SmackDown on Fox Episode #79
SmackDown Episode # 1,128
Orlando, FL – The Thunderdome (Tropicana Field)
4/2/21
The show opens with a recap video of everything that happened last week when Adam Pearce made the decision to turn the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania into a triple threat match as well as the beating that Edge gave Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan after the announcement was made.
We then go into the Thunderdome where Edge makes his entrance to kick us off for the night.
Edge says that what happened last week didn’t have to happen but then he stops and rethinks and says that maybe it was inevitable and he was naive to think that his path to WrestleMania would be a smooth one. Edge said that he thought if anyone could understand where he was coming from it would be Daniel Bryan because Bryan’s story is one of the reasons why he knew a return for himself was possible. Edge says the idea of teaming with Bryan at Fastlane was intriguing to him but that wasn’t enough for Bryan. Edge says that maybe this is all his fault because he was so focused on Reigns that he didn’t see Bryan coming but the worst part is that he of all people should see a manipulator and an opportunist coming seeing as that is what his career was built on, but he has now learned his lesson.
Edge then goes through the different scenarios that Bryan was throwing out last week in order to get himself into the title match and how all of them benefited Bryan and then Edge mocks how heroic Bryan was in each of those scenarios and then Edge admitted that he got outplayed by Bryan. Edge then says he is not mad at Bryan, in fact, he wants to thank him because ever since last week he has been reflecting on everything and when he looked in the mirror he liked what he saw as for the first time since his return he finally saw the Rated-R Superstar. Edge says that what happened last week was the result of him finally waking up and realizing just who the hell he is which is a man that both Reigns and Bryan aspire to be, a WWE Hall of Famer, the Ultimate Opportunist, and he is now once again the Rated-R Superstar.
Edge says that it felt so good last week when he felt the chairs crash down onto the bodies of Reigns and Bryan and he was so close to hitting them both with the Con-Chair-To but he will have that opportunity once again and next time he won’t hesitate.
It looks like we now have Edge turning full heel which I don’t mind as he is at his best as a heel seeing as that is what he spent his years as a top guy being so it’s nice to see him back to doing what he does best.
We get a split-screen showing Bryan and Jey Uso getting ready for their match later tonight as they will be competing in a street fight and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Edge walking down the hall when an interviewer comes up and asks him his thoughts on tonight’s street fight, Edge says he won’t feel bad if Bryan gets his ass beat tonight nor will he feel bad if Bryan is unable to make it to WrestleMania.
We then go back into the Thunderdome where Alpha Academy are in the ring and Chad Gable has something he wants to say.
Gable talks up the progress that Otis has made since becoming a member of the Alpha Academy and says that they are peaking at the right time as a team. Gable says tonight they are going to outshine their partners (Ziggler & Roode) and next week on a special WrestleMania edition of SmackDown they will become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
We get an inset promo for each of the other three teams as they make their entrance and all three are centered around winning or retaining the tag team titles next week.
Match #1: Alpha Academy, Dolph Ziggler, & Robert Roode vs The Street Profits & The Mysterios
Ziggler starts the match with Dominik and Ziggler gets control early with a kick to the gut and raking Dominik’s eyes across his shoelaces, but soon Dominik makes a comeback as he meets Ziggler with a boot to the face as he charges in and then he hits Ziggler with a diving tornado DDT off the middle rope which gets a 2 count. Roode comes in to have words with Dominik but gets sent back out of the ring courtesy of a running hurricanrana from Rey and that brings everyone into the action as Street Profits send Alpha Academy to the outside and Dominik throws Ziggler to the outside. Rey takes Roode down on the outside with a seated senton off the apron and then Dominik hits a pescado on Ziggler and that is followed by Ford hitting a tope con hilo onto Alpha Academy on the other side of the ring and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Rey and Ziggler in the ring and Rey lands on his feet off a back suplex attempt from Ziggler and he falls back into a tag to Dawkins who comes in on fire as he hits Ziggler with clotheslines and a spinning back elbow and then he knocks the heels off the apron. Dawkins hits Ziggler and Gable with an exploder and then looks to hit the spinning corner splash on Ziggler, but Roode pulls him out of the way only to pay for it moments later when Dawkins connects with a right hand to the Glorious One. Otis takes Dawkins down with a cheap clothesline from the apron while the referee was distracted and then Ziggler tags Otis into the match.
