Friday Night SmackDown Review - May 19, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Faced Off with The Bloodline Before Being Attacked by The Usos

I wasn't overly excited for this face-off between Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Zayn and Owens because, well, what more can possibly be said at this point? Sikoa and Owens didn't speak at all, but I did like the heated exchange between Zayn and Reigns recapping their history. The Usos ambushed Owens and Zayn out of nowhere, which was apparently not cleared by Reigns beforehand. Drama continues to brew within the ranks of The Bloodline. The hot crowd added to this segment.

Pretty Deadly def. The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland and Butch)

Pretty Deadly had strong runs in both NXT UK and NXT, so I hoping they can get over on the main roster as well with the right push. Their eccentric characters should make it easy for them to connect with the crowd before long, and beating an established team like Brawling Brutes will only help their cause. This was a quality contest with the right result. On a side note, can we please see Butch break off on his own soon and become Pete Dunne again?

Asuka def. Zelina Vega

These two are no strangers to one another. Not only did they do battle once upon a time in NXT several years ago, Vega also unsuccessfully challenged Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship at Night of Champions 2020 as well as on Raw the next night. Vega has improved since then and thus this was a nice little sprint while it lasted. Bianca Belair made the save for Vega afterward and managed to avoid being misted by Asuka this time. Well, sort of.

Grayson Waller Hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with AJ Styles

As Waller mentioned at the start of the segment, he and Styles have history from their mini feud on NXT in early 2022 and I appreciated that being acknowledged. I'd definitely be down for them mixing it up again down the road as Waller would really benefit. This was a solid back-and-forth between the two, but nothing either guy said stood out and it felt like it ended abruptly. Styles vs. Waller would have made sense for next week, but we'll be getting Styles vs. Karrion Kross instead. Another loss for Kross, it seems.

The Street Profits def. Rick Boogs and LA Knight

This was set up on last week's edition of The SmackDown LowDown. Knight and Boogs were rumored to be a "temporary" team and now we know why. What we saw here doesn't change my mind at all, though. Why is Knight wasting time with Boogs when he could be doing something of more importance? The reaction he received from this crowd is proof that he should be. At the very least, this was fun for what it was.

NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre def. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon (Non-Title)

Yes, the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship is still on SmackDown and its status has not been addressed yet. In storyline, NXT commissioner Shawn Michaels apparently doesn't care enough to get the belts back. Ideally, WWE would merge them with the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and get it over with, but I'm not confident that's the direction they're heading in. Nonetheless, this was a short and sweet showcase for Dawn and Fyre.

Sheamus Attacked United States Champion Austin Theory

I was worried when Theory mentioned Bobby Lashley during his promo that they would rekindle their rivalry (especially after Lashley pinned Theory in last week's Triple Threat), but I'm glad they're going with Theory vs. Sheamus instead. It's a fresh feud and they should work well together. This was a basic segment to set that match up for next week's episode. Why wouldn't it happen at Night of Champions, the pay-per-view that years ago featured all the active titles being defended?

The LWO (Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar) def. The Usos

LWO have lost so much since reforming that I was fully prepared for them to take the L here as well, so the outcome was a pleasant surprise. Granted, it took interference from Owens and Zayn, but it did further the Bloodline storyline effectively with The Usos continuing to let down Reigns. It was a thumbs-up main event. I do wonder what's next for LWO, but at least Escobar and his crew are bound to get consistent television time being aligned with Mysterio.

Overall Show

I thoroughly enjoyed last week's show, but I didn't think this week's effort was anything special. The focus on all of the new faces (Pretty Deadly, Fyre, Dawn, Waller and Cameron Grimes) was refreshing, but Belair vs. Asuka and the Bloodline storyline feel like old hat. The stuff with The Bloodline in particular has mostly maintained my interest, but I'm beyond ready for the next chapter. This was a quality show on the whole, but nothing worth writing home about. The build for Night of Champions definitely feels rushed, but that's just the way the event calendar works out this month.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews