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Last night’s WWE SmackDown saw a promo and return over two years in the making take place as well as other key storyline developments regarding WrestleMania 34.
The March 20 edition of WWE SmackDown was a solid show as a whole and did feature some very important moments, including news regarding the biggest news story to hit the WWE in a long time.
With WrestleMania 34 less than three weeks away, the blue brand is trending in the right direction and that should only continue over the next few weeks. With that being said, let’s take a look at a few grades from the March 20 edition of WWE SmackDown.
5. Opening Segment
A little over two years ago was when Daniel Bryan was forced to retire due to injury concerns. It seemed like he would never wrestle again, but Bryan’s long journey culminated last night when he reiterated a historic announcement from earlier in the day.
The WWE announced that Bryan has been medically cleared to compete in a WWE ring again and the SmackDown GM kicked off last night’s show by addressing that announcement. In what has to be one of the greatest shoot promos in a long time, Bryan was as real as real gets while addressing the WWE universe.
He talked about the journey it took to get back and how many people inspired him to try and get back, but none more than his wife Brie Bella. The moments he brought up Brie were especially emotional and just helped prove how important she is to him and how much he wanted to be able to get back in the ring.
Bryan said he isn’t sure when he’ll get back in the ring, but many fans have been speculating he will be in a match of some kind at WrestleMania 34 in just under three weeks. But future plans aside, Bryan’s promo to open up last night’s show was nothing short of outstanding and was as real and emotional as a WWE promo can be.
The Yes Movement is in line for a reunion tour and it was surreal to see Bryan in the ring announcing he would be able to wrestle again.
Final Grade: A+
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4. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
The King Of Strong Style has a date at WrestleMania with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in what will be the biggest match of his career. But in the meantime, Shinsuke Nakamura has had to deal with The Bulgarian Brute.
Nakamura defeated Rusev at Fastlane and last night, he got another match with Rusev in the show’s first matchup of the night. Rusev has been ridiculously over with the audience over the past few months and he has proven his worth in the WWE alongside Aiden English with the Rusev Day gimmick.
Much like their Fastlane encounter, Nakamura vs. Rusev was a solid match last night. It really did resemble their Fastlane match to a degree with both stars looking impressive. But much like the Fastlane match, Nakamura got the win only this time by just catching Rusev by surprise instead of kicking his head off.
Rusev and English attacked Nakamura after the match and with Styles sitting ringside, he was about to help Nakamura fend off Rusev and English. But just as Styles was about to get involved, The King Of Strong Style was able to fight them off by himself. Post-match shenanigans aside, this was a pretty solid match although it didn’t get enough time.
The in-ring chemistry between Nakamura and Rusev has been stellar lately and that trend continued last night.
Final Grade: B
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3. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya
WrestleMania is all about dream matches that will captivate the WWE universe. And one of the most anticipated dream matches at WrestleMania 34 will be Charlotte Flair defending her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Asuka.
These two phenomenal talents are WrestleMania 34 bound, but last night wasn’t about WrestleMania for Charlotte. She was approached backstage by Natalya and after an exchange of a few words, Natalya got a shot at knocking off the SmackDown Women’s Champion later in the night.
Charlotte and Natalya squared off and put forth one of the best TV matches the women’s division has seen in months. The two had very good chemistry in the ring and broke out a lot of weapons in their respective arsenals while also getting a good amount of time to compete, which is rare for TV matches.
The ending also saw a big tease when Carmella rushed the ring and tried to cash in her Money in the Bank contract on Charlotte. But The Queen was able to hit Carmella with a big kick to thwart her chance to cash in. The match between Charlotte and Natalya never got a chance to finish, but it was very stellar throughout the time it did get.
The Queen should have more challenges before Asuka at WrestleMania 34, and last night’s challenge by Natalya was impressive despite a non-finish.
Final Grade: B+
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2. Becky Lynch And Naomi vs. The Riott Squad
A seemingly never-ending feud of sorts on Tuesday nights has been The Riott Squad against Becky Lynch and Naomi. This never-ending feud would take place again last night in tag team action featuring two of the three members of The Riott Squad.
Lynch and Naomi had been joined by Charlotte Flair up until the Fastlane pay-per-view, but now since Charlotte has Asuka to deal with at WrestleMania 34, Lynch and Naomi are carrying out their feud with The Riott Squad by themselves. That continued last night in a less than five-minute match that didn’t do much for anybody.
Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan battled Lynch and Naomi in a decent tag team match, but it didn’t have a chance as it was given less than five minutes of action. And in the end, like most other times, Lynch and Naomi emerged victorious and The Riott Squad went away looking weak and unimportant.
This feud has to end because it seems like the WWE does the same match, to some degree, every single week. It’s not fair to anybody involved to do the same thing every week and not get a real chance to shine. Lynch and Naomi can do great things and The Riott Squad needs new challenges and better ways to establish as a top group in the WWE.
Feuds aren’t meant to go on forever and last night’s tag team match only further proved that these individuals need to go in separate directions from now on.
Final Grade: C
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1. Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, And Sami Zayn Segment
It has been years since the WWE universe saw Daniel Bryan take bumps in the ring and compete in any capacity. But now that he is officially cleared to compete in a WWE ring again, expect to start seeing the blue brand’s GM in more physical interactions.
As it turned out, the WWE wouldn’t make the fans wait long and Bryan closed out the show by calling Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to the ring after their vicious assault of commissioner Shane McMahon the previous week. Little did we know how chaotic this segment would turn out.
Bryan has gone to bat for Owens and Zayn in recent months in their feud with Shane O’Mac, but last night saw a different side to his relationship with the two. Bryan talked about his relationship with Owens and Zayn, but had to drop the hammer on them when after all was said, he fired them for their assault of Shane the week before.
As Owens and Zayn shook Bryan’s hand, they quickly turned on him and began beating down SmackDown’s GM. But Bryan was able to turn it back around and began hitting them both with some of his patented offense that fans have wanted to see for years, and it was awesome. But KO and Zayn still got the better of Bryan and laid him out to the point where he was being stretchered out.
Next: Daniel Bryan Shouldn't Go Full-Time Immediately
It was awesome seeing Bryan in a wrestler’s role in the WWE again, and it likely could lead to a WrestleMania 34 in-ring return potentially alongside Shane O’Mac against KO and Zayn.