and is hit with a big kick from Tamina. Tamina works Liv over in the corner for a moment before hitting her with a biel across the ring which sends Liv crawling into the corner where Tamina hits her with a running hip attack which gets a 2 count.
Liv desperately tries to make a comeback but is taken down with a back elbow and then Tamina hits her with a suplex for a 2 count. Tamina goes to pick up Liv, but when she tries to fight back Tamina slams her face-first into the mat. Tamina sends Liv into the ropes and looks to hit a hip toss, but Liv blocks it and tries for a backslide but Tamina is way too strong and flips Liv over her head only to be caught with an enziguri by Liv.
Tamina is staggered for a moment but then she tries for an avalanche in the corner, but Liv dodges her and hits Tamina with a dropkick sending her back into the corner. Liv hits Tamina with repeated strikes but Tamina is barely affected as she grabs Liv and throws her into the corner but ends up eating a boot when she charges at Liv and then Liv hits her with a dropkick off the middle rope, but that only gets her a 1 count.
Natalya screams at Tamina to finish off Liv and Tamina does just that as she moves out of the way when Liv comes charging at her and then hits her with a Samoan drop, Tamina lifts up Liv and hits her with a swinging sidewalk slam to pick up the win.
Winner: Tamina via Pinfall Match Rating: *½
WTF!!! Why in the hell is Tamina picking up another win against the Riott Squad and this time was even worse as Liv lost clean as a sheet seeing as there was no Billie Kay at ringside to provide a distraction. What has the Riott Squad done to deserve this kind of treatment as not only are they losing to Tamina, but for the past two weeks they can’t even get a damn entrance. The fact that they are giving a heel team wins makes no sense either seeing as the champions are heels and they need strong babyface teams to go against which would’ve seemed like a perfect spot for Riott Squad, but after the past two weeks, they are no longer strong as they are being portrayed as a couple of jobbers who can have good matches to put over Tamina who has the same level of talent as a turd. There are absolutely zero logical reasons as to why Tamina should picking up wins against much younger and much more talented women like the Riott Squad in 2021. I want to point out that the *½ rating that I gave this match had nothing to do with anything Liv did as this was all on Tamina and the booking of the match, and it probably wouldn’t have gotten the extra ½ a star had Liv not been as good as she was in the match.
We see Bianca Belair walking backstage headed for the ThunderDome and we cut to a commercial.
We come back to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville in the ring and they introduce Bianca Belair who will be making her decision as to who she will be challenging at WrestleMania.
Bianca comes down to the ring and when Pearce tells her it has been almost a month since she won the Royal Rumble she corrects him and tells him how long it has been down to the minute. Sonya asks Bianca who she is going to challenge and this leads to video packages for both Asuka and Sasha. Bianca talks about how her mother gave her advice on how life is all about choices and a bad choice can haunt you forever and the choices you make define who you are as a person. Bianca says her choice is clear… before she can finish her sentence she is interrupted by Reginald.
Reginald says that Bianca’s mom was right and says this choice will define her legacy. Reginald then talks about how everyone is proud of Bianca and how her journey has been inspiring and we enjoy watching her live her dream, but then says that if Bianca chooses Sasha that dream will become a nightmare. Reginald says that after the match at WrestleMania when she is laying on the mat defeated she will hear her mother’s words ringing in her ears and she will be nothing but a loser.
Sasha Banks then makes her entrance and walks up to Reginald and starts flirting with him but then reminds him that she doesn’t need him to speak for her and then she facepalms him out of the way so she can stand eye to eye with Bianca. Sasha tells Bianca that she is the standard and if she wants to truly be the EST then Bianca better pick her to challenge because as long as she has that belt she will be #1 and thus Bianca will be the second-best. Sasha raises her title into the air, but Bianca isn’t having that as she tells Sasha uh-uh.
Bianca says that Sasha has a lot to say, but she is going to make Sasha eat her words because at WrestleMania she is challenging Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship and at WrestleMania, she will show everyone why she is the EST of the WWE. Bianca points at the WrestleMania sign and we get some pyro to close the segment.