Otis sends Dawkins into the ropes and drops him with an ax handle to the face which gets a 2 count. Otis sends Dawkins hard into the corner and he collapses out of it to the mat and then he delivers an elbow drop onto Dawkins. Roode gets tagged in and he hits Dawkins with a vertical suplex which gets a 2 count. The heels continue to work over Dawkins until Dawkins and Otis collide in the ring with a double clothesline and that finally allows Dawkins time to make the hot tag to Ford.
Ford takes down all of the heels with dropkicks and then he sends Gable over the top to the apron only so he can throw him right back into the ring and then hits him with a back suplex into a side slam and then he follows that up with a standing moonsault for a 2 count when Ziggler breaks the pin. Rey dropkicks Ziggler into the ropes and looks to hit the 619 but Roode trips him up and pulls him out of the ring where he looks to send Rey into the barricade but Rey reverses and sends Roode into the barricade instead and then Dominik takes Ziggler out to the floor with a bodyscissors. Ford tries for a schoolboy on Gable but he kicks out so Ford nails him with a one-legged enziguri. Ford goes up top and tries for the Frog Splash, but Gable rolls out of the way and Ford rolls through and then Gable catches Ford in the Chaos Theory while Otis makes the blind tag. Otis goes up to the middle rope and hits the big splash on Ford to pick up the win.
Winners: American Alpha, Dolph Ziggler, & Robert Roode via Pinfall Match Rating: **¼
While this was a fine match I wish they had done something a bit different rather than doing another 8-man tag since we saw this match a few weeks ago, if it were me I would’ve had this be a preview of the four-way happening next week by having one member of each team compete in the match because there was no reason why these teams should be teaming together one week before a big title match.
We go to the back where Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville are hanging out when Paul Heyman walks in and he wants there to be a hold harmless clause to be added to tonight’s main event and when Pearce goes to cut Heyman off he is quickly cut off himself by Sonya who tells Heyman that she thinks he made a very good point.
Seth Rollins makes his way to the ring (in a very loud purple suit that is made to look like clouds or for the Taylor Swift fans he looks like the cover of the Lover album) as he and Cesaro will go face-to-face after the break.
We come back and Corey Graves is in the ring to moderate this face-to-face between Cesaro and Rollins.
Graves talks about how Rollins is no stranger to WrestleMania but this is Cesaro’s first singles match in his career and wants to know if this match will be his breakthrough moment that Cesaro has been promising. Cesaro says this is the biggest match of his career and admits that everything Rollins has said about his shortcomings and squandering of opportunities may be true but at WrestleMania, it will be different because he can’t fail and he won’t fail. Cesaro says there is something different in the air as he can feel it and then he starts singing until Rollins stops him.
Graves then brings up the fact that Rollins got humiliated by Cesaro when he was put in the giant swing and wants to know if he considers that a blemish on his career. Rollins says that it’s WrestleMania season which means he is unshakable and then he runs down some of the moments he has had at past WrestleManias and equates them to other much bigger moments in WrestleMania history. Graves finally cuts off Rollins and tells him nobody is questioning his accomplishments at WrestleMania and then turns back to Cesaro where he asks him if he believes he has what it takes to beat Rollins at WrestleMania. Cesaro says that not only does he know that he can beat Rollins but he knows he can embarrass Rollins at WrestleMania. Rollins laughs at this statement and once again tells them he is unshakable and Cesaro says that he may be unshakable but he sure is swingable.
