{"id":3666,"date":"2018-04-10T19:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T01:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?p=3666"},"modified":"2018-05-03T13:56:42","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T19:56:42","slug":"smackdown-live-recap-review-episode-973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/smackdown-live-recap-review-episode-973\/","title":{"rendered":"SmackDown Live Recap &#038; Review &#8211; Episode 973"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>WWE SmackDown Live<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Episode 973<\/strong><br \/>\n#SDLive<\/p>\n<p><strong>Original Air Date: April 10, 2018<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Event Date: April 10, 2018<\/strong> (aired live)<\/p>\n<p><strong>City: <a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=new-orleans-la\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">New Orleans<\/span><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=louisiana\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">LA<\/span><\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Venue: <a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=smoothie-king-center\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Smoothie King Center<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Commentary: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Ring Area<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nShane McMahon heads to the ring. Shane thanks everyone in the WWE Universe for their participation during Wrestlemania week. He says this Wrestlemania was special because he got to team with the returning Daniel Bryan to defeat Owens and Zayn. Bryan has returned to being a full-time competitor, so Shane has accepted Bryan&#8217;s resignation as GM of SmackDown. He then introduces the new GM of SmackDown: Paige.<\/p>\n<p>Paige heads to the ring. Paige says the first person waiting for her after her retirement speech last night was Shane McMahon. Getting down to business, Paige wants to make her first night as GM special. Daniel Bryan hasn&#8217;t competed on regular TV In a while, so Paige put him in a match with AJ Styles. Everyone seems to approve.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match 1<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=wwe-smackdown-tag-team-title-number-one-contender-match\"><strong>SmackDown Tag Team Title Number One Contender Match<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>The Usos vs Big E &amp; Xavier Woods<\/strong> w\/ Kofi Kingston<br \/>\n(referee: Charles Robinson)<\/p>\n<!-- Content Reveal v2.3.1 -->\n<div class=\"scrhead\" onmouseover=\"document.body.style.cursor='pointer'\" onmouseout=\"document.body.style.cursor='default'\" onclick=\"acr_swap_display('ran_69f3626854cf3','0','','')\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/simple-content-reveal\/images\/image1.gif\" class=\"scrimg\" id=\"scrimg_ran_69f3626854cf3\" alt=\"Reveal content\" title=\"Reveal content\"\/>');<\/script> Show\/Hide Results\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<div style=\"display: none\" class=\"scrdiv\" id=\"scrdiv_ran_69f3626854cf3\">');<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Result: Jey Uso pins Xavier Woods after a Samoan Splash<\/strong>, The Usos will challenge the Bludgeon Brothers for the SD Tag Titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble<br \/>\n<strong>Time: 10:29<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<\/div>');<\/script>\n<!-- End of Content Reveal -->\n\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts<\/strong><br \/>\nVery good match. New Day dominated a large part of the match, especially early, which forced The Usos to mount a convincing comeback. I like that even though this is the night after the night after Wrestlemania, this match wasn&#8217;t about new faces, it was about two current teams putting on another great match like they always do. It&#8217;s always entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Ring Area<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nAfter the match, the Bludgeon Brothers come out to the stage. Wearing their new SD Tag Title belts, they use their hammers to point to the ring.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Backstage<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nEarlier today, Dasha Fuentes congratulated Naomi on winning the Wrestlemania Women&#8217;s Battle Royal. Natalya isn&#8217;t impressed. Nattie says she can&#8217;t wait until Naomi gets shipped off to RAW. Naomi says this might be the last time she can beat Natalya, so she accepts the challenge that Natalya never made.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match 2<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Naomi vs Natalya<\/strong><br \/>\n(referee: Danilo Anfibio)<\/p>\n<!