Welcome to the Smackdown Review for February 19, 2019 For both this and Raw, I will go over what the big talking points were, pick the match of the night, and look ahead to the next show
Talking Points
Home Town
Shane McMahon brought all four of the call ups from NXT to the blue brand. Before he could say anything else, The Miz came out to apologize for losing the tag team titles. This brought out the Usos who mocked the Miz for being the weak ling. Shane got angry and said that at Fastlane, in Miz’s hometown, the rematch would occur. Miz later told Shane his father would be at ringside. I don’t know who is going to betray who, which is a good thing for a surprise.
Every Rose has it’s Thorns
Askua had an unexpected challenger in the form of Mandy Rose. It was not for the title, but Rose brought everything she could. Rose has steadly improved over the last few months, she now looks credible when in the ring. She took Askua to the limit ads showed that sometimes you just have to seize the right opportunity. Faking an eye injury, she was able to throw Askua into the ropes and then pin her. Askua might just have her challenger for Fastlane lined up.
#1 Contender
Who would face Bryan at Fastlane for the title. A case could be made for any of the five men he beat at Elimnation Chamber. Kofi has the fans and support behind him. Orton and Bryan have history. Samoa Joe took Bryan to the limit. Hardy would bring the danger. Styles always puts on a fantastic effort. In the end, the WWE listened to the people and Kofi was named the number one contender. Very well dserved.
Aleister Black vs Andrade (Black wins by pinfall)
All four men from NXT had strong matches, but this one was just a little bit ahead of everyone. The history of these two from NXT played a big part as Black and Andrade just tore into each other. Black really turned it up, his opponent bring his strikes to an almost fever pitch. A revisit of the rivalry between these two should be an absolute must.
Conclusion
The Bar fell to Ciampa and Gargano. Ricochet flew to top Eric Young.
