WWE SmackDown Live REVIEW: Full Results, Grades & Highlights 03/20/18

Daniel Bryan

The news broke Tuesday that WWE has medically cleared Daniel Bryan to wrestle. WWE.com carried an announcement that Bryan (the blue brand’s general manager) would kick off SmackDown tonight. This is fantastic news for Bryan, the company, and wrestling fans. Eventually, WWE will need to tell the public what changed to allow Bryan to be cleared, exactly when that clearance was provided, and what precautions (if any) will be taken to prevent Bryan from sustaining further brain injuries. Tonight, the wrestling world can celebrate the return of a top talent and one of its true good guys.

Intro: We revisit February 8, 2016, the date on which Bryan appeared on Raw “with the utmost sadness” to announce his retirement. Tuesday’s web headlines trumpet the news that Bryan has been cleared to return. Live in the arena, a sportcoat-clad Bryan enters the ring to thunderous cheers. The commentary team gives him a standing ovation as a sea of pointed fingers and arm pumps undulates behind Bryan. A chant of “Welcome back” gives way to “Daniel Bryan” as the man himself smiles.

Bryan leads off by saying that “something horrific” happened to Shane McMahon last week. Since the two people he needs to speak to about that incident aren’t here, “I’m gonna talk about something else.” He says that his retirement speech marked one of the hardest days of his life, and he sometimes felt depressed and angry about being prevented from doing what he loves to do.

FIGHTING WORDS: “I focused on one thing: on being grateful.” – Daniel Bryan

Bryan gives credit to his amazing family and friends, as well as “the best fans in the world.” He gets choked up as he testifies to his “amazing, beautiful wife.” Bryan says that, while Brie assured him it was wonderful that he was grateful, she also told him, “But you need to fight. And you need to fight for your dreams.” He credits her for encouraging him to see brain injury specialists, who cleared him to perform. And when he wanted to quit, Brie motivated him to fight for his dreams. “Because if you fight for your dreams, your dreams will fight for you.”

Bryan says he’s been making his case to WWE for the past two months. The company sent him to top neurologists, and all of them told him he was cleared. What seemed impossible is now real. Bryan thanks WWE and its doctors for looking at him as a person, not a wrestler. He also thanks everyone watching the show for supporting him for the past two years. Bryan again fights tears as he thanks his wife.

Bryan claims he does not know when or where he’ll wrestle again. The crowd has none of that, chanting, “WrestleMania” while pointing to the homonymous sign. He asks if that sounds like a good idea. The arena responds with a “Yes” chant. Bryan says he does not know if he’ll perform at WrestleMania, then asks if he would compete in a WWE ring again. More “Yes” chants to close this segment.

Daniel Bryan deserves his moment and the chance to get back to doing what he loves. This segment made me happy to be a wrestling fan.

– Back from commercial, Bryan strides through the backstage area. Referee Charles Robinson greets him and congratulates Bryan on his return. Bryan thanks him, and asks if the official has seen Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn at the arena. When informed that Robinson has not, Bryan directs Little Naitch to send them to his office when they arrive.

– Dolph Ziggler approaches to offer his congratulations. Sort of.

FIGHTING WORDS: “Let me be the first to say: I can’t wait to beat you.” – Dolph Ziggler

“Well … you can certainly try.” – Daniel Bryan

Rusev Day stood in the ring. Surprising to see Rusev get a non-televised entrance. He’ll face Shinsuke Nakamura next in a Fastlane rematch, with WWE Champion AJ Styles watching from ringside.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev

– Competing chants of “Nakamura” and “Rusev Day” ring out. While WWE may be missing the boat on turning Rusev face, his crowd support isn’t a problem when he’s matched against a face who will be wrestling for the WWE championship at WrestleMania. The crowd typically gets its chants out of the way early, and cheers the hero’s offense later in the match. Wisely, the Aiden English songbird is caged to avoid building any more vocal support for Rusev.

– Counter-wrestling to start, then some antics from Nakamura. He kicks Rusev in the face to stave off a test-of-strength, then struts under a big right hand and goads Rusev to “Come ooonn!” Nakamura seems to have added swag since the company gave him a huge vote of confidence via the Royal Rumble win.

– Rusev has Nakamura locked up as we return from break. He stifles Nakamura’s first comeback attempt with knees, but is clocked by a flying boot when he Irish-whips his opponent.

– Nakamura improvises some Good Vibrations while Rusev stood in the corner, then buries a knee into Rusev’s ribs while he’s draped across the top rope. Nakamura signals for a Kinshasa. Rusev sidesteps him with a drop toehold, then goes for the Accolade. When Nakamura escapes the move, Rusev clocks him with a roundhouse kick for a near-fall.