Rollins flips his lid at this as he orders Graves out of the ring and then he gets into the face of Cesaro and tells him that he is levels above him and at WrestleMania, he is going to embarrass Cesaro so bad that he won’t even have his potential to fall back on and he will only have himself to blame. Rollins says that Cesaro provoked him time and time again and then he decides he isn’t even going to let Cesaro get to WrestleMania as he starts to take off his jacket. Cesaro stares straight at Rollins and calmly tells him to take a swing and at that point, Rollins thinks twice as he fixes his jacket and leaves the ring.
While the whole story of each man trying to embarrass the other isn’t the strongest story to tell I think Rollins and Cesaro are doing a great job with it and are making it work, however, I think the feud probably would’ve been better served if it was solely built around the fact that Rollins has a great track record at WrestleMania and Cesaro wanting to prove that he is at Rollins’ level by beating him at the Grandest Stage of them All and him not wanting to squander this opportunity like Rollins accused him of doing in the past. I think this is definitely a dark horse for the best match of the first night of WrestleMania.
We cut to the back where Carmella is getting ready for her match later on in the night when Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler walk up along with Reginald and Nia tells her she didn’t treat Reginald very well and then walks off.
We come back and it’s time for the next match of the night.
Match #2: Shayna Baszler w/ Nia Jax vs Natalya w/ Tamina
Nia Jax is on commentary during this match.
We get a lockup and Natalya backs Shayna into the corner and then breaks momentarily before kicking Shayna in the gut and Shayna starts to make a comeback with a flurry of strikes but Natalya takes her down with a double leg and tries for the Sharpshooter, but Shanya kicks her off into the ropes where she tries to get her in the Kirifuda Clutch, but Natalya reverses it into a small package which is enough to pick up the win.
Winner: Natalya via Pinfall Match Rating: ¼*
After the match, Nia and Shayna attack Natalya until Tamina makes the save, but the tag champs take her down as well and Nia hits her with a leg drop and then Shayna hits a running knee to Natalya in the corner. Nia then hits both women with running hip attacks in the corner. We then see the return of the RIott Squad after a three-week absence and they hit Nia with a guillotine choke and bulldog off the top combo move but Shayna knees Liv in the face and then locks Ruby in the Kirifuda Clutch.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke run down and Mandy hits Shayna with a bicycle knee and Dana hits Ruby with a flipping neckbreaker and then they hit Shayna with a double flapjack. Naomi and Lana run down and they take Riott Squad out of the ring and then they hit crossbodies on the tag champions. Naomi and Lana then each hit an X-Factor on Mandy and Dana. Tamina hits a superkick on Naomi and then she and Natalya hit a Hart Attack on Lana and are the only team left standing.
While all of this is happening we cut to the back to see Carmella watching the action when Billie Kay walks up and hands her the headshot/resume and at first Carmella shoos Billie away, but then thinks twice and Billie hands her the headshot/resume and then walks off as Carmella looks it over.
This was the setup for what is going to happen at WrestleMania in the women’s tag division as reports are saying that there will be a multi-team match on night one where the winner will face the champions on night two. I won’t complain about the Raw women being on SmackDown like I usually would because it’s WrestleMania season and they had to have an angle to set up the match at WrestleMania.
I like Carmella being the one to finally give Billie a chance as she took her headshot instead of completely waving them off and it looks like they will be a team at WrestleMania, although I think I would’ve preferred Carmella to team with Bayley since she doesn’t have a match on the card which is strange given the year that Bayley had in 2020. Since they didn’t tag up Bayley with Carmella I am guessing we either get Bayley vs Charlotte (which I really don’t see happening on such short notice) or we get Bayley teaming with Charlotte as a surprise entry into the multi-team match.
I am also glad that Tamina finally has new ring gear and I have to say it suits her a lot more than the gear that just looked like street clothes.
We then go to footage from earlier tonight where Zayn is on the red carpet and is worrying about it being dirty when a limo pulls up and out of it appears Logan Paul. Zayn welcomes Paul and the two of them walk down the red carpet and we go to a break.
We come back and Zayn makes his entrance and then he gets on the mic and hypes up the trailer to his documentary and says it will show without a doubt that there is a conspiracy against him. Zayn then hypes up all of the social media accomplishments of Logan Paul before he brings him out to the Thunderdome.
