{"id":77387,"date":"2019-04-02T12:48:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T17:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=77387"},"modified":"2019-04-02T12:48:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T17:48:23","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-4-2-wm35-go-home-show-rey-andrade-a-j-and-randy-on-the-ko-show-wwe-championship-contract-signing-wm35-main-eventers-behind-bars-miz-and-shane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/04\/02\/wwe-smackdown-primer-4-2-wm35-go-home-show-rey-andrade-a-j-and-randy-on-the-ko-show-wwe-championship-contract-signing-wm35-main-eventers-behind-bars-miz-and-shane\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 4\/2: WM35 go-home show, Rey-Andrade, A.J. and Randy on The KO Show, WWE Championship contract signing, WM35 main eventers behind bars, Miz and Shane"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4177154978\" 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>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nAPRIL 2, 2019<br \/>\nBALTIMORE, MD. AT THE ROYAL FARMS ARENA<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Arena and Items Advertised by WWE<\/h3>\n<p>WWE Smackdown returns to the Royal Farms arena in Baltimore, Md. The arena opened for business in 1962 and is no stranger to WWE nor WCW events for that matter. It was formerly known as the Baltimore Arena, 1st Mariner Arena, and Baltimore Civic Center. Old WWF events such as Superstars of Wrestling and Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event took place as well as WCW events such as The Great American Bash and SuperBrawl. The first time Smackdown emanated here was shortly after the show started in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, we put a wrap on the WrestleMania build as we get ready for a big weekend of wrestling. Here\u2019s what is advertised by WWE.com for tonight thus far:<\/p>\n<h3>Matches &amp; Segments:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>WWE Champion Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston to make their WrestleMania match official with contract signing<\/li>\n<li>A.J. Styles and Randy Orton set to appear on the Kevin Owens Show just five nights before WrestleMania<\/li>\n<li>Rey Mysterio and Andrade to rekindle their already classic rivalry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Storyline Follow-Up:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What will be the fallout of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch\u2019s arrest?<\/li>\n<li>Is The Miz prepared for Shane McMahon and Falls Count Anywhere?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>ADVERTISED MATCHES &amp; SEGMENTS<\/h3>\n<p><strong>WWE Championship Match Contract Signing: Daniel Bryan (champ) and Kofi Kingston<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It seems like we\u2019ve been here before.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) came out to discuss the previous week\u2019s situation in which Kofi won his gauntlet match to earn a WWE Championship match against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. We thought that until Vince McMahon came out at the end and told Kofi he needed to beat one more wrestler, none other than WWE Champion Daniel Bryan himself. Kofi came up short.<\/p>\n<p>In the week that followed, as a result of tweets from Big E and Xavier Woods, we were led to believe they would quit WWE due to Vince\u2019s actions. They asked Vince to come out and when he did, Bryan interrupted. He said Kofi was nothing but a B+ player (bet he loves saying that after being called that himself in 2014), lost at Fastlane and Elimination Chamber, and Vince has been right about him every step of the way. When all was said and done, Vince refused to give Kofi another opportunity but put Xavier and Big E in a tag team gauntlet match. If they won, Kofi would be \u201cgoing to WrestleMania\u201d (still didn\u2019t specifically say gets a WWE title match).<\/p>\n<p>New Day would go on to defeat the Good Brothers (Luke Gallows &amp; Karl Anderson), Rusev &amp; Shinsuke Nakamura, The Bar (Cesaro &amp; Sheamus), The Usos by forfeit when the Usos refused to wrestle out of respect for Kofi Kingston, and Daniel Bryan &amp; Rowan. Here\u2019s New Day in a WWE.com exclusive following the big win:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2338028310\" 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><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The New Day&#039;s emotional reaction to Gauntlet Match win: SmackDown Exclusive, March 26, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jCu3p7nPqYM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Kayla Braxton caught up to Vince McMahon getting into his limo. He said Kofi was going to WrestleMania, and \u201cthe real question now is whether or not a B+ player can defeat Bryan for the championship.\u201d So, he didn\u2019t specifically say Kofi will be challenging Bryan for the championship at WrestleMania; however, WWE tweeted this out on their WrestleMania Twitter account the same night:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It&#39;s REALLY happening. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrueKofi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TrueKofi<\/a> will challenge <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Wwedanielbryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WWEDanielBryan<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWETitle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WWETitle<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WrestleMania<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JbCc2D1r7o\">https:\/\/t.co\/JbCc2D1r7o<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Irbx5MxVAV\">pic.twitter.com\/Irbx5MxVAV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WrestleMania\/status\/1110753330203103232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 27, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Kofi and Bryan sign the contract for their match\u2026 hopefully.