The episode of Smackdown Live after Wrestlemania is always exciting, but this year’s edition of the Blue Brand post-Wrestlemania had fans cheering.
The episode kicked off with the announcement of Paige replacing Daniel Bryan as General Manager. It was only a day earlier she had announced her in-ring retirement due to injuries.
During the segment, she didn’t rule out a come back in the future and has recently thanked Bryan for giving her hope. Bryan was recently cleared to return to in-ring competition after a two-year brief retirement from competition due to concussion issues.
Having Paige become the Smackdown GM is a good day to have her appear in a prominent role on television. Fans love Paige and while they want to see her perform in the ring, people are happy to see her continue working in WWE.
While Raw had several NXT superstars make their debut, Smackdown Live had a couple of call-ups as well – specifically the Iconic Duo of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. Now dubbed as the IIconics, Royce and Kay mocked Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair before proceeding to attack her.
Royce’s and Kay’s call up to the main roster has been long overdue. The two have grown as performers and characters during their time in NXT.
WWE changing their team name from the Iconic Duo to IIconics is going to take some time to digest for fans. The name change is similar to how creative renamed Ruby Riott – or in some cases had superstars like Neville, Big E and Cesaro only use one name. While it was difficult for fans to like those names at first, now you can’t imagine them going by any other name.
After their attack on Flair, the IIconics put the women’s division on notice. It’s cool to see something like this from debuting talent – the IIconics aren’t just stopping with Flair, they’re going after everyone.
The IIconics’ attack on Flair set up the other big moment of the night when Carmella finally cashed in her Money in the Bank contract to pin the Queen and win the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Carmella held her Money in the Bank contract for 287, longer than any previous MITB briefcase. She had previously attempted to cash in her contract on a couple of occasions, but the matches never started.
Fans who have watched Carmella since her NXT days are no doubt excited to see her win her first championship and take the next step in her career. Although Carmella hasn’t been in the wrestling business for long, she has paid her dues in life – which she goes into detail about on Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast.
Good morning, haters! Remember when y’all said I would fail my cash in, never be champ or have a successful career? Well, EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT! MELLA IS MONEY, BABY! 💋 pic.twitter.com/O92PIyMm5F
— Mella Is Money 🤑 (@CarmellaWWE) April 11, 2018
Carmella is also good at generating heel heat with her cheating and antics – and that will be a good foil to Flair and other babyfaces in the women’s division.
Putting the title on Carmella, as well as having the Iconics debut also gives the Smackdown women’s division a new chapter.
And of course came the biggest blow of the night. While fans were salivating for the dream match between Bryan and A.J. Styles – Shinsuke Nakamura took matters into his own hands and denied the crowd the finish of the match. The King of Strong Style kneed Bryan in the back of the head and attack Styles.
Nakamura’s heel turn came at Wrestlemania after he lost to Styles at Wrestlemania. The heel turn came at the height of Nakamura being one of the top babyfaces on Smackdown Live. The question would be how to generate more heel heat for Namakura – have him ruin the dream match between Styles and Bryan.
The Smackdown after Wrestlemania wasn’t perfect, but the debuts and major announcements outshined the low and mediocre moments. It also opened the doors for some big things on Smackdown in the months ahead.
