WWE: More “downs” than “smacks” for Feb. 28, 2020

Nine days from Elimination Chamber and five weeks from WrestleMania, how did WWE SmackDown advance their stories for the events? What worked and what didn’t? Here are your “smacks” and “downs” for the Feb. 28, 2020 airing.

After last week’s lackluster SmackDown that received more “downs” than “smacks” from me, did WWE do any better with last night’s show?

Short answer: yes, but with a huge caveat: WWE, if anything, is somehow simultaneously illogical yet predictable.

Here’s a reminder of how I evaluate what is a “smack” (hit) and a “down” (miss). First, I generally won’t go segment-by-segment. Second, just because something is a “smack” or “down” doesn’t mean it’s overwhelming; it could be slightly either, or it could be solidly either. Third, I try to tie my analysis to the macro context: what stories are wrestlers currently involved in, what’s their histories, etc.?

We had Goldberg to start the show and the returning John Cena to close the show. There was Kofi Kingston vs. Robert Roode (w/ Dolph Ziggler; Naomi vs. Bayley which quickly became Naomi and Lacey Evans vs. Bayley and the returning Sasha Banks; and Intercontinental Championship match contract signing for Elimination Chamber; Daniel Bryan vs. Curtis Axel (w/ Drew Gulak); and The Usos vs. The Miz and John Morrison.

To begin, let’s go with a “smack” to start things off on a positive note.

Smack: THE BOSS IS BACK

Sasha. Banks. Is. Back.

Suffice it to say I’m a big fan of “The Boss,” and it’s great to see her back after suffering an ankle injury. Best of all, she looked like she has been wrestling at every show as there really were no visible signs of rust. Banks’ return gives a much needed injection of star power into the SmackDown women’s division.

After a week where the women’s division left me feeling indifferent, tonight was a step in the right direction. Rather than acting like we forgot about the history between Banks and Evans, Evans made the save when Banks helped Bayley engage in a 2-on-1 beating of Naomi.

Further, while her face “turn” was tepid at best, her promos, in-ring work, and victories seems to have caught on with the fans as she keeps receiving good pops. Banks as the bonafide heel against Evans as the military momma face should make for an emotional story when they meet (which was the plan before her injury).

A slight nitpick with Evans is I believe she should change her gear. It is pretty much the same gear she had as a heel with the colors corresponding to the respective show. Since WWE keeps reminding us of her military background, what about military-inspired gear? This doesn’t mean it has to be camouflage. It could be another way to build fan support for Evans.

Also, look at the height of the bump Naomi took on the backstabber from Banks:

Down: I thought The Fiend attacked people; guess I was wrong

The Fiend is supposed to be this dark, evil alter ego of Bray Wyatt who doesn’t feel pain yet dishes it out with abandon. He attacked Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan to set up angles, and even though he was on the receiving end of a spear from Goldberg, he was the one to confront Goldberg and was just beat to the punch.

He also ambushed Mick Foley, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Kane.

Then why did he appear behind Cena only to offer a respectable challenge?

This just isn’t The Fiend character we’ve come to know over the past six or so months. Respect? The Fiend has never acted with respect, so why start now? Is it because, as Michael Cole annoyingly kept reiterating, John Cena is the “greatest of all time” in WWE’s book? Did his loss to Goldberg, which was basically the inverse of every match of The Fiend post-Hell in a Cell, humble The Fiend to the point of respect?

For all we know, either or both could be the answer(s). Not having heard from The Fiend/Bray Wyatt makes it harder to come around to this new disposition because there is nothing to contextualize why it happened, just like the face turn for Lacey Evans (more on this later).

Since the show ended a bit early anyway, maybe this would be a “smack” if a Funhouse segment aired after Cena spoke to give us The Fiend/Wyatt’s motivation. Hopefully we have that Funhouse segment next week.

Down: what is going on with the Intercontinental Championship segments?

Did we really need a contract signing segment for this? Even though it was seemingly well received, this is much like last week’s unneeded “Symphony of Destruction” match (I think people just like seeing carnage).

Before I get to the “down” part, two moments stuck out for me. First, HELLUVA KICK!

Second, the end of the segment put some “oomph” into it to make fans happy with their tandem offense: a Helluva Kick/double suplex through a table combo!

Those Helluva Kicks had to feel good for Sami Zayn considering he hasn’t wrestled much, particularly on television. I would have liked Braun Strowman to stay down a little longer to sell the spot more, but maybe it was made up by his stumbling.

