 Rey Mysterio Attacked Kevin OwensMysterio is a Raw Superstar, but it was logical for him to appear in his hometown of San Diego. Plus, it's not as if the Brand Split stuff has mattered in a long time. He and Owens had a good exchange that successfully set up their match for later on in the night. I'm glad Owens acknowledged how it'd be their first-ever one-on-one outing, making it feel more important in the process. Naomi and WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair def. Candice LeRae and Nia JaxI know Belair and Naomi are being announced as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions and Naomi has one of the belts with her, but I refuse to officially refer to her as one-half of the champs until Jade Cargill's storyline status is cleared up. At any rate, this was decent, but it was no different than their championship clash last month. Naomi and Belair will defend against The Meta-Four next Tuesday on NXT, so there was no way they were losing here. Jimmy Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes Ended in a No ContestUso and Hayes had a brief backstage confrontation last week, so that was the reason behind this bout. This was a quality contest between these two before the non-finish. I'll take that over Hayes taking another unnecessary loss. The dude's directionless at the moment, but at least he's consistently shining in the ring. It's worth noting he was also attacked by Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga, but I don't think that means he's going babyface. Solo Sikoa Walked Off; Braun Strowman Saved LA Knight From Jacob Fatu and Tama TongaSikoa's return to SmackDown was advertised one week out and I heavily speculated that this could and should have been where he got betrayed by Fatu and Tonga. Not only did that not happen, he walked off before he could say anything, so that was a pointless appearance. The rest of the segment was solid with Knight and Strowman fending off the heels. The Strowman and Fatu face-off felt like a big deal. The Motor City Machine Guns def. Los GarzaThis wasn't billed as a number one contender's match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but that's basically what it was. One of the few benefits of SmackDown expanding to three hours has been the tag team division getting more time. Both of these teams are talented and thus it was hardly surprising that they had a nice match. It wasn't announced when the Guns will get their next tag title shot, but it better be added to the Royal Rumble considering we haven't had a men's tag title match on pay-per-view since WrestleMania 40, over nine months ago. Piper Niven def. B-FabNiven acting as Chelsea Green's Secret Service is actually a pretty great gimmick. Niven doesn't win a whole lot, so this was a needed win for her. Despite B-Fab having what the commentators called a "breakout performance" in the Women's United States Championship Tournament, this was her first televised match since, and that was over two months ago. It was essentially a squash for Niven, as it should have been. Post-match, Michin made the save for B-Fab as you'd expect. Kevin Owens def. Rey MysterioWho knows how many years Mysterio has left in the ring, so I'm happy we got this one-on-one encounter finally, even if it was only a one-off and not part of a full-fledged feud. With Mysterio being the hometown hero, the crowd was super behind him throughout. This was an enjoyable match and I appreciated that we got a straightforward finish with Owens beating Mysterio. It was announced that Owens and Cody Rhodes will have their contract signing at Saturday Night's Main Event and that it will be moderated by San Antonio's own Shawn Michaels. WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton def. BayleyI had my guard up for outside interference, especially by Roxanne Perez (who was shown sitting in the crowd after brawling with Bayley on Tuesday's NXT), but thankfully, this had no shenanigans. Rather, this was a top-notch match rightfully slotted as the main event. Is Bayley losing clean an indicator she's getting transferred to Raw or even NXT? Regardless of where she winds up, there really isn't anything left for her to do on the blue brand, so she could use a change of scenery. Overall ShowI maintain that SmackDown has no business being a three-hour show. There's a ton of talent on the roster, but not nearly enough depth to justify the longer runtime. That's been evident the past two weeks, though I'd certainly say this was an improvement over last week's forgettable effort. Most of the show was serviceable, but the main event and Owens vs. Mysterio were the main highlights. It's been reported that SmackDown should be back to the two-hour format by May or June and that can't come soon enough.
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