WWE SmackDown Live Review - June 4, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Dolph Ziggler Interrupted WWE Champion Kofi Kingston; Kingston and Xavier Woods def. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Don't get me wrong, I like Kingston, but having him kick off the show week after week is getting tiresome (assuming it isn't already). It isn't his fault, it's just that the layout of Raw and SmackDown Live is way too formulaic. On the bright side, this was easily the strongest segment in this feud yet. Ziggler is obviously no threat to the WWE Championship, but he finally (somewhat) backed up all of his "It should have been me" nonsense by producing a few different video packages from years past showing how the company has overlooked him time after time. I now care slightly more about their match at Super ShowDown than I did before, so kudos to them for that. The tag team match that followed was well-wrestled yet nothing special. Owens is clearly paying for his decision to not go to Saudi Arabia for Super ShowDown seeing as how he's now lost three weeks in a row.

Alexa Bliss Hosted Moment of Bliss with SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley

Was it just me or did this segment bring back bad memories of the atrocious Bayley vs. Bliss feud from two years ago? There was far too much bickering for my liking, even if this did set up the No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat for later in the night. Bayley seemingly wanted to talk about facing new challengers, but Bliss cut her off every time she tried. By the way, WWE took Bliss' coffee bit from last week and turned it into a full-fledged gimmick for her, ruining it in the process.

Elias def. R-Truth in a Lumberjack Match to Win the 24/7 Championship; Truth def. Elias to Win the 24/7 Championship

I thought the 24/7 Championship had promise when it debuted a few weeks ago, but it has quickly deteriorated into a joke. Okay, so it was going to be a joke no matter what given who's fighting for it, but aside from a quick clip of Truth defending it on a golf course against Jinder Mahal on Memorial Day, they haven't done nearly enough with the belt to justify having it around. The Lumberjack match lasted all of 30 seconds, and then Truth regained the gold by pinning Elias under the ring. This isn't even clever or creative, it's just stupid.

Shane McMahon and Drew MCIntyre Attacked Roman Reigns

Shane brought The Revival from Raw with him to SmackDown, which was a complete waste of the Wild Card Rule. They were quickly disposed of by Reigns, who was then attacked by McIntyre and Shane. It was a decent segment that successfully put more heat on Shane, but as I've said before, I couldn't be more ready for this rivalry to be over. No one is benefiting and it's taking television time away from people who could use it.

Alexa Bliss def. Carmella and Charlotte Flair in a SmackDown Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MAtch

To their credit, this was a quality Triple Threat match that had a really good pace. There was genuine uncertainty regarding the outcome, which added to my enjoyment of it. I really thought Flair had this thing won, and while I'm partially glad she didn't, I'm surprised a Raw wrestler went over and earned the title shot at Stomping Grounds. I guess I shouldn't be with the Wild Card Rule in effect, but the opportunity really should've gone to one of the women we haven't seen on SmackDown in a while (a la Morgan, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Mandy Rose, etc).

Kayla Braxton Interviewed Lars Sullivan

A portion of the crowd crapped all over Sullivan's promo before giving it a chance. I'm not saying it was the strongest promo I've ever heard, and it definitely sounded super scripted, but I thought his delivery was solid. It was nice to finally hear from him after so long, but I believe he's probably better off staying silent unless he's given a mouthpiece. Let his intensity in the ring do the talking.

Andrade vs. Apollo Crews Went to a No Contest

I actually got a little excited when I saw that Crews would be Andrade's opponent. I don't believe he's wrestled on SmackDown since being moved over to the blue brand in the Superstar Shake-up, not to mention that this could have been a lot of fun if given some time. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition, and after Andrade laid out Crews, he and Finn Balor briefly brawled to hype up their Intercontinental Championship clash for Super ShowDown. It was simple and effective yet far from what it could have been.

Goldberg Addressed The Undertaker

Personally, I found Goldberg's promo to be a lot better than the one The Undertaker cut on Monday's Raw. Perhaps part of that is because Undertaker hasn't cut a memorable promo in ages, as well as how it felt rushed and how we haven't seen Goldberg on WWE TV in over two years. Undertaker showing up and going face-to-face with Goldberg was a pleasant surprise. I have my doubts about their upcoming match in Saudi Arabia, but it feels like an attraction, if nothing else.

Overall Show

As expected, there was a ton of hype for Super ShowDown, so it was a passable show in that respect. None of it really moved the needle for me, as I'm just at a point where I want this event to come and go so we can move on. Goldberg's promo and the Triple Threat were the highlights of the night for me, but even that feels like a bit of a stretch. I couldn't be any more bored with the current product to be honest.