When Paul gets into the ring Zayn thanks Paul for standing in solidarity with him against the conspiracy that has been brought on him and just by Paul being there the world will see that this is not a conspiracy theory but rather a conspiracy against him. Paul does the usual celebrity schtick of how excited he is to be there and after what Zayn has told him he thinks this could be the biggest conspiracy of the century and is excited to see all the evidence. Zayn says he is glad that Paul has such an open mind seeing as he is always surrounded by a group of corporate hacks that refuse to see the truth and Zayn then invites Paul to be his guest at WrestleMania. Paul accepts the invite and Zayn reacts as if he has just won $1,000,000 and Zayn says that now Paul will be able to see first hand what he is going to do to Kevin Owens. Sami Zayn then throws to the trailer for his documentary which is titled “Justice for Sami” and it is coming soon.
After the trailer ends Zayn is excited about what he just saw and then he asks Paul his thoughts on the trailer and he says that it is a lot to take in and is very compelling, however, while Zayn was in the locker room he was approached by Kevin Owens who told him about how he has known Zayn for years and there is no conspiracy and how Zayn is delusional and neurotic. Zayn starts to get heated as he tells Paul he is there to be his guest and not the guest of Kevin Owens and he is supposed to be on his side and then when he is superheated he calms himself down and talks about how this is a big night for him and he just wanted everything to go perfectly. Zayn then says he already knows what KO thinks and he doesn’t care but he doesn’t want him poisoning the mind of Paul and he just wants to know what Paul thinks. Paul starts to tell him his opinion when KO hits the ring and hits Zayn with a Stunner. KO stands over Zayn and tells him that as long as he keeps up with this crazy stuff he is going to keep doing this to him and if he can’t talk some sense into him he will beat it out of him at WrestleMania. Paul is stunned at what just happened and as KO goes to exit the ring he shoves Paul to the side as the segment comes to an end.
Much like the Rollins vs Cesaro feud, this is not the most heated reason to have a match at WrestleMania especially since KO and Zayn have such a long history with each other, but KO and Zayn are making it work and are making it entertaining. Logan Paul looked very nervous and completely out of his element but thankfully he was in there with a true pro like Zayn who made sure the segment didn’t bomb, in fact, Zayn’s performance in this segment was hilarious and very entertaining.
We go back to the office of Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville when Edge walks in and vents his frustration about the triple threat match but then says the street fight that he made for tonight was a good idea and he then lets them know he will be on commentary for the match.
Carmella makes her entrance and Corey Graves is about to cream his pants as we go to a commercial break.
We come back to a recap of what we just saw between Sami Zayn, KO, and Logan Paul.
We go to the back where KO runs into an interviewer who wants a word with him and he said the reason he just did what he did was that he wanted to send Zayn and everyone else a message that he can stun anyone at any time. Zayn then attacks KO from behind and sends him into a road case. Zayn screams that KO ruined everything.
We get a recap of what happened last week between Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks, then we go to the gorilla position where Kayla Braxton is standing by for an interview with Bianca Belair.
Kayla asks Bianca about her match next week against Sasha Banks, Bianca says that she was wondering when she was going to see the real Sasha Banks, and last week that question was answered as after she slapped the soul out of Sasha the “Legit Boss” finally showed up. Bianca says that the Sasha she saw last week is exactly who she has been waiting on and that is the Sasha Banks that she wants to face at WrestleMania because then there will be no excuse when she beats her for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Bianca says that tonight she is facing Carmella and she hasn’t forgotten about her as she is the reason they had to deal with Reginald in the first place and then she says she isn’t looking past Carmella she is just going to run through her because she is on her way to make history and put the EST in WrestleMania.
Bianca makes her entrance but as she goes to enter the ring she is jumped by Carmella who sends her to the floor and sense her into the barricade and then she sends her into the steps and that sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to the match in progress.