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: Somebody please call the WWE board of directors and call an emergency meeting or something that would force Vince to not be in attendance tonight. This, like the Becky-Ronda-Charlotte situation, has taken a long and winding road to get to this point. The good part is we\u2019ve seen a more serious side of New Day. I despised them coming out last week shucking and jiving, smiling, and flinging pancakes. It did not line up with what happened the previous week. Fortunately, they got serious when they entered the ring, and that\u2019s what matters. They stayed away from the racial tones, which was good, but they\u2019ve still backed themselves into a corner in which Kofi has to win in my opinion. I worry about how this will be handled at WrestleMania.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>A.J. Styles and Randy Orton on The Kevin Owens Show<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a tale of different paths for A.J. Styles and Randy Orton. Let\u2019s review their careers in a nutshell.<\/p>\n<p>Between 2001-2002, Styles actually wrestled dark matches for WWE. In January of \u201902, he was offered a contract by WWE (then WWF) but turned it down due to family obligations. He would go on to work the independent scene and have notable &amp; successful tenures in Ring of Honor, TNA\/Impact Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He was part of the famous stable The Bullet Club in New Japan alongside current WWE tag team The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows &amp; Karl Anderson).<\/p>\n<p>Randy Orton made his WWE in 2002. His history includes multiple WrestleMania main events, 13 world championships, multiple Royal Rumble wins, Money in the Bank, Survivor Series wins, Intercontinental &amp; U.S. Championships, and even a reign as co-holder of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship with Bray Wyatt. At 25 years old, he wrestled and lost to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. He became the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion in 2013 when he won a ladder match and defeated John Cena and unified the World Heavyweight Championship with his WWE Championship at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Styles made his WWE debut in 2016 and actually did wrestle Orton on Smackdown a year later for the right to challenge Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 for the WWE Championship. Styles has built a WWE legacy that includes two WWE Championships and multiple reigns as U.S. Champion (a title he frequently swapped with Kevin Owens, ironically, in 2017). He\u2019s also had the distinct honor of wrestling \u201cBest in the World\u201d Shane McMahon at WrestleMania. He refers to Smackdown as \u201cthe house that A.J. Styles built,\u201d although some would argue that Randy Orton holds that honor.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1371730627\" 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<p>They go one-on-one again at WrestleMania. Tonight, they will be the guests of Kevin Owens on his show.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: These two cut a great back-and-forth promo a few weeks ago but have done nothing of significance since. Perhaps WWE has been so tied up convoluting the Kofi Kingston story, the Charlotte Flair-Becky Lynch-Ronda Rousey situation, and not to mention having a gauntlet match every week that the Styles-Orton feud has taken a back seat. Nevertheless, it\u2019s interesting that they\u2019re doing this on the Kevin Owens show. Owens currently has nothing for WrestleMania. I don\u2019t see him getting involved in the match, but seeds could be planted for a future feud with Orton if the two are to remain on Smackdown following the Superstar Shakeup in a few weeks and Owens remains a babyface. They could also be remaining cautious with Owens as he comes off knee surgery. He hasn\u2019t really wrestled a solid one-on-one match, at least on TV. Why push him if you don\u2019t need him right now anyway?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rey Mysterio and Andrade are no strangers to each other. They have battled on Smackdown going back to October when Rey Mysterio returned full-time to WWE. They traded victories before having a two-out-of-three falls match that ended in a no-contest due to Samoa Joe\u2019s interference.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve been involved in tag team matches as well as fatal four-ways for the U.S. Championship, which is currently held by Joe. At Fastlane, Rey and Andrade were to tangle on the kickoff show. That got changed to them participating in one of said fatal four-way matches on the main card which saw Joe retain the title.<\/p>\n<p>At WrestleMania, Rey challenges Joe one-on-one for the U.S. Championship. Andrade is slated for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This past Sunday afternoon, WWE announced that they renew their feud one-on-one tonight. Andrade was excited as is shown on Twitter:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/andradecienwwe\/status\/1112484926551740417?s=21<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: How can one complain when they genuinely excited to work together? I mean you can\u2019t help but appreciate the respect these two have for each other. The problem is Andrade is a heel, and his showing respect for Rey publicly makes me like him not in a good way. That\u2019s the problem social media presents. These people step out of character and it\u2019s hard to invest in what they should be on-screen. With that said, this match certainly deserves a bigger stage and WrestleMania would have been perfect. Somebody else could have challenged Joe for the U.S. title and Andrade could do a lot better than the Andre battle royal.