– Rusev waits impatiently for Nakamura to rise. He attempts a Machka kick that Nakamura avoids, then ducks two big kicks from Shinsuke. When Rusev advances, Nakamura seizes him in a cross arm-breaker submission and takes him to the canvas. As Rusev keeps his hands clinched with his shoulders on the mat, the referee counts two. Rusev rolls his weight on top of Nakamura for his own pinning attempt, but Shinsuke grabs his calves and holds Rusev down for the three-count.

Result: Shinsuke Nakamura beat Rusev with a leverage pinning combination.

Grade: B-

– After the match, English ambushes Nakamura, and Rusev Day stomps away at their foe. Styles watches intently while fussing with his hair. He rises slowly, removing his belt and his hoodie as Rusev Day beats up his WrestleMania opponent. Nakamura fights back, kicking Rusev and English out of the ring before AJ deigns to enter it. Nakamura flashes a grin as Styles stands at ringside, then bows as if to tell the champion he didn’t need his help.

– A video package airs on Asuka. While we’re deluged with such features this time of year, they look especially impressive when focused on such a dominant, colorful performer. The critical quote comes from Tom Phillips: “How do you defeat the undefeated?”

– We watch Charlotte Flair watch the end of this video in the locker room. She smiles until she sees Natalya smiling at her. Nattie informs her that she’s obviously scared to face Asuka at WrestleMania. Flair tells Natalya to lay off the catnip, and says she’s looking forward to her “biggest challenge.” Natalya takes offense to that language, bragging that she’s better than both of them. Flair challenges Natalya to back up her words tonight.

– Nakamura catches up with Styles backstage, and assures him he didn’t need AJ’s help. Styles predicts that Nakamura will next say that he’ll win the WWE championship at WrestleMania. A grinning Shinsuke tells AJ that he should have more self-confidence. He gets cute while warning that he’ll beat Styles with a “knee to face.”

Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin

– Both men will compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. I saw Corbin win that battle royal at WrestleMania XXXII in Texas. At the time, it was tough to predict that he’d be… performing in the same match two years later.

– Dillinger grabs a headlock and holds it. He strikes Corbin with a chop and forearms, then gets dropped with one right hand. Tye has better luck fending off Corbin’s turnbuckle-slide/clothesline maneuver, stuffing Corbin’s charge with a boot and connecting with his own clothesline to drive Baron out of the ring.

– Back inside, Tye goes to the middle rope, but Dillinger catches his cross-body-block attempt and goes for End of Days. Which he does not execute. Something goes wrong as Corbin stops moving, trying to play off the botch as Dillinger fighting in vain to counter his finisher. Corbin tosses Dillinger into the ropes (likely hoping he’d rebound back into the finisher). Instead, Tye goes through the ropes. Corbin retrieves him.

– Funny moment as Corey Graves wonders whether Corbin is “underestimating Tye Dillinger, looking past him, getting overconfident.” Literally one second after these musings conclude, Corbin plants Dillinger with End of Days.

Result: Baron Corbin pinned Tye Dillinger with End of Days.

Grade: C-

SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya (non-title)

– Top-notch chain wrestling from Flair and Natalya to start. Natalya works Flair’s left arm, while Flair eventually targets Natalya’s neck. They’ve got the talent and chemistry to wrestle a good match virtually every time out.

– Back from break, Natalya locks an abdominal stretch on Flair. Charlotte counters out of that move and a subsequent backslide attempt to floor Natalya with a leaping boot. Thinking quickly, Natalya elbows Charlotte to stymie a turnbuckle charge, and stomps a mudhole in her.

– Natalya can’t land her discus clothesline, propelling herself into a Charlotte big boot. Natalya crawls her way out of a Figure-Four attempt, only to get caught in a backbreaker and thrown into the turnbuckle. But she trips up Charlotte as the Queen ascends the ropes for her moonsault, and nearly wins the match with a spinning powerbomb. Which brings up a minor complaint:

– Why do wrestlers need to stare at the referee before kicking out of pinfall attempts at 2.9 seconds? Can’t you just use your basic knowledge of the human concept of time to determine when you should kick out? This practice has become so prevalent (Charlotte and Roman Reigns are two repeat offenders) that it gives away near-falls.

– Natalya casually applies the Sharpshooter. Charlotte struggles and breaks the hold by reaching the ropes. Natalya gets poetic justice by slingshotting Flair into the rope, then nailing a discus clothesline for another two-count. When Flair regains the upper hand and attempts a Figure Four, Natalya again counters by leg-pressing her out of the ring.

– Natalya pursues Flair outside the ring, only to get creamed with a spear as she maneuvers around the ring-post. Charlotte whips her opponent back inside the ring, and finally applies the Figure Four. Both women trade slaps in a nod to past generations. Natalya rolls Flair over toward the ropes, only for Charlotte to maintain the hold as she dangles off the ring apron.