We finally have our second Royal Rumble winner declaring who she will face at WrestleMania as if there was any surprise seeing as she has barely had any interaction with Asuka over the past month. Now that this match is official I think it’s time to move away from Reginald as these two women are good enough to build this main event match on their own, and they don’t need any 3rd parties taking the focus of the story off of them and furthermore, Sasha vs Bianca sells itself and we don’t need any kind of silly storyline involving Reginald.
We go to the back where Corbin is getting ready for his tag match later when Sami Zayn’s documentary crew walks up and starts bothering him which annoys Corbin. Zayn asks Corbin what he thinks of the conspiracy against him, but instead, Corbin answers that question with his own question of why he and Zayn are tagging together tonight. Zayn says that he was the one that had the match made and even though they don’t get along they had great chemistry when they tagged a few weeks ago in order to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. Zayn tries to sell Corbin on them being a team and even starts coming up with team names, Corbin says they have the talent to become tag champions but he wants Zayn to be professional and stop recording him.
The Street Profits make their way to the ring for the next match and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back and go straight to the next match of the night.
Match #4: The Street Profits vs Sami Zayn & King Corbin
Ford and Zayn lockup and Ford back Zayn into the corner but is forced to back up by the referee. Zayn signals for a knuckle lock, but lands a kick to the gut of Ford and then dazes him with a forearm and a chop before sending Ford into the corner, but Ford jumps up and over Zayn and then backflips back into the center of the ring where he catches Zayn with an arm drag and locks in an armbar. We see that the SmackDown Tag Team Champions are watching from backstage as Dawkins tags himself into the match only for Zayn to escape the grasp of Ford and make a tag to Corbin.
Dawkins and Corbin lockup and Dawkins grabs a side headlock and is then shot into the ropes where he hits Corbin with a shoulder block which causes Corbin to back into the ropes and he comes back with a shoulder block of his own that takes down Dawkins. We get a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Dawkins connecting with a dropkick which causes Corbin to stumble into the ropes and Dawkins grabs control of the arm where he works it over until Corbin escapes with a knee to the gut and while this happens Zayn is screaming at his documentary crew. Corbin sends Dawkins into the corner and looks to go for the slide-out and slide-in spot, but is unable to slide back in due to Zayn’s documentary crew being in the way. Corbin screams at them and then gets on the apron where he is met with a right hand by Dawkins and then Ford leaps off the back of Dawkins to hit Corbin with a dropkick which knocks him off the apron and sends him into the barricade and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Corbin hammering Ford with overhead elbows and then he tags in Zayn who chokes Ford across the middle rope before tagging Corbin right back into the match. Corbin sends Ford into the corner and charges in but is met with a boot to the face and then is dropped with an enziguri but he falls back into his corner which allows him to make a tag to Zayn. Zayn tries to prevent Ford from making the hot tag as he grabs his foot, but Ford breaks free and makes that hot tag to Dawkins. Dawkins hits Zayn with clotheslines and a spinning back elbow and then hits him with a spinning splash in the corner followed by a one-handed bulldog which gets a 2 count. Corbin runs in but Dawkins hits him with a dropkick and then throws him right back out to the floor, but the distraction allows Zayn to hit Dawkins with a DDT which gets him a 2 count.
Corbin starts screaming at the documentary crew once again as they are filming him when he has already told them he doesn’t want to be filmed and this leads to Zayn being distracted as he starts screaming at Corbin, while this is happening Ford dives over Zayn and takes Corbin out with a tope con hilo. In the ring, Dawkins hits Zayn with the spinning butterfly neckbreaker and then makes the tag to Ford who hits Zayn with a springboard version of the Frog Splash which is enough to keep Zayn down for the 3 count.
Winners: The Street Profits via Pinfall Match Rating: **
This was a fine match although I could do without Corbin distracting his own teammate by screaming at the documentary crew as that just made both Zayn and Corbin look like a couple of idiots, but other than that this was a completely passable TV match.
