SmackDown In A Nutshell: Blue Brand Goes To The Bank

Hello again everyone! It’s time for the blue brand to have some fun. Just like RAW did on Monday, it’s all about hyping Money In The Bank. The show is just a couple weeks away, so what better time than now to find out the other participants for each of the men’s and women’s ladder matches. So yes, tonight the blue brand goes to the bank, so to speak.  Whether it’s the ladder matches, the WWE Championship match or the Women’s SmackDown Championship bout, we can expect a couple hours of hype to get us excited for the May PPV. Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

There was some good action, but honestly nothing said to me “this is the best match”. Nothing stood out…sometimes that happens.

Worst match of the night:

Now, just like nothing stood out as best, nothing screamed that it was terrible either. Start to finish, SmackDown was decent. Not great, not bad, but decent. That’s actually not a bad thing.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

You deserve it

New Day rocks

Star of the Night

By the end of the night, the WWE Champion was left standing tall. Kevin Owens opened the night using the same lines we’ve heard before-that Kingston did not deserve the title, that he couldn’t do it, that he was struggling with the spotlight. By the time the show faded to black, Kofi Kingston rose to the occasion and sent fans away from the broadcast happy.

Spot of the Night:

I suppose Lars punching R-Truth’s weakly thrown chair shot would be the winner tonight. Not much else screamed “spot of the night”.

Jobber of the Night:

Two tonight. Those two enhancement talents that faced Kairi Sane and Asuka. There were no names, though Graves did name one Sumac, Poison Ivy’s less known cousin…so there’s that.

Upset of the Night:

Nothing happening here really. I mean, I guess you could say WWE was aiming to call the Roman Reigns win over the B Team and Elias as ref was one…but nah.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

It shocked me that Matt and Jeff had to give up the SmackDown tag belts without ever defending them.

And while I get the idea that Lars Sullivan is being booked as a monster, if Jeff is really that badly injured, perhaps having Sullivan in the ring with Jeff is not the brightest idea.

That said, did you see how Sullivan manhandled both Matt and R-Truth?

Botch of the night:

Not a botch, per se, but more and more, Lars Sullivan is looking kinda clunky. He looked like he had to hesitate and adjust before finishing off his running power slam to R-Truth.

Shane gets one too-he said he was about to “Jump on the jet and see Coach Harborrow”. Now, given that they are in Ohio, it was meant to be Harbaugh, head coach at University of Michigan…but Shane slaughtered it. Graves actually tried to claim the name Shane said was just an assistant at UM…

Noteworthy Moment:

Just a few weeks after crowning new SmackDown Tag Champions, the blue brand is in search of new champions. Jeff Hardy is apparently injured, and the Hardyz came to the ring tonight to declare they had to relinquish the blue belts.

Considering a bunch of tag talent landed on Mondays during the Shakeup, it will be interesting to see who gets to seize the opportunity created by the vacancy.

While I will complain about the Money In The Bank announcements (that’s next), it’s very cool to see Ali in it. He missed out on a prior opportunity due to injury, so this is a make up. Though, I figure he’s really in this match because a guy like him can do amazing things in a match with seven other Superstars and a bunch of ladders.

Overall lowlights:

Honestly, as compared to how RAW announced it’s Money In The Bank ladder match participants, the blue brand announcements were…well…underwhelming.

I mean, last night they had a big opening segment for one and a Moment of Bliss segment to cover the other. Tonight was more like, “Oh, hey, look, our ladder match people”

Overall highlights:

I did not comment on it last night, and I have not said much to this point…but I kind of like the Bray repackaging. I mean, it’s not really a new character-Abby is obviously a reference to Sister Abigail, for example. Bray is still dark and crazy…if anything, he strikes me as like a sadistic Pee Wee Herman. It is interesting that he has yet to be locked into a particular brand, however.

After the final bell

There’s still a couple shows left, but Money In The Bank is shaping up nicely, as far as PPVs are concerned. Both ladder matches look pretty good. The WWE Championship match should be a good test for the new champ. We now have tag championships to find owners for, so that should be interesting too. And if we get that rumored NXT ladder match too? Cherry on top.