WWE SmackDown Review (5/2): Who Won This Week's MVP?, Charlotte, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho
Standout Moments
1) Y2AJ ? After getting a surprising win on Sunday at Payback, Chris Jericho headed over to SmackDown and received a welcome by not only Shane McMahon, but his old rival/tag team partner, AJ Styles. Who could forget that segment when those two got their own t-shirts and Jericho lit one on fire in the middle of the ring and threw it in the trash, good times. Getting back to last night, Styles nearly got his name on "The List of Jericho" when Kevin Owens decided to crash the party. Owens and Styles brawling on the ramp was just a nice reminder that these two will be running into each other in the very near future. An okay segment to start things off, mainly used as a vehicle to get fans not only pumped up for the U.S. title match later in the night, but the upcoming feud between Owens and Styles. WWE is clearly making an effort to get both secondary titles up a level on both Raw and SmackDown.
2) Send In Zayn! ? I mean who's a better option to make someone else look good than Sami Zayn? Not only does he obviously put on great matches, but he has an uncanny ability to get heat on whoever he faces. Before getting to the match, love how the Singh Brothers escort Mahal to the ring, with their brightly colored shirts and how Mahal about twice their size, it just works. This particular match wasn't the best, but Zayn did his job and the crowd reacted appropriately throughout. Singh Brothers got in a number of distractions to finally get Mahal the win, building up the number one contender. The numbers game just got to Sami, no shame in losing to Mahal, considering his current push.
3) Join Us ? The Welcoming Committee tried their best to recruit Becky Lynch to the group, and to be honest, they have some sound logic. Becky has had some bad luck with people turning on her and Charlotte is probably the worst offender. At first, Becky didn't seem totally against the idea, and I'm not either. Becoming the leader of a heel stable might be a nice change of pace for Becky, who's been good since she was on Team B.A.E. with Sasha Banks in NXT. If things didn't work out, the group could simply revolt and kick her out of the group, but more on this in a moment.
Getting to the match, Naomi was forced to start things off against Carmella and Natalya and did she ever! Loved how she was impervious to Carmella's initial strikes and instead lit Carmella up with a number of kicks. The Welcoming Committee looked like they had the match in hand when Charlotte finally showed up, and much to my surprise, the crowd cheered her! Charlotte has been nothing but awful for her entire main roster run and all it took was a backstage beat-down and alignment with Naomi to get the WWE Universe on her side. I'm truly amazed by that.
Thanks to an Ellsworth distraction and tights holding, Carmella got some revenge by pinning the champ. Typically, I don't like those endings, but it worked to get plenty of heat on the bad gals. If this segment wasn't already great enough, Becky Lynch came out and teased joining the group, instead starting a massive brawl that saw Tamina, Carmella, and Natalya standing tall at the end. Fantastic booking to make sure even the lower tiered women on the roster are a factor on the show. I absolutely loved both Women's Division segments on Raw and SmackDown this week, intriguing booking all around.
The pop-up powerbombs and the chair hurt, but this... this was truly devastating. pic.twitter.com/SKOUEHTVrs
? TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) May 3, 2017
4) The Face of America, Again ? Frankly, I wasn't really focused on this match, partly because I'm good with this feud being done. Jericho and Owens' entire story was incredible and I feel like we can move on from it. My attention was also unfocused due to the predictable ending, Owens was going to win the title back (considering the upcoming Fozzy tour, who's got tickets?!) and he did. To put a stamp on things, Owens put Jericho down (much like Braun Strowman) coming back for more, again and again. Bye for now Jericho, I saw a lot of fans saying this was his best run ever, not too shabby for the 46 year old veteran, man.
Trending Up
Tye Dillinger ? He's been getting quick segments, but the crowd is firmly behind him thus far into his main roster run. Dillinger will need to win a couple of these feuds against low card guys to help swell that crowd support. WWE needs to mix in a few promos with him, but so far so good. As for his opponent, Aiden English, well, at least he's getting some TV time! His breakdown in the ring and subsequent backstage segment with Jericho was solid. Heath Slater made a nice living off of getting beat up for most of his WWE career; maybe English could do the same?
Trending Down
Dolph Ziggler ? Whether you're a fan or not, we all know he can cut better promos than whatever WWE has been giving him with Nakamura. It does worry me a little bit if WWE can't figure out how to put together a proper feud with Shinsuke though. Hopefully, this is just a bumpy start to what should end with a fantastic match.
Lana ? Those vignettes aren't getting any better. Couldn't WWE switch these up a little bit to show off her promo skills or just put her in a different setting? We get it, she likes to dance, there has to be more than that, right?
This Week's MVP
Breezango ? "Chicago...The old windy apple." Just watch, Breezango finally getting something to run with and they nailed it.
Overall Thoughts
No Nakamura or Harper last night, which was a bit of a bummer. I'm hoping WWE is just waiting to get Harper back in there at the right time, so he's not just treading water. It's annoying though, the guy has so much talent and isn't exactly a spring chicken, I'm not expecting him to be the face of the show, but there's no reason why he couldn't be a staple in the mid to upper-midcard. In totality, a very watchable show, which included a fantastic women's segment, even the lows weren't unbearable to sit through.
Grade (out of 10): 6.5 (Last Week: 5.5)