The April 16th, 2019 episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. In addition to the takeaways below, Buddy Murphy announced that he is coming to SmackDown.
Here are 5 takeaways from the show:
Kevin Owens Became An Honorary Member Of New Day
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods joined the Kevin Owens show to start off this week’s episode of SmackDown. Owens congratulated Kingston on his victory at WrestleMania and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Kingston said that he appreciated the kind words and thanked the crowd. Owens brought up Big E’s injury and Woods went on a rant about RAW taking 80% of the UpUpDownDown roster. Owens suggested they enlist the help of “Big O” with Big E out of action.
Kofi and Woods noted that there is a lot of “movement of the groinal region” and Owens started to swivel his hips. Kingston asked Montreal if they wanted to see Owens as an honorary member of New Day they loudly applauded.
Owens then put on the New Day unicorn and danced with Woods and Kingston in the ring. Cesaro then approached Nakamura and Rusev backstage and asked to join them in their match against New Day later tonight.
Finn Balor Joined SmackDown
Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor joined the SmackDown roster tonight and battled Ali (formerly Mustafa Ali). Ali started off the match in control and applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring.
Finn broke free and knocked Ali to the canvas with a shoulder tackle. Ali connected with a Superkick and went for the cover but Finn kicked out at two. Ali went for a DDT but Balor countered with a Double Stomp.
Ali perched Balor on the top turnbuckle and joined him up there. Ali hit a Hurricanrana off the top rope for another near fall. Finn connected with a massive Dropkick and then followed it up with the Coup de Grace for the pinfall victory. Balor and Ali shook hands after the match.
I thought this was a very good match and it was nice to see a champion actually win a non-title match in WWE. Balor is a good fit on SmackDown and should benefit from a fresh start on a new brand.
Kairi Sane & Asuka Are Now A Tag Team
RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch came down to the ring to make an announcement regarding the Superstar Shake-Up. The crowd greeted her with a “Becky 2 Belts!” chant as she stood in the ring.
Lynch vowed to run through Lacey Evans and claimed that the two titles gave her the right to pick battles on either show. Ember Moon interrupted and announced that she was now on SmackDown. Becky advised Moon to not interrupt The Man, and Ember stated that she wasn’t out here for advice.
Ember said that she was out here to make a name for herself. Bayley then joined the party and announced that she was now on SmackDown. Bayley got booed out of the building and added that she was now on SmackDown as a singles competitor.
The IIConics interrupted and poked fun at Bayley and Sasha Banks for having no belts. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce boasted about taking Bayley’s titles and added that their titles are better than Becky’s because they are IIConic.
Paige interrupted and said that the audience will have more fun if Kay and Royce defended the titles. Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose came down to the entrance ramp and told Paige that they don’t need an introduction. Paige stated that she wasn’t here to represent Rose and Deville. Paige stated that she was here to represent Asuka and Kairi Sane.
Asuka and Sain then rushed the ring and a brawl broke out. It wound up becoming a 8-woman tag team match during the break. Bayley tagged in and the Montreal crowd once again booed her as she traded shots with Bille Kay. Bayley took out Rose and Deville with a Suicide Dive. Ember Moon followed it up with a Crossbody as SmackDown went to break.
Asuka tagged in when SmackDown returned and hit Royce with a Hip Attack in the corner of the ring. Asuka followed it up with a Reverse DDT and tagged in Sane. Kairi hit the Insane Elbow for the pinfall victory.
I’d rather see Asuka and Sane be singles competitors than teamed up for the sake of it. Ember Moon has been wasted since coming to the main roster, so she is another Superstar that has the potential to benefit from a fresh start. The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection appears to be over and Bayley’s return to singles competition got off to a rough start.
Owens, Kingston & Woods Picked Up The Win
Kofi Kingston, Xavier Wood & Kevin Owens squared off against Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro tonight on SmackDown. Rusev isolated Xavier Woods in the corner of the ring and beat him down.
Woods finally battled back and tagged in Kofi. Cesaro tagged in and Kingston greeted him with a Clothesline off of the top rope. Kingston went for a Crossbody off the top rope but Cesaro caught him. Kingston countered into the SOS for a near fall.
Cesaro trapped Kingston in the Cesaro Swing for ten rotations and followed it up with the Sharpshooter. Owens broke it up with a Superkick but got knocked out of the ring by Nakamura.
Rusev tagged back in and missed with a kick to Kingston. Owens tagged in and launched Rusev to the outside. Back in the ring, Kofi hit Rusev with Trouble in Paradise and Owens followed it up with the Stunner for the pinfall victory. After the match, Vince McMahon was shown watching the show backstage.
I was expecting Owens to betray Kofi and Woods after the match but instead, nothing interesting happened at all.
Roman Reigns Knocked Out Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon was greeted with a chorus of boos from the crowd. McMahon introduced Elias as the greatest acquisition in SmackDown history. Elias came down the entrance ramp with his guitar and thanked Mr. McMahon.
Elias stated that Vince McMahon has his finger on the pulse of what the audience wants and the crowd responded by loudly booing. He told the crowd to shut their mouths and began strumming his guitar.
Roman Reigns interrupted and marched down to the ring. Reigns hit Elias with a Superman Punch and Vince McMahon started shouting at him. Roman then hit Vince with a Superman Punch and grabbed the microphone. Reigns stated that SmackDown Live is his yard now and then posed on the turnbuckle. Roman then hit Elias with a Spear to close the show.
Both RAW and SmackDown were disappointing this week in my opinion. Reigns joining SmackDown was predictable and does nothing for me. I’m just hoping he doesn’t hop right into a feud with Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship because everyone knows how that will end.
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