By Jake Barnett
WWE Smackdown Hits
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks: This match should have been hyped on Raw, but even with that handicap the women did a nice job of furthering their feud heading into WrestleMania. Charlotte has done a nice job of getting underneath the skin of both women, and I’ve liked the fact that none of these women are particularly friendly with one another. Even though Becky is clearly the babyface, she’s still felt entirely justified in taking her shots at Sasha and Charlotte after the match, after their continual betrayals. I expect the women’s match to turn some heads in Dallas next week.
The Intercontinental Championship Shuffle: Kevin Owens is a highlight as the Intercontinental Champion. The surrounding cast of characters isn’t bad per se, but Owens is the only one who truly feels like he’s made a connection with fans. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and Sami Zayn feel like they deserve to be in this match, but Owens is the only one who feels like he’s going somewhere as a character. I’m still hopeful that we can eventually get the kind of feud from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens on the main roster that we saw in NXT and elsewhere in the wrestling world, but they haven’t earned it yet and I feel like they’d need to separate them for a while and come back to it later to have any real impact.
Roman Reigns: A minor hit here for Roman, who has shown good intensity since coming back from injury. I still don’t think he’ll succeed as babyface, but he just might be onto something as a juggernaut style unstoppable heel. It would certainly be more interesting than trying to force him into a role he clearly isn’t built for.
AJ Styles vs. Tyler Breeze: Another minor hit for these two, who had a passable match in what was clearly an attempt to spotlight the offense of AJ Styles. Breeze could be a lot more if given the opportunity, but without some serious retooling of how he’s presented I don’t see him leaving the role of jobber to the stars anytime soon.
Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar: Another very entertaining promo from Paul Heyman, who continues to prove himself as one of WWE’s best promo assets every time he’s in the ring. His effortless cheap shots at Terry Funk and Mick Foley were awesome, and his insistence that he most dangerous thing in any WWE ring was Brock Lesnar himself was a great way to counter Ambrose’s recent acquisition of several legendary weapons. Lesnar looks leaner and meaner than ever. He makes Ambrose look like a kid, which is great from a storytelling standpoint.
WWE Smackdown Misses
The Wyatt Family: It’s hard not to get a sinking feeling about their interjection into the final segment with Lesnar and Ambrose. That match should have a clean winner, no matter who it is, because it’s a disservice to Dean Ambrose to have a cop out finish. He has everything to gain by defeating Lesnar, and he can still gain a lot in defeat if he takes Lesnar to the limit and lets his toughness earn him the respect of the Beast.
New Day and The League of Nations: I like New Day generally speaking. They were entertaining here with their antics, but the League of Nations is truly an albatross around their neck. Fans don’t hate The League of Nations as much as they are bored to tears by them. They aren’t well developed as a cohesive unit, and we don’t really know what their goals are as a unit aside from being huge downers on every show. They are making New Day less funny, because making fun of them doesn’t even require hyperbole.
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