{"id":79287,"date":"2019-05-07T12:19:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T17:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=79287"},"modified":"2019-05-07T12:19:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T17:19:56","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-5-7-tag-champs-to-be-anointed-ko-responds-six-woman-tag-ali-vs-andrade-into-the-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/05\/07\/wwe-smackdown-primer-5-7-tag-champs-to-be-anointed-ko-responds-six-woman-tag-ali-vs-andrade-into-the-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 5\/7: Tag Champs to be Anointed, KO responds, Six-Woman Tag, Ali vs. Andrade, Into the Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-583032087\" 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 30, 2019<br \/>\nLOUISVILLE, KY. AT THE KFC YUM! CENTER<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/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 will pull into the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY. The arena opened in October of 2010 and has hosted a handful of WWE events including Smackdown in April of last year. So much changes in a year. Big Cass was still on the roster feuding with a babyface Daniel Bryan. Babyface Charlotte Flair had just recently dropped the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship to a Money in the Bank cashing-in Carmella. Babyface Randy Orton had just dropped the U.S. Championship to Jinder Mahal in a fatal four-way at WrestleMania. Shinsuke Nakamura was pursuing A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship. That feud was considered a dream feud. Charlotte, Bryan, Orton are all heel now. A.J. is on Raw. Nakamura is now in the tag team division with Rusev.<\/p>\n<p>Nostalgia aside we continue to get ready for this year\u2019s Money in the Bank. Here\u2019s what\u2019s advertised by WWE.com for tonight:<\/p>\n<h3>Matches &amp; Segments:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Shane McMahon will crown new Smackdown Tag Team Champions<\/li>\n<li>Kevin Owens to respond to Kofi Kingston\u2019s attack from last week<\/li>\n<li>Massive Six-Woman Tag Team Match to go down on the blue brand<\/li>\n<li>Ali and Andrade to square off tonight<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Storyline Follow-Up<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022Which Raw Superstars will take advantage of the \u201cWild Card Rule?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Shane McMahon to Crown New Smackdown Tag Team Champions<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Last week on Smackdown, Jeff &amp; Matt Hardy had to regrettably surrender the Smackdown Tag Team Championship they had won just weeks ago with a victory over the Usos, who know reside on Raw.<br \/>\nJeff had been attacked by Lars Sullivan on that same night and \u201cinjured\u201d his knee. (In reality, Jeff had been dealing with knee issues and thus the attack was to sell the injury.). The Hardys never defended the titles. Here\u2019s WWE\u2019s YouTube clip from that match which includes the Sullivan attack, and also Jeff in a WWE.com exclusive discussing his knee injury:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Usos vs. The Hardy Boyz - SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: SmackDown LIVE, April 9, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a0fQm2pxlBU?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><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jeff Hardy on his injured knee: SmackDown Exclusive, April 30, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rOap7GAXWr8?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>WWE advised on their website and on Twitter that Shane McMahon will \u201ccrown\u201d new tag team champions. They put up a graphic on their website and Twitter account asking whom should receive the honor:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/wwe\/status\/1125097864089284608?s=21<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-165953917\" 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><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: Conspicuous by their absence in that graphic are the Colons (Primo and Epico), who are still listed on the Smackdown roster. It\u2019s not that I want to make a big deal out of a team that hasn\u2019t been featured since the Obama administration it feels like, but you would think with a thin roster they\u2019d have a chance to be elevated. The last time they worked on TV to my knowledge was Survivor Series. Also, Finn Balor and Ali are a team? When did that happen? Furthermore, where\u2019s Apollo Crews, Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, and Jinder Mahal? Can\u2019t any of them team with Matt Hardy? Matt didn\u2019t get hurt. At any rate if this goes down as advertised it will be the first time a champion is anointed since Eric Bischoff did so with Triple H, giving him the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002. A lot of people think it will be Shane and Elias. Why have a tournament or matches to determine a championship, right? (Eye roll) Granted the tag team division on Smackdown is thin, but it\u2019s not the point. The wild card rule, which I talk about later, could be put into effect here?<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Kevin Owens&#8217; Response to Kofi Kingston<\/h3>\n<p>Much of last week\u2019s episode of Smackdown involved the ongoing situation with Kevin Owens and WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. Michael Cole \u2026 of Raw \u2026 began the show interviewing Kofi. Kofi came out flinging pancakes and smiling. Nonetheless, they relived the journey of which Kofi has been over the past few months to get to winning the WWE Championship. They then discussed Owens\u2019 betrayal of a few weeks ago, saying how they thought he had changed but in the end was going to be Kevin Owens. Kofi challenged Kevin at Money in the Bank and will put his WWE Championship on the line. Kevin accepted.