Opening, Daniel Bryan Promo

Smackdown kicks off with a package, recapping the recent events that will lead into WrestleMania’s Universal Championship match where Roman Reigns will defend his highly coveted title against The Rated R Superstar, 2021 Royal Rumble Winner, Edge.

The show officially begins with Michael Cole standing in the ring, as he prompts the idea of Daniel Bryan winning the Universal Championship at Fastlane. That is if he can defeat Jey Uso in a steel cage match later tonight. Daniel Bryan enters. Michael Cole asks why his attention has shifted towards the Universal title instead of the intended main event of Fastlane: Edge and Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso.

Bryan claims that he’s not just going to tow the company line or put himself on the back-burner and that he’s going to do everything he can to get in the way of the intended Wrestlemania “Spear vs. Spear” dream match. Bryan throws to a package of highlights from the recent Elimination Chamber match. At the Chamber, Bryan was defeated by Roman Reigns in a Universal Title match, only after going through the punishment that is the chamber itself.

After the package, Bryan is alone in the ring, and he continues to talk about his hunger for success being fueled by his love for professional wrestling itself. Daniel Bryan believes that he deserves to be in the main event of Mania, and quite frankly, so do I.

An incredibly impassioned promo from DB is cut off when Roman Reigns, along with Jey Uso and their council Paul Heyman, approach the ring.  Roman says he’s confused, he was really sure that Daniel Bryan was the underdog, the little guy — not an ambitious, driven superstar. Reigns question’s Bryan’s love for pro wrestling. He claims he loves it even more than DB, that he proves it by showing up every week for the superstars and crew thats need him to put food on the table. Daniel Bryan is about to speak before Uso takes the mic. Yelling in Bryan’s face, he says there’s no road to Wrestlemania for Daniel. He then goes for a cheap shot, but Bryan ducks and throws Uso out of the ring. Roman stays put, and a standoff puts Roman and his group in retreat.

Rating: 3.5/5

Probably the promo of the week thus far between Raw and Smackdown, and it’s great to see how far DB has come over the years.

The Street Profits vs. Sami Zayn and King Baron Corbin

The Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford enter as it rains red solo cups. They’re scheduled to take on Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in tag team action.

Zayn walks in and cuts his music and promises to prove that The Street Profits are a fluke. Corbin quickly cuts Zayn off and refuses to tag with Zayn. He challenges either of The Profits to a tag team match to which Tez accepts. 

Baron Corbin vs. Montez Ford

Some immediately impressive athleticism from Ford is short-lived when Corbin hits a huge spinebuster.

Highlight: Midway through the match Zayn distracts Ford, who is snatched up into the End of Days.

Zayn costs Ford the match and asks Corbin for help, but Corbin bails on him. 

Rating: 2.5/5

A quick match that furthers Sami Zayn’s character more than anything else.

Sami Zayn vs. Angelo Dawkins

This impromptu match is underway as Dawkins shows his impressive agility, he moves incredibly well for someone his frame. 

Sami Zayn didn’t stop talking throughout this whole match, talking to commentary, the referees and Montez Ford ringside as he worked on Dawkins.

Highlights: Angelo Dawkins used his new move called “The Silencer,” an inverted butterfly neck breaker that almost puts Zayn away.

This match ended when Montez Ford, who was still ringside, started harassing Sami Zayn’s documentary crew, which distracted Zayn. Angelo Dawkins picked up the victory with a roll-up.

Rating: 2/5

Pretty much the same goal as the previous segment, but took much longer to pull off.

Carmella Backstage Segment

We’re backstage with Carmella and her assistant, Reginald. Carmella catches Reginald bringing wine to Sasha Banks’ room and fires him.

Rating: n/a
Too short to even react, Reginald hasn’t been involved with Carmella in weeks anyway.

Dominik (W/ Rey) Mysterio vs. Chad Gable (W/ Otis)

Gable uses his amateur background to take advantage of the relatively inexperienced Dominik Mysterio. However, Mysterio does get his opportunities to show the skills he’s learned from his father. 

Highlight: A picture-perfect Tiger Suplex from Gable to Dominik.

Dominick picks up the victory with a La Magistrak cradle pin, which is technically explained as an arm-wrenching high cradle.

As soon as the match is over, Rey hits Otis with a senton onto the announce table and runs off with the upper hand on the side of the Mysterio’s.

Rating: 2.5/5

I really like seeing Rey and Dominick together, and seeing the younger Mysterio squeak out some tough wins really helps establish him as a legitimate superstar. If it weren’t at the cost of the talent that is Chad Gable, this match would be more highly rated.

Backstage with Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins tells Kayla Braxton that he promises to show Cesaro that he needs to be respected, listened to and followed. Buddy Murphy appears behind Rollins and offers his assistance. But Rollins refuses to make eye contact and tells Murphy to get out of his sight.

Rating: 2/5

As good as Rollins is on the mic, this backstage interview repeated exactly what he claimed last week, only this time with less conviction. The inclusion of Buddy Murphy, acknowledging that history, could be a major plus.

Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair

A singles match with Fastlane implications, as Belair will tag with her Wrestlemania opponent Sasha Banks in a Women’s Tag Team match against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. After Beliar and Baszler have entered, Banks comes down to the ring and is questionably followed by Reginald. 

