Roman Reigns and the Usos closed out the show (Image credit WWE)
WWE SmackDown results, winners, grades and reaction: There was a lot to digest from last week’s show and some of the storylines moved a little further in the latest SmackDown episode.
The show started with The Miz hosting his show with John Morrison as his guest. The Shaman of Sexy recently re-signed with WWE and the A-Lister showed a video of the new star’s best moments.
Morrison then spoke about how the WWE Universe turned their back on The Miz and he shared his disappointment too.
New Day interrupted the show and after a verbal back and forth, a match was setup between Kofi Kingston and The Miz.
Grade C
There should have been more to Morrison’s return than just a talking segment. Further, setting up a match between the Miz and Kingston using Miz TV just didn’t sit right.
Morrison and Big E were at ringside to help their partners in the match. The Miz took an early beating from Kingston before the A-Lister took control after the break.
The Miz also used some of the Yes kicks but that allowed Kingston to try a quick roll-up. Things got a little heated when The Miz went outside the ring to taunt Big E and Morrison came flying from nowhere to beat down the New Day member.
Kingston did hit a Trouble from Paradise but The Miz picked up the win with a Skull-crushing Finale.
Miz beats Kingston
Grade B
This was a great match between the pair as the Miz and Kofi put on a show. It was also great to see Morrison have some action with his attack on Big E and that sets up another fight for next week too.
Alexa Bliss took on Mandy Rose in a singles fight with Nikki Cross and Sonya Deville at their respective sides.
Both stars had a go at each other but the pivotal moment came via a distraction from Otis. The Heavy Machinery member came out with some cake that Rose had gifted him earlier in the day.
That distracted Bliss for long enough as Rose picked up a quick win.
Rose beats Bliss
Grade C
The match wasn’t all that great and the storyline with Otis and the cake was more important. It will be interesting to see how it goes but it could end with a lot of heartbreak for the Heavy Machinery member.
Lacey Evans was supposed to face Sasha Banks as the pair had a Twitter war a few days back. However, Bayley came on the Titantron to tell a ringside Evans that The Boss would not be fighting her.
An enraged Evans went backstage and was attacked by Bayley from behind. However, the Southern Belle almost hit the SmackDown champion with a Woman’s Right but was saved by the officials splitting the pair.
Grade B
A match between Banks and Evans could have been interesting but this segment could see The Southern Belle end up fighting against Bayley in the future.
Braun Strowman picked up a win in a tag match last week but faced Shinsuke Nakamura in one-on-one competition this time around.
The Monster among Men is eyeing Nakamura’s IC crown but had to deal with Cesaro and Sami Zayn in this non-title match.
Strowman dominated early on but a distraction from Cesaro allowed the champion to take advantage. The Monster was attacked outside the ring by Nakamura and even was lucky to survive a quick two-count.
Strowman then made a move with a huge clothesline but it was Nakamura that kept going and almost had another pinfall.
Cesaro distracted the ref as Zayn threw the title to Nakamura, but the champion was unable to use it as Strowman hit a running powerslam to pick up a win.
Strowman beats Nakamura
Grade A
Strowman looked good in this clash, and it was great that Nakamura needed help from his partners to even the fight.
The challenger looked great and kept his incredible aura of invincibility and it should only be a matter of time before he wins the title.
The Usos were set to face King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler in tag team action but Roman Reigns cut a promo where he claimed he would win the Royal Rumble and headline WrestleMania again.
The match between the tag teams started with Corbin and Ziggler dominating but a hot tag allowed the Usos to take charge of the fight.
Revival then came out which allowed the heels to take control of the match. However, Reigns came back to level the playing field and knockout out both Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson.
Reigns was taunted by Corbin in the ring and the King ate a spear from the Big Dog leading to a DQ.
The former champion was ready to hit Corbin with a powerbomb onto the table but Robert Roode made a shocking return to waylay Reigns.
The Usos and Reigns were left in a heap as the heels celebrated their domination.
Corbin and Ziggler beat The Usos
Grade A
This was a near-perfect end to SmackDown with Reigns and the others all having a part to play..
The rivalry between the six (Roode included) is only getting bigger while it was great to see The Revival having a part too.
It will now be important to see how this rivalry develops in the coming weeks.
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