Powell’s WWE Smackdown Hit List: Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn for the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs. The Usos for the vacant Smackdown Tag Titles, Andrade vs. Ali, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon and Carmella

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE Smackdown Hits

Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn for the WWE Championship: Sure, you had to know Zayn would take the loss when they set this up as a Triple Threat, but he and Kingston did a terrific job of creating suspense with those excellent late near falls. This was another good win for Kingston following his Raw title defense against Daniel Bryan. I like that Kingston being positioned as a confident, fighting champion. He wasn’t challenged by Styles and Zayn, he made it clear he was up for facing either man and ended up facing both of them.

Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs. The Usos for the vacant Smackdown Tag Titles: A good tag match that made it at least feel like Bryan and Rowan did something to earn the titles rather than simply being named new champions by Shane McMahon. Bryan’s clean loss to Kingston on Raw made a lot more sense once it became clear he was being moved to the tag division.

Andrade vs. Ali: A minor Hit. I was hoping that the winner would get his second name back. Anyway, we got a cheap finish with Randy Orton interfering. No complaints. While both men need wins, neither needs a loss right now. I could have done without Orton taking out both men with RKO’s, but hopefully they will get some measure of revenge on him to make it seem like they are in his league.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Roman Reigns video package: A well produced video and all, but the last thing the company should be doing is reminding viewers of just how dominant he’s been and for how long. It’s times like this when I wonder if they secretly want half the audience to dislike him.

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon and Carmella: I was surprised to see Moon take the pin given her upside and the way the fans reacted so favorably when they thought she was going to face Becky Lynch in Montreal. Granted, she could still win Money in the Bank, but there’s just no reason to have her being pinned clean.

Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Court Bauer discussing MLW’s future, pay-per-view possibilities, whether MLW talent could appear on the AAA event at MSG, Salina de la Renta serving as the executive producer for the latest MLW Fusion television show, and more.


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