Friday Night SmackDown Review - May 1, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Daniel Bryan def. King Corbin by Disqualification

I liked the pre-match promos from Bryan and Corbin where both men talking about how important winning the briefcase again would be to them. I've always thought that a feud between them could be fun and hopefully we get it down the road, especially since they worked well together here (not to mention that Corbin's trash talking was humorous). The disqualification finish was lame after they went 15 minutes, but it did set up a six-man tag team matchup for next week with Bryan, Drew Gulak and a partner of their choosing battling Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.

Bray Wyatt Interrupted Universal Champion Braun Strowman

This was another decent verbal exchange between Strowman and Wyatt, but the material is already starting to get old because this is the fourth week in a row that they've done it. Yes, they have history in The Wyatt Family, but they should be doing more to sell people on the match than just bringing that up every chance they get. Maybe that'll happen when they go face-to-face next week, but I'm ready for them to take their storyline to the next level.

Sheamus def. Leon Ruff

Ruff has popped up on Main Event and Raw in the past few months losing to Aleister Black. He lasted a little longer here against Sheamus but still got his ass kicked. I appreciated that Sheamus knew ahead of time that the Jeff Hardy video package was going to air afterward, so he waited by Michael Cole until it was over. I assume they'll face off at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, so expect that to be made official when Hardy returns next week.

Carmella def. Mandy Rose to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

I still don't know whether Carmella is supposed to be a face or a heel. She hasn't technically turned yet, but she's been giving off heel vibes to me for weeks. Unfortunately, this match wasn't very good at all and Sonya Deville cutting a promo on the stage for the second half of it didn't help. That said, Deville's promo was excellent and I thought her delivery was awesome. Rose vs. Deville is another likely addition to the Money in the Bank card.

The Forgotten Sons def. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New DAy (Non-Title)

WWE probably realized that few teams matter in the SmackDown tag team division matter outside of New Day, The Usos and The Miz and John Morrison, which is why they had The Lucha House Party win last week and Forgotten Sons win this week. Unfortunately, it doesn't make Forgotten Sons any more exciting in my opinion, but at least they're trying and it would have been silly for Forgotten Sons to lose this soon, anyway. It was a perfectly solid match that didn't need to go as long as it did. A Fatal 4-Way with New Day, Miz and Morrison, Lucha House Party, and Forgotten Sons seems to be a lock for Money in the Bank.

Otis def. Dolph Ziggler to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

I felt this match suffered more than any other on this show from not having a crowd, who would have rallied behind Otis and added drama to this. In an empty area, it was just sort of there. That isn't to say it was bad, but there certainly wasn't anything extraordinary about it. That said, Otis advancing was the right call and I was glad that he beat Ziggler in clean fashion without Rose or Deville getting involved.

Overall Show

It's no secret that SmackDown has been abysmal for a while now, but truth be told, I didn't mind this show on the whole. Granted, Bryan vs. Corbin was the only entertaining encounter on the entire episode, but the build for Money in the Bank was effective and I really liked how so many things were advertised for next week. The two hours weren't worth sitting through, but at least everything served a purpose and was relevant to Money in the Bank in some form or fashion.