I want to start this review by saying rest in peace to former ECW star, New Jack.
As a VERY young wrestling fan, I first encountered the man's career around 5 years ago and what I've come from my initial rabbit hole of researching ECW was how he's brought literal brutality in his matches.
Vice's Dark Side Of The Ring highlighted an episode about New Jack last season which for some odd reason, if you've not seen the episode (or the doc series for that matter) then give it a watch.
Last week, the retro edition of Smackdown is a mix of the 80s and the 90s which feels like if a kid mixed in both time periods because "they're all old anyway".
And this week was just a regular themed episode of Smackdown.
What makes last week's and this week's episode similar is that they're both a decent 2-hour program.
Images via WWE.com
Roman Reigns Wanted Jimmy Uso To Face Cesaro.
Like pretty much all of the SmackDown episodes that happened for the past several months, it opened with yet another great dialogue from Roman Reigns that convinced me as to why he's (excuse my French) really f**king good in the current iteration of his character.
Reigns have made the comparison of the amount of world title bouts being participated between himself and Cesaro and mocked the "0" number that Cesaro has.
Out came Jimmy Uso and he doesn't think that Roman can't beat Cesaro but he and his brother Jey Uso can because "they're the head of the table".
Roman was then offended by Jimmy Uso's claim of "being the tribal chief" (I don't blame the big dog).
Cesaro showed up and he like all challengers for a championship, proclaims that he will BEAT Roman Reigns for the championship this Sunday at Wrestlemania: Backlash or as I like to call it, Backlashimania (hey look, I never said that I was clever or even funny for that matter).
The most interesting part about this segment was, of course, the family dynamics between Roman Reigns, Jey and Jimmy Uso. It's quite relatable in an unusual way for me.
Roman Reigns is like the oldest brother that provides the entire family and REMINDS you of that every time a sibling messes up.
Jey Uso is like the sibling who listens to the older brother's orders. Jimmy Uso is like the sibling that while does listen to the orders, just wanted to go about it in a different way.
Overall, the segment was pretty good.
Shayna Baszler And Nia Jax vs Tamina And Natalya For The WWE Women's Championship.
I'm probably the only one that actually liked their encounter at Wrestlemania 37 and the chemistry between all 4 women is still intact in this rematch.
In other words, I like the match.
The reign of Baszler and Jax is over because Tamina nailed the splash to become the women's tag team champions alongside her partner Natalya.
They got emotional in the post-match promo and I honestly felt it especially from Tamina as she's been in WWE for 11 years and worked hard to get to this position (even though I'm not a fan of her work).
Apollo Crews Claims That He's Brought Honour And Prestige To The Intercontinental Championship.
The heading above was the gist of the promo besides giving the commander Azzez the medal of honour.
Sami Zayn wanted to appreciate the moment while Big E felt the exact opposite.
A brawl ensued and that's how the segment ended.
Obviously, it was a direction to build the fatal four-way match for the IC championship which was made official by Adam Pearce for next week's episode which I cannot wait. It should be absolutely flames.
Rey Mysterio vs Dolph Ziggler.
Two guys with a LOT of history battling it out in their latest singles match together. And, it was fine.
Mysterio pulled off the inside cradle to win the match. Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler still walked out of the Thunderdome with an L.
Bayley Had Some Words For Bianca Belair Ahead Of Wrestlemania: Backlash.
This was a "take it or leave it" type of segment for me. Both women weren't shy on talking about how they're going to leave the PPV as THE SmackDown women's championship.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin.
Some of my least favourite matches from Nakamura's were with Baron Corbin himself. Thankfully, Corbin has come a long way inside the squared circle since then so the match was decent.
Corbin won the match with a roll-up to which Nakamura delivered the Kinshasa to Corbin and wore Corbin's crown.
I don't know if this is a sign of the return of the King Of The Ring tournament or not. Maybe I'm reaching there? I don't know but we shall see.
Aleister Black is back once again, delivers stories from a book called "tales of the dark father" (no sh*t, Omar). This week is about "The Lesson" and it's pretty much relating to the advice his "dark father" gave him on not to brawl with cruelty.
Aleister's been referencing the "dark father" a lot in these segments.
A theory article from TheSportster said that it might be The Undertaker (sorry buddy but it ain't happening).
We might never know the identity of the dark father like Bray Wyatt's Sister Abigail.
Aleister is getting a slight reboot of his character and if there's one thing that I've learned from the Firefly funhouse segments two years ago is that WWE will somehow find a way to mess it up.
I would be lying if I didn't say that the segments are well produced and build intrigue in the Aleister Black persona.
Cesaro vs Jimmy Uso.
A decent match that ended via a DQ because of an attack from Roman Reigns that was followed by The Usos jumping into the beatdown on Cesaro.
Cesaro nailed a comeback and took out The Usos before the show faded to black.
The Swiss cyborg looked fantastic before his encounter with Roman Reigns for the blue belt at Backlashimania.
Very curious as to how they book the match since Cesaro ain't winning the title.
So, to recap for all of you slow mofos.
Like: The opening segment, the women's tag team championship match, Aleister Black vignettes.
Didn't like: Nothing really.
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