The April 30, 2019 Edition of Smackdown Live is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's Smackdown brand, which took place on April 30, 2019 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Summary[]
After Kevin Owens shockingly betrayed The New Day last week, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston arrived on SmackDown LIVE to give an exclusive in-ring interview to the WWE Universe. Kingston tried his hardest to remain his usual positive and chipper self, but the WWE Champion just could not shake the memories of Kevin Owens savagely attacking The New Day last week. After The Dreadlocked Dynamo reflected on his 11-year journey, he challenged KO to a WWE Title fight at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
That was all Owens needed to hear. KO hit the scene, accepted Kofi's challenge and immediately started to attempt to get into Kofi's head, boldly stating that Kingston was not WWE Championship material. Owens’ rant was cut short, however, as Xavier Woods darted out from the backstage area to retaliate on Owens from the attack one week ago. Xavier got some solid licks in on Owens, but KO turned the tables and dropped Woods with a kick square to the jaw. Owens bolted from the scene before Kofi could come to his friend's aid.
After KO's latest attack on The Power of Positivity, a concerned Kofi tended to his injured New Day brother, who slowly made it back to his feet with the help of the WWE Champion.
For the first time ever in WWE, Becky Lynch took on Women's Money in the Bank participant Bayley on SmackDown LIVE. Lynch looked to secure a victory against her fellow Horsewoman before her two title defenses at WWE Money in the Bank, and Bayley searched for the most significant victory of her blue brand tenure.
The Hugger looked to be in rare form as the contest progressed, getting Becky Two Belts on her heels with a series of impactful strikes that had Lynch reeling. However, in the clutch, The Irish Lass Kicker countered Bayley's flying elbow by getting her knees up, leaving Bayley vulnerable for the Dis-arm-her, which Lynch locked in to secure a hard-fought submission victory.
Becky couldn't celebrate for long though, as Charlotte Flair appeared out of nowhere and knocked The Man out of the ring with a massive kick to the face before hurling Bayley shoulder-first into the ring post and exiting the arena with a smug smile.
After being brutalized by Lars Sullivan several weeks ago, Jeff Hardy sustained an injury that will require surgery, and thus, he and Matt Hardy came to SmackDown LIVE to announce that they were going to have to relinquish the SmackDown Tag Team Titles.
This somber moment soon turned frightening when Sullivan interrupted, clearly with intent to once again harm The Hardys. Lars first targeted Matt, taking him out with the Freak Accident before turning his attention to Jeff. Hardy was ready to fend off Sullivan with his crutch, but The Freak couldn't get to Jeff, as R-Truth - who has absorbed several attacks from Sullivan - hit the scene wielding a steel chair. Truth slammed the chair against Sullivan's back, but the blow did not phase The Freak in the slightest. When Truth took another swing, Lars punched the chair right out of his hands and brutalized him, finishing him off with a ring-rattling running powerbomb.
Riding off Kairi Sane's bigtime victory over Peyton Royce last week, Paige's tandem of The Pirate Princess & Asuka looked to score a victory against two local competitors (with WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The IIconics smack-talking Team Blue's new tandem on commentary).
Asuka & Sane showed incredible rhythm as a unit (despite this being their first traditional tag team match together), looking as if they had been partners for years and putting down their opposition when Asuka set Kairi up to claim the win with a picture-perfect Insane Elbow.
Still dealing with the repercussions of Superman Punching Mr. McMahon during his arrival on SmackDown LIVE two weeks ago, Roman Reigns was in store for yet another curveball tonight.
Shane McMahon, still determined to have Roman pay for assaulting “The Best in the World’s” father, placed The Big Dog in a 1-on-2 Handicap Match against SmackDown LIVE's newest tag team, The B-Team. A puzzled Reigns immediately asked Shane-O-Mac what the catch would be. Shane revealed that Reigns’ newest adversary and “the biggest acquisition in SmackDown LIVE history” Elias would be the Special Guest Referee Enforcer.
With the odds stacked against him yet again, Roman Reigns took on The B-Team with Elias as the Special Guest Referee Enforcer on the outside.
Not deterred by going up against Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas (and Elias), Reigns fought boldly, overpowering The B-Team despite being outnumbered. Axel & Dallas briefly cornered The Big Dog, but Reigns immediately powered back. Reigns seemed to be in trouble when Elias distracted the actual referee, allowing The B-Team to double-team Reigns. Then, the official tried to separate The B-Team off of Reigns, which allowed Elias to get a cheap shot of his own in on Roman.
None of this would stop Reigns, who answered with a succession of clubbing blows that staggered both opponents. The Big Dog appeared to have the match in hand when he dropped both Dallas and Axel with the Superman Punch, but Elias yanked the referee out of the ring before he could count to three. Reigns then chased Elias down with the designated referee temporarily out of commission. With Elias now technically the appointed official, he tried to slip in a fast count that would cost Roman the match, but even that was not enough to put Reigns down. Elias then instructed Axel to hold Reigns in place so he could smash him with his guitar, but Roman stopped that attack, Superman Punched Elias out of the ring and connected with another Superman Punch to Axel that led to a massive Spear for an improbable, and mightily impressive, Reigns victory.All four of SmackDown LIVE's entrants into the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match squared off, as Intercontinental Champion Finn Bálor & Ali teamed up to take on Randy Orton & Andrade.
With all four Superstars wanting to lay waste to the competition prior to the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, no one was bashful in pulling out all the stops. Each Superstar shined, but in the pivotal moments, Ali and Finn held off outside interference from Zelina Vega, allowing the duo to set up Ali to connect with an awe-inspiring 450 Splash on Andrade to get the win.
The loss did not sit well with Orton, who immediately hit the RKO on Finn after the match, but Ali would not allow the same fate to happen to him, fending off Orton as all four began to eye the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
With yet another savage assault of The New Day under his belt, Kevin Owens had been promising that Xavier Woods would appear as a guest on “The Kevin Owens Show,” despite being pulverized by KO earlier in the evening.
Owens called for Woods to arrive before introducing an Xavier Woods action figure and propping it up in the guest's chair. KO added a Big E action figure (complete with a bandaged leg) and asked them a few condescending questions, insulting The New Day and suggesting that Kofi stole his WrestleMania moment. Owens’ tirade was cut short though, when an impassioned Kingston stormed down to get a piece of his challenger. The Dreadlocked Dynamo chucked Owens over the announce table and dropped a chair on top of him before Owens gouged his eyes and escaped through the WWE Universe ... at least for now.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Dark Match: Aleister Black defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Samir & Sunil Singh)
- Becky Lynch defeated Bayley (8:39)
- Asuka & Kairi Sane (w/ Paige) defeated Queen Aminata & Jaylee (2:49)
- Roman Reigns defeated The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) in a Two on One Handicap Match (Special Enforcer: Elias) (11:14)
- Finn Bálor & Ali defeated Randy Orton & Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) (8:32)
Other on-screen talent[]
|
|
Image Gallery[]
Kevin Owens crashes Kofi's interview[]
Becky Lynch vs. Bayley[]
The Hardy Boyz address their future[]
Kairi Sane & Asuka vs. Local competitors[]
Roman Reigns vs. The B-Team[]
Finn Balor & Ali vs. Randy Orton & Andrade[]
Kofi Kingston gets retribution on Kevin Owens[]
See also[]
External links[]
WWE Smackdown Live #1028 at CAGEMATCH.net- WWE Smackdown Live #1028 at WWE.com
- Smackdown #1028 on WWE Network
