Ups & Downs: WWE SmackDown Review (Mar 15)

Our WWE Smackdown