{"id":137386,"date":"2022-04-09T20:42:15","date_gmt":"2022-04-10T01:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=137386"},"modified":"2022-04-09T20:42:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-10T01:42:15","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-8-rousey-hits-with-post-mania-promo-gunther-debuts-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/04\/09\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-8-rousey-hits-with-post-mania-promo-gunther-debuts-more\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 4\/8: Rousey hits with post-Mania promo, Gunther debuts, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3200652111\" 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><p><strong>Smackdown Hits &amp; Misses<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Hits<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ronda Rousey promo:<\/strong> The start of Smackdown was mostly a hit for me. On the positive side, I\u2019m glad Ronda didn\u2019t make excuses for the loss. I called for a submission match between <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\">Ronda and Charlotte Flair<\/a> a few weeks before WrestleMania and it looks like we\u2019ll get something similar for Backlash (I refuse to type out \u201cWrestleMania Backlash each time I reference this PPV\/Premium Live Event, just won\u2019t do it). Granted, an \u201cI Quit Match\u201d isn\u2019t necessarily a submission match but with both women use of submission holds as finishers, I\u2019d imagine it\u2019ll mostly be such. The only negative I took out of this was that Ronda smiled a bit too much for someone that basically was robbed of a title. Having said that, I am nitpicking a bit and it was mostly a solid promo and one of Ronda\u2019s better ones since her return.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gunther w\/ Ludwig Kaiser vs. Joe Alonzo:<\/strong> Man, I thought Alonzo was gonna pull out the upset! But seriously, this was fine for a debut for Gunther. The renaming of Marcel Barthel is a weird one but the name isn\u2019t too terrible. However, is he going to be reduced to an Armando Estrada\/Ricardo Rodriguez role or will he also be wrestling on Smackdown? He was in wrestling gear for his announcement but I couldn\u2019t understand why. I hope the higher ups realize that Fabian Aichner is an important part of this package though and he makes his debut on Smackdown sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Raquel Gonzalez gets a new name:<\/strong> I mean, okay? Again, it\u2019s not a bad name but what\u2019s the point of this? It\u2019s a known fact (at least to me) that Vince McMahon loves alliteration so maybe it\u2019s just as simple as that? A simple introduction that was just fine but something tells me she is gonna end up with Los Letharios despite her shutting down their advances tonight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss Happy Talk segment:<\/strong> This gets a hit just for my optimism that both men are moving on some from this terrible act. The crowd was genuinely behind Moss tonight. Moss is a big, athletic guy and hopefully now we can see what he can do on his own (hopefully with a repackaging of his ring gear and dropping the Madcap name for Riddick). Fingers crossed for post-Mania optimism on this right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn:<\/strong> How this match came about backstage was funny and it made me laugh a bit. This was everything you\u2019d expect from these two considering how each is being booked at this point. In an alternate universe these guys could tear the house down together but that\u2019s not Zayn\u2019s role. I don\u2019t understand why McIntyre would potentially chase this feud unless it\u2019s just as simple as this match was booked and he wants his pound of flesh. But, he seemed to indicate he wanted to still get his hands on Zayn when he pointed the sword at him after the count-out finish. Perhaps Zayn will be a placeholder for whatever comes next?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lacey Evans return:<\/strong> In terms of returns for a talent that WWE dropped the ball during their first run I\u2019d consider this pretty close to a home run. More often than not, real life is better than fiction when it comes to putting someone on screen and then you can get creative from there. Lacey\u2019s legit military background should\u2019ve been focused on more in the past and it\u2019s good to see it being embraced now as it makes her very unique in the pro wrestling world for a female wrestler. I was never against her Southern Belle character but I much prefer where they seem to be headed with this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sasha Banks vs. Liv Morgan:<\/strong> This match was fine for what it was. It does push along the story that Liv &amp; Rhea Ripley can win on Monday even if I still believe that Rhea turning on Liv is imminent. I believed that to be the case before tonight\u2019s show and even more so after Ripley didn\u2019t accompany Liv to Smackdown tonight.