SmackDown LIVE - 29/05/2020
- LDR
- May 30, 2020
- 5 min read
Going in to SmackDown this week we had a lot to look forward to. Daniel Bryan would take on Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles faced Elias en route towards the final of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. Sonya Deville and Lacey Evans had been calling each other out on Twitter, leading to a match here tonight and a Tag Team Summit was held with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day and the WWE Women's Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. Read on to find out what else went down on the blue brand.
Source: wwe.com
Battle Royal to Face Daniel Bryan in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament
The show opened this week with Jeff Hardy's car being found crashed into the side of Elias' vehicle. As Elias was put into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher, Hardy was being arrested in an intoxicated state for a potential hit and run. This all led to a discussion backstage about the remaining spots in the tournament. AJ Style was not willing to fight anyone other than Elias for his spot, so automatically moved into the final. Daniel Bryan, on the other hand, WAS willing and so a battle royal was made to determine who would face him. Baron Corbin led the field early but was shockingly eliminated by Jey Uso. Shorty G managed a few big scalps, throwing out Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro, but the Swiss Cyborg slid back into the ring and threw Shorty over the top rope without the ref seeing. The win eventually came when Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Jey Uso on the apron. The Irishman was a surprise loser earlier in this tournament and he and Bryan have a lot of chemistry, so this was a good choice. On the other hand, playing on Hardy's substance abuse issues is definitely distasteful and something you would hope WWE were better than, but clearly not.
Source: wwe.com
Lacey Evans v Sonya Deville
After the back and forth between these two online, Sonya came out to cut a promo on the Sassy Southern Belle. Evans jumped her from behind, taking offence to everything The Pride Fighter had been saying about her. As soon as the bell rang, these two went at each other with vicious forearms. The brawled around ringside, leading to a double count out. Deville told Evans that she wanted to fight her again, but on her terms. Could we be seeing the Pit Fight match take place on SmackDown? These two clicked really well, with their brawl having more to it than almost anything Deville and Mandy Rose put together and it is good to see Sonya getting something she can put herself into after a fairly disappointing split between the former Absolution partners.
Source: wwe.com
A Moment of Bliss: Tag Team Summit
Alex Bliss & Nikki Cross hosted The New Day as both sets of tag champs shared the ring. Cross gave Big E some Scotch pancakes that she had made and the two teams bantered off each other. The fun was interrupted by Sasha Banks and Bayley who claimed they were the best true tag team, but Alexa Bliss snapped back that Banks was the only person out there not holding a title. Bayley issued a challenge to Bliss on Banks' behalf and the match was set. Bayley grabbed some trainers for The Boss to compete in, swapping out her high heels. Boss was the more technical of the two and took advantage early on but a brawl between Bayley and Cross led to Bayley throwing the Scot into Bliss. Banks used the commotion to her advantage, hitting a double knee in the corner and a springboard O'Connor Roll for the win. Bayley has been spouting that she is a role model and the best champion in the women's division for a while now, so to see her going after the tag titles makes sense. Her relationship with Banks has been strained lately, so it is good to see them on the same page - even if it does just lead to a split further down the line. Also, Cross & Bliss now have two clear cut challengers for the straps, with The IIconics staking their claim recently too.
Source: wwe.com
Cesaro v Shorty G
After what went down in the opening battle royal, Shorty G had every reason to be mad at Cesaro and made his frustrations known. Cesaro responded by simply mocking the smaller competitor, to which Shorty responded with a punch to the face. As the match started, Shorty G took control with a flurry of kicks and used his speed to stay on top of his more powerful adversary. Cesaro managed to pick up the pace and get on Shorty's level but a surprise roll up left the diminutive technician as the winner. These two are sorely underrated and underutilised in WWE and both are capable of better matches than this. The main issue here was time - getting barely four minutes - but, if this is headed somewhere, we could see a fantastic match down the line.
Source: wwe.com
Kurt Angle Talks About Randy Orton v Edge
WWE are really leaning hard on the "Best Wrestling Match EVER" branding for the upcoming Orton v Edge encounter. It is a lot of pressure for both men to live up to and almost certainly can't be delivered upon. However, to help hype the match, a number of legends have been used to talk it up. Kurt Angle was that man here, again claiming that this could and should be one of the best matches of all time. What came next was more important however, as Angle proclaimed SmackDown had a new roster member - The Original Bro, Matt Riddle! A short video package played, showing off the former MMA man's in ring chops. Riddle is a great addition to SmackDown and - while it would have been nice to see him win the NXT Championship or reform the Broserweights - he doesn't have a lot left to do. SmackDown is the right call as Riddle will have some great matches with and alongside the more in-ring focused workers of the blue brand.
Source: wwe.com
Sheamus v Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Championship Tournament)
After winning the battle royal earlier in the night, Sheamus was not quite at 100% but he managed to bring Bryan to his level very quickly. Using brute force to take down the smaller man, The Celtic Warrior took control early on and managed to dominate for long portions of the match. Sheamus taunted Bryan, reminding him of all the times he had fallen to the Irishman, and he looked set to put the match away as he lined up the Brogue Kick. Just as he was about to strike Jeff Hardy returned to the arena, distracting Sheamus and allowing Bryan to hit a running knee to take the win and advance to the final to face AJ Styles. Hardy went after Sheamus, chasing the big man off as the show closed. Daniel Bryan facing AJ Styles will be a phenomenal match (pun intended) and this also sets up a continuation of the feud between Hardy and Sheamus. It could be that Sheamus had something to do with the incident that led to Hardy's arrest at the start of the show and used it to weasel his way into another shot in the tournament.
What did you think of this week's SmackDown Live? Who will win the vacated Intercontinental Championship? Was Jeff Hardy at fault for the accident? Will Matt Riddle be a success on the blue brand? Let us know what you think on this and more down below!
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