WWE SmackDown Live Review - May 7, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AJ Styles and Sami Zayn Challenged WWE Champion Kofi Kingston

I'm sorry but Kingston defending the WWE title twice in one week does nothing for me. It establishes him as a fighting champion but doesn't make the shows more exciting because the outcome isn't really in doubt. The whole purpose of the Brand Split is to save these matches so they can mean more down the road. I don't see this Wild Card Rule lasting long, and if it does, only the undercarders will be switching shows eventually. If nothing else, this was a solid segment that set up the night's main event.

Ali def. Andrade by Disqualification

I'm sure these two could really rip it up against each other if given the time to do so, but this just ended be a sneak peek of what they're actually capable of. It was fun while it lasted but merely served as a backdrop for Randy Orton's attack on Ali and Andrade. His RKOs out-of-nowhere shtick apparently hasn't gotten old with crowds yet, as he was received a hero's welcome here.

Daniel Bryan and Rowan def. The Usos to Win the Vacant SmackDown Tag Team Championship

SmackDown Live's tag team division is so weak that WWE had to bring in The Usos from Raw to fight for the vacant titles. That's pretty sad. Why not just merge the damn tag team championships at this point? At any rate, I'm totally fine with Bryan and Rowan spending some time in the tag team ranks since there's nothing for Bryan to do in singles competition at the moment. The second half of this was strong and the crowd reacted big to the nearfalls. I can honestly see this rivalry continuing considering SmackDown has very few (if any) tandems for Bryan and Rowan to defend against.

Shane McMahon and The B-Team Attacked The Miz

Shane was going to make an announcement regarding the Money in the Bank Ladder matches but was attacked by Miz before he could reveal what they were. I guess we'll never know. Shane's attack on Miz was well done, and it was interesting to see The B-Team take out their former ringleader, but I'm ready for this rivalry to reach its end so we can all move on.

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville def. Ember Moon and Carmella

This was originally supposed to be a six-woman tag team match also involving Bayley and Charlotte Flair, but it was changed at the last minute for whatever reason. Moon has had very little buzz since coming over Raw. Hell, Carmella got more people talking coming into this contest simply by changing her hair color. I hated that Moon was pinned, but Rose and Deville winning made sense since they'll be facing Asuka and Kairi Sane on next week's show.

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Sami Zayn and AJ Styles in a Triple Threat Match

If you thought Kingston's title defense against Bryan on Monday's Raw was predictable, the outcome to this was even more obvious. That said, it was an entertaining Triple Threats with all three guys working well together. It had a good pace and Kevin Owens "swerved" everyone by showing up on his birthday to attack Xavier Woods at ringside. Kingston retained his title anyway, but it was fine way for them to further their feud.

Overall Show

If it wasn't already apparent from my writing, I am no fan of this Wild Card Rule. Everything feels so random and I'm not any more excited for Money in the Bank than I was before (and that's coming from someone who will be there in attendance). Kingston vs. Styles vs. Zayn was a well-wrestled main event, but in the long-term, it accomplished nothing. I actually enjoyed most of this show, but I wasn't overly satisfied by the end of the evening. SmackDown is slightly more bearable than Raw nowadays, but not by much. The current creative direction of the company remains in the toilet and I don't think this ridiculous Wild Card Rule will change that.