Here’s where the down part comes in: They could easily have reached the 3-on-1 match with a simple promo from Strowman.

He merely had to say exactly what he said that led to Zayn “amending” the contract, and emphatically ending it with something like, “Here’s a gift for you: it’s you three versus me for my Intercontinental Championship, and I’m walking out of Elimination Chamber with the title still wrapped around my waist.”

That would have taken two minutes.

Furthermore, Shinsuke Nakamura lost to Strowman (albeit in a tag match) clean in that “Symphony of Destruction” match last week…at least as clean as a match with a Falls Count Anywhere stipulation. Every time the trio of Zayn, Nakamura, and Cesaro went after Strowman before this, they pretty much ended up on the wrong side of a beating.

If anything, considering his winning streak, Daniel Bryan should have been the #1 contender to Strowman’s championship, and this segment is a perfect encapsulation of the next “down” from the show.

Down: how is something so predictable so illogical?

The Reigns vs. Goldberg and The Fiend vs. Cena for WrestleMania were speculated, but made fairly obvious by the results of Super ShowDown. When Goldberg asked, “Who’s next?,” everyone knew whose music was going to hit and who was going to confront Goldberg.

It was also predictable that it took Reigns five minutes to walk to the ring and another 20 staring at Goldberg before he uttered two words (time estimates may be wrong).

We also knew Cena wasn’t retiring or “saying goodbye for now” if only by the fact he was laying it on so thick. The Fiend dropping the Universal Championship also freed up any constraints for either character, but particularly Cena as the entire build would have been focused on Cena’s attempt to break the “record” 16 reigns by Ric Flair.

The other obvious point to highlight is most everyone knew the Bayley vs. Naomi match would have interference and be turned into a tag match; at least the interference happened fairly quickly.

This predictable booking is further weighed down by how illogical what is colloquially known as “WWE logic” truly is.

Naomi pins the champ so she should get a title shot. In what other combat sport (as pro wrestling is simulated to be) does a champ fight a non-title fight outside of a failed weight cut by the challenger (like tonight’s UFC event)? I understand pro wrestlers are much more active than pro mixed martial artists, but there also isn’t a need to have wrestlers on television every week (the roster is deep enough). If anything, for pinning the champ, Naomi should be champ.

This applies to new Tag Team Champions The Miz and Morrison as well. Not only do they lose to The Usos in a non-title match, but this somehow thrusts them into defending their titles at Elimination Chamber against five other teams.

Maybe it’s just me, but similar to a cage match, the EC match should be saved when you want to have heel champions who have used every trick in the book to retain their titles trapped, unable to escape and weasel their way out of another match.

Again, since they pinned the champs (just like the champs did The New Day the night before), the tag champs should be The Usos.

I already discussed the roundabout, carnage-filled path to the IC Championship handicap match, and this sudden change in disposition for The Fiend. What these highlight is the lack of consistency in character as opposed to just angles.

Evans and The Fiend are the biggest examples, but a quick look at NXT shows The Forgotten Sons “turned” face because they were upset at the NXT UK tag team Grizzled Young Veterans using “Veterans” in their name and calling out Americans. This makes me want to forget them even more.

This illogical thinking will probably be exacerbated by what should be a fantastic AEW Revolution card tonight, where logical storytelling and character development take a front seat instead of a backseat.

A few quick ones to end

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

-Everyone knows I love Daniel Bryan as a fellow Washingtonian, and because he is one of the best ever. It’s still early, but I love the little feud he’s had brewing with Drew Gulak the past few weeks. Gulak is a technician, much like Bryan, and these two would put on a phenomenal match (sorry, AJ!). I don’t really trust WWE to book this too well (see: previous slide), but if I had my choice:

-The New Day is great. They have a strong connection with fans young and old alike. They truly do embody the “power of positivity. However, just once, just once, I would like to see The New Day appear and make their entrances in a more serious manner and tone.

I get they want to be positive, but it would seem more realistic if they showed some non-comedic passion (it also would be a logical disposition change!). Then again, Kingston barely registered his six second squash to Lesnar, so my hopes are probably too high.

-Lastly, the most wholesome moment had to be during Naomi’s entrance. As she greeted the fans at ringside, she took off her glasses and handed them to a young girl in the front row.

The excitement on the face of that child and her gestures just made me say, “Aww.” Naomi also had that big smile on her face as she saw how much that meant to that child. The child was downright giddy.

Let’s hope next week’s go-home show for EC will be better than the past few. In the meantime, see you next time!