<\/p>\n<p>Later on, in the final segment, Kevin hosted the KO show and was scheduled to have Xavier Woods as his guest. Kevin, who had interrupted Kofi and Cole\u2019s interview earlier, super-kicked Woods who had attacked him during the interruption. Woods did not come out as Kevin revealed both a Woods and Big E action figure. He kicked down the chair on which he rested the action figures. Prior to that he talked about the WWE Championship being a burden on Kofi as he did earlier and was willing to relieve him of that burden at MITB. Kofi came out and went after Kevin. He tossed him around the announce table before Kevin retaliated with a rake to the eye and retreated. Here\u2019s a little jaw jacking on Twitter as they get ready to head towards MITB:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/truekofi\/status\/1123689989118808064?s=21<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/fightowensfight\/status\/1123737349807050754?s=21<\/p>\n<p>Kevin responds tonight to Kofi\u2019s attack. Kofi remains WWE Champion after successfully defending the title on Raw last night against Daniel Bryan, both of whom appeared on Raw as a result of the wild card rule.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: There seems to be a genuine intensity between these two, although I did not like Kofi coming out smiling and throwing pancakes. He should have been walking out with a purpose during his interview, feeling upset about Owens\u2019 betrayal. Nevertheless, it did pick up and Kofi to me came out at the end like a champion and showed his displeasure at how Kevin was speaking of him. It will be interesting to see Kevin\u2019s response tonight as he will likely play victim seeing as he was attacked by both Woods and Kofi.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Bayley &amp; Carmella &amp; Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair and Fire &amp; Desire (Sonya Deville &amp; Mandy Rose)<\/h3>\n<p>After last week we know of whom will take part in the women\u2019s Money in the Bank ladder match at the aforementioned PPV in less than two weeks. Bayley, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke, Natalya, and Naomi will all vie for the contract as WWE likes to call it (I call it a briefcase). Carmella was the inaugural winner in 2017 (twice) while Alexa won last year\u2019s offering.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1433234025\" 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>Last week, we got somewhat of a taste of the upcoming show in several ways. Bayley took on Raw &amp; Smackdown Women\u2019s champion Becky Lynch in a non-title match. Bayley came up short, tapping out to Becky\u2019s Disarm Her after an eight-minute match. After the match Charlotte Flair attacked her MITB opponent Becky and then threw Bayley into the corner. Charlotte had defeated Bayley one week earlier in a #1 contender\u2019s match.<\/p>\n<p>Sonya Deville graciously told Mandy Rose to take the spot offered to \u201cone of them\u201d as Mandy put it. Mandy somewhat manipulated Sonya into telling her to take it.<\/p>\n<p>Ember Moon was interviewed and after saying about 25 corporate lines, Carmella interrupted and reminded everyone of her past triumphs and said she will show why \u2018Mella is money.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, we get a variation of the upcoming ladder match as Bayley teams with Carmella and Ember Moon to take on Charlotte Flair and Mandy &amp; Sonya.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: Carmella acted like her old heel persona although I don\u2019t think WWE feels that\u2019s a big deal as eight women will vie for the contract. You certainly can sense there may be issues in the future with Mandy and Sonya as has been teased on several occasions, although I don\u2019t know how satisfying the payoff will turn out. As far as the match tonight it\u2019s fairly straight forward. With Money in the Bank upcoming there will be tension and issues. The winner really doesn\u2019t matter here.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Ali vs. Andrade<\/h3>\n<p>The men\u2019s Money in the Bank ladder match also took shape last week as Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, Ali, Andrade, and Randy Orton were announced as participants. They join Raw\u2019s Ricochet, Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, and Drew McIntyre. Strowman, Corbin, and Orton are previous MITB winners. Of those three men, only Orton cashed in successfully when he defeated new WWE Champion Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 with the help of Triple H. That night was the birth of The Authority.<\/p>\n<p>Back to current events, last week Ali &amp; Balor defeated Orton &amp; Andrade. They won the match in about eight minutes when Ali hit his 450 Splash on Andrade. Tonight, in another variation of the upcoming ladder match, Andrade takes on Ali one-on-one. The match was announced on WWE\u2019s website and on Twitter over the weekend. Here\u2019s a little social media exchange between them and Ali in a WWE.com exclusive with Dasha Fuentes in regard to Money in the Bank:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Yo apagar\u00e9 la luz. Yo soy el futuro. Another step for me before I take the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MITB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MITB<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SDLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SDLive<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AlivsAndrade?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AlivsAndrade<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/K5X1e0G45u\">https:\/\/t.co\/K5X1e0G45u<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u201cEL IDOLO\u201d ANDRADE (@AndradeElIdolo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndradeElIdolo\/status\/1124833202340757504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Is Ali ready for Money in the Bank?: SmackDown Exclusive, April 30, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9CzODNoFiDE?