So this review may be a little different to normal; mainly because I’ll be watching the show live (subject to how much I can resist falling asleep) and also… because… idk if you heard… BUT DANIEL BRYAN HAS BEEN CLEARED TO RETURN TO THE RING!!! YES, YES, YES!!!
The show itself begins with a video recap of Daniel Bryan’s retirement announcement, a little over 2 years ago now, as well as the news that broke earlier in the day about his clearance to compete again in the ring. This really was news that absolutely exploded earlier in the day, the internet went absolutely crazy over it for a good half an hour it was all people in the wrestling world were talking about. The live crowd begin the inevitable “YES” chants before the man of the moment made his way to the ring, the Smackdown Live General Manager… and I guess now ‘superstar’ too… Daniel Bryan! He then proceeded to cut a very emotional (and that was just me watching at home) and powerful promo; ‘Thank you … last week something horrible happened to Shane McMahon but unfortunately Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are not here yet so Imma have to talk about something else…’. He went on to say that as he was coming to terms with the fact that he had to retire from wrestling he began to ‘focus on being grateful… I have amazing family, amazing friends, the best fans in the world, and I also have an amazing beautiful wife… and when I was depressed… she came to me and she said ‘it’s wonderful that you’re grateful but you need to …fight for your dreams’ … she encouraged me to see specialists…’. Very worthwhile chants of “THANKYOU BRIE” began to ring around the arena from the crowd, the particularly powerful line there was “Fight for your dreams” which if you take anything from all this it is surely that. This isn’t as much a wrestling angle but a real life man achieving something he could only dream of before and overcoming incredible odds and obstacles to do so.
Bryan would continue to say that over the last 2 months I asked WWE to re-look at my case’, he credited them for sending him to all the best appropriate people he needed to go to, and the crowd rejoiced more so when he said that ‘every specialist said the same thing; “you are cleared”’. More “YES” chants from the crowd, I’ve a feeling we may get one or two more in the foreseeable future. Bryan would go on to say ‘thank you to the WWE and their doctors, first and foremost they looked at me as the person and not the wrestler and for that I will be forever grateful to them, I also am grateful that they were willing to give my case a 2nd look… and I wanna say thank you to every single person here, to every single person watching at home cuz you guys have supported me for this entire time and lastly but not leastly I would like to say thank you to Brie (he began to choke up a little here as we all did watching)… I don’t think any of you truly understand how much she’s supported me over the last 2 years… so now… on to the fun stuff right? I don’t know exactly when or where I will get back in this ring’ (he then looks at the Wrestlemania sign, there’s Wrestlemania chants from crowd…. OMFG THIS IS AMAZING!!!) “Does that sound like a good idea?” he asks the crowd. Obviously the crowd goes ape shit with more “YES” chants, he went on… “I don’t know for sure if that’s gonna happen but will Daniel Bryan compete in a WWE ring again?” “YES” chants the crowd as Daniel Bryan did the yes arm raises himself gleefully in the ring before making his exit. And that was the end of the best segment/promo in WWE or anywhere else in the wrestling world since… Daniel Bryan’s retirement speech!!! It was everything we had all hoped for and more. Indescribably positive and joyous. Daniel Bryan was then shown backstage after the ad break with referee Charles Robinson who passed on his best wishes as Bryan was looking for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, he was then greeted by Dolph Ziggler who too congratulated Bryan on his clearance, but said “I can’t wait to beat you”. Dolph Ziggler vs Daniel Bryan sounds ok, but there are SOOOOOOOOOO many more matches that are real possibilities now.
First match of the show was Rusev (with Aiden English) vs Shinsuke Nakamura in a Fastlane re-match with the Men’s Royal Rumble winner’s Wrestlemania opponent, WWE Champion AJ Styles, sat at ringside to take in the match. You may well have heard that AJ is carrying an injury, which apparently he is but the match at Mania is still definitely ON, so don’t worry too much about it. Fun match here, similar to the ppv one, an even contest of Rusev’s power against Nakamura’s technical mastery. Shinsuke got the win via a roll up but was immediately beaten down by English and Rusev after the match was done. Like Nakamura last week AJ Styles very slowly appeared to be preparing to make the save, but before he entered Nakamura was able to fend off his two foes by himself. AJ and Nakamura then starred eachother out to end the segment (with regards to AJ’s injury this segment showed me that AJ is fine but is being protected, so don’t expect any physical stuff from Styles anytime between now and Mania). Next we were shown an Asuka promotional video package which the Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair was shown watching backstage, she was then told by long term rival Natalya that she was ‘scared’ of Asuka and their impending match, to which Flair responded by saying “I’m actually excited” and a brief verbal exchange between the two led to Charlotte vs Natalya being set for later in the show. AJ and Shinsuke then had a brief but very funny exchange backstage, you can tell these 2 have great admiration for one another and they work together so well. Now AJ appears to be all fine medically for the match the excitement for it will only intensify. Next match was Tye Dillinger vs Baron Corbin. This was about 5 minutes long and Corbin won. Not much more too it.