We go to the back where Bryan is interviewed and asked what the chances are of him being the one to face Edge at WrestleMania as the champion. Bryan says that is a long way away seeing as he still has to go through Jey Uso and Roman Reigns in order to get to that point, but he will say that he thinks his chances of being Reigns are greater than Edge’s chances. Bryan says he has a lot of respect for Edge and the journey he took to get where he is at today, but Edge has taken a lot of time off and is rusty and he just doesn’t think Edge has what it takes to beat Reigns.
Edge walks up and says he heard everything Bryan said and then posed the question of who wins if it’s Edge vs Bryan at WrestleMania. Bryan smiles and then tells Edge he will keep that to himself but none of this can happen if he doesn’t beat Uso tonight and then Bryan walks off.
I really enjoyed this interaction between Edge and Bryan and now I want to see Edge vs Bryan down the road.
Seth Rollins makes his way out to the ring and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Rollins in the ring.
Rollins says that the complaint that he sent to WWE management got a huge response on social media, but before he can say anything more he is interrupted by Cesaro. Cesaro storms to the ring as Rollins pleads with him to hear him out and let him make this right as he says what happened a couple of weeks ago was an accident. Rollins then talks up Cesaro as he calls him a star and the strongest person to ever step into a WWE ring and one of the most technically gifted performers in WWE history. Rollins then asks Cesaro why he always seems to come up short and says it’s because Cesaro lacks killer instinct, but he has that killer instinct and he wants to give it to Cesaro. Rollins starts getting fired up as he tells Cesaro that he has grabbed that brass ring and shattered the glass ceiling and has accomplished all of the things in WWE that Cesaro can only dream of.
Rollins says he and Cesaro would be unstoppable together and then Rollins says that had Cesaro listened to him a few weeks ago instead of turning his back and walking out he would’ve won the Elimination Chamber match and then he would’ve beat Roman Reigns to become the Universal Champion, but instead Cesaro turned his back on him. Rollins tells Cesaro that it is never too late for a second chance and all Cesaro has to do is embrace the vision, Rollins tells him he doesn’t have to answer right now as he will give him a week or two to think it over.
Cesaro doesn’t need a week to think it over as he takes Rollins down with a double leg and then puts him in the big swing and just when it looks like he is going to stop spinning him he starts right back up. Cesaro stops the swing and Rollins gets to his feet and is super dizzy, so Cesaro knocks him right back down to the mat with an uppercut to close out the segment.
I am so glad to see Cesaro finally getting a singles program with one of WWE’s top stars and hopefully this is the feud that will make those in charge see that he is worth being one of the top stars in the company and a future world champion. I really hope they hold out the Cesaro vs Rollins match until WrestleMania as that match could steal the show. That big swing that Cesaro did had to be one of the best he has ever done and Rollins did just as great selling for it.
Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring as Cesaro walks up the ramp as the main event is up next after the commercial break.
We come back and it’s time for the main event.
Match #5: Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso
Bryan goes right toward Uso but gets beat back into the corner with overhead punches and then Uso locks in a side headlock which leads to Bryan shooting him off into the ropes and Uso taking him down with a shoulder block. We get a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Bryan hitting Uso with a hip toss and then Bryan targets the arm as he hits Uso with an over the shoulder arm breaker and then he connects with uppercuts and kicks to Uso in the corner. Bryan wrenches on the arm and then headbutts Uso in the gut, we then get the signature Bryan spot of him backflipping off the top and hitting Uso with a flying clothesline.
Bryan is in full control as he hits Uso with a running dropkick in the corner which is followed by a couple of kicks in the corner. Bryan sits Uso up on the top and hits him with the super hurricanrana which is only enough to get him a 2 count. Bryan goes back to work on the arm of Uso as he bends it back and steps on the bicep and then goes to grab the arm again, but this time Uso pulls away and rolls out of the ring. Bryan looks to hit Uso with the tope suicida but gets stopped in his tracks as Uso hits him with a superkick from the floor. Uso picks up Bryan (who had rolled out of the ring) and hits him with a shin breaker onto the announce table and then he rams Bryan’s leg into the ring post and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Uso still working over the leg of Bryan, but when he reaches down to grab Bryan he is almost caught in the Yes Lock, but Uso blocks that from happening by repeatedly hitting Bryan in the knee. Bryan gets back to his feet with the help of the ropes and rocks Uso with a couple of uppercuts, but when he runs off the ropes he is caught with a Samoan drop which gets a 2 count. Uso goes up top and looks to hit the splash, but Bryan is able to roll out of the way sending Uso crashing down to the mat. Bryan pulls his knee pad down and hits Uso with kicks to the chest and then he sends him into the ropes but ducks his head too early which allows Uso to hit him with a big right hand. Uso charges at Bryan only to be backdropped to the outside and then Bryan takes Uso down with a dropkick through the ropes and then Bryan dives off the apron with a flying knee.
