Tiffany’s Takes: WWE SmackDown Live (4/23/19)

Tiffany checks in with her Takes on WWE Smackdown for April 23!

I’m back! We’re one week out from the still-ongoing Superstar Shakeup, so let’s see how the New SmackDown is doing!

Roman Reigns

Shane McMahon vs Roman Reigns? Sign me up! Seriously, even though it looks like Reigns will be feuding with Elias for now, we all know that this will end up being Shane vs Roman Reigns by SummerSlam. I do find it hilarious that Shane gets so upset when someone attacks his father, when he himself has punched Vince more than once.

I’m not super-stoked by Reigns vs Elias, but I don’t think putting Reigns in the Money in the Bank match is really necessary at this point. Let him get used to being back on the road for awhile and then we’ll talk about titles.

Finn Balor vs Andrade

One of the changes made from the Shakeup last week was that Andrade and Vega were moved back to SmackDown, supposedly because Andrade wanted his Intercontinental Title shot, he should’ve stayed on RAW.

The match was excellent, but I wonder if they’re aiming to split Andrade and Vega because her role in this match was weird. She didn’t even try to hide her interference, so why she wasn’t ejected is beyond me. Whatever the reason, it would cost Andrade the Intercontinental Championship and Balor moves on to another opponent.

Kairi Sane vs Peyton Royce

Those poor IIconics can’t win for losing. Bright side? At least this match went longer than the match against Naomi, but that’s about the only upside of this match.

I love Paige, but her managing Sane and Asuka is an odd choice. Also, what the hell is up with Rose and Deville? Why are they so dead-set on having Paige back as their manager? I understood it when Paige was General Manager of SmackDown, but now it’s just weird.

Aleister Black

I loved this promo by Black. I love how he’s very aware of the impression his general appearance and calling people out on it. Very nice.

Jinder Mahal vs Chad Gable

So, Raw got Cesaro and SmackDown got Jinder Mahal and the Singhs in exchange. I think SmackDown definitely got gypped in this trade and I felt bad for Chad Gable for being stuck with making Mahal look good, but we were…saved from that terrible fate by Lars Sullivan.

I don’t like Sullivan or Mahal, so the prospect of two bad wrestlers facing off doesn’t fill me with joy, but I did love R-Truth taking it to Sullivan, but I don’t want Carmella involved.

Becky and Charlotte (Charlotte vs Bayley)

I love Becky to pieces, but I’m SO over the Becky vs Charlotte saga. I’m also tired of Charlotte getting title chances. She lost at WrestleMania, like it or not, and she knew that if Ronda or Becky pinned the other, she’d lose her SmackDown Women’s Championship, so her whining that Becky hadn’t beaten her had me rolling my eyes.

I SO wanted Bayley to beat Charlotte. Bayley has definitely had more character development by team with Sasha Banks and letting out that inner nasty, but we’re getting Becky Lynch vs Lacey Evans and Becky Lynch vs Charlotte at Money in the Bank and neither match is thrilling me.

Firefly Funhouse

I still hate this promo. Nope. Not having it. Burn the tape and try again.

Kofi Kingston vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Okay, we all knew that Owens was going to turn heel sooner or later, right? Owens is NOT a good babyface, he’s a better heel, but I don’t think we thought New New Day would only last a week. That said, it looks like we’ll be getting Kofi Kingston vs Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank, which sounds exciting.

The match with Nakamura was much better than I’d expected. I’ve tried very hard to be impressed by Nakamura and have repeatedly been unimpressed, but he did really well against Kingston, so there might be hope for him yet.

Overall Thoughts: So the new Era of SmackDown didn’t go quite as smoothly as RAW’s did, in my opinion. The opening segment and the main events were good, but the rest of it was pretty blah.

At least it seems like WWE was using this week to get things in place for the coming weeks, every match seemed to be there to create new feuds and storylines, so even though the matches weren’t all great, there was a point to it.

Stay tuned for my coverage of 205 and tomorrow, we’ll be tackling the NXTs. Use your head!