WWE SmackDown Live Review - April 16, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kevin Owens Hosted The Kevin Owens Show with The New Day

Owens' lack of direction lately (as well as how he was left off WrestleMania 35) has been somewhat concerning, but this was easily the most memorable segment he's been involved since he's been back. New Day is down a member for now with Big E going down with an injury last week, but Owens was more than happy to fill the void and he did so perfectly. The crowd ate this up and for good reason, because it was hilarious. Owens is national treasure.

Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor def. Ali (Non-title)

Well, Balor moving to SmackDown Live with the Intercontinental Championship was certainly unexpected. I guess that means the rumors I read about Samoa Joe's Raw appearance being scrapped due to illness on Monday night were true and that he may be Raw bound after all soon enough. As for the match itself, it was fun. Ali was building momentum before getting hurt earlier this year, so hopefully this strong showing against the Intercontinental champ will lead to a renewed push for him.

Charlotte Flair def. Carmella; Lars Sullivan Attacked R-Truth

Carmella coming out with R-Truth to Truth's entrance music instead of her own was weird considering she was the one wrestling here. The commentators played up their history over the SmackDown Women's Championship last year, and while I don't remember any of their encounters being particularly good, this was decent and served its purpose in getting Flair back in the win column following her loss at WrestleMania 35. Meanwhile, I guess Sullivan isn't officially a Raw Superstar after all, despite the website listing him as one after Monday. This company really needs to their shit straight with this Superstar Shake-up.

Kairi Sane, Asuka, Bayley and Ember Moon def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The IIconics and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville

Becky Lynch was supposed to have an announcement of her own, but never ended up saying anything of note. Strange. At any rate, Moon and Bayley are great pick-ups for SmackDown's women's division. Moon's first year on the main roster was a total waste, so I hope she's given more chances to shine on Tuesday nights. As for Bayley, this should be a fresh start for her stagnant character, and thank the lord she's finally away from Sasha Banks. Finally, Sane and Asuka are a hell of a tag team and should be next in line for a run with the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. This was a solid showcase for the division and I'm excited to see it develop in the future.

The New Day and Kevin Owens def. Cesaro, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura

Don't get me wrong, Owens as an honorary member of New Day is something I never knew I needed until now, but this was basically the same SmackDown main event we got last week. Why not do something slightly different? What is this supposed to be leading to? And where the hell was Sheamus? Too many questions that the company likely doesn't have answers to. In other news, Rusev and Nakamura continue to exist.

Roman Reigns Attacked Elias and Mr. McMahon

As soon as AJ Styles shifted over to Raw on Monday, it was obvious that Reigns would be replacing him as the face of SmackDown, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened. McMahon tried to "swerve" everyone by bringing out Elias at first (I thought he was a better fit on Raw personally), but Reigns eventually emerged and laid them both out. The blue brand is a welcome change of scenery for The Big Dog, but I have no clue who he can feud with from the get-go aside from Elias (meh), Randy Orton (again?), or Daniel Bryan.

Overall Show

Every year, I complain about the format of the Superstar Shake-up and how lazy it feels. They have yet to explain how any of this works and why Superstars end up on certain shows. Case in point, Sullivan was billed as a member of the Raw roster after Monday, yet is apparently on SmackDown. Consistency is not this company's strong suit. That aside, this was an enjoyable edition of SmackDown with some interesting moves. The blue brand is definitely about to undergo a massive makeover and it remains to be seen whether it'll be for the better.