– Flair goes to the top rope, but again gets caught. Natalya executes a superplex, leaving both women exhausted on the mat. Then we get the unexpected: Carmella’s music hits, and she runs to the ring with her Money in the Bank briefcase and a conscripted official. She humorously nudges Charlotte with her boot (as if checking to ensure she’s lifeless), then hands the briefcase to the second official. Behind her, Charlotte rises and drills Carmella with a big boot. With the champion’s attention diverted, Natalya schoolboys Flair for the victory.

Result: Natalya beat Charlotte Flair with a schoolboy pinning combination.

Grade: A-

Flair seethes in the ring; Natalya basks in victory while standing next to a dazed Carmella, who attempts to regain her senses and her briefcase. This bout is the best women’s singles match that’s aired on SmackDown during the past half-year.

– Phillips gave an injury report on Shane McMahon, who was beaten to hell last week. The report is pretty much “contusions”, particularly to the trapezius and rhomboid areas. McMahon is convalescing at home.

Jimmy Uso vs. Harper

– A heavily bandaged Jey Uso accompanies his brother this week. The Usos tell the Bludgeon Brothers that they don’t know how to quit, they just know how to be the best tag-team WWE has ever seen. It’s become clear that we’re supposed to refer to Harper only by his last name (he is Luke no longer), like he’s a hirsute Goldberg.

– We join this match in-progress after watching a commercial for John Cena’s new comedy Blockers. Classy of that movie’s production studio to put a rooster silhouette over its film’s title. Looks like an adventurous role for Cena, whose fans can now picture their hero brutalizing them when they attempt to date his teenage daughter.

– The match has spilled to ringside. Harper smacks Uso, pulls his shirt off, then smacks him again. To change up the flow, Harper brings Uso back inside the ring to smack him there. He brings silent menace to his destroyer persona.

– Jimmy tries to fire back with chops, but absorbs another uppercut. He succeeds in ducking a Harper boot in the corner, sending not-Luke tumbling over the top rope to the arena floor. Uce goes after him, sending Harper into the ring apron so hard that he knocks out a lighting panel.

– When Uso looks to bound off the opposite ropes for a high-flying move, he comes face-to-face with a lamb-masked Rowan. And stares at him. Dude does look creepy. Harper grabs and lifts Uso from behind, but Jimmy uses that momentum to kick Rowan off the apron. He follows up with an enziguri kick. An incensed Rowan tries to reenter the ring, distracting the referee. This interference allows Jey Uso to superkick Harper, who is then superkicked by Jimmy for a believable near-fall.

– Jimmy goes to the top rope, allowing Harper to turn the tide by kicking out his leg. With Uso crotched on the top rope, Harper mounts the second rope and bounces Jimmy’s head off the ring-post. With both men back on the mat, Harper clouts Uso with a discus clothesline for the win.

Result: Harper pinned Jimmy Uso after a discus clothesline.

Grade: B-

– As we return from break, Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh stand in the ring. Mahal has officially been added to the U.S. Championship triple threat match at WrestleMania. The Maharaja states that a man of his looks and physique could be the biggest movie star in Bollywood, yet he chooses instead to restore luster to the WWE championship and make SmackDown the premier show. Mahal complains that the crowd should worship the ground he walks on.

– Bobby Roode intervenes to say that Mahal is the only hypocrite in this arena. I can’t wait much longer for a heel turn here. Roode prepares to spout “Glorious”, but is interrupted by U.S. Champion Randy Orton. He tells Mahal to shut up. Orton says that people don’t respect Mahal because, without the help of his “little stooge”, he sucks. An infuriated Mahal removes his suit-jacket, psyches himself up, and flings Sunil into Orton. That’s some quality cowardice.

– Singh makes a dash toward the aisle. As Orton thwarts his escape, Singh loyally throws the suit-jacket back to his Maharaja. Excellent service from Sunil, who eats a rope-drape DDT and a Glorious DDT. Ticked off that Roode stole his moment, Orton engages Roode. Both men foil the other superstar’s attempt to execute their finishers, then face off. Mahal feigns reentering the ring, then thinks better of doing so.

– Phillips announces that Roode and Orton will team next week to fight Mahal and Singh.

Naomi and Becky Lynch vs. Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan

– All four women and Ruby Riott will compete in the Women’s Battle Royal match at WrestleMania. This is no longer a “memorial” battle royal; we explained last week why the Fabulous Moolah did not deserve to be associated with this event. WWE’s hasty response to this public backlash makes the company’s decision to film their female wrestlers praising Moolah to the Heavens seem all the dumber in retrospect.

– Sarah Logan and Naomi square off to start. Logan powers Naomi into her team’s corner, but Naomi avoids a double-team elbow from the Riott Squad, knocking them both to the mat individually. She covers Liv Morgan for a two-count, then tags in Becky Lynch for a double hip-toss.

