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4/20 - SmackDown Live branded live event in Madison, Wisconsin at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum.
The arena filled rather slowly, the entire upper deck was cordoned off, but by the time first bell rang the whole floor and first level were packed. As I recall when I bought my tickets last week of March, the upper deck wasn't even for sale, so this was basically a sell-out, estimate 4500-5000 people in attendance. Madison isn't that large of a city either, so that would be a pretty good turnout, almost as high as Minneapolis Target Center six weeks ago, in a much larger market.
We are shown video packages for Money in the Bank, a WrestleMania recap, and vote on which WrestleMania main event we want to see before the show starts. The three choices are Andre/Hogan, HBK/Taker, or Banks/Flair/Lynch. Taker/HBK wins with 70 percent of the vote. Interesting to note the women's triple threat got 9 percent, and thats a huge drop from Target Center when they still lost but with more like 30 percent of the vote. Banks is not popular either, there were boos when her name was mentioned.
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boys vs. the Usos
Jeff and Matt are out first doing their classic entrance from the early 2000s, high stepping and throwing up the finger guns. Good reaction to start us off. Usos come out to a massive pop, for the size of the crowd that almost startled me how loud it was.
Hilarious moments worked in throughout the match saw Matt Hardy trying to outdo Jey Uso in crowd chants to "DELETE DELETE DELETE" vs "U-SO." Much respect between the teams and they worked a hard match. All through it they kept doing their respective taunts with Jimmy occasionally poking fun at the crowd saying "hurts don't it" every time they had Jeff down. Matt eventually gets the hot tag, cleans house, and sets up for the Twist of Fate. That is countered and the Usos nail a double superkick. They go up for the double splash, Jeff pushes Jimmy off the turnbuckle, Jey jumps down and runs right into a Twist of Fate for the three count.
Hardys Retain. Spent about five minutes post-match doing autographs and pictures.
R-Truth vs. the returning Samoa Joe for the United States Championship
No contest. Joe attacks R-Truth during his entrance. Massive boos and reactions but a few cheers from people knowing he’s back from being sick. Good to see him, and he looks much better. R-Truth is helped to the back with a smattering of cheers.
We see a video of Charlotte Flair walking backstage talking about how she deserves a shot at the title she never lost.
Mustafa Ali vs. Rowan
The crowd wasn't very into this match at first. Ali has really lost a lot of steam. Rowan worked heel on the crowd really, really hard, even mentioning the Minnesota Vikings (the local rival sports team) for cheap heat. The crowd got more into it when the pace picked up during Ali's come back. Surprisingly Rowan put a stop to it and got a clean pinfall in the middle of the ring. Massive boos after this.
Rowan pins Ali.
Kevin Owens vs. Andrade with Zelina Vega
Massive pop for KO. He cuts a promo in the ring talking about a mystery special friend he has with him, and he wants to do the KO Show. They put up the graphic and the crowd is really digging Kevin. Andrade’s music hits and Zelina cuts a promo calling Kevin rude.
Kevin apologizes for being rude and asks Andrade to please wrestle. Andrade comes back and they start the match. They are putting in work here. Lots of really cool spots and moments. KO is amazing, and so is Andrade. The usual Zelina shenanigans throughout the match. Even a hilarious moment right before the finish where Andrade almost runs into Zelina on the apron, only to be distracted by this, and eating the Stunner as he turns around.
Kevin Owens pins Andrade.
After the match, Zelina gets back on the mic and makes excuses about Andrade not being ready, etc. Kevin gets on the mic and says he thinks Zelina is being very rude and says he is going to bring out his special friend now.
Braun Strowman’s music hits and Andrade is paralyzed in the center of the ring as Strowman marches out. The crowd is going insane, they are really, really into this and no one expected a Raw talent to come out. Braun obliterates Andrade and leaves him laying with a running powerslam. Zelina runs off and Braun leaves, still to the pop that hasn't really stopped the whole time.
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair is out first, mixture of boos and woos. Mixed reaction but clearly more boos. She cuts a promo about how she never lost at WrestleMania, that Ronda lost her title for her. She is getting massive heat and working it really well. One member of the crowd yells at her to shut up, and right on cue she stops her promo asks who told her to shut up. They are outed and Charlotte tells her to sit down and shut up while she is talking. Good classic heel work that never skipped a beat, it was so natural. She challenges Becky Lynch right here and now, and immediately Becky's music hits. MASSIVE pop. She is over like rover. In fact, this pop will be the pop of the night at the end of this report. There are so many people in Becky shirts in this crowd.