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>STORYLINES ADVERTISED FOR FOLLOW-UP<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Charlotte Flair &amp; Becky Lynch\u2019s Arrest<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Last night on Raw, all three women of the main event triple threat match at WrestleMania were arrested by the fake police hired by WWE following their defeat of the Riott Squad. Raw Women\u2019s Champion Ronda Rousey, Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch all brawled with each other and the arrests started when Ronda inadvertently hit one of the fake cops while going after Becky. They all ended up getting taken away in police vehicles but not before Becky and Ronda were put in the same vehicle at one point and started attacking each other once the camera was properly on them. They were removed from the vehicle, but then Ronda got in the front and somehow put it in drive while handcuffed and drove it into the other police car. Here\u2019s the YouTube clip if you missed it or saw it and want to have a couple of laughs:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are arrested: Raw, April 1, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Yg49e7oB4lQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the evening, Stephanie McMahon announced that the winner of the match at WrestleMania \u201ctakes all.\u201d It wasn\u2019t specified if they\u2019re unifying the Raw and Smackdown women\u2019s titles.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: This was so bad it was good if that makes any sense. What\u2019s the fallout of their arrest WWE asks? They\u2019ll be at WrestleMania. As far as the \u201cwinner takes all,\u201d this explains why Charlotte defeated Asuka for the Smackdown title last week. It still feels odd that they put the title on Asuka in the first place; however, I suppose had Charlotte been Smackdown champion at the time of the Royal Rumble she would not have taken part in the Rumble itself. The idea was to have Becky eliminate Charlotte to win after inserting herself into the match. The whole story is still complicated, but thankfully will conclude this Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Miz and Shane McMahon Set for Falls Count Anywhere at WrestleMania<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Last week, Miz and Shane McMahon agreed to have a falls-count-anywhere match at WrestleMania upon Miz\u2019s request.<\/p>\n<p>Shane agreed to the match. He did so with not only fake security guards in front of him but Sanity, Shelton Benjamin, and Primo. Claiming they were there for \u201cMiz\u2019s protection,\u201d Shane made a bold statement saying Miz is making the biggest mistake since his father impregnated his mother. He regretted he didn\u2019t punish Miz\u2019s dad more at Fastlane.<\/p>\n<p>When Miz charged at Shane, one by one everyone took their turn according to their script attacking Miz. Miz fended off all three members of Sanity, Shelton, and Primo. Miz and Shane head to WrestleMania and perhaps will add another chapter to their story tonight, especially with Miz &amp; Mrs. returning to the USA Network tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: People like this feud, and for the most part they say it\u2019s been well done. I agree on it being well-done and am certainly intrigued by the outcome. On the other hand, if they weren\u2019t doing this, I wouldn\u2019t blink an eye. I don\u2019t need to see Shane in the ring. I\u2019ve felt that way since, well when he returned three years ago to face the Undertaker. The falls-count-anywhere stipulation is a nice way to mask what probably wouldn\u2019t be a very good match if it were straight up.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Items to Anticipate Tonight:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As expected, Brutus \u201cThe Barber\u201d Beefcake was announced as the final entrant into this year\u2019s WWE Hall of Fame class. Look for a mention of that tonight.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to say, but in theory you would think they\u2019d follow up on Asuka losing the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship to Charlotte Flair last week in an unadvertised, impromptu match. Asuka is currently slated for the women\u2019s battle royal. There has been backlash both from fellow wrestlers and fans in regard to the sudden switch.<\/p>\n<p>The Usos do not have challengers at WrestleMania for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. It was rumored their opponents would be Matt &amp; Jeff Hardy; however, they are slated for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Look for that situation to come to fruition, although we still don\u2019t know who\u2019s challenging for the Raw Tag Team Championship either. (How about unifying those titles? Yeah let\u2019s do that.)<\/p>\n<p>I think we can safely expect a break from gauntlet matches. I think we\u2019re good for a few years given how many we\u2019ve had recently.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Start Time &amp; Matches Advertised on the Arena Website<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Royal Farms Arena\u2019s website shows a start time of 7:30 p.m. They advertise a double main event:<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Owens vs. WWE Champion Daniel Bryan for the championship<br \/>\nA.J. Styles vs. Randy Orton<\/p>\n<p>They show Samoa Joe, the Usos, Rey Mysterio, Shinsuke Nakamura, New Day, Asuka, and Charlotte Flair appearing. They incorrectly show Asuka as woman\u2019s champion.<\/p>\n<p>205 Live will follow the main show.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani or e-mail fpeteani@gmail.com. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-618690481\"><div id=\"pwtor-1392984434\"><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>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER APRIL 2, 2019 BALTIMORE, MD. AT THE ROYAL FARMS ARENA AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton Arena and Items <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/04\/02\/wwe-smackdown-primer-4-2-wm35-go-home-show-rey-andrade-a-j-and-randy-on-the-ko-show-wwe-championship-contract-signing-wm35-main-eventers-behind-bars-miz-and-shane\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 4\/2: WM35 go-home show, Rey-Andrade, A.J. and Randy on The KO Show, WWE Championship contract signing, WM35 main eventers behind bars, Miz and Shane\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55180,"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":[46,2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/02\/McMahonShane_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77387","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=77387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77392,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77387\/revisions\/77392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}