WWE Smackdown Sets the Table For WrestleMania XL

The Corey Graves era of the SmackDown commentary team began tonight, live from Birmingham, Alabama. Reports surfaced last week that Corey Graves would take over as lead commentator on SmackDown with Wade Barrett in the co-pilot seat on color. SmackDown’s former commentator, Kevin Patrick, was released last week, and RAW was shaken up with the news that Michael Cole and Pat McAfee would take desk duties for the red brand.

Tonight’s show promoted the narrative that we would be hearing from both Royal Rumble winners, Cody Rhodes(men’s) and Bayley (women’s), and their decision on which championship they’ll challenge for at WrestleMania XL.

ROLLINS VS ROMAN FOR ‘THE TITLE’ TITLE/THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA JUST GOT ROCKY!

This is no longer Vince McMahon’s WWE, and the current product is so far from anything he would have approved. Take tonight, for example, as WWE continued the storyline established by Rollins’ RAW promo and took it a step further by having the company’s biggest star blur the reality line and chip away at the fourth wall by having an inter-brand debate on which title means what?

This is an acknowledgment that the WWE title, in the Vince era, was often held by whoever had more promotional leverage over him. If you could draw like the Warrior or Hogan, the title was yours even if the two wrestlers were kind of garbage, while the likes of Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Mr. Perfect were never close enough to sniff the title, let alone challenge for the “big one.”

Roman was masterful in his delivery and seemed to become a totally different monster on the mic whenever the truth is interwoven into the storyline. The “Tribal Chief” immediately addressed Seth Rollins’ words, showing the urgency felt by Roman Reigns to clear the air, and laughed mockingly at the idea that Seth’s title is ‘more important’ than his own. He asked how Seth’s title could be “the title” when he beat everyone competing for that title and referred to it as “the loser bracket title.”

Reigns personally took personal Seth’s inference that he’s “the guy,” though Seth never made such a reference to himself but rather his title and Reigns responded by getting personal with Seth.

“Then he had the audacity to say that he was ‘the guy,’” Roman said on the mic to a captivated live audience. “You can’t be running around here for two years in your wife’s clothes and say you’re the guy,” a reference to Seth’s wife, Becky Lynch, who shares an extravagant fashion taste.

Reigns then took issue with Seth’s reference to being a ‘workhorse,’ to which Roman responded by saying Seth “broke his back” trying to carry that RAW, which somehow felt like a swipe at RAW’s ratings, and then reminding everyone of Seth’s injury—one that will keep him on the shelf for an estimated 3-4 months. The digs continued with a bank account check before Roman shifted the convo to Rhodes.

Then came the most devastating line of them all when Roman said he wouldn’t ‘beg Cody like the other guy’ before asking him simply: “You can either be the very best number 2 in this industry or you can take a crack at number 1 again, it’s your choice.” It had been reported that WWE would possibly stretch Cody’s decision-making process to score a huge pop on the ‘decision episode,’ but this was the better choice, and the stage was set wonderfully.

Cody played the part of the never-flinching face, and he played it well. He took the crowd on a ‘will-he-won’t-he ride,’ which artfully played on the emotional turmoil Cody faced while considering his decision. Admitting that he wanted Roman’s title, he acknowledged his desire to rematch Roman, considering he appeared to have the clean win before “The Bloodline” interfered.

However, Cody ultimately said he wanted Roman and his title, but not at this year’s WrestleMania XL. In choosing Seth by turning down Roman, Cody said he received advice from friends, family, and former legends of the sport. This was foreshadowing as Cody would admit that one of the individuals he spoke with knows Reigns very well.

That is when The Rock’s music hit, and the place went insane. This was it; this was the beginning of The Rock-Roman Reigns feud for WrestleMania XL, and Cody graciously stepped out of the way for what will undoubtedly be the biggest match at Mania. The camera panned over The Rock’s shoulder with Roman standing in the opposite corner and the WrestleMania sign just in frame overhead. The crowd stood on their feet, and a “This is awesome chant” broke out in unison as if they all understood the awesomeness of this moment in wrestling lore.

