WWE SmackDown Live
Episode 1028
#SDLive
Original Air Date: April 30, 2019
Event Date: April 30, 2019
(aired live)
City: Columbus, OH
Venue: Schottenstein Center
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton
Ring Area
In the ring, Michael Cole introduces the WWE Champ, Kofi Kingston. Kofi heads to the ring.
Cole asks Kofi if he believed that he would ever get a WWE Title match at Wrestlemania. Kofi says the most important thing is to fight through the lows in life. Kofi is glad he chose to fight, because here he stands as the WWE champ. And without the New Day, none of this would have happened.
Cole says that Kofi winning the WWE Title might be the greatest Wrestlemania moment ever. Kofi says winning the title was one of the greatest moments of his entire life. Cole says that Kofi now has a target on his back, and the first person to take aim is Kevin Owens. Kofi says some of the blame for being tricked by Owens might be on himself. New Day believes in second chances, but Owens will apparently always be Owens.
If Owens wanted a title shot, he could have just asked. Kofi is not afraid of Owens, and he challenges Owens to a title match at Money in the Bank. Kevin Owens comes out to the stage.
Owens accepts Kofi’s challenge. He also congratulates Kofi on sharing his Wrestlemania moment with the world. But moments are fleeting, and now that the moment has passed, no one believes that Kofi is championship material. Owens doesn’t think Kofi is championship material either.
As Owens speaks, Xavier Woods attacks Owens from behind. Owens recovers quickly and fights back. Woods goes down, and Owens runs to the backstage area. Kofi checks on Woods and helps him back to his feet.
Backstage
The hardy Boyz discuss something.
Backstage
Kofi Kingston wonders what Woods was thinking. Woods says he couldn’t stay in the back with Owens saying what he was saying. Kofi understands, but Woods needs to take care of his back and his health.
Match 1
Bayley vs Becky Lynch (RAW & SD Women’s Champ)
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Becky Lynch wins via submission with Disarm Her
Time: 8:32
Match Thoughts
Good match. I think Bayley needed something like this. Of course Becky wasn’t going to lose tonight, but Bayley had a good showing against the champ. This was a solid match.
Ring Area
Immediately after the match, Charlotte Flair hits Becky Lynch with a big boot. Becky rolls out of the ring while Charlotte sends Bayley into the ring post and out to the floor.
Backstage
In a black room, Aleister Black talks about fear. It’s in man’s nature to fear what they don’t understand. Black’s opponents try to figure him out, but before they do, they are counted down on the mat. When people look into Black’s eyes, they don’t like the abyss that stares back at them. They see the truth, and the truth allows them to fade to black.
Ring Area
The Hardy Boyz head to the ring. They’re carrying the SmackDown tag titles, and Jeff is walking with a crutch. Kayla Braxton asks Jeff how bad his injury is. Rather than explain what happened, he shows a video of Lars Sullivan attacking him. Back in the ring, Jeff says he needs surgery because of Lars Sullivan. Therefore, Matt says the Hardy Boyz must give up the tag titles.
Jeff says the Hardy Boyz will reign supreme when he comes back, but as he speaks Lars Sullivan heads to the ring. Sullivan throws Matt out of the ring and slowly approaches Jeff. Matt gets back in and attacks Sullivan, but Sullivan easily fights him off and slams Matt down. Jeff wields his crutch like a weapon. While Sullivan is distracted, R-Truth enters the ring and hits Sullivan with a chair.
Sullivan ignores the chair shot and grabs R-Truth. Sullivan hits R-Truth with a powerbomb. With everyone down, Sullivan leaves the ring.
Ring Area
The commentators announce the four men from SmackDown competing in the Money in the Bank ladder match: Ali, Finn Balor, Andrade, and Randy Orton.
Match 2
Kairi Sane & Asuka w/ Paige vs Queen Aminata & Jaylee
(referee: Danilo Anfibio; guest commentary: The IIconics)
Result: Kairi Sane pins Jaylee after the Insane Elbow
Time: 2:08
Match Thoughts
Asuka and Kairi were running pretty much non-stop in this quick squash.
Backstage
Mandy Rose is excited. She tells Sonya Deville that they’re getting a chance to compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but only on of them can compete. Sonya tells Mandy that she should be the one in the match since she’s already come so close to winning the title.
Ring Area
Roman Reigns heads to the ring. Reigns says he wanted to make a big impression on his first night on SmackDown, so he punched Vince McMahon. He wanted to make the point that he is still the big dog, and SmackDown Live is now his yard.
Shane McMahon comes out to the stage. Shane says Reigns might claim that this is his yard, but the McMahons own the land. Reigns says Vince owns the land, and Vince was on his back the last time the two of them were in the ring together. Shane tells Reigns that Reigns was face down last week. Reigns invites Shane to the ring, but Shane declines. But if Reigns wants a fight, Shane has two men who would like to fight Reigns: The B-Team.
Shane says The B-Team also wants to make a good first impression on SmackDown Live, so Reigns will face both of them at the same time. Reigns wonders what’s next? A blindfold match? One hand toed behind his back? Shane says that’s silly. Instead, Shane says there will be a special referee enforcer: Elias.
Match 3
Roman Reigns vs The B-Team
(referee: Mike Chioda; referee enforcer: Elias)
Result: Roman Reigns pins Curtis Axel after a spear
Time: 10:44
Match Thoughts
This was fine. It went about like you’d think. The B-Team was in control for the first part of the match, but Reigns started to mount a comeback. Elias had to get involved, but Reigns fought off all three of his opponents to reach the finish.
Backstage
Finn Balor and Ali smile a each other.
Video
As previously seen on RAW, Bray Wyatt paints in the Firefly Fun House.
Match 4
Ali & Finn Balor (IC Champ) vs Randy Orton & Andrade w/ Zelina Vega
(referee: Ryan Tran)
Result: Ali pins Andrade after a 450 splash
Time: 3:22 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was good, but it was surprisingly short. Not much really happened. I was hoping for more.
Ring Area
Immediately after the match, Orton hits Balor with an RKO. Ali attacks Orton and sends him out of the ring.
Backstage
Sarah Schreiber welcomes Ember Moon. Moon is beyond excited that she will compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match. She intends to seize the moment at MitB. Carmella laughs. Carmella says she’s already won the MitB match twice, and she’ll do whatever it takes to win again.
Ring Area
Kevin Owens heads to the ring for the KO Show. Owens says he was trying to make a point before he was interrupted earlier. His point is that Kofi Kingston is drowning as champ, and Owens is here to take that burden away from Kofi.
Owens then invites Xavier Woods to the ring so he can hear what Woods has to say. Woods doesn’t come out, so Owens goes with plan B. Owens pulls out an Xavier Woods action figure and places it on one of the chairs in the ring. Owens also has a Big E figure which he sets beside Woods. Owens thinks Woods and Big E are both trash, and he kicks the figures out of the ring.
Owens continues to talk when Kofi Kingston comes out to the stage. Kofi runs to the ring and attacks Owens. The fight spills out to ringside and over the announce table. Owens eventually escapes through the crowd while Kofi stands up in the ring.
Show Impressions
I like the story between Owens and Kofi, but wrestling took a major backseat tonight. Hopefully this is just an anomaly for SmackDown. The show managed to mostly keep my interest, but it definitely felt like a light week overall.
Match of the Night
Bayley vs Becky Lynch
This was mostly competitive and was fun to watch (even if I had to watch about half of it in a little box as commercials aired).
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2019-04-30