The match is amazing, even though Flair is clearly working hurt and favoring her leg from that apparently WM injury from the Spanish Fly. They do next to nothing top rope and keep it almost entirely mat based, but damn this match is good. Lots of back and forth, and it becomes clear they are giving this match time. In fact, it ends up being 25 minutes long. They are hitting moves I have never seen them do before, like a tornado DDT by Becky and some crazy pinning chains. You have to make up for the lack of moonsaults and top rope Becsploders I suppose, but these two never have a bad match. If this was on TV it probably hits 4 star or higher. Really good stuff. The psychology is perfect, Flair is clearly the superior wrestler, but Becky has her number and counter to everything. Eventually Charlotte makes a mistake with her famous "this is my championship/main event/time" line, losing her cool and gets trapped in Disarmher and taps.
Becky Lynch Retains via Submission.
After the match, Becky signs autographs and takes pictures for a solid 10 minutes with the crowd. It’s clear they all love her dearly, and she gives them all the extra little bit that really sets a star of her level above and beyond.
Naomi and Carmella vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. The IIconics for the Women's Tag Team Championships
Carmella and Naomi get really solid reactions, especially Naomi who we all know is leaving SDL next week for Raw. She is getting a lot of love and even a "we will miss you" chant. The IIconics cut their usual pre-match promo as they come to the ring, and the match begins. This is mostly Fire & Desire vs Naomi & Mella as the IIconics tag out early and sort of hang out ringside talking a lot of trash. They are so good at this, being annoying but also charming at the same time. Lots of good back and forth between Carmella and Mandy early, Sonya tags in and beats the holy hell out of Carmella until Naomi gets the hot tag and cleans house. Sonya takes a nasty spill off the apron, it looks like she tripped but she is okay. It just looked really bad. A little more back and forth and eventually Naomi is about to beat Sonya Deville after a superkick and double team with Carmella. Peyton Royce tags herself in off the Irish whip into the corner and Billie Kay throws Naomi out of the ring, as they steal the pinfall. Almost the exact same finish as WrestleMania minus the glam slam, but it’s exactly how they should be booked, conniving little annoying heels that steal wins. They even got me to react. I am appreciating them more and more every time I see them.
IIconics Retain via pinfall over Sonya Deville.
Greg Hamilton is in the ring and is announcing the Main Event of the evening when R-Truths music hits and he comes to the ring calling out Samoa Joe from earlier. We are actually getting the United States Championship match from earlier. Joe comes out from the crowd (actually about five feet to my left, it scared the hell out of me when he hit the barrier and jumped it) and hits R-Truth from behind. However, Truth comes back and insists he is okay and wants this match. They ring the bell and we are under way.
Match number 7 (or 2 continued?): Samoa Joe vs. R-Truth for the United States Championship.
Quick match, but Joe is getting insane amounts of reaction. He is such a good heel, he doesn’t even have to do much, the crowd just boos him into the ground. Truth mounts a comeback, Joe kicks at two. Truth is selling like a champ. Truth tries to setup for "What’s Up" and gets caught in the Coquina Clutch and passes out. They didn’t work long but Joe is clearly back and in good health.
Samoa Joe Retains via Submission.
MAIN EVENT - Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.
Orton out first. Kofi out second to a somewhat muted response. It was positive but nowhere near what I expected. Becky's reaction earlier was way louder. Is Kofimania dying off?
They took a long time to get down to it, Randy playing games and rolling out of the ring constantly, avoiding the fight. The crowd is struggling to get into match, their chemistry isn't there. Xavier is working hard outside to get the crowd into it, and after a while it starts to come together. Randy gets the upper hand and beats the holy hell out of Kofi for over 5 minutes, then rest holds for a bit. They never lose the crowd but they never fully get them either. I think the change of main event (was originally advertised vs Daniel Bryan) three days ago upset some folks.
In the closing moments of the match, there is a referee bump and Cesaro hits the ring and starts to stomp Kofi down. Kevin Owens runs in for the save to a massive pop, the closest thing we have had to Becky's entrance since then and gives Cesaro a stunner. Kevin then eats an RKO out of nowhere, and Kofi nails trouble in paradise right as another ref hits the ring. 1 2 3
Kofi retains via pinfall.
Worth noting the original ref that took the bump looks legitimately shaken up and is helped to the back, hope he is okay, that was a nasty fall.
Kofi, Xavier, and Big O celebrate in the ring, then do autographs, pictures, and throw some merch as the show ends. To be fair, they worked really hard, but whether it be the lack of Daniel Bryan, or lack of chemistry, this match really fell flat. No fault of either man, but it definitely should not have been the main event. Either Flair/Lynch or Owens/Andrade would have gone over better.
That being said, this was a very very good live event, and the third Smackdown Live one I’ve been to this year so far. It was clearly booked as the farewell tour for the folks leaving for Raw next week. Naomi and the Usos will be sorely missed, especially by this crowd.
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