Hated: Jimmy Uso shoots his shot that Fatu deserves
The USA Championship segment that opened “SmackDown” just wasn’t for me, and never simply because I have been writing and complaining about LA Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura for what looks like eternally now. It wasn’t Knight who bothered me, for once, since he’s lost his luster in my eyes, but Jimmy Uso. It made sense to start out off the episode with Knight to get the group hot, but Uso just got here out and demanded a United States Championship match at WrestleMania, of all places.
Uso literally used the word “desperate” when he spoke with Knight within the ring. He said he was desperate and uninterested in all of the speedbumps on the Road to WrestleMania, and the one way he thought he could get in to ‘Mania is that if he challenged Knight for the title. I looked up Uso’s recent record and while he’s defeated Drew McIntyre in recent memory, McIntyre got that win back. He also lost in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match to McIntyre, and before that was the Royal Rumble. So, Uso’s not been on a losing streak, per say, but he hasn’t done enough to go on the market and demand a WrestleMania championship opportunity.
He was in fact interrupted by the Bloodline with Solo Sikoa on the mic, who said if anyone deserved the shot, it was Jacob Fatu. And, truthfully, no arguments there. Fatu needs strapped up sooner quite than later and the US Championship is smart, because the Undisputed WWE Championship scene is well set and the World Heavyweight Championship is on the opposite brand. So, truthfully, I agree with the heels here and Uso just seemed sort of silly on the market demanding a spot at WrestleMania. There are such a lot of other good matches with established stories already, I can see the US title being defended on the “SmackDown” before WrestleMania. Also, Jimmy, your last WrestleMania match wasn’t so great, possibly you may take a 12 months off and just be ringside to your brother? Could possibly be a pleasant thought.
This all seemed silly and naturally, it arrange the multi-man match that was next up on the night which was pretty good, so there wasn’t any real harm done. It also arrange Fatu versus Braun Strowman next week, which also needs to be good. But for whatever reason, Uso’s desperation just wasn’t it for me on a comparatively good episode of “SmackDown.”
Written by Daisy Ruth
Loved: Tiffany Stratton finally holds her own against Charlotte Flair
Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair’s pull-apart brawl was among the finest things on “SmackDown,” especially since it was finally “Tiffy’s Time” to face tall over “The Queen.” Before that, nonetheless, I used to be glad to see B-Fab within the ring with Flair, and he or she had a superb backstage promo, partially in Spanish, which I also really liked. If B-Fab is admittedly putting in all of the work that is been rumored with regard to her training, she’s going to be a star and is already well on her way. The end result of that match was easy to predict, but she hung in there with Flair and took the Figure Eight well before Stratton ran right down to make the save.
Over the weeks, it has been Flair getting the perfect of Stratton, which is doing what it’s meant to … It’s annoying me to no end. It’s kind of obvious that Flair goes to be winning the championship from Stratton at WrestleMania, but I a minimum of wish to see Stratton put up fight not only just in that match, but within the lead-up, so she continues to look strong. On this episode that is exactly what we got, as Stratton hit not one, but two big moves on Flair within the brawl. She hit an initial moonsault from the highest rope to Flair and all of the officials below on the skin. She hit one other from the highest of the tron, which although it looked like she missed Flair, still looked incredible.
While it was a bit funny to see so many officials try to pull apart these two women, if the boys get to have massive pull-apart brawls like this, the ladies absolutely can too. Especially when it involves the powerhouse that’s Flair, which helps it make a bit of more sense and be a bit more believable. This really got me believing how much these two dislike one another.
Most significantly, I believe it was really helpful to the feud and the WrestleMania match ahead, as there are such a lot of good matches with stars which are fighting (pun not intended) for a primary spot on the cardboard. Give me Stratton and Flair fighting in every single place for the subsequent few weeks, and it will look right at home amongst the opposite big matches.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Hated: Even this version of a MizTV segment was a waste of time
Going into this episode, I wasn’t really looking forward to the concept of Cody Rhodes being interviewed on MizTV. There just didn’t appear to be much point to it — Cody had said his piece on “Raw,” John Cena was going to be on the subsequent “Raw,” what really must be added? Fortunately, Cody apparently agreed, as your complete segment (following an initial interruption by Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair continuing to brawl) consisted of Rhodes wordlessly ending Miz with a Cross Rhodes before declaring that he doesn’t wish to consult with anyone before he talks to John Cena, and he’ll try this on “Raw.” Mic drop. Which, truthfully? Perfection. 10/10.