-- Content Reveal v2.3.1 -->\n<div class=\"scrhead\" onmouseover=\"document.body.style.cursor='pointer'\" onmouseout=\"document.body.style.cursor='default'\" onclick=\"acr_swap_display('ran_69f3626854e20','0','','')\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/simple-content-reveal\/images\/image1.gif\" class=\"scrimg\" id=\"scrimg_ran_69f3626854e20\" alt=\"Reveal content\" title=\"Reveal content\"\/>');<\/script> Show\/Hide Results\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<div style=\"display: none\" class=\"scrdiv\" id=\"scrdiv_ran_69f3626854e20\">');<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Result: Naomi wins via pinfall after a split-legged moonsault<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Time: 4:54<\/strong> (1 break)<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<\/div>');<\/script>\n<!-- End of Content Reveal -->\n\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts<\/strong><br \/>\nGood match. Both women looked good, and though the finish wasn&#8217;t surprising, it was well done.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Backstage<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nRenee Young attempts to get a word from Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura doesn&#8217;t know what came over him. He says he&#8217;s very, very sorry for attacking AJ Styles. Young asks for a real answer, so Nakamura says he doesn&#8217;t speak English.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Ring Area<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nCharlotte heads to the ring. She says her match with Asuka was the toughest challenge of her career, but she left Wrestlemania still the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champ. That night was magical, so now she&#8217;s wondering who she&#8217;ll make magic with next. As Charlotte speaks, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay come out and head to the ring.<\/p>\n<p>Billie says she and Peyton are wizards. They can make the SD Women&#8217;s Title disappear from Charlotte&#8217;s waist. Peyton then impersonates Charlotte, thanking everyone (and air) for Charlotte&#8217;s title defense. Peyton and Billie tell Charlotte to stop talking about a match that happened in the past when she is looking at the future. Charlotte has heard enough, so she attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte is quickly overwhelmed. Peyton and Billie beat up Charlotte, hitting her with a double-team powerbomb on the floor. They drag Charlotte back into the ring so they can pose and gloat over her.<\/p>\n<p>As Peyton and Billie leave, Carmella runs past them. Carmella grabs Mike Chioda and demands that he ring the bell.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match 3<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=wwe-smackdown-womens-title-match\"><strong>SmackDown Women&#8217;s Title Match<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Carmella vs Charlotte Flair<\/strong> (SD Women&#8217;s Champ)<br \/>\n(referee: Mike Chioda)<\/p>\n<!-- Content Reveal v2.3.1 -->\n<div class=\"scrhead\" onmouseover=\"document.body.style.cursor='pointer'\" onmouseout=\"document.body.style.cursor='default'\" onclick=\"acr_swap_display('ran_69f3626854e5a','0','','')\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/simple-content-reveal\/images\/image1.gif\" class=\"scrimg\" id=\"scrimg_ran_69f3626854e5a\" alt=\"Reveal content\" title=\"Reveal content\"\/>');<\/script> Show\/Hide Results\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<div style=\"display: none\" class=\"scrdiv\" id=\"scrdiv_ran_69f3626854e5a\">');<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Result: Carmella wins via pinfall after a superkick and becomes the new SD Women&#8217;s Champ<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Time: 0:07<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<\/div>');<\/script>\n<!-- End of Content Reveal -->\n\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts<\/strong><br \/>\nThis was a great moment. You could see it coming from a mile away, but the buildup to it was great.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match 4<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=triple-threat-match\">Triple Threat<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/?tag=wwe-us-title-number-one-contender-match\">US Title Number One Contender Match<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Bobby Roode vs Randy Orton vs Rusev<\/strong> w\/ Aiden English<br \/>\n(referee: Jason Ayers; at ringside: Jinder Mahal, Sunil Singh)<\/p>\n<!-- Content Reveal v2.3.1 -->\n<div class=\"scrhead\" onmouseover=\"document.body.style.cursor='pointer'\" onmouseout=\"document.body.style.cursor='default'\" onclick=\"acr_swap_display('ran_69f3626854e8e','0','','')\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/simple-content-reveal\/images\/image1.gif\" class=\"scrimg\" id=\"scrimg_ran_69f3626854e8e\" alt=\"Reveal content\" title=\"Reveal content\"\/>');<\/script> Show\/Hide Results\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<div style=\"display: none\" class=\"scrdiv\" id=\"scrdiv_ran_69f3626854e8e\">');<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Result: Randy Orton pins Bobby Roode after an RKO and will challenge for the US Title at Backlash<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Time: 7:06<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<\/div>');<\/script>\n<!