☑️ Non-Mark SmackDown Review 05/02/25 | Unofficial a Thread 🧵 #SmackDown

📍 I'm writing one more set of Reviews to see if WWE can continue their momentum from post-Mania week, so ✨FOLLOW, SHARE & ADD YOUR THOUGHTS✨ if you'd like to encourage me to continue these threads next week. And who do you want to win at BackLash?

The show opens in usual boring fashion but Damian Priest gets in a bit of a scuffle with the United States Champion Jacob Fatu. Damian demands a title match but what happened to Drew McIntyre? —it totally undermines that Priest has seemingly moved on.

LA Knight gets a big pop as expected but cuts a generic promo which Damian interrupts. Things stay generic but because Priest challenges Knight to an immediate match the crowd get hyped.

The choreography is aura-centric as opposed to spamming flips, which I appreciate, but I'm not all that into it —I guess I'm baffled as to how Triple H can so casually sideline Drew. Solo Sikoa generates a lot of heat on himself by ending the match.

Damian & Knight awkwardly stare at each other after overcoming Solo, but just as Priest is about to put him through the announce desk Jacob Fatu takes him out. It feels like we've seen this scene play out countless times recently, it's very underwhelming.

This backstage interaction annoyed me, and it's because it's the same thing as usual and it lacks all fundamentals. Nobody cares about these tag-teams, so why does Triple H think anybody is going to listen to yet another conversation between them.

As the old Jerry Springer adage goes: "If it's no fun with the sound off, don't put it on TV"—this division needs to start doing visual storylines to get over. Anyway, this new set of jobbers Fraxiom defeat Pretty Dire after several botched pinfalls.

Nia Jax is back and plays on the crowd well before being interrupted by Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany seems to be improving on the mic but we don't get much time to enjoy it as heel Naomi joins in.

Naomi's new persona is underwhelming and I stop listening to what she has to say towards the end. She's chased away by Jade Cargill but a brawl ensues and a tag match is made for later. This Naomi x Jade feud is just getting repetitive now.

Aleister Black is back and yikes, one can hear a pin drop as he makes his entrance. Black shows off his athleticism but the crowd are silent throughout the match and this return looks Washed On Arrival despite defeating The Miz.

Some guy who manages one of the tag teams speaks to a Luchador backstage and tells him it's a disgrace he lost to El Grande Americano. It says a lot about the lack of characters and storylines in WWE that I thought this was Dragon Lee for half of it.

Chelsea Green's gimmick had a lot of aura at one point but Secret Hervice lost a lot of it over the last few weeks so it's difficult to invest in this match between Piper Niven & new US champion Zelina Vega—who also gets a muted crowd reaction. Vega wins.

The new BL are backstage discussing the men's US Championship scene with General Manager Nick Aldis and somehow he ends up booking a Fatal Fourway despite Drew McIntyre winning the number one contender's match last week. Matches mean nothing now I guess 🤷🏻

Randy Orton is out next & cuts a pretty incisive and tidily concise promo against John Cena's two-faced ambition across generations of WWE. Randy concludes by staring down the camera towards Cena which adds intensity —infinitely better than Cody Rhodes.

Rey Fenix makes his entrance with elaborate strobe lighting effects for some reason, and they're even more confusing when Fenix appears because he looks like a random fan in a flashy jacket. Why is Triple H obsessed with bringing guys like these into WWE?

R-Truth appearing backstage earns a huge pop as he is adamant John Cena will defeat Randy Orton and leave as the last real champion. This hints at a possible Truth heel or anti-hero turn, which would go over as the audience enjoy seeing the veteran.

Now back to what feels like the longest match of the year as Fenix and the other guy from earlier gruel on and on in an absolute snoozefest —it just doesn't end. Finally Rey comes out victorious but why are matches like this being booked to begin with?

After sitting through all the 🗑️ tonight I don't have any energy left to watch the inconsequential main-event but in my peripheral vision it seems a physical match. Jade pins Nia to win I think, Tiffany stares down Jade, and Naomi stands tall —who cares?

📍 Did you enjoy tonight's SmackDown? I thought it was possibly the worst episode of the year so far

Summary: There's only one way to describe tonight's episode of SmackDown: Matches, Matches, Matches. Most were not even B show-tier calibre –I'd genuinely expect to see them headlining WWE Speed– and some were drawn out to obscene length. Other than the US title Fatal Fourway merely being booked, I can't recall any storyline being developed, and there was no suspense throughout the night to help us cope during the onslaught of wrestling matches, or built to hype us for next week's episode Triple H had made such a huge improvement in getting back to fundamentals after WrestleMania, but tonight was just a huge step backwards —I'm awarding what I think could be outright the lowest grade I've ever given a SmackDown show. Btw, someone reported the other day that Triple H spends up to eight hours a day, seven days a week working on this booking 🤦🏻 Grade: Z — I am a viewer of the show and unaffiliated to WWE or their broadcasters. —

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