Cook’s WWE SmackDown Live Review 2.19.19

Cook’s WWE SmackDown Live Coverage 2.19.19

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Aleister Black defeated Andrade (***)
Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa beat Sheamus & Cesaro (***1/2)
Mandy Rose beat Asuka (**)
Ricochet defeated Eric Young (**)
Kofi Kingston, Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles beat Samoa Joe, Randy Orton & The New Daniel Bryan (**1/2)

-We’re live from New Orleans, Louisiana, the House That The Junk Yard Dog Built! Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring while a recap video of the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match plays. We’re getting a six-man tag tonight with those gentlemen, and we’ll find out who challenges Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. Shane asks New Orleans what’s up and puts over the amazing debuts of the NXT talent last night on Raw. They’ll all be here tonight too! We have a lot more, but here’s The Miz to cut that off. Miz admits that he used Shane this whole time, because he knew Shane could relate to wanting his dad to be proud of him. Shane revealed he always wanted to be a tag team champion, and Miz has always prided himself on making his championships mean more than any other. When they won the titles, and two nights later, Miz’s dad said he was proud of him, and he loved him. It was the first time Miz had ever heard that. That was the best moment of his career and one of the greatest moments of his life, and he thanks Shane for that. He let Shane down two days ago. He can’t change the past, but he can control the future. There’s no re-match clause, but Shane McMahon is the one person that can make a re-match. The crowd wants it. Miz wants it. Shane wants it. The Usos are all like woah woah woah woah woah woah woah. They note it sounds like everybody wants a rematch. But there’s no automatic rematch clause. They’re willing to let Shane forgive Miz and let it happen, but they point out that Shane can’t forgive Miz because he’s a joke, a loser, a failure, a wannabe A-Lister with C-Lister skills, a crybaby. They tell Shane to get another partner, and Shane has heard enough. You don’t disrespect Miz like that. The re-match is on, and it will happen at Miz’x hometown of Cleveland, Ohio at Fastlane. The fans are a little disappointed it won’t happen tonight, but Miz points out it’ll still be awesome then.

–Aleister Black makes his appearance on the left hand path and is on the path between good & evil. He’ll be next against Andrade! Before the match, we get a video recapping Black’s life in NXT.

–Aleister Black vs. Andrade (w/Zelina Vega): Lots of behind the scenes intrigue here, but I’ll ignore all of that. Loud “NXT” chant to start this one. Some fine chain wrestling to start. It feels like the SD crew has gotten the memo to build the new guys up. We see Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano watching backstage. Knee to the chin by Andrade gets two. He misses a knee in the corner and tumbles outside, and Black teases a dive outside and sits Indian-style in a traditional NXT spot as we go side by side. Andrade gets a near-fall but Aleister gets an armbar after. Aleister ends up on the apron and Andrade goes for the suplex in, but now they’re both on the apron. Boots from Aleister. Andrade with the backbreaker/neckbreaker combo before putting Aleister back in the ring for the rear chinlock. Aleister powers out, and they’re going back & forth when we return. Knee to the side of the face by Aleister. Andrade dumps him to the outside. He going for that hammerlock DDT, but Black counters for a rollup. Knees, then a German suplex gets 2 for Aleister. Andrade hip tosses him into the corner, then hits the double knees in the corner, but that only gets two. BLACK MASS happens suddenly, and it puts Andrade down for the three count! Damn good match from two familar foes. I’d like to see more of this. (***)

–Kayla Braxton, who is looking darn fine tonight if you ask me, asks Ciampa & Gargano if they can keep up with Black. They both seem confident that they are the future, then The Bar informs them that they should go back to NXT or Raw, just stay away from SD Live. They’re not just there to set the bar, they’re there to break the bar. Sheamus & Cesaro find it funny…I feel like they won’t later on.

–AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy are on the same page. So are The New Day.

–The Bar vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano: These two NXT guys can’t even stand each other. Well, Gargano can’t stand Ciampa, but Ciampa seems happy to team with his old tag team partner. Sheamus definitely has the size advantage on Ciampa as they start out, but Ciampa gets the early advantage. Cesaro wants Sheamus to step it up. Corey Graves smartly points out how both these teams have spawned from rivalries. Gargano & Cesaro tag in, and it’s Cesaro with the early advantage there. You know Cesaro thinks he’s the master of wrestling, and Johnny Wrestling will get a true test. It’s the NXT guys getting the advantage until Cesaro dumps Ciampa on the outside and some words get bleeped before the commercial. We return, and Cesaro has Ciampa in the chinlock. Ciampa breaks out but gets uppercutted. Sheamus knocks Gargano off the apron and knees Ciampa in the corner. Ciampa elbows his way out of White Noise and gets a sunset flip powerbomb but on top of his damn knee and that was ugly. Johnny Wrestling gonna turn things around. He doing his thing with ranas on the floor. Slingshot DDT to Cesaro gets two. Headscissors into the Gargano Escape! Cesaro has nowhere to go but has plenty of power and he powers out. Doubleteam leads to a kneedrop from Sheamus, but Ciampa males the save. Assisted Irish Curse backbreaker leads to another kickout. Johnny won’t die. Sheamus talks some shit and gets superkicked. Cesaro tags in, he tries to knock Ciampa off the apron, Ciampa ducks, does eventually get the tag, and rolls up Cesaro for the three! The former (current) #DIY are 2-0 on the main roster and claiming some major scalps. Damn good match here and I want more. (***1/2)

-The heels in the 6-man tag talk, then we get a Ricochet video. He’s taking on Eric Young (he’s still around?) tonight!

–SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka finally appears after a prolonged absence. Kayla Braxton is in the ring to point out that people are talking more about the Raw division. Asuka is ready for a new challenge. She beat Charlotte & Becky at TLC, and made Becky tap out at the Royal Rumble. She wants to know who is ready for Asuka right now. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville appear. Mandy wants Asuka to take notes from her, and says she’s ready for Asuka. Sonya seems happy to let her take that bullet.

–Asuka vs. Mandy Rose: Headlock from Mandy! Dropkick from Asuka gets a 1. Well hold on a minute. Lacey Evans makes her entrance in a red polka dotted dress. Sonya directs her away, and Mandy hits a Russian leg sweep on Asuka for a 2 count. Asuka gets the advantage, and tosses Mandy out of the ring before a commercial. Mandy actually did get the advantage for a second, but Asuka broke that up. Asuka gets her head kneed off on the floor, and barely beats the count into the ring. Asuka fights back, and a kick to Mandy’s face gets a near-fall. German suplex and a shining wizard only gets two! I would have figured Mandy would be out by now but now she’s selling an eye injury and trying to get the referee to buy in. It worked, and a rollup leads to Mandy pinning Asuka! So that’s Asuka’s program going forward? Good luck with all of that. (**)

–Charlotte Flair is asked if Becky Lynch will haunt her Road to WrestleMania. She doesn’t think so.

-Miz tells Shane that Mr. Miz will be at ringside for their match at Fastlane. I know I’ll be turning in!

–Ricochet vs. Eric Young (w/Sanity): The Kentucky-born man & the Tennessee-living man start during the commercial. Ricochet does some flips, as he’s known to do. Until Young knocks his block off on the apron. He works Ricochet over with the chinlock. It’s some exciting stuff, let me tell ya.Until Young misses in the corner, then Ricochet can hit some clotheslines from Paducah. Standing shooting star gets two. Young got his eyebrow busted at some point here. He’s used to tasting his own blood. Ricochet kicks the man out of the ring. He kicks Wolfe down, then takes out Dain & Young with a dive. Another kick sends Young down, and it’s 630 time. That’s it. Certain guys make Ricochet look better than others.

-Kayla welcomes the New Day. Xavier says she has too much dip on her chip, which I’m not sure I understand. He & Big E note how long 11 years is. Kofi feels like the entire WWE Universe has his back, and it wouldn’t have been possible without Xavier & Big E. Big E does his New Day intro live.

-There’s Tom Phillips, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton.

-Before we get to that, we see the Kevin Owens update from last night. I believe his son, popcorn & a soda costs at least $20 at the movies.

-<b.6-Man Tag Team Match: Kofi Kingston, Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Randy Orton & The New Daniel Bryan: Bryan has a few words to say before we start. Small-minded skeptics have held back Thomas Beckett, Joan of Arc & Socrates. Look at those handprints on that man. Either way, Daniel Bryan serves a higher purpose, to enlighten & educate. He will educate us about his opponent at Fastlane, but he’ll tell us who it’s not…the men in this match tonight, as he defeated them all in the Elimination Chamber! I don’t know why he’s trying to anger his partners tonight, but I don’t operate on that Bryan/Rowan level of knowledge. Bryan almost started with Kofi, but he let Joe start instead. Hardy tags in and hits his trademark offense on Joe. DELETE! No Twist of Fate, and Orton tags in to do some punishment. Bryan hits some No Kicks for a two count. Hardy eventually tags oit & Kofi goes all ham on Orton. Boom Drop! He goes up top, but Bryan pushes him off onto the floor! Orton with the back suplex onto the table on Kofi before we go to commercial! He’s murdered men with that move! Damn, Randy did it again after the commercial! Phillips is astonished that Bryan & Orton are working together so well here in New Orleans, where they faced off in a WrestleMania main event nearly five years ago. Orton tags Bryan and Kofi tags Styles, and Styles has all kinds of hot tag offense. AJ locks in that Calf Crusher, Joe breaks it up, Hardy hits a Twist of Fate, Bryan with a LeBell Lock on Styles, broken up, Pele kick on Bryan. Kofi gets the tag, then Bryan tosses Kofi on top of everybody, then Kofi comes back anyway, and takes Bryan out on the outside! TROUBLE IN PARADISE! Kofi gets the win! Big E & Xavier put Kofi on their shoulders! As a longtime Lucha Libre fan, I love six-man tag team matches with all of the stars with various issues, and the fellas did some good work here. (**1/2)

-Shane McMahon comes out right after the match to announce that Bryan will defend his WWE Championship at Fastlane against Kofi Kingston! Bryan doesn’t look pleased, but what else is new?

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

I think we need to keep all of the NXT people on SmackDown. The New Orleans crowd may have been a touch friendlier than the Lafayette crowd, but who doesn't want to see #DIY against The Bar again? Or The New Day or the Usos? I know I'm down with all of that. We all had to know that Kofi would get another shot at the WWE Championship, so I assume those newsbites were leaked out to see what people thouught. SD Live going in the right direction...well, they could use something better in the women's division, but Raw's got that all on lockdown.