-- End of Content Reveal -->\n\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts<\/strong><br \/>\nPretty good match. Everyone had their moments, but Orton seemed to dominate more than anyone else. This was fine.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Backstage<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nDasha Fuentes welcomes the new SD Women&#8217;s Champ, Carmella. Carmella says that when a queen overstays her welcome, there is always a princess waiting to knock her off her throne. Carmella gets emotional as she thanks herself for making history all by herself yet again.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Backstage<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nRenee Young tells AJ Styles that Nakamura sort of apologized for what he did, but Styles doesn&#8217;t care. Tonight is about his match with Daniel Bryan. Bryan is one of the greatest, but he&#8217;s not phenomenal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match 5<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles<\/strong> (WWE Champ)<br \/>\n(referee: Mike Chioda)<\/p>\n<!-- Content Reveal v2.3.1 -->\n<div class=\"scrhead\" onmouseover=\"document.body.style.cursor='pointer'\" onmouseout=\"document.body.style.cursor='default'\" onclick=\"acr_swap_display('ran_69f3626854ebe','0','','')\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/simple-content-reveal\/images\/image1.gif\" class=\"scrimg\" id=\"scrimg_ran_69f3626854ebe\" alt=\"Reveal content\" title=\"Reveal content\"\/>');<\/script> Show\/Hide Results\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<div style=\"display: none\" class=\"scrdiv\" id=\"scrdiv_ran_69f3626854ebe\">');<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Result: the match ends in a No Contest when Shinsuke Nakamura attacks<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Time: 9:10<\/strong> (1 break)<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">document.writeln('<\/div>');<\/script>\n<!-- End of Content Reveal -->\n\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts<\/strong><br \/>\nThis was good, but it feels like it was only a teaser for something they&#8217;ll revisit sometime in the future. The action was great and was building to something, but before any kind of payoff happened, the match was abruptly ended.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Ring Area<\/em><\/span><br \/>\nAfter the match, Nakamura hits Styles with a low blow, a Kinshasa, and another low blow.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Show Impressions<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nGood show. There weren&#8217;t as many debuts or surprises as RAW, but there was much more of a focus on matches than RAW. I&#8217;ll take that trade.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Match of the Night<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>The Usos vs New Day<\/strong><br \/>\nOf course the main event was good, but the finishes of the matches as well as the implications helped me to pick the tag match as the match of the night.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Official Results:?<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/smackdown\/2018-04-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">http:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/smackdown\/2018-04-10<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The SmackDown debuts of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay make a huge impact, and the new GM of SmackDown puts the former GM, Daniel Bryan, in a dream match against AJ Styles!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[297,10,622],"tags":[476,234,494,749,1690,854,438,537,493,527,535,272,546,668,536,1946,1930,516,446,445,469,151,1511,515,460,294,517,1518,358,682,136,451,1947,632,142,614,563,898,1519,1209,444,570,797,7,1206,1189,826,482],"class_list":["post-3666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show-results","category-smackdown","category-wwe","tag-aiden-english","tag-aj-styles","tag-big-e","tag-billie-kay","tag-bludgeon-brothers","tag-bobby-roode","tag-byron-saxton","tag-carmella","tag-charles-robinson","tag-charlotte","tag-corey-graves","tag-daniel-bryan","tag-danilo-anfibio","tag-dasha-fuentes","tag-greg-hamilton","tag-harper","tag-iiconics","tag-jason-ayers","tag-jey-uso","tag-jimmy-uso","tag-jinder-mahal","tag-kofi-kingston","tag-louisiana","tag-mike-chioda","tag-naomi","tag-natalya","tag-new-day","tag-new-orleans-la","tag-paige","tag-peyton-royce","tag-randy-orton","tag-renee-young","tag-rowan","tag-rusev","tag-shane-mcmahon","tag-shinsuke-nakamura","tag-smackdown","tag-smackdown-live","tag-smoothie-king-center","tag-sunil-singh","tag-the-usos","tag-tom-phillips","tag-triple-threat-match","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-smackdown-tag-team-title-number-one-contender-match","tag-wwe-smackdown-womens-title-match","tag-wwe-us-title-number-one-contender-match","tag-xavier-woods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3668,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3666\/revisions\/3668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnjradio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}