Match #3: Carmella vs Bianca Belair
Carmella has Bianca grounded with a rest hold, but Bianca gets to her feet while Carmella is on her back and she drives her into the corner repeatedly in order to make Carmella break the hold, but Carmella grabs the braid of Bianca to hold her in place as she climbs up to the middle rope and locks Bianca in a hanging figure-four headlock over the ropes. Bianca uses her strength to pull Carmella back up and she walks across the ring with Carmella on her shoulders and then spins her around to try and hit her with a powerbomb, but Carmella reverses and hits Bianca with a hurricanrana the sends her into the corner where Carmella hits her with a bronco buster for a 2 count.
Carmella ties Bianca’s hair up in the rope and puts the boots to her, but when Bianca unties herself she crawls over to the corner and plays up being hurt while Carmella poses for the crowd and when Carmella charges in she drops her with a stiff clothesline. Bianca hits Carmella with a couple of running shoulder blocks and a dropkick and then she clubs away at the back of Carmella. Bianca teases hitting Carmella with her hair, but when Carmella ducks she kicks her in the head and then hits her with a big forearm. Bianca looks to hit the handspring moonsault but Carmella moves out of the way sending Bianca crashing to the mat and then Carmella hits her with a basement superkick for a 2 count.
Carmella talks trash to Bianca and then pie faces her repeatedly, Carmella goes for a kick but Bianca ducks it and hits Carmella with the K.O.D. to pick up the win.
Winner: Bianca Belair via Pinfall Match Rating: **
After the match, Sasha tries to attack Bianca from behind with a backstabber but Bianca blocks it and then we get a face-off as Bianca tells her to wait until WrestleMania.
It’s nice to see Carmella back in action as she has been missing in recent weeks and she did a great job of making Bianca look great in the match. I’m glad to see that Bianca and Sasha didn’t touch this week as I would save their next physical interaction for when the match starts on Saturday.
We cut to the back where Roman Reigns is talking to Jey Uso ahead of his street fight against Bryan later in the night and after this, we go to another commercial break.
We come back to the announcers hyping up next week on both SmackDown and Raw as we see where King Corbin attacked Drew McIntyre on Monday as he was trying to cash in on Lashley’s bounty on McIntyre and this leads to a promo from Corbin.
Corbin says he is tired of being disrespected as he is a king. Corbin says that when he heard about Lashley’s bounty on McIntyre he knew he had to take it and on Monday he is going to beat Drew McIntyre and earn himself a spot at WrestleMania and there he will take the title from Lashley and then people will have no choice but to respect him and bow down to the king.
We then go to another backstage promo from Apollo Crews who talks about how he was disrespected by Big E at Fastlane and he will not stand for that and that is why he is making the match at WrestleMania a Nigerian Drum Fight which is a duel his ancestors came up with and he will right the wrongs done to him by Big E. Crews says at the Drum Battle his family and the spirit of his ancestors will drum along to the beating he gives Big E and to the cheers when he becomes Intercontinental Champion.
We then cut to the gorilla position where Edge is waiting to make his entrance when Paul Heyman walks up and starts talking about how a triple threat match makes it much more difficult for Reigns to retain his championship and also makes it more difficult for Edge to win the championship, Edge finally cut him off and tells him he doesn’t know what he has planned for WrestleMania but he is heading out to do commentary and then he walks off.
Edge makes his entrance and we go to another commercial break.
We come back and it’s time for the main event.
Match #4: Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso (Street Fight)
Bryan charges to the ring and we get both men throwing punches before Bryan gains control with a knee and some uppercuts and then he looks to send Uso into the ropes but it gets reversed and Uso takes Bryan down with a back elbow. Uso rips the shirt off of Bryan’s back and then tosses him out to the floor, but when he follows him out Bryan makes a comeback with a bunch of punches, and then he looks to send Uso into the barricade but it gets reversed and Bryan is the one that is sent into the barricade. Uso sends Bryan into the barricade for a second time and then throws him into the ring.
