Friday Night SmackDown Review - May 15, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Miz and John Morrison Hosted Miz TV with Otis

I'm still not entirely convinced WWE will do right by Otis as Mr. Money in the Bank, but at least he's off to a solid start. I liked the chemistry he had with Miz and Morrison here and I thought it was a decent segment overall. I don't think Otis never said specifically why Tucker couldn't make it and why he had to find someone else to team with instead against Miz and Morrison, but whatever the reason was, I assume it was purely storyline-driven so the stuff with Otis and Braun Strowman could happen.

Elias def. King Corbin in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I didn't care much for the WrestleMania match these two had a month ago and I can't say this was a vast improvement. The effort was there, but that's about it. The worst part is that it lasted over 15 minutes. Their best bet would've been to put on a short and sweet sprint. Instead, WWE likely wanted to drag this thing out in order to kill as much television time as possible. Elias advancing was a pleasant surprise, but it doesn't make Corbin look credible whatsoever before he faces Drew McIntyre on Monday's Raw.

Dana Brooke def. Naomi

I've been saying forever now that WWE needs to create new stars within the women's division and not rely so heavily on the Four Horsewomen, but in my opinion, Brooke is not the next breakout star. She's been with WWE for almost five years, and while she has improved immensely in the ring from her NXT days, nothing about her is interesting whatsoever. Naomi, on the other hand, had a ton of momentum upon returning at the Royal Rumble earlier this year and now it's all gone because of the many losses she's endured since then. What a shame. This was a brief and forgettable match.

Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks Interrupted NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair

Flair claiming that she came to SmackDown because fans couldn't get enough of her was legitimately funny and made her the biggest heel on the show. Her verbal exchange with Banks and Bayley was actually excellent and I loved how they brought up their history together. Bayley referenced how it was Flair who she beat to become SmackDown Women's Champion in the first place last year and Flair brought up how Bayley wouldn't be and has never been relevant without Banks by her side. I don't need to see Bayley vs. Flair next week, but I guess it makes sense after this.

Daniel Bryan def. Drew Gulak in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Unlike Elias vs. Corbin, this was on par with their original encounter from Elimination Chamber back in March. They work wonderfully together and really bring the best out of each other because of how similar their styles are. It may not be for everyone because of its heavy emphasis on wrestling, but I enjoyed every second of it. Bryan cutting a promo afterward about how much the title means to him and how he had to vacate it five years ago was a terrific touch.

Universal Champion Braun Strowman and Otis def. John Morrison and The Miz​

Strowman and Otis actually made for really good partners and it was clear that was intended to be all about them. Unfortunately, their victory came at the expense of Miz and Morrison. It was a solid main event, but I hate that Miz and Morrison have lost a majority of their matches over the last month. Otis was obviously never going to cash in his contract on this show, but the subtle tease was well done. I'm curious to see where he goes from here (outside of the mixed tag team match against Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville on next week's show). For what it's worth, there was no mention of Bray Wyatt here, though I assume a rematch is still in the works for Backlash.

Overall Show

​Per usual, this was a middle-of-the-road edition of SmackDown, filled with some quality wrestling and questionable booking decisions. At long last, there are things of actual importance happening on the show, but not all of it is compelling. The Intercontinental Championship Tournament has potential and Otis is a fresh face toward the top of the card, but Brooke being built up as the latest challenger of the month does nothing for me and the tag team division is still in shambles. If nothing else, the show wasn't completely dreadful.