WWE SmackDown: The ‘smacks’ and ‘downs’ of Feb. 21, 2020

As we hit the stretch run to WrestleMania, what is WWE SmackDown doing to garner fan interest in their matches in Tampa? How were stories built upon? What worked and what didn’t on last night’s show? Why? Let’s look back at the main takeaways.

Since we started our own version of a “hits and misses” column for Dynamite (“booms and duds“), we decided to start one for what many thought would be the “A” show considering the large price FOX is paying for WWE SmackDown. For the purposes of this show, we’ll call the hits “smacks” and the misses “downs.” Makes sense, right?

The show has been anything but “A.” Out of the four main shows (RAW, SmackDown, NXT, Dynamite), SmackDown is clearly the show in need of the most help. While it seems to draw the same viewers every Friday night (including this one, but hey, I have an article to write), the quality of the show pales in comparison to even RAW, which has been improved in recent months.

How did tonight’s show fare? Well, it didn’t do much to instill optimism as we head into Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania. Stories were advanced, yes, but to what end? Goldberg appearing live; the Bellas on “A Moment of Bliss”; Naomi vs Carmella in a #1 contender match; and an eight-person tag were advertised.

I forgot to mention in my AEW piece that just because something is a hit/miss doesn’t mean it was an overwhelming choice. The selection could be 51 percent hit, 75 percent miss, and so on. Using the AEW piece as an example, the cage match was a 99 percent hit and the lights out/Darby Allin segments was a 55 percent miss for me. OK, back to SmackDown.

Let’s start with the surefire “smack” of the night.

(For the record, I would name the Cesaro-Nakamura-Zayn band The Roots, with Cesaro playing the role of Questlove on the cowbell.)

Smack: an eight-person tag match to start the night off hot

Generally, I’m not a fan of multi-person or trios+ teams as they generally devolve into a sequence where everyone hits their finisher for “This is awesome!” chants.

While this match had some sequences showing a lot of light (which happened in multiple sequences throughout the night), it built a good story that really engaged the fans who popped huge when the Usos and The New Day emerged victorious against Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, and The Miz.

Better yet, with us being reminded that somehow this time will be the “final encounter” between Roman Reigns and King Corbin, this advanced that story without needing to see either here (though we did see Corbin in a backstage segment later).

For those who watch Blood Mon- I mean Super ShowDown next Thursday, at least the Reigns-Corbin match in a steel cage will feel somewhat new.

Side note: it’s going to be hard to follow that Cody-Wardlow cage match from Wednesday’s Dynamite, and WWE has two cage matches in the next two weeks. First, we have the Reigns-Corbin match. Second, we have Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox in two weeks on NXT. Maybe we can hold off on cage matches until 2021?

While we started off hot, the rest of the show wasn’t as solid. On to the first “down” of the show.

Down: more like “symphony of the illogical”

It seems like this was booked backwardd with someone (not naming anyone) wanting a No Disqualification Match involving musical instruments. Otherwise, it really didn’t make sense for Zayn and Cesaro to hold a “protest concert” other than the fact Elias still strums a guitar he doesn’t play necessarily well to lyrics only preteens find amusing.

While this had more to do with extending to story between Intercontinental Champion Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura, it was a silly match (and not in the good The New Day way).

Unlike the Cody-Wardlow match I praised for the cage simply being there and not being the focal point of the action, this match made sure to get in all the musical instrument spots one could imagine, like this:

and this:

Worse, if it was No DQ, why did they start the match with each partner standing on the apron for a tag? This is just some of the shoddiness on details that is so agitating because the fixes are so simple. For this one, have your rules make sense, even in kayfabe!

Luckily, when we returned from commercial, we were in tornado tag mode.

Still, this was a match simply to have Strowman powerslam someone through a piano, or at least that’s what they hoped. It made little sense in story, and should have been left to a live event or scrapped altogether.

Down: going through the motions with the women’s segments

I’ll get to Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a little bit, but first, while great to see the Bella Twins back, “A Moment of Bliss” felt kind of awkward. Nikki didn’t seem to know when to jump in to talk, and Brie looked like she waited for cheers and paused at weird moments.

It didn’t help that the look on the face of Alexa Bliss said, “Well, this is awkward,” particularly when Daniel Bryan (and Brie’s husband) made his entrance with daughter Birdie in his arms.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1231040884583649281

With Naomi vs. Carmella, there just seemed to be a lack of chemistry between the two, at least last night. The match started off slow not because it was designed that way, but because it appeared they were trying to remember their sequences.

There were multiple spots in this match where you could almost see each wrestler going through the match layout as they were performing maneuvers. There was also a bad spot where Naomi’s springboard kick completely missed Carmella, prompting Graves to remark, “I think Carmella may have avoided that kick.”

I’m a huge fan of Naomi, so while this match was clunky, I am glad she has her opportunity to regain the championship; I just wish it was at WrestleMania so she could recreate her Orlando moment with one in Tampa.

After a great two weeks for the women’s division in AEW, there was just a little something missing in the women’s segments last night. Let’s hope it picks up on SmackDown heading towards WrestleMania.

-I was so ready to give the continuing Otis-Mandy Rose story a “down” simply due to the atrocious overacting of Tucker during his segment with Rose and Sonya Deville.

I mean, who walks up to people to talk to them only to completely face away from them and look somewhere else for a couple of seconds? He uses his hands way too much and tries way too hard with his facials. It is painful to watch.

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However, Rose and Deville are playing their roles well with Rose being the seemingly curious bombshell and Deville the bewildered best friend. Rose even said she was actually curious to see how her date with Otis would have gone.

What really saved it was the crowd support behind Otis. Maybe it was just the fans in attendance, but people really seem to be pulling for the Big Doze. Verdict: slight “smack.”

-On the other hand, what are they doing with Daniel Bryan? I wanted him to have a significant role at WrestleMania, but that seems far-fetched at this time. What was the point of having Heath Slater pop up on him last week? Why add Drew Gulak this week? He is too talented to be having five minute segments that don’t build anything. Verdict: significant “down.”

-The Fiend/Goldberg angle did what it was supposed to do (build interest in the match), but I have some worries. One, Goldberg was sweating so much for a five minute promo and one spear that I genuinely think he will either lose 50 pounds or faint from dehydration (whichever happens first) at Super ShowDown.

Two, The Fiend might be better losing the striped pants or having more of a kaleidoscope effect in the design. It just looks a bit too whimsical outside of the garish red light. Verdict: “smack” for the segment, “down” for Super ShowDown.

-Finally:

If it’s not Mustafa Ali (and the hints seem to suggest it is), I am going to be very, very upset. He deserves a prominent role and it’s about time we bear witness to his “light.” Verdict: BIG “smack” if it is Ali; BIG “down” if anyone else.

Let’s hope that with Super ShowDown out of the way, next week’s show can finally have some true builds towards Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania. Otherwise, the supposed “A” show will continue to be a grind to watch.