Bryan throws Uso back into the ring and then goes up top where he attempts a missile dropkick, but Uso moves out of the way, and when Bryan lands his knee gives out on him which allows Uso to throw Bryan head-first into the middle turnbuckle. Uso jumps up and stomps on the back of Bryan’s leg and then he locks in a single leg crab, Bryan gets close to grabbing the ropes but Uso pulls him back into the center of the ring, however, when he does this it gives Bryan a chance to slip between Uso’s legs where he repeatedly kicks him in the head but this gets Bryan nowhere as Uso puts him back in the half crab. Bryan rolls through once again and kicks Uso in the head some more and this gets Uso to break the hold, Bryan gets to his feet and then he hits Uso with a roundhouse kick to the head which gets a 2 count.
Bryan crawls over to the corner and calls for the Busaiku Knee, but when he charges in Uso hits him with a chop block from the front to the injured knee and then Uso hits Bryan with a basement superkick for a 2 count. Uso goes up top but gets cut off by Bryan who climbs up to join Uso and then he hits him with a super butterfly suplex and when they land Bryan tries to lock in the Yes Lock, but Uso struggles until he gets to the ropes. Uso and Bryan roll out to the floor and Uso reverses a whip into the steps, both men stagger around on the outside until Uso slams Bryan knee-first into the steps and at that point the referee has counted to ten which means both men have been counted out.
Winner: N/A via Double Count Out Match Rating: ***
After the match, Uso throws Bryan back into the ring looking to continue his attack but Bryan locks him in the Yes Lock until Reigns comes in and beats down Bryan. Reigns checks on Reigns and when he goes back over to Bryan he is caught by surprise and locked in the Yes Lock until Uso breaks it up with another basement superkick. Reigns gets to his feet and waits on Bryan to get up and when he does he blasts Bryan with a devastating Spear. Reigns locks Bryan in the guillotine choke and trash talks him until Bryan fades into unconsciousness. Reigns stands over Bryan and holds his title into the air to bring SmackDown to a close.
This was a really good match as I liked all of the work centered around Bryan’s leg as the spots where Uso slammed Bryan’s leg into the announce table and the ring post looked really good and I also liked the spot where Uso cut off the Busaiku Knee charge with a chop block. I thought the post-match was really great as well as Reigns once again looked like a total badass. It was announced the next morning on Talking Smack that we will have a rematch between Bryan and Uso next week except for this time it will be inside a steel cage and this time if Bryan loses he must acknowledge Reigns as the “Head of the Table” and the best competitor ever. I’m sure Bryan will end up winning the cage match and go on to face Reigns at Fastlane and in a dream world that would mean that the tag match that was supposed to involve Edge will turn into Edge & Christian vs The Usos.
This was a good episode of SmackDown as I enjoyed pretty much everything except for the Liv vs Tamina match. I really liked the new layer added to the heel Apollo Crews character and I also like what they are doing to the newly turned heel Otis. I also liked the segment between Rollins and Cesaro and look forward to seeing where the feud goes and even more so I am looking forward to the matches these two are going to have. While the segment involving Sasha and Bianca wasn’t the greatest thing in the world at least we have the match confirmed for WrestleMania and hopefully, the feud will really start to pick up starting next week.
That’s all for me this week but I’ll be back next week for more action from the blue brand and as a bonus, next week’s SmackDown will be taking place on my birthday.