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-476000852\" 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>Bloodline and Shinsuke Nakamura closing segment:<\/strong> I can\u2019t pinpoint why but I actually loved this segment. I\u2019m a big proponent of the Universal and World Titles being unified. I\u2019d also love to see the Tag and Women\u2019s World Titles unified by the end of summer also. I\u2019m also for these titles to stay unified and have spoke on this briefly on Wrestling Night in America with Greg Parks (waiting on the next invite, pal!) a few months back. I\u2019m for this whether the brands are split or not but I\u2019ll wait for another platform to go into this. As for the segment itself, I look forward to The Usos match with RK-Bro and think it will be a very good match that I\u2019d expect the Usos to win. Nakamura hasn\u2019t been pushed as a main event talent in years so some work will have to be done to get him back to that level but there\u2019s no reason to believe that Nakamura can\u2019t pull that off if given the right push.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Show:<\/strong> This was a much better showing for WWE post-Mania than the three hour albatross that was this past Monday. If anything, this was a very newsworthy show that also had a lot more entertainment value than Raw this week. I\u2019m excited to see where the potential goes for the Unified Tag Titles and this gives me hope that more titles will be unified. If trouble is being put in to unify multiple titles then there\u2019s no reason to split them again. But again, I\u2019ll jump off the soapbox as I could keep going on this topic.<\/p>\n<h3>Smackdown Misses<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Xavier Woods vs Butch:<\/strong> Another WWE trope that I can\u2019t stand. Why is Spike Dudley\u2026err, Pete Dunne\u2026err, Butch losing already? (Hey, if Pat McAfee can slip up and call him \u201cPete,\u201d I can make mistakes also) I know it\u2019s only the first chapter of this feud but I hate the character that Butch is portraying. He\u2019s just a bratty little brother right now and Michael Cole even said he was acting like a child post-match. Sorry, I\u2019m just not a fan. Other than that, the match was well worked. They didn\u2019t do a lot of joint manipulation spots and I wonder if they\u2019ll phase that more out of Butch\u2019s arsenal as he is integrated more into the main roster. I guess time will tell.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jinder Mahal wants an Intercontinental Title match:<\/strong> This was such a small part of Smackdown but I groaned and rolled my eyes when Adam Pearce told Mahal that (and I\u2019m paraphrasing) \u201cI can\u2019t just hand out title opportunities to anyone.\u201d STOP IT! Your current Women\u2019s Tag Champs were handed the opportunity and had never even teamed up before being granted it. I could find probably 100 other instances where this has happened but it was so laughable that I had to add it to this list. Worse yet, is that Ricochet vs. Mahal was added at the end of the show for the IC Title even after Pearce denied him on camera. I know it seems like a little thing but it\u2019s ridiculous still.<\/p>\n<p><em>Tony Donofrio is a Contributor for PWTorch.com. You can contact Tony at TonyDonofrio@icloud.com and follow him on Twitter @TonyDonofrio.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/04\/08\/4-8-wwe-smackdown-results-kellers-report-on-roman-reigns-announcing-whats-next-happy-talk-more-wrestlemania-38-fallout\/\">4\/8 WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS: Keller\u2019s report on Roman Reigns announcing what\u2019s next, Happy Talk, more WrestleMania 38 fallout<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-401934098\"><div id=\"pwtor-628207578\"><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>Smackdown Hits &amp; Misses Hits Ronda Rousey promo: The start of Smackdown was mostly a hit for me. On the positive side, I\u2019m glad Ronda didn\u2019t make excuses for the loss. I called for a <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/04\/09\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-8-rousey-hits-with-post-mania-promo-gunther-debuts-more\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES 4\/8: Rousey hits with post-Mania promo, Gunther debuts, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":76073,"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-137386","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\/2019\/03\/RouseyRondaJoelTesch3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137386","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=137386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137388,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137386\/revisions\/137388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}