Daily DDT
Fansided

WWE SmackDown Grades: Mr. McMahon Stacks The Deck Against KofiMania

By Trace Johnson

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 09: (L-R) Tag Team Champions Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston of The New Day from ''WWE Monday Night Raw: 25th Anniversary' on USA speak onstage during the NBCUniversal portion of the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 9, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 09: (L-R) Tag Team Champions Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston of The New Day from ''WWE Monday Night Raw: 25th Anniversary' on USA speak onstage during the NBCUniversal portion of the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 9, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next

2. Rey Mysterio And R-Truth vs. Samoa Joe And Andrade

For several months, the United States Championship picture wasn’t in a very good place to end 2018 and entering 2019.  However, over the past couple of months, the title scene has been undergoing a positive transformation of relevance thanks to its past two champions.

R-Truth’s unexpected reign went very well all things considered, but Samoa Joe’s recent reign has been particularly stellar already.  The list of potential challengers for Joe and the U.S. Championship is rather lengthy, and a few on that list competed in a tag team match last night when Rey Mysterio teamed with R-Truth against Joe and Andrade.

These four competed in two very good Fatal 4-Way matches over the past week, but they would do similar work in tag team form in this match.  It was fast-paced and action-packed at times with the result of the match being in serious question.  It felt like history was repeating itself towards the end when Joe looked like he was going to get the win for his team in a reminiscent way as to how he won the U.S. Championship last week.

However, Mysterio managed to counter out of it into a roll-up that caught Joe by surprise and got the win for his team.  The Samoan Submission Machine was not pleased, as was evident by his brief post-match attacks of Truth and Andrade.  By pinning the U.S. Champion, it certainly looks like Mysterio will get a title opportunity against Joe sometime in the near future.  In terms of just this match though, it was stellar throughout.

Things have heated up for the red, white, and blue title picture and that was evident with this pretty impressive tag team match last night.

Final Grade: B+