{"id":176841,"date":"2024-04-13T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T04:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=176841"},"modified":"2024-04-13T23:47:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T04:47:09","slug":"wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-12-cody-comments-on-his-contenders-bloodline-shake-up-bayleys-promo-logan-paul-triple-threat-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/04\/13\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-12-cody-comments-on-his-contenders-bloodline-shake-up-bayleys-promo-logan-paul-triple-threat-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES (4\/12): Cody comments on his contenders, Bloodline shake-up, Bayley&#8217;s promo, Logan Paul, Triple Threat matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3061065757\" 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>Hit : WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Cody Rhodes promo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A to-the-point promo from Cody Rhodes to open Smackdown. I liked his brief comments about the six contenders vying for the first shot at his championship. The fans are with Cody. It remains surreal WWE stuck the landing in their mission to find a star worthy of unseating Roman Reigns as the promotion\u2019s top champion.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of which, can we get some clarity on what we\u2019re calling that title now? There\u2019s been too much variation recently from wrestlers, commentary, and ring announcers when announcing the title. My opinion &#8211; it took long enough for fans to get adjusted to the loaded name of \u201cWWE Undisputed Universal Championship\u201d so let\u2019s just keep it that way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thumb in the Middle: Number One Contender\u2019s Triple Threat Match &#8211; Santos Escobar vs. Bobby Lashley vs. L.A. Knight<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Triple threat matches for title shots always feel a little silly given that one or two of the contenders feel unworthy of the spot. L.A. Knight has the most momentum of anyone in this match and it made sense for him to win. Escobar has time to grow and rise up, but WWE needs to be careful on where they slot Bobby Lashley. He hasn\u2019t lost all of the momentum gained from his main event runs as a top champion years ago, but it won\u2019t last forever if he\u2019s losing matches like this and rubbing against struggling new groups like The Final Testament.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hit: The Bloodline promo &#8211; Paul Heyman, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso, and the introduction of Tama Tonga<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Solo\u2019s entrance feels big time. I\u2019m a fan of the lighting choices as he appears on the entrance stage.<\/p>\n<p>Heyman\u2019s comments on behalf of Roman Reigns were intriguing. Roman\u2019s stance of not making excuses and being accepting of his defeat at WrestleMania to Cody upholds his confidence and intelligence. A win over The Tribal Chief is an accomplishment, but it\u2019s going to take a larger body of work for anyone to compete with Roman\u2019s track record on the WWE stage.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2804380120\" 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>Solo\u2019s hostile takeover of The Bloodline breathes new life into the family\u2019s saga. We\u2019re finally going to see some range from the former enforcer as he moves into the leadership role for the group while The Rock and Roman are away. The bar is high for new Bloodline members to make the same impact as their predecessors, and I\u2019m hoping Tama Tonga has something unique to offer over time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hit &#8211; Promo: WWE Women\u2019s Champion Bayley<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fans are behind Bayley as champion. For the sake of her status as a top star and the championship itself, I hope she builds a resume of strong title defenses this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hit &#8211; Promo: WWE United States Champion Logan Paul<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Logan Paul Leveque Era.\u201d Brilliant. Logan continues to entertain outside of the ring and deliver when the bell rings. Hot take &#8211; Logan Paul joins Gunther as worthy options to eventually unseat Cody as the next WWE Undisputed Universal Champion.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hit &#8211; Number One Contender\u2019s Triple Threat Match &#8211; A.J. Styles vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kevin Owens<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Good match. I anticipate A.J. moving past Knight to be Cody\u2019s first challenger. Their match should be great in a PLE setting. Styles was also Roman\u2019s first challenger after he won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 32.<\/p>\n<p><strong>OVERALL<\/strong>: A great episode of Smackdown to cap off a very long week in WWE and pro wrestling in general. The latest twist in The Bloodline storyline made the episode a must-see, aided by the appearance of the show\u2019s top champions Cody Rhodes and Bayley. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend wrestling fans!<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1243866645\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2272130264\"><div id=\"pwtor-2406246745\"><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>Hit : WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Cody Rhodes promo A to-the-point promo from Cody Rhodes to open Smackdown. I liked his brief comments about the six contenders vying for the first shot at his championship. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/04\/13\/wwe-smackdown-hits-misses-4-12-cody-comments-on-his-contenders-bloodline-shake-up-bayleys-promo-logan-paul-triple-threat-matches\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN HITS &#038; MISSES (4\/12): Cody comments on his contenders, Bloodline shake-up, Bayley&#8217;s promo, Logan Paul, Triple Threat matches\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52296,"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":[],"class_list":["post-176841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/12\/StylesAJ_TeschJoel_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176841","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176842,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176841\/revisions\/176842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}