No words were spoken; they weren’t needed, and the credits popped up on the screen with both men staring at each other and only ever breaking eye contact when the electricity in the crowd was too great to ignore. This was a special moment, and WWE nailed it.

BAYLEY MAKES IT COUNT

Heading into this year’s women’s Royal Rumble felt underwhelming and under-booked. The storylines weren’t there, especially when compared to the men, but it turned out that WWE was playing the long game with this one. Bayley performed well at the Rumble and was a believable winner. She was an opportunist and really utilized the heel role to get her win over with fans at the Rumble. It seemed like she’d pick Rhea Ripley since her fellow Damage CTRL faction mate is the SD women’s champion.

Instead, WWE was able to turn Bayley face—something she did very well in her career—by having Damage CTRL turn on her. They showed the group talking behind Bayley’s back in the locker room earlier in the night, but they were unaware that Bayley was in the next room. Then, during their segment where Bayley was to pick which champ to face, she broke into some pretty well-spoken Japanese and admitted that she understood her all-Japanese stable when they would talk about her while the faction traveled the road together.

This was excellently written. Bayley announced her choice would be Iyo Sky, and the match became the first match booked on the WrestleMania card. There is plenty of time to make casuals care leading up to WrestleMania XL, and WWE is currently on the right path.

QUICK HITS

• Bron Breaker is getting the call-up, and there was a segment where he was being offered a SmackDown contract from blue-brand General Manager Nick Aldis. But before Bron could sign anything, they were interrupted by RAW General Manager Adam Pearce as he made an attempt to swoop in and steal the NXT free agent. Bron told Pearce he’d see him Monday, but he did leave with the SD contract in hand. This is a fantastic use of the brand split, something WWE has done poorly over the years, making Bron feel like a big deal. Monday should be interesting.
• Jade Cargill walked in following Breaker’s exit from the GM’s office. However, this time, Aldis did not stand for any red-brand interference and demanded Pearce leave the room so that he could speak to Cargill. The two GMs had an interesting stare-down before Pearce left the room. Aldis was an amazing performer for NWA, and it would be great to see a feud between the two that plays into an inter-brand feud.
• Is Hulk Hogan being buried? Last week on RAW, Seth Rollins cut an impassioned promo to convince Cody Rhodes to forgo a shot at Roman’s “Hollywood” title, the one earned through politicking, and choose to instead fight Rollins for the ‘workhorse title’ instead at Mania. Rollins referred to his title as the real belt for real wrestlers, invoking names like Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

At one point in his promo, Rollins referred to it as the ‘Hulk Hogan title’ – a nod to how Hogan booked himself into the main event title picture at every turn even when it was clear that there were better performers on the roster outworking him every night. I thought maybe Rollins went off script right there, or perhaps it was a one-off on the script meant to give credibility to Seth’s point and simultaneously his secondary heavyweight title.

However, tonight on SD, the ‘Hogan title’ line was used by Rollins in a prepared video package used to hype Cody’s segment. This was not a snippet of his RAW promo— this was in the script. WWE knows it needs to try to sell this idea that Seth’s title somehow counts as Cody finishing his story, but it is a tough sell.

So, by using Hogan’s name to disparage Roman’s title, you’re also disparaging Hogan. The way WWE wrote this thing out, it is going to be impossible not to bury one of the two WWE titles, but you don’t have to take Hogan down with it.

That’s not to stick up for Hogan and his reign. It is to say that the choice may say something much more than it was intended to. The idea that we are celebrating 40 years of Hulkamania this year makes it even more curious when you realize that Cody-Seth is solidified. The fact is this match will be promoted for the next few months with the idea that Hogan was a lesser champ as the foundation for this program.

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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