SmackDown Cliff Notes 5-29-20

The Hardy way

Is the person okay with it? That’s what matters most. Maybe Jeff Hardy wants to show younger fans that actions have consequences. Elias and Jeff Hardy were taken out of the Intercontinental Championship tournament. Jamie Noble and Jason Jordan helped get a struggling Jeff Hardy into custody. The segment was done really well, the acting was good and they wrote two people out of the story easy peasy.

A meeting is held to address the vacancies in the IC tournament and Daniel Bryan suggest other wrestlers get a chance to compete for the IC title while AJ Styles gets a free ride to the finals. The segment wasn’t shot in the typical goofy way and flowed a lot better than usual, it was actually pretty interesting.

10 man Battle Royal

Some cool eliminations, Shorty G , Sheamus, Jey Uso, Shinsuke and Cesaro are the final five. Shorty G eliminates Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura then is eliminated by Cesaro out of revenge. Sheamus and Jey Uso are the final two in the match but Sheamus hits the Brogue kick on the apron to face Daniel Bryan in the finals later.

Lacey Evans vs Sonya DeVille

The crowd was a huge benefit in this match, though unnecessary. Great storytelling throughout the match and great psychology by both women. A double count out was a natural way to end this match, this is a dogfight and things are far from over. I like this feud and the two really have a good chemistry, they aren’t going easy on each other. Finally the women’s division is getting physical. Hopefully everyone follows Sonya DeVille, Mandy’s and Lacey’s example.

Alexa Bliss [c] vs Sasha Banks

Bayley and Sasha cook up some beef with the women’s tag champs. Sasha was called out by Alexa for not being a champ so Bayley just threw her under the bus and put her in a match she wasn’t even dressed for. I know they needed a match with some star power but this is one I would have saved. I don’t like that this match was given away, first off, their rolls should be swapped and second their styles contrast entirely too much for the match to work any other way than Sasha being face and Alexa being heel.

The match was good, Bliss hasn’t been that good since NXT. The real action was outside the ring on commentary when Michael Cole lost it when Nikki Cross was standing on the table.

Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus

A match I would have saved for Wrestlemania. Sheamus dominated the majority of the match much like he did against Jeff Hardy. Speaking of Jeff Hardy, he showed up to distract Sheamus, costing him the match against Daniel Bryan. There is more to this story than we initially thought.

Honorable mentions

1. Fast times with Mandy and Otis

2. Forgotten still, Forgotten Sons promo.

3. Michael Cole addresses the safe practices of WWE during COVID-19.

4. Shorty G vs Cesaro-Where the hell has this guy been?! Cesaro did some rare but good promo work backstage. Shorty G gets the win.

5. Otis and Mandy recreate Fast Times scene.

6. Kurt introduces Matt Riddle to the blue brand

Final take

I wasn’t looking forward to this episode, I was pleasantly surprised. The comedy segments worked and the matches made sense. The easy-safe booking of SmackDown has worked extremely well these days.

#sheamus #MattRiddle #JeffHardy #smackdownonfox #DanielBryan #WWE