{"id":134582,"date":"2022-03-05T21:06:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T03:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=134582"},"modified":"2022-03-05T21:06:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T03:06:02","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-3-4-ricochet-nets-ic-title-reigns-continues-strong-wrestlemania-program-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/05\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-3-4-ricochet-nets-ic-title-reigns-continues-strong-wrestlemania-program-more\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 3\/4: Ricochet nets IC title, Reigns continues strong WrestleMania program, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-877945183\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>Hits<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Cold open quick fire interviews:<\/strong> This felt fresh! Funny how something that is old can be new again. It reminded me of how WWE used to do short and quick interviews with wrestlers at the open of the Royal Rumble shows back in its early days. I\u2019m not sure that this would work every week but for now I\u2019m sold on it as it felt new, even if it\u2019s something that really isn\u2019t and hasn\u2019t been done probably in 30+ years (God, I\u2019m old\u2026)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sami Zayn vs. Ricochet (IC Title):<\/strong> A few weeks back I speculated that the big Ricochet win would be like a tree falling in the woods with no one being there to see\/hear it. Well, thus far, I couldn\u2019t be more wrong. Of course, there still needs to be more followthrough. But, to this point, the sudden revamped interest in pushing Ricochet is off to a great start. It also should mean now that Zayn will lose at WrestleMania to Johnny Knoxville and my fears of Knoxville carrying around the IC Title post-Mania will not happen. As for the match itself, these two killed it (as the kids would say). There were so many early near-falls for Ricochet that I thought for sure that this was the booking way of having him \u201csave face\u201d and Zayn would retain. I\u2019m happy to say that I was wrong. I also didn\u2019t mind the Knoxville interference since Ricochet was also able to hit a big move to get to the pin. I also hope Vince McMahon was paying attention because the crowd was totally behind Ricochet from start to finish tonight Zayn\u2019s backstage followup was also very well done. He\u2019s such a great character and the reaction to him losing in the fashion he did came off as very believable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Austin Theory announces himself as Pat McAfee\u2019s opponent:<\/strong> Theory didn\u2019t overstay his welcome and the crowd reacted well to this. This is a much better match than the rumored Vince McMahon match that was circulating online last week. McAfee\u2019s reaction, including him questioning whether Michael Cole was in on the \u201csurprise reveal,\u201d was even better than the reveal of Theory. As a Pittsburgh guy, I\u2019m excited to see McAfee be able to showcase himself at Mania. His matches with Adam Cole in the past have been very good. I\u2019m curious to see how McAfee will work 1-on-1 with someone that is not the caliber of a worker like Adam Cole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carmella vs. Naomi:<\/strong> A short match that was just kinda there but it was fine; a minor hit. I\u2019d say that the announcement of the tag title match at WrestleMania came out of nowhere but there\u2019s really no one else in this tag division to challenge Carmella and Zelina so it makes as much sense as it can.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drew McIntyre vs Jinder Mahal:<\/strong> A fine match that mainly served the purpose to showcase McIntyre and get him out in front of the live crowd. At this point, Drew is just treading water until Mania and I don\u2019t expect much storyline movement with Happy Corbin between now and next month at this point.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Usos attack Shinsuke Nakamura &amp; Rick Boogs:<\/strong> A minor hit here. I assume that Boogs &amp; Nakamura will be now be the challengers to The Usos at WrestleMania. We are less than a month out here so it is time for The Usos to set up their feud for the big show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Roman Reigns in-ring promo:<\/strong> This feud is in a bit of a holding pattern right now but Reigns was really good here. I\u2019m still a bit surprised that they never announced an opponent for Brock Lesnar at MSG for this weekend\u2019s show. I suppose it probably won\u2019t matter because I don\u2019t see them not giving us a title unification at this point but I still think it could\u2019ve helped drive ticket sales for that show. Paul Heyman has already promised a \u201cworld class\u201d opponent so why not tell us who? I suppose there\u2019s the chance that it could be a debuting Cody Rhodes but there has been radio silence on the Rhodes speculation the past few weeks. But maybe that\u2019s the idea?<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Usos vs. The Viking Raiders (SD Tag Titles):<\/strong> Much like the Young Bucks in AEW, it\u2019s difficult to find a bad Usos match. Other than one flurry from The Viking Raiders this was basically a one sided affair and what should be the end to this feud. Looks like the Usos are onto a feud w\/ Nakamura and Boogs now for Mania.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2659961561\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey:<\/strong> Ronda looked much better in this match than she did in her Rumble and Elimination Chamber appearances. You can tell she is taking the training seriously for her return and it is impressive what she\u2019s doing considering she had a baby just last September! I wonder if they\u2019ll have Ronda show off various ways she can defeat opponents in weeks to come in segments on Smackdown much like Bryan Danielson did on his run up to challenging Adam Page earlier this year in AEW. Charlotte calling Ronda a \u201cone trick pony\u201d on commentary would lend itself well to this idea.<\/p>\n<p>This show, in general, was mostly a good one. The only misses (below) seem to be where things don\u2019t seem to jive creatively and guys being misused. Leading up to WrestleMania, these shows should be mostly \u201chit-laden\u201d and not duds. Here\u2019s hoping this is the start of a strong run of shows until WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<h3>Misses<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss poker segments:<\/strong> This was a bit silly and the first miss, albeit a minor one, on this show. I\u2019m curious as to why Corbin was dressed casually and Moss was in his ridiculous ring gear while playing poker? I suppose it doesn\u2019t matter but it is just an observation. I also have to laugh at the idea that Corbin is undefeated since being \u201cHappy.\u201d It\u2019s an outright lie and I can\u2019t believe it gets repeated each week on Smackdown. After doing some research, I found that Corbin lost six straight matches last September and October\u2026including a loss to his Mania opponent, Drew McIntyre.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Big E vs. Sheamus:<\/strong> This was basically a way to set up a feud between New Day and Sheamus &amp; Ridge Holland\u2026over an ATV? It\u2019s an understatement that these guys all deserve so much better, especially Big E and Kofi Kingston. I believe I said this last week or two weeks ago, but at the start of 2022 Big E was WWE Champion and now he\u2019s fighting over a destroyed ATV. I just can\u2019t get behind it. Creative has failed these guys.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/04\/3-4-wwe-smackdown-results-kellers-report-on-sami-defending-against-ricochet-usos-defending-against-raiders-rousey-vs-deville\/\">3\/4 WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS: Keller\u2019s report on Sami defending against Ricochet, Usos defending against Raiders, Rousey vs. Deville<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1537677606\"><div id=\"pwtor-1968901948\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Hits Cold open quick fire interviews: This felt fresh! Funny how something that is old can be new again. It reminded me of how WWE used to do short and quick interviews with wrestlers at <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/05\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-3-4-ricochet-nets-ic-title-reigns-continues-strong-wrestlemania-program-more\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 3\/4: Ricochet nets IC title, Reigns continues strong WrestleMania program, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":109125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[72,71,117],"class_list":["post-134582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","tag-smackdown","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/12\/wwe-roman-reigns-universal-championship-1246327-1280x0-1.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134583,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134582\/revisions\/134583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}