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The April 17 edition of WWE SmackDown was the final night of the superstar shakeup and the blue brand has been officially turned upside down with several new additions.
Last night’s WWE SmackDown improved the blue brand for months to come with the new additions of several key superstars and new pending debuts as well.
There are still several questions to be answered moving forward, but the future is bright for the blue brand. With that being said, let’s take a look at a few grades from the April 17 edition of WWE SmackDown.
5. Opening Segment
The blue brand edition of the superstar shakeup last night added a lot to SmackDown moving forward. But while the show received several new faces, the face that runs the place was still as present as ever to get things rolling.
AJ Styles opened up last night’s show to address Shinsuke Nakamura’s recent actions towards him. The WWE Champion said you learn a lot about someone when they lose and that is happening with Nakamura now. Styles called him out and said he isn’t leaving the ring until he comes out and faces him.
Instead of getting Nakamura, Styles got Rusev and Aiden English, which ultimately led to a very brief match between Styles and Rusev where English got involved in no time and the two began beating down The Phenomenal One. Styles received help in the form of Daniel Bryan and the two ended up fending off Rusev and English before a main event tag team match was made for later in the night.
This opening segment led to a key match and storyline development later in the night, but in terms of just the opening segment alone, it wasn’t that great. Styles’ promo seemed obvious and brief with not much going on. The chaos after Rusev and English showed up helped it out as a whole, however.
Last night’s opening segment was not the hottest start to SmackDown, but the rest of the show would more than pick up the slack.
Final Grade: B-
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4. Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin
The superstar shakeup wouldn’t take long to affect SmackDown last night after greatly affecting Raw the night before. And as it turns out, one of the biggest takeaways from Monday night would also make a big impact on Tuesday night.
The now singles competitor Shelton Benjamin was cutting a promo in the ring and said how he doesn’t need his former tag team partner Chad Gable that’s now on the red brand. Benjamin said he was going to get some big-time competition, and then Randy Orton began walking down to the ring. However, The Viper wouldn’t get his hands on Benjamin.
That right went to the new United States Champion and the newest member of SmackDown, Jeff Hardy. Hardy and Benjamin took part in a very solid match despite it not being very long. The two veterans broke out a lot of impressive action before Hardy got the win in a match that was a bit of a time travel back to the mid-2000’s.
Hardy on the blue brand is a big get for the show and should give Hardy another chance at a singles run in the WWE. It probably won’t end up like the singles run he had around 2008 or 2009, but even now at 40 years old, Hardy can still go and produce at a high level. That will be on display again when he defends his title against new Raw superstar Jinder Mahal at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
The Charismatic Enigma is back on the brand where he became a main event star about a decade ago and last night’s debut was an impressive one.
Final Grade: B+
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3. Samoa Joe Post-Match Segment
Most fans believed that SmackDown needed more star quality out of the superstar shakeup. Raw got several of the blue brand’s top mid-card talent, but SmackDown got a big-time player last night that should greatly affect the course of the blue brand.
Sin Cara was set for competition and given how he’s rarely on TV anymore, it was easy to assume he would be facing a heel coming over from the red brand. And that prediction rung true when Samoa Joe made his SmackDown debut that many fans had wanted for months.
As expected, Joe handled Sin Cara in little time. But the big story was his post-match promo where he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Joe said he looks forward to taking out all of the brand’s top stars, including Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles. He also went back to Roman Reigns, who he will face at Backlash in about three weeks.
Joe being on the blue brand is huge for the show and it gives the brand immediate star power and a legitimate threat moving forward. Imagine seeing Joe vs. Bryan or Joe vs. Styles in the future and that’s all the anticipation you need to love this move. Hopefully now he gets his chance to win a world title in the WWE as well.
The Samoan Submission Machine is one of the best promos in the business, and he lived up to those standards last night with a knockout post-match promo.
Final Grade: A
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2. Charlotte Flair vs. Billie Kay
The SmackDown Women’s Championship scene didn’t wait until the superstar shakeup to get shaken up. In addition to that shakeup from the previous week, last night also further shook up the division with the arrival of a game-changer.
After losing the SmackDown Women’s Championship via a Carmella cash-in last week, Charlotte Flair was in a fighting mood last night when she interrupted Carmella’s championship celebration. The Iconics chimed in as well and further proved to be a thorn in the side of The Queen. This segment led to Charlotte taking on Billie Kay of The Iconics in one-on-one action.
The match was pretty solid from start to finish and showed that Kay can produce at a pretty high level on the main roster. In the end, Charlotte got a measure of revenge by making Kay tap out. But much like the previous week, Charlotte got beat down by The Iconics and Carmella before the arrival of an empress.
Asuka made her official SmackDown debut and helped Charlotte fend off the three along with help from Becky Lynch. It’s safe to assume a six-woman tag team match is on deck sometime in the near future. But as far as Charlotte vs. Kay goes, it was a solid match that should be received as an impressive part of last night’s show.
The Queen will have her hands full moving forward, but she made the most of it last night with a victory over one-half of The Iconics.
Final Grade: B
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1. AJ Styles And Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev And Aiden English
The opening segment of last night’s SmackDown didn’t accomplish much in the short-term, but it did accomplish a long-term moment of sorts. After the developments to open up the show, a tag team match was made official for the main event of last night.
After Daniel Bryan helped AJ Styles when he was being attacked by Rusev and Aiden English, a tag team match was set which pitted Bryan and Styles against Rusev and English. It was awesome enough to see Bryan and Styles as a team in the WWE, but adding Rusev and English to the equation was even better.
The match itself was solid, even though it wasn’t set up to be a prototypical tag team match with a clean finish. In fact, the match didn’t get a finish at all thanks to Shinsuke Nakamura and the returning Big Cass, who made his blue brand debut. Nakamura hit Styles with another unexpected low blow and Cass took out Bryan.
It was a bit odd to see the show end with Big Cass standing tall, literally and figuratively, but hopefully he can have a big impact on Tuesday nights. And then there’s the Styles and Nakamura situation which will reach another level when the two have a WrestleMania rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble event for the WWE Championship.
Next: WWE SmackDown Review For April 17 Show
Last night’s tag team main event was a solid match, but could have ended up much better if given more time and a clean finish.