AFTER news that SmackDown LIVE has been snapped up by Fox in a reported billion dollar deal, all eyes are on WWE’s blue brand.
But did last night’s show live up to the hype? Here are five things we learnt from SmackDown:
The Miz failed to get answers from The New Day – but he did beat them
SmackDown opened with Miz TV. And Miz had a big question for his guests The New Day: which member of the team will enter the Money in the Bank ladder match?
Miz’s efforts to stir things up between them didn’t work. Instead, he got some pancakes tossed into his face and then booked in a match against Big E.
But Miz had the last laugh when Sheamus and Cesaro ran down to ringside and attacked Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods mid-match.
The distraction allowed Miz to hit Big E with the Skull-Crushing Finale and get a surprise victory.
The New Day will stand united against The Miz and The Bar in the next few weeks, but expect either Big E, Woods or Kofi to break away on their own when it’s time for MITB.
Lana has finally won a match
The “Ravishing Russian” has been a hit with fans but a total flop in the ring so far. In fact, her win-loss record has become a bit of a joke on-screen.
But last night Lana had a shot at qualifying for Money in the Bank in a singles match against Billie Kay.
Now realigned with Rusev, Lana was accompanied by Aiden English, who fired the crowd up by changing it from “Rusev Day” to “Lana Day”.
After a quick ringside skirmish with Billie Kay’s IIconic pal Peyton Royce, Lana hit Billie with a facebuster for a quick upset victory.
It was Lana’s first ever singles win. But don’t expect her to win MITB.
‘NEVER STOPPED’ Cena and Bella ‘reunited and together’ after cancelling wedding
Gallows and Anderson have a shot at the tag titles
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson battled the Usos to name the number one contenders to the Bludgeon Brothers’ tag team championship.
What began as a heated promo between the Usos and Gallows and Anderson turned in a short but exciting match-up.
It looked like The Usos were about to get the win with a double splash, but Gallows and Anderson quickly got the upper hand and hit the magic killer for the victory.
As brilliant as The Usos are, they’ve been overkill in tag team championship matches. It’s good to see someone else get a shot at the titles.
Though we’d be happy for just about about take the belts off the rubbish, not-over-in-the-slightest Bludgeon Brothers, quite frankly.
LATEST WWE NEWS
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura will be a Last Man Standing Match
Last week Nakamura beat WWE Champion AJ Styles, giving Nak the right to name the stipulation for their upcoming title match at MITB.
The pair faced off last night in a terrible promo. Nak joked the match would be a pillow fight and AJ replied that he always knew Shinsuke was the “king of soft style”.
(AJ might be the best wrester in the world, but his delivery of one-liners is appalling.)
It erupted into a brawl around ringside, before Nak hit the Kinshasa knee strike – knocking AJ out cold for a count of 10.
Nakamura then announced their match will be Last Man Standing.
After non-finishes in their last two matches – including a double count-out at Backlash – Last Man Standing is the perfect way to finish their feud.
Daniel Bryan has another chance at MITB – if he can beat Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan is on a roll. Last week he took out his 7-ft tormentor Big Cass with an attack to the legs and last night had a second chance at qualifying for the MITB ladder match.
Bryan faced Jeff Hardy, with the winner battling Samoa Joe next week – with the winner of THAT match entering MITB.
(WWE really is milking these qualifying stage matches for all they’re worth.)
Bryan and Hardy had a lively battle. As usual, the fans were firmly behind Bryan, who nailed Jeff with his patented kicks and locked in the heel hook for a tap out victory.
Samoa Joe jumped in the ring post-match to stare down Bryan. Joe and Bryan nose-to-nose was a spine-tingling image – a little taster of a dream feud.
Leave a comment