Here’s the issue: Why was this here in any respect? Why book the MizTV segment only to have Cody stomp throughout it? I suppose you can argue it made Cody appear to be a bad-ass who was taking all this very seriously, but he mainly already did that on “Raw.” This segment truthfully felt like a pivot as a consequence of a creative change — and in that light it’s hard to disregard that the show overall enjoyed a marked increase in quality this week. In any case, it’s wild that it look this long for any individual to comprehend that no person cares about The Miz three days before John Cena FINALLY shows up to deal with his heel turn. They already made us wait greater than two weeks; anything more would have been, and was, a continued waste of time that might have gone to another person — even on a three-hour show.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Loved: An NXT UK rematch
Gunther wasn’t the just one to cross the brand divide as “WWE SmackDown” kicked off the European tour in Barcelona, calling out the “Spanish Sensation” and NXT Tag Team Champion, Axiom, for a rematch of their spectacular 2021 bout for the UK Championship.
The gang were primed from the moment as soon as he had referenced Axiom’s former “NXT UK” moniker, A-Kid, before truly erupting when his entrance hit, marking a house nation cameo in addition to take a look at how he could fare on the predominant roster. But that was just in what happened before the bell rung; in case you watched A-Kid vs. Walter in 2021, you’ll have had idea of what to anticipate — in case you have not and enjoyed their match, then definitely give it a glance since it was the significantly better of the 2. But once more it was a contest of true clinicians of wrestling. Because the adage goes, styles make fights, and it’s totally much the case that the nimble and rapid type of Axiom merges perfectly with the domineering power of the naturally larger “Ring General.”
It made for a extremely exciting flowing bout between them where nothing seemed misplaced within the context of a wrestling contest, capped off with a closing stretch that sold the advantageous margins between them. Like before, Axiom hit Gunther along with his best shots, a Golden Ratio and a Ring of Saturn submission, but neither were enough as Gunther rose to squash the underdog. And while the match had no stakes and no belief that it could end some other way, this was still a advantageous tune-up match and arguably a greater option to construct the World Heavyweight Champion heading into WrestleMania than constant brawling with Jey Uso week-in-week-out. It builds the concept Gunther is infallible within the face of Uso’s challenge on the “Show of Shows,” with the rationale that Axiom and Uso are each underdog champions of the people.
Written by Max Everett
Hated: Drew McIntyre deserves higher
Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was painful to observe, but not as painful because the memory of the wrester Nakamura was. what’s much more painful than the memory of the wrestler Nakamura was? Seeing Drew McIntyre within the ring with him, stumbling his way toward a WrestleMania match that is nowhere near his level.
I have been seeing some criticism of McIntyre’s work recently, and it’s something I actually have a tough time getting behind because I do not think it’s really his fault. The issue is that WWE has consistently refused to repay the storylines McIntyre has been attempting to construct, especially since Survivor Series. With the CM Punk feud finally over and the unique Bloodline back together, McIntyre went back to hunting Bloodline members, a course that seemed destined to conclude with one other encounter with Roman Reigns. But it surely never happened — McIntyre beat Sami Zayn a couple of times but took flash pins against each Usos before your complete direction was seemingly dropped. Teases like McIntyre’s interaction with Paul Heyman before the Royal Rumble went nowhere, the post-Rumbe worked shoot stuff with LA Knight went nowhere, Cena’s heel turn made us all immediately forget that Chris Featherstone was ever an individual we knew existed, and now here we’re. McIntyre vs. Priest at WrestleMania in a match that can receive precisely zero fan interest irrespective of how catty McIntyre is on social media.
And for the record, I like Damian Priest. I just think McIntyre’s work has been on one other level, and it’s sort of insane that after the 12 months he’s had since WrestleMania 40, he’s getting a sauceless midcard feud for WrestleMania 41.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Loved: Street Profits finally win gold after 3 years
After three long years, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford are once more tag team champions. It has been far too long since they’ve held gold (August 2021 to be exact and so they last held the “Raw” tag titles in 2020, back when those were still a thing). They’ve long been certainly one of WWE’s best tag teams, whether or not they held gold or not.This iteration of the Street Profits is more focused. They’ve been channeling their anger of being neglected into motion. At Royal Rumble, they cost Motor City Machine Guns the titles while also attacking #DIY. They’ve targeted Pretty Deadly and Los Garza too. Their efforts paid off when Nick Aldis granted them a title shot in Barcelona.
Not only did they get a title shot, but they got it within the predominant event. Although Los Garza tried to throw them off their game before the match, Dawkins and Ford brought intense focus and a plan for Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. #DIY gave them a hell of a fight and it was among the finest matches during their title reign. Street Profits were relentless and capitalized on Gargano’s mistake when he mistakenly hit Ciampa with a superkick.
Street Profits may have their hands full as Pretty Deadly are already the Number One contenders. Los Garza challenged them in the event that they won before the match. They must answer to MCMG for costing them the titles at Royal Rumble and #DIY will definitely desire a rematch. Within the meantime, long may the Profits reign.
Written by Samantha Schipman
