WWE SmackDown 03/20/18: The Return of the GOAT
About Last Night is a quick reflection on the matches and segments, or random observations, from a wrestling show that sticks out to us the morning after we watch them. If you would like to get your comments featured, chime in below in our comments section or tweet us. You can also help support us on Patreon.
About Daniel Bryan Being Cleared…
SmackDown opened with a video package recapping Daniel Bryan’s retirement, with clips of his WrestleMania XXX victory interspersed. He then came out to cut a heartfelt promo explaining how difficult the journey was to get here. He was depressed and angry, but tried to focus on being grateful for all he had. It was his wife Brie who told him to fight for his dreams, and he kept going to all the specialists to find a way to wrestle again. This year he finally got WWE to reopen his case, and all the neurologists around the country that he saw cleared him. He doesn’t know when he’ll get back into the ring to compete in a match, and the crowd all pointed to the WrestleMania sign and chanted it.
This was an incredible segment, and already skyrockets Bryan into being the top babyface in the company. It’s impressive how loud the Yes chants were and this makes WrestleMania a LOT more anticipated. It’s also perfect that it will be in the same arena as WrestleMania XXX. But when it comes to the match he’ll have… we’ll talk about that later.
About Rusev Being Used…
Once again, we have one of the competitors in the WWE Championship match fighting Rusev while the other sits at ringside. This time it was Shinsuke Nakamura wrestling in a Fastlane rematch, and unfortunately it didn’t come close to that in quality. That’s not to say the match wasn’t fine, but Nakamura winning with the roll-up was lame. After the match, Aiden English and Rusev double teamed Nakamura and AJ Styles hesitated to help. He slowly got up and took off his jacket, but by the time he was ready Nakamura has already taken care of the problem.
It’s a shame that the build for this match at WrestleMania feels so flat, while Rusev also getting all his momentum killed by playing a punching bag. I can understand not needing to overbook Nakamura vs. Styles, but Rusev was one of the hottest acts going for the past few months. It’s starting to feel like the crowd is giving up hope for him with the way he is booked. Hopefully a win in the Battle Royal could help salvage this, but it might already be too late. Speaking of which…
About the WrestleMania Battle Royals…
The middle of this show was stuffed with some throwaway matches as we got Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger and Naomi & Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan. They tried to give purpose to these happening by mentioning all the competitors had announced off-camera that they’re entering their respective WrestleMania Battle Royals. These felt like just time fillers, and the only thing that stood out was Tye botching getting hit with The End of Days and getting thrown out of the ring to set up a second take. I understand they need to fill television time and keep some names on screen to promote these matches, but I’d rather them put more time into the big matches at Mania.
About Carmella at it Again…
A match they did a good job of promoting on this episode was Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka. With Asuka still doing her thing on Raw (despite being in the arena for the Mixed Match Challenge), they set up a short storyline for Charlotte with Natalya, who is mad that Asuka swooped in and took “her” WrestleMania spot. So Charlotte challenged her to a match, and it was a close one up until the end. With both women down from a superlex, Carmella ran out with her briefcase and tried to cash in. Charlotte knocked her out before the bell rang for the cash-in, and the distraction was enough for Natalya to steal the victory.
I liked all of this, as it can set up a title match as one last obstacle for Charlotte to get to WrestleMania, while it also gave us a reminder that Carmella still has that briefcase that she needs to cash in soon. We’re still a few weeks out from WrestleMania, so I’m happy we can still get in some interesting stories in the meantime.
About The Assassination of Daniel Bryan…
Daniel Bryan wasn’t just here to announce his in-ring return, he also had to deal with that whole issue of Shane McMahon getting destroyed by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn last week. He called the two out and admitted that he was indeed living vicariously through them before he was cleared, but he couldn’t understand why they would attack him again. Shane had given them everything they wanted – he was stepping down as Commissioner, and he even gave them a singles match at WrestleMania against each other. But they still did such a heinous assault to him, so Bryan had no choice but the fire them. Enraged, Owens and Zayn attacked Bryan and Bryan actually fought back with his classic offense. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and the numbers got the best of him. The shocking conclusion was Bryan getting powerbombed on the apron by Owens, resulting in having to be stretchered out.
It was crazy seeing Daniel Bryan taking bumps again so soon, and Bryan seemingly not slowing down his offense at all with those corner drop kicks. I cringed at him landing on his neck on those, but I still couldn’t help but be happy to see him back doing what he loves. If this is the level of physicality they’re allowing him to do, there’s no doubt he’s having a match at WrestleMania. I assume it will be teaming with Shane to take on Owens and Zayn, and it’s easily one of the biggest matches on the show already.
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Let us know in the comments!
