SmackDown In A Nutshell: The Rock Show Hits Memphis

A few reasons.

It went on way too long, in my opinion. Rock going into WrestleMania is supposed to be a heel, and he wasn’t entirely a heel here. Also, what made Attitude Era Rock songs work was that, if my memory isn’t wrong, most of them were free form, or memorized.

This time? Rock had sheet music, basically. It felt like it, it felt far less off the cuff and in the heat of the moment.Was some of it funny? Sure, fine, I guess. But, even for a heel, bringing up the controversial Ja Morant was bad form, and the Memphis fans got on him for it.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

Rocky

Whoop That Trick (I think? I was pretty sure that’s what I was hearing).

Star of the Night

I want to go with Dakota Kai. Tonight seemed to confirm her positioning as the new leader of Damage CTRL, and she worked well with Bayley before the match ended in a DQ.

Spot of the Night:

The stunner into RKO combo.

I mean, a lot of that was made by how insanely well Theory sells it. He ate the stunner and had to land, adjust his positioning and then launch himself up into the RKO.

Was it kind of obvious and a little not believable? Perhaps…but it worked.

Jobber of the Night:

Austin Theory, for eating that stunner into an RKO.

Upset of the Night:

Logan Paul was none too happy at his demand for a WrestleMania opponent being answered.

Of course, he got not one, but two opponents…

Holy S--- Moment of the Night:

I was mildly surprised that when Bayley was getting beaten down and outnumbered, she was only saved by Naomi.

Why surprised? Because it seemed as of what, a week ago? That we could see Jade Cargill interject herself into things. Tonight was an opportunity, but no Jade. No Bianca either, though the fans called for her. To be honest, especially if they want Bayley to have a run…a tag of Bianca and Jade sounds fun. Let them take on the Kabuki Warriors in Philly…

Botch of the night:

At one point during his long winded Rock show, when he was talking to Cody’s mom…Rock made a boo-boo.

He said Momma Rhodes several times. Then he said Momma Reigns.

Was it a botch…or a hint of a turn to come?

Carlito had a bit of a bobble just before Santos came back in.

LOL Moment of the night:

Austin Theory’s super exaggerated oversell was both awesome and hilarious all at the same time.

Noteworthy Moment:

LA Knight versus AJ Styles? Official for WrestleMania.

Jimmy versus Jey? Ditto.

Logan Paul has his title match…it’s a triple threat against Randy Orton AND Kevin Owens.

Rey and Santos is happening too…except Rey challenged him to a match for next SmackDown. Wonder if that sets up an LWO versus Legado match?

Overall lowlights:

The Rock show bombed. Fans loved Rock, it had some cute moments-like him singing as his Disney character Maui-but overall, it was too long, too drawn out and too forced.

I never remember his songs coming off so scripted. This one did. Not a fan of it at all. That said, they gave most of the Bloodline the night off (or kept them in the back), and the goal for now appears to be keeping the opponents apart before Philly.

Overall highlights:

Damage CTRL looks dominant.

The tag qualifiers were fun.

Got a few more matches locked in for WrestleMania, and I’d bet that the Rey-Santos tilt next week sets up another.

After the final bell:

The Rock show hit Memphis, and the fans did eat up the former Flex Kavana (he really did admit to that). As much as I disliked the opening song, the segment wasn’t a total dud. It was nice for Rock to acknowledge he got his start there, but the problem of that is…some of his segment, he came off like a face.

Dare I ask…are we going to see another WrestleMania double-turn involving The Rock?