In the last edition of WWE TV before WrestleMania, SmackDown LIVE hailed from Baltimore, MD. The Road to WrestleMania has certainly been a road of up and downs for almost every story going. The main segment heading into the show would be the WWE Championship Contract Signing. Here’s what the final SmackDown before WrestleMania brought us:
Becky Lynch makes her Final Case of being The Double Champ
Corey Graves appeared in the ring as he was going to interview “The Man” Becky Lynch just days before she appeared in the main event of WrestleMania. Following her arrest on Raw, she was smiling and on her way to the ring. She would come out to chants of “BECKY” as she held her head high with all the confidence in the world. When she would get into the ring, she would rip the microphone out of the hands of Graves and headed over to the announce table where she would stand right on top. She would tell Graves she doesn’t answer to him, but to the fans. Becky would take a look at the past year and how last year, her and Charlotte were best friends and Ronda Rousey was making he debut. And to further remember, just a year ago Becky Lynch was on the preshow in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal. Becky would then say how the stars were align as early as last year that the main event was set to be Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair, until everything changed when she slapped the taste out of Charlotte at SummerSlam and the future was dramatically changed. Becky caught fire as she stormed back against her former friend, even taking the SmackDown Women’s Championship from her in the process. Now, Lynch heads into Metlife Stadium to main event WrestleMania as the Royal Rumble winner and to take down both Flair and Rousey. She would say the real revolution would culminate at the show of shows, when “The Man” makes one of the “dopes” tap and she becomes The Double Champ.
Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan sign their WrestleMania Fate
The contract signing of the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania finally took place as Kofi Kingston was going to finalize and confirm his future to take on the champion, Daniel Bryan. The crowd would be alive in this one as the entire segment they would cheer on the challenger from “KOFI KOFI KOFI” to “KOFI ROCKS” and “#KOFIMANIA”. And this entire time Daniel Bryan would educate the crowd. Bryan would tell the crowd to not be complacent like Kofi Kingston has been his entire career. Bryan would continue saying how he knows how he feels right now, getting all these chants and getting pushed by the crowd. He told him to take it all in because soon enough it will all be gone. Kofi would finally shut him up and become truly serious. Kofi would say that Bryan doesn’t know how he feels, he doesn’t know what he is feeling. Bryan became World Heavyweight Champion in his first two years. He has waited 11 years, which is okay because it leads him to this moment. Kofi told Bryan he can see his fear, he knows that he is ready for this moment, his moment. He said the one common thread between them is he knows how this feels, the fans being on your side. And the reason he is afraid is because he knows what follows this. Which is that Kofi Kingston will beat Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania to become the WWE Champion. On Sunday, Kofi will try and write the rest of his story by beating Daniel Bryan.
SmackDown LIVE MVP: Randy Orton
To kick of SmackDown LIVE was “The Kevin Owens Show” with special guests and WrestleMania opponents Randy Orton and AJ Styles. Kevin Owens got to ask one question before these two went at each other’s throats. Owens asked Orton if he was happy with ruining Kurt Angle’s last SmackDown match against Styles a week ago. Orton would respond that he is proud to not allow the WWE Universe to have to watch a “a washed-up, old, broken down former Olympian” beat a guy “who thinks he is still at the top of his game”. Styles would come back by saying all Orton has learned in one move into decades. This would set Orton off leading him to knock the independent scene and indie wrestlers once again. He would bring up the fact that when “The Phenomenal One” was wrestling in high school gyms he was busy competing at every WrestleMania for almost two decades in front of tens of thousands of people year after year. Styles would comeback, saying he is right, he was in the WWE when he was in high school gyms failing drug tests and getting suspended. This would hit the crowd and really shut down Orton for a split second. Then Orton would finish the final war of words saying that if AJ thought he was really as good as he was, he would have been in the WWE long ago. He’d then tell Styles that his legacy isn’t hard work, but it’s the role of corporate bitch following John Cena’s absence. Kevin Owens would leave the ring knowing that these two were about to fight. Styles would go for the Phenomenal Forearm where he’d be caught with an RKO out of nowhere, as Orton would get the final laugh heading into their main event caliber match at WrestleMania.
WrestleMania is now just four days away and the card is set. SmackDown LIVE did everything in their power to hype up the fans for the biggest matches of their brand’s competitors which is all you can ask for. Continue to check back all week long for more WrestleMania week previews and match previews for WrestleMania itself.
