Friday Night SmackDown was brought to you from the WWE Performance Center in front of – no one. That’s right. For the first time ever, SmackDown took place without an audience.
Truth be told, at first, it was awkward and odd but the talent did a great job making light of it and still putting on a show. It was well noted that they were short-staffed as well.
The women kicked off the show and the only women’s match involved SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha
Unfortunately, Paige was unable to make it. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross came out instead. It sounds as though Paige’s return has a huge impact on possibly WrestleMania regardless of what it may be. Or perhaps, she really just wasn’t able to make it to Orlando.
Bliss mentions that they have called out The Kabuki Warriors in regard to the Women’s Tag Team Championship. They did last week on RAW and on social media. All they received back was what they felt was gibberish as a response. Well, Bliss got her answer now.
Asuka went “through the crowd” and attacked Bliss “out of nowhere.” This was enough of a distraction to cause Cross to be caught in the Bank Statement and tap out for the loss. Banks and Bayley win.
I personally think that the few women they had to work with did a great job. Bayley and Sasha played to the “crowd” still. Clearly they were joking. They interacted with Michael Cole and Triple H on commentary. Asuka’s dancing on the ramp was amusing as always. Alexa and Nikki did what they were there to do, which basically was to get attacked by Asuka.
In a WWE Exclusive, Bayley and Sasha continue the theme that they have beaten everyone in the division as they name off everyone. So the plan for the pending WrestleMania match does seem to either be a six-pack challenge as rumored (so everyone against Bayley) or a return. This could still be Nia Jax.
As far as Winners & Losers this week, based on recent events, everyone did a great job of still putting on a match to entertain us fans at home. So for this reason alone, I am going to forgo any Winners & Losers from this SmackDown.
What were your thoughts on this week’s SmackDown? What were your feelings on them performing in front of no crowd? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