Uso grabs a chair from ringside but when he goes to get back into the ring he is met with a dropkick which sends him back down to the floor, Bryan then tries for a tope suicida but Uso puts a quick stop to that as he holds up the chair for Bryan to crash into. Uso stares down Edge before he gets back into the ring where he hits Bryan with the chair and then he puts the leg of Bryan into the chair looking to Pillmanize it, but Bryan rolls out of the way and Uso crashes down to the mat from the top rope. Bryan then goes to work hitting Uso with the chair to the point where Uso has to roll out to the floor for safety and that is when the “Head of the Table” makes his entrance alongside Paul Heyman who is rolling out a chair as Reigns wants to get a closer look at the rest of this match and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Bryan kicking away at Uso in the corner and then he hits a running dropkick in the corner, but when he goes for a second one he is caught with a superkick from Uso. Uso wedges the chair into the corner and sends Bryan into it and then he mounts Bryan where he reigns down with punches and elbows. Uso looks around for a moment and then goes to the outside where he looks under the ring and pulls out a chain which he uses to clothesline Bryan and this puts a smile on the face of Reigns who is watching from the top of the ramp. Uso wraps the chain around his fist and nails Bryan with it and then he goes up top where he hits the Uso Splash, but somehow Bryan is able to kick out at 2.
Uso rolls Bryan back out to the floor where he sends him into the steps and after having a few words with Edge he takes the steps apart and slams Bryan’s face down on it. Uso pulls Bryan to his feet on the bottom part of the step and then attempts to hit a suplex on the step, but Bryan blocks it and hits Uso with a suplex off the steps onto the floor. Bryan looks over at Edge and then pulls a chair out from under the ring and proceeds to smash it against the back of Uso. Bryan gets Uso to his feet and smashes his head off the announce table as he stares straight at Edge and then he throws Uso back into the ring. Bryan goes up to the top and connects with a missile dropkick and then once Uso gets back up to his knees Bryan hits him with the Yes Kicks.
Bryan grabs the chain that Uso had earlier and wraps it around his arm and then he drives his elbow into the side of Usos’s neck while he has the chain wrapped around his arm. Bryan locks on the Yes Lock and moments later Uso is tapping out just like Reigns did at Fastlane.
Winner: Daniel Bryan via Submission Match Rating: ***
After the match, Bryan rolls to the outside and hits Edge with the Busaiku Knee while he is still sitting at commentary and then he slams his head off the ring post repeatedly. Bryan charges up the ramp toward Reigns and dodges the office chair that Reigns tries to throw at him and then he hits Reigns with the Busaiku Knee. Bryan locks the Yes Lock in on Reigns until he passes out and then Bryan runs back to the ring to celebrate as he does the Yes sign to close out the show.
This was yet another really good match between Uso and Bryan and I liked the use of the chain during the match as that is a weapon that hasn’t been overused by the WWE. I thought having Edge on commentary worked out well as both Edge and Uso played off of him being there very well as every time they went to the outside they would either stare him down or have words with him. I thought the post-match beatdown that Bryan gave both of his WrestleMania opponents was very well done and the spot where he slammed Edge’s head against the ring post sounded brutal.
This was a good episode of SmackDown as I think they did a pretty good job of building to WrestleMania as I thought the Rollins vs Cesaro segment and everything involving Bryan, Reigns, & Edge was done very well and has me excited to see those two matches at WrestleMania.
This week there will be no 5 count, however, in its place I am going to run down the WWE shows happening next week and give my predictions.
First up we have the 2021 Hall of Fame ceremony which will be happening on Tuesday and on that night both the 2020 & 2021 classes will be honored. Here are the inductees for each class:
2020 Class
New World Order (Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, & Sean Waltman)
JBL
The British Bulldog
Jushin Liger
The Bella Twins
William Shatner
Titus O’Neil (Warrior Award Winner)
2021 Class
Rob Van Dam
Kane
Eric Bischoff
Molly Holly
The Great Khali
Out of all these inductees, the ones I am most looking forward to hearing from are Titus O’Neil, Eric Bischoff, Jushin Liger, & Rob Van Dam.