– Morgan suckers Lynch into her team’s corner, then pulls her face-first into the turnbuckle. The two Riott Squadmates kick away at Lynch. Logan hits a seated Lynch with double knees to the face. That move should be her new finisher (really, anything except that cartwheel knee-drop would work at this point).

– Lynch heaves Logan over the top-rope to the floor (cuing an obligatory reference to the WrestleMania battle royal). Riott fires her compatriot back into the ring to prevent the hot tag. Logan does cut off Lynch from reaching Naomi, but is placed in the Dis-Arm-Her for her efforts. Naomi rocks Morgan with a Rear View to preclude the save.

Grade: Naomi and Becky Lynch beat Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan when Lynch tapped out Logan to the Dis-Arm-Her.

Result: C+

– We go backstage to find Bryan thanking someone on his cell phone. A random guy wearing a headset notifies DB that Owens and Zayn have arrived at the arena. It must be great to work a job where you can show up 20 minutes before closing time and everything’s cool, even when that occupation involves appearing on a live wrestling show. Bryan tells the producer to have the duo meet their boss in the ring.

– Bryan gets his second full entrance. He asks Owens and Zayn to “please come down to the ring.” Zayn geeks out as he and Owens shower Bryan with props. Both men hug Bryan. KO says they’re thrilled for Bryan. They only showed up for work tonight because they got text notifications that Bryan was cleared for in-ring competition. Owens explained that they just arrived because they were pulled over for speeding. Fortunately, they got out of the ticket, as “Everyone’s dumber in Texas.”

– Zayn tells Bryan he’s been their biggest supporter since day one. He said Bryan’s return is a classic case of good things happening to good people. As SmackDown now boasts all three wrestlers, it is now “the dream show.” Considering Tuesday nights now play host to Styles and Nakamura as well, he’s not wrong. Zayn goes so far as to suggest that Zayn, KO, and Bryan could comprise a “dream team.”

– Bryan responds by replaying the video of Zayn and Owens destroying Shane last week. Owens laughs at the video. He admits they got carried away a bit. Zayn reasons to Bryan that Shane kind of deserved it. Bryan tells the Canadians they don’t get it; what they did to Vince McMahon’s only son is a big deal. Bryan tells Zayn and Owens that he believes they are two of the “very best performers” of their generation. That remark, and his next comment, ring true even in a scripted narrative.

FIGHTING WORDS: “When Shane McMahon said that I was living vicariously through the two of you, he was right.” – Daniel Bryan

– Bryan tells Zayn and Owens that they come from the same place, and they’ve known each other for 15 years. He brings up a valid point: Sami and Kevin had already won. Shane conceded that he mistreated both men, and gave them a singles match against each other at WrestleMania. More than that, he was taking a leave of absence, giving their ally a chance to run the show.

– Taking a moment to steel himself, Bryan tells Zayn and Owens that he himself has been fired from WWE twice. And he hates what he has to do, but he’s going to do it.

FIGHTING WORDS: “Sami, Kevin: you’re fired.” – Daniel Bryan

– Owens and Zayn stare disbelievingly at Bryan. Zayn wipes his face in a manner that gives him the look of a zombie insomniac. Bryan tries to soften the blow, telling them it doesn’t mean they’re gone forever, just that they’re gone for now. He offers a handshake to them. They respond as expected.

– After shaking Bryan’s hand, Owens and Zayn turn to leave before KO spins a U-turn and clobbers Zayn. He unleashes three primal screams, then yells “You did this!” at a prone Bryan. Zayn mounts Bryan to throw punches into his left coat sleeve. Both heels must feel hesitant to take any risks with a friend who just got medically cleared to perform after sustaining what appeared to be a career-ending brain injury.

– As Zayn fumes, Bryan takes him down and throws his own right hands. Owens pulls him away into the turnbuckles, where Bryan lights him up with several Yes Kicks (feels great to type that). When Zayn manhandles him away from KO, Bryan delivers a snap German suplex. He then decks Owens and Zayn with running dropkicks in the corners.

– Referees circle the ring. They plead with Bryan to stop as he throws more Yes Kicks at Owens. Zayn reenters the ring to stop a final roundhouse kick, throwing more punches at Bryan. He holds Bryan for a superkick (to the chest) from Owens. KO holds Bryan in place for a Helluva Kick from Owens. Zayn dumps Bryan outside the ring, and KO and Sami execute a spike-powerbomb onto the ring apron.

– Owens continues his feral screaming as Bryan lies motionless. Emergency medical technicians roll a gurney to ringside. The crowd chants, “You still got it”, which is amusing when it’s directed at a performer who’s about to stretchered out of the live arena. The EMTs stabilize Bryan’s neck as we go off-air.

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