Charlotte vs Natalya was after. This was a decent enough match between two women who have a long history together and so chemistry wasn’t a problem at all here, Charlotte hit a great looking spear on the outside and eventually had Nattie in the Figure 8 submission in the ring. However she would refuse to tap … and then CARMELLA (MS MONEY IN THE BANK) CAME DOWN TO THE RING AND ATTEMPTED A CASH IN! However she was thwarted as she turned around from handing her briefcase over into a huge big boot from the champion Charlotte. This distraction however led to Natalya rolling up Charlotte for the win. I liked the failed cash in, there’s been a few of these teases form Carmella now and I really like how they’re telling her story with the briefcase. Hopeful it has a good and dramatic ending, not so sure how I feel about Natalya pinning the champion before Charlotte has one of the biggest showdowns in women’s wrestling history in a couple of weeks but… Jimmy Uso (with fellow tag team champion, his brother Jey) vs Harper (with his [Bludgeon] brother Rowan supporting him at ringside) was next. This of course coming off the back of Rowan and Harper’s dominance over both The Usos and also The New Day in recent weeks as their ongoing pursuit of the gold has taken more forceful steps. Fun match this between two supremely underrated talents, and after interferences from both tag team partners that were on the outside it was Harper who got the win. Their winning those belts at Wrestlemania, I’m in no doubt about it. There was then a 3 way promo between United States Champion Randy Orton, the former champion Bobby Roode and the challenger Jinder Mahal (that match being made official for Wrestlemania shortly before Smackdown went on the air by the way). Jinder talked himself up, Roode told Mahal he was a hypocrite and that respect was a 2 way street, and Orton told Jinder that he relied heavily on the help of his stooge [Sunil Singh] and this was why he had little respect. They appeared to be about to have a brawl but Jinder would throw his loyal follower Sunil Singh into Roode and Orton before quickly exiting the ring. The two then beat the helpless Singh down before the 3 Wrestlemania opponent starred eachother down. Match will be fine I’m sure but this feud just does nothing for me to be honest. Final match of the show was Becky Lynch & Naomi vs Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan with their Riott Squad leader Ruby watching on from ringside. Bit of a nothing match really, finish came when Becky had Logan in her submission and Naomi stopped the interference from Morgan to give the faces the win. These women will all be in the Women’s Battle Royal at Mania… yeah… whatever…
And finally, of course, the show ended with Daniel Bryan delivering his judgement out to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens regarding their recent actions and their attack on Shane McMahon last week. A clearly disappointed Bryan made clear to Zayn and Owens that ‘you assaulted your boss, I don’t get it… you guys won… you got what you wanted… Shane said he was leaving and gave you a one on one match at Wrestlemania and I was here in your corner to run the show… and you guys still felt the need to assault your boss?’ Bryan goes on to say that he just doesn’t get it (with Owens and Zayn and their recent actions) and he goes on to say that ‘I don’t want to have to do this… you’re fired!’ continuing by saying ‘this doesn’t mean you’re gone forever, just for now… I’m so sorry’. Both Sami and Kevin then shake Daniel Bryan’s hand, and turn away to slowly leave the ring, before turning back to attack the man who just ‘fired’ them. It is a bit of beatdown until the wonderful moment we have all waited 2 years for, Daniel Bryan got some offence in a WWE ring! He eventually has both Zayn and Owens in either corner of the ring, before delivering his signature kicks to Owens in the corner and then a WONDERFUL German Suplex on Zayn which delighted the Dallas crowd. He followed these great moves up with a series of running dropkicks to them both one after the other, with both men prone still against each opposing ring corner. The crowd were then delighted more so when Bryan hit his ‘YES’ kicks to Owens, but was sadly stopped after a takedown by Zayn. Owens and Zayn then hit Daniel Bryan with a superkick and a Helluva kick respectively, and it was KO who finished the assault by hitting a Powerbomb, slamming Bryan against the ring apron. And that was how the show closed… with Owens and Zayn destroying a Smackdown authority figure for the second week in a row… I think the match for Mania now is pretty much wrapped up isn’t it? YES, YES, YES!!!
And that was Smackdown. OK show. Mania soon. DANIEL BRYAN IS BACK!!!
Key Points to Take Home
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Conclusion
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 