Belair is one of the most impressive athletes in the WWE today. She spent the early parts of this match showcasing her strength and speed but this only lasted until Baszler took advantage of an opening on Belair’s left arm, which she continued to punish remorselessly throughout the match.

Some shenanigans between Banks, Reginald and Nia Jax cause enough of a distraction for Bianca Belair to end up in the Karafuta Clutch, but Belair powered her way out and managed to pick up the victory with the Kiss of Death.

After the match, Belair berated Banks, then Banks tacked the lips off of Reginald.

Rating: 3/5

Although short, Baszler and Belair have been fantastic not only for the night, but since the Rumble.

Backstage with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso

Roman Reigns tells Jey Uso that if he wins tonight, the Universal Championship will be safe until Wrestlemania, But if he does not, he will be an embarrassment to his family, and to himself. 

Jey ensures Roman that he understands the stakes and that he is ready.

Rating: 1.5/5

We just didn’t need this, we know what the stakes are.

Cesaro vs. Murphy

Well, despite Rollins not wanting Murphy’s assistance, it seems that he’s going to be involved in this story, as Rollins makes his way to the ring just after Murphy does the same.

Rollins joins the commentary team, as this match gets the nod for a hot start tonight, no chain wrestling, no test of strength, just action straightaway.

Highlight: A gorgeous tope con hilo from Buddy Murphy, followed by a top rope meteora, a nice back-to-back combo. 

On commentary, Rollins makes it clear how livid he is that Cesaro swings his opponents. Rollins finds it disrespectful. Murphy takes the swing, about 15 rotations, follows up with a sharpshooter when Michael Cole preemptively calls for the submission, which buries the finish when Murphy actually taps out to Cesaro.

Rating: 2/5

I’d say 3/5 if not for Cole burying the ending.

Apollo Crews Promo

Newly self-crowned Nigerian Royalty, Apollo Crews, was flanked by two men in military garb (one of which competes on NXT as Desmond Troy). Crews explains that his new attitude and embracing of his heritage comes from being tired of being made fun of and unappreciated by his fellow WWE Superstars. He believes he is claiming his birthright to the Intercontinental Championship, and that is why he targets Big E for a rematch.

Rating: 3/5

I like Apollo Crews in the role of the villain so far. He really seems more comfortable on the mic in the last two weeks than he has in the last few years. This might be the character change and opportunity he needed in order to flourish.

Backstage with Jey Uso

Jey tells Kayla Braxton that he’s gonna take Daniel Bryan to the Uso Penitentiary, Bryan hits Uso from behind with one solid blow to the head. Bryan looks down at him, then leaves the scene as we cut to commercial.

Rating: 5/5

This seems high but hear me out. How many times have we seen a babyface get jumped backstage, and never retaliates, as they always take the high road? Last week Uso ambushed Bryan and I am so glad to finally see a logical reaction to being ambushed from Bryan, that being fighting fire with fire.

Ding, Dong, Hello with Bayley

Bayley has her talk show here, where she reads “sweet tweets” from fans, off of note cards. After a couple of tweets of praise, she finds one that wasn’t pre-screened and starts insulting herself. She stops in her tracks and storms out the door.

Rating: 2.5/5

Although short, it was worth airing this segment. There’s no reason to keep someone like Bayley off of tv for the entire episode of Smackdown. 

Jey Uso vs. Daniel Bryan - Steel Cage Match, if Bryan wins, he will wrestle Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Fastlane

Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring, as does Jey Uso. After the door shuts, Roman walks down the ramp and takes a seat to watch the match. 

The intensity begins very high in this match, as the steel cage is immediately a factor. Uso throws Bryan into the cage multiple times, showing how dangerous the cage can be as a weapon. Uso attempts to calmly walk out the door, which never works. 

Bryan and Uso fight towards the top corner of the cage, and Bryan delivers vicious headbutts, but a thunderous Samoan Drop from Uso puts them both down for a double down leading into commercial.

Highlight: Heyman fearfully watching over the shoulder of a very calm, focused Roman Reigns.

Highlight: YES Kicks and Superkicks traded as Byan and Uso stand on the top rope, holding onto the cage for stability.

A bit of ground wrestling from Bryan turns into some violent ground and pound from Jey Uso. This unhinged version of Jey Uso has been so much more entertaining than tag team wrestler Jey Uso. 

This main event showdown came to a close when a top rope butterfly suplex was followed by the YES Lock. Despite Uso crawling to the ropes for a break, those rules do not apply in a steel cage match. Uso taps.

Rating: 3.5/5

Steel Cage matches are wonderful, and using it to load another obstacle in the path of Daniel Bryan is a great way to build him up as the worthy underdog for Fastlane.

Overall

Smackdown this week felt a lot more brisk than this week’s Raw, which makes sense not only because of the 2-hour length but also due to the brevity of the matches overall. This episode showcased some of the more underutilized talents on the WWE Roster, such as Buddy Murphy and Chad Gable, but I do think one major misstep was stretching the Sami Zayn storyline into two separate matches with the Street Profits, while not using Smackdown Tag Team Champions, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode at all. 

Overall Rating: 2.75