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"WWE SmackDown" Gets it Right with Quality Talent, Storylines [REVIEW]

This week has been huge in the wrestling world — so did WWE finish the week out strong? WWE SmackDown started with former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski coming out to the ring. Now, as a Baltimore Ravens fan, I'm naturally dispositioned to dislike everything associated with the Patriots. But Gronk is oddly charming and very nerdy — to the point of second hand embarrassment. But it's nice to see someone having a good time!

SmackDown, compared to RAW, was much different. There was actual wrestling and plot points that moved stories along to WrestleMania. The first match we got was Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak against Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro. The friendship between Gulak and Bryan came on too strong story wise, but this was a good match. And  Cesaro should get his own singles push to the top. He feels almost wasted in his current spot.

We also got a great promo between the SmackDown Women's Champ Bayley, her best friend Sasha Banks, and Paige via satellite. Paige gave the announcement that Bayley would be fighting for her title against Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Tamina, Naomi, and Sasha Banks at WrestleMania this year. The last one came as a shock to the best friends, but it was also predictable. Either way, all three women were great. Paige is a natural with her promos, and she's always fun to watch.

The real treat of the evening came from The Miz and John Morrison cutting one of the best promos I think either of them have ever done. While Morrison himself did a good job, he was outshined by Miz. Now, Miz has always gone above and beyond in his promos. The guy knows how to work an audience and the camera. He is, without a doubt, WWE's best performer on the mic. And tonight, Miz (and Morrison) dressed up as various talen of the WWE universe — including The Usos, The New Day, and Heavy Machinery.

While their Uso and New Day impressions were funny, nothing could have prepared us for seeing Miz and Morrison dressed up as bacon to represent Heavy Machinery. Nothing else matters beyond this. If you only watch one thing from SmackDown this week, make sure it's this. It was genuinely funny and low key brilliant, and shows that Miz should probably get paid more than he already is. Miz and Morrison then took on Heavy Machinery, Dolph Ziggler interfered, and the match ended in a DQ.

After the match the cameras did show a clearly upset Otis being consoled by Tucker. It wasn't played up for laughs either — Otis is completely sympathetic here. It's good to see WWE showing that men can have hurt feelings too, even resulting in tears. Bravo to creative for that touch.

The show ended with Goldberg and Roman Reigns signing their match contract for WrestleMania, which while fine and dandy, had to go up against Miz and Morrison dressed as bacon.

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Overall, WWE SmackDown was a significant upgrade compared to RAW – and might arguably have the better talent of the two shows, and it really shows. Here's hoping WWE is able to keep producing entertaining shows week after week – especially in these tough times.

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