WWE SmackDown Smacks/Downs: Braun Strowman a lackluster replacement

WWE was still advertising Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania even though Reigns himself announced withdrawing from the match.

Just how did WWE write Reigns out of the match while announcing his replacement? Here are the Smacks and Downs for the Apr. 3 episode of WWE SmackDown.

Last week, I discussed how while it was smart to tape several shows in advance of WrestleMania, the downside (which is massive) is that something can change in the time after tapings and render the prerecorded shows moot. That’s exactly what happened when Roman Reigns put his and his family’s health first.

Again, good for Reigns.

For those of us (including me) who haven’t found spoilers on the taped editions of the weekly shows and WrestleMania, the most intriguing story heading into last night’s show was just how WWE was going to replace Reigns, and with whom.

Remember that the first part of WrestleMania actually airs tonight at 7 EST/4 PST/1 Hawai’i, creating more anticipation for the reported change.

The change happened. Was the replacement worthy, and was the change done well?

Well…

Before proceeding, let’s remember that this episode was taped two weeks ago, well before the events that led to Reigns pulling out and The Uso’s being infuriated at The Miz.

As a reminder of my criteria, I’m not going to run through each match/segment. Rather, I will identify a couple of segments that either worked (“smack”) or didn’t for whatever reason (“down”).

My criteria include quality of match/segment and how it starts and/or builds stories. After all, we watch partly to be caught up in the stories. If a great work-rate match happens with no context or bearing on the stories, it’s going to be a miss.

Also, 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.

There are other subtleties to my criteria, but those are pretty much the parameters.

Let’s also agree that we should all be grading these shows on a bit of curve for pretty much any promotion. Rosters are limited right now, and WWE has several talent self-quarantining and/or unable to travel due to state or national restrictions. Dana Brooke’s self-quarantining, for example, led to a change in the Women’s Championship match for WrestleMania.