We then move on to Wednesday where we will be getting the first night of NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver which will be airing on both the USA Network and on Peacock. Here is the card and my predictions for each match.
1. Pete Dunne vs Kushida – Prediction: Pete Dunne
2. MSK vs Grizzled Young Veterans vs Legado del Fantasma (NXT Tag Team Championship) – Prediction: MSK
3. Leon Ruff vs Isaiah Scott vs Bronson Reed vs LA Knight vs Dexter Lumis vs Cameron Grimes (6-Man Gauntlet Eliminator Match – Winner faces Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship on Night 2) – Prediction: Bronson Reed
4. Walter © vs Tommaso Ciampa (NXT UK Championship) – Prediction: Walter
5. Io Shirai © vs Raquel Gonzalez w/ Dakota Kai – Prediction: Raquel Gonzalez
We move on to Thursday afternoon where NXT UK will be presenting a special episode called NXT UK: Prelude.
1. Meiko Satomura & Emilia McKenzie vs Kay Lee Ray & Isla Dawn – Prediction: Meiko Satomura & Amilia McKenzie
2. Noam Dar vs Tyler Bate (NXT UK Heritage Cup #1 Contender Match – Heritage Cup Rules) – Prediction: Tyler Bate
3. Walter © vs Rampage Brown (NXT UK Championship) – Prediction: Walter
Not sure why they didn’t put Walter vs Ciampa on Night 2 of Stand and Deliver because him having a NXT UK title defense on this show really spoils the outcome of the Walter vs Ciampa match.
It’s now time to move onto Thursday evening for Night 2 of NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver
1. Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart © vs The Way (NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship) – Prediction: Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart
2. Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly (Unsanctioned Match) – Prediction: Kyle O’Reilly
3. Johnny Gargano © vs Gauntlet Eliminator Winner (Bronson Reed) (NXT North American Championship) – Prediction: Bronson Reed
4. Jordan Devlin © vs Santos Escobar © (NXT Cruiserweight Championship Unification Ladder Match) – Prediction: Santo Escobar
5. Finn Balor © vs Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett (NXT Championship) – Prediction: Finn Balor
Up next is SmackDown where we will have two matches that should’ve made the WrestleMania card but didn’t
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode © vs The Mysterios vs Alpha Academy vs Street Profits (SmackDown Tag Team Championship) – Prediction: The Mysterios
- Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal – Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura
Now it’s finally time to move on to Saturday and Sunday for WrestleMania 37
Night 1
- Cesaro vs Seth Rollins – Prediction: Cesaro
- Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon (Steel Cage Match) – Prediction: Braun Strowman
- Bad Bunny w/ Damian Priest vs The Miz w/ John Morrison – Prediction: Bad Bunny
- The New Day © vs AJ Styles & Omos (Raw Tag Team Championship) – Prediction: AJ Styles & Omos
- Bobby Lashley © w/ MVP vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Championship) – Prediction: Bobby Lashley
- Sasha Banks © vs Bianca Belair (SmackDown Women’s Championship) – Prediction: Bianca Belair
Night 2
- Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn w/ Logan Paul – Prediction: Sami Zayn
- The Fiend w/ Alexa Bliss vs Randy Orton – Prediction: The Fiend
- Riddle © vs Sheamus (WWE United States Championship) – Prediction: Riddle
- Big E © vs Apollo Crews (WWE Intercontinental Championship – Drum Fight) – Prediction: Apollo Crews
- Asuka © vs Rhea Ripley (Raw Women’s Championship) – Prediction: Rhea Ripley
- Roman Reigns © w/ Paul Heyman vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Universal Championship) – Prediction: Roman Reigns
There is also going to be a multi-team match on night 1 where the winners will face Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler the next night for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships and my prediction for that is a surprise team of Bayley and Charlotte will win and go on to become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions.
After all of that I am finally done for this week, but join me next week when I review a very special WrestleMania edition of SmackDown.
