SmackDown In A Nutshell: Strowman’s Reign Starts Now

It’s our first SmackDown In A Nutshell after WrestleMania, and Braun Strowman’s reign starts now. It’s going to be fun to see what WWE has in store, with recording of shows becoming a very unique exercise.

So what is in store for us tonight? It’s anyone’s pre-recorded guess.

The important thing to remeber, as we crack open this Nutshell? Strowman’s reign starts now.

Best Match of the night:

Give me the women’s tag title match. It was entertaining, and these Superstars have crazy high energy.

It makes up for (almost, anyways) the lack of an audience.

Worst match of the night:

Sheamus versus his jobber…did nothing for me.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

LOL, we wish we had crowd chants. Oh, how we wish…

Star of the Night

I remember a while back, when it seemed Strowman was poised to get the gold and didn’t. Now he does.

Part of me says it feels odd. Maybe it’s the lack of build before he got the match and the win?

In any case, the first chunk of the match I was like…it’s weird he’s the champ. But in the end, he had a nice showing, and if he can survive his feud with Bray, it should establish him as a nice champ for a bit.

So yes, I give this star to Braun. Strowman’s reign starts now.

Spot of the Night:

Nothing really stood out.

Jobber of the Night:

Well, I have two choices.

Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado were the sacrificial lambs for the debuting Forgotten Sons.

Then that poor Bloom fellow got fed to Sheamus.

Take your pick.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Not sure there was one. Perhaps a stretch, but maybe the lack of mention of Roman Reigns…maybe Vince really is pissed at him?

Botch of the night:

With these all recorded and edited, I am going to go out on a limb and say…we best not see many botches for a bit.

LOL Moment of the night:

Miz and Morrison were entertaining enough.

Loved Alexa telling Nikki she needed decaf though.

Noteworthy Moment:

Well, with everything being recorded and WWE needing to be creative, in two weeks we get a 25th Anniversary Celebration for Triple H. So, that should be interesting to see.

Also, our lone debut…

Overall lowlights:

I may as well make this a permanent one here, or permanent till the pandemic subsides. Shows without fans just aren’t always fun.

There is only so much WWE and the Superstars can do. I don’t blame them.

Overall highlights:

I liked the women’s tag match.

The Jeff Hardy package was good. Makes me think WWE is still considering giving him a shot at the title.

Strowman had a nice first defense (I think it was for the title?), and we see him moving into his first big program. Strowman and Wyatt should be interesting.

Either way, Strowman’s reign starts now. How long it lasts remains to be seen.

After the final bell:

Pretty much what we’ve been expecting from these pre-recorded shows. Unless I am missing something, we only had one NXT graduation this show.

If I remember from last year’s post-Mania SmackDown, it came up short on NXT arrivals then too. Not a complaint, just an observation.

In any case, a solid enough show. We have another triple threat for the tag titles coming at us next week-no ladders this time.

Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman will be interesting, especially depending on how WWE dives into the history between those two men.