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><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: This should be a good match. I would suspect Andrade would go over, although it\u2019s hard to say given how he\u2019s become a victim of the 50\/50 booking club (including trading victories with Finn Balor recently). Ali has jobbed a lot but has looked competitive. Bear in mind he was meant to be in Kofi\u2019s spot at Elimination Chamber. You wonder what may have been had he not got hurt.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>In For \u201cWild Nights\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>As a result of Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and WWE Kofi Kingston showing up on Raw last night during the opening segment in which Vince McMahon was out to talk with the fans, Vince (due to an epiphany he suddenly had) has instituted the \u201cwild card rule.\u201d Initially he stated that rule allows any three wrestlers from Raw to show up on Smackdown and vice versa. Last night, Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre via DQ as a result of Shane McMahon and Elias\u2019 interference. Yes, I said Elias, bringing the total number of Smackdown wrestlers appearing on Raw to four.<\/p>\n<p>Later on, Lars Sullivan attacked No Way Jose as he his conga line were making their way to the ring. Yes, I said Lars Sullivan. That brought the total to five folks.<\/p>\n<p>Later on, Vince was on his cell phone talking to someone. He said Elias doesn\u2019t count as someone showing up because he was with Shane (now is that any way to talk about someone you framed as Smackdown\u2019s greatest acquisition a few weeks ago?). Nonetheless, he said he may suspend or fire anyone that would break the rule. In walked Lars. Vince, looking intimidated, amended the wild card rule to allow four wrestlers to appear.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m glad we got that straight. Tonight, we\u2019ll see who takes advantage of the wild card rule.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: So, I understand they cancelled a Smackdown house show last night. Are we to believe that Vince suddenly had this epiphany with everyone showing up during the opening segment? Give me a break, he knew he was instituting the wild card rule. How does Elias not count as a result of being with Shane and how did Lars know he wasn\u2019t going to get fired or suspended by showing up? This is sloppy, idiotic writing, which is the real issue in this company. Listen, I would be lying if I didn\u2019t say the wild card rule has potential, but it\u2019s not the point. The problem in this company is not who is on what show, it\u2019s the writing. They\u2019re content with 50\/50 booking, not making anyone but Roman Reigns feel like a star, comedy segments that are not funny (Usos and Revival last night), segments like they did with Braun Strowman and Sami Zayn last night that just make you roll your eyes, not utilizing their entire roster, making the tag team division a joke, having impromptu matches that people don\u2019t believe deserve to be impromptu giving the impression they had no plans for the show, inconsistent writing from week-to-week, and taking crowds and people out of ring introductions &amp; matches with preposterous commercial breaks. Did I miss anything? Moving people from show to show is not going to solve WWE\u2019s problems. It\u2019s looking at the root cause of the issue, which unfortunately starts with the boss, and he\u2019s not going anywhere anytime soon.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Not Advertised for Follow-Up:<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022Kairi Sane &amp; Asuka won a squash match with the WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions the IIconics doing guest commentary.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Roman Reigns defeated, I guess now heel, the B-Team (Curtis Axel &amp; Bo Dallas) with Elias as the special outside enforcer. Reigns takes on Elias at Money in the Bank.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Bray Wyatt\u2019s new show the Firefly Fun House episode two aired last week. Episode three aired on Raw, on which Bray is listed as a wrestler. If episode three airs tonight as well, does Bray count as one of the four taking advantage of the wild card rule?<\/p>\n<h3>Start Time &amp; Matches Advertised on the Arena Website<\/h3>\n<p>The KFC Yum! Center\u2019s website advertises a start time of 7:45 p.m. local time with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. They advertise Kofi Kingston defending the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan.<\/p>\n<p>205 Live will follow the main show.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-130169085\"><div id=\"pwtor-4029234101\"><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 30, 2019 LOUISVILLE, KY. AT THE KFC YUM! CENTER AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton Arena and Items <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/05\/07\/wwe-smackdown-primer-5-7-tag-champs-to-be-anointed-ko-responds-six-woman-tag-ali-vs-andrade-into-the-wild\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 5\/7: Tag Champs to be Anointed, KO responds, Six-Woman Tag, Ali vs. Andrade, Into the Wild\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72389,"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":[2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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\/12\/OwensKevinBrian-Mathesen3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79287","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=79287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79295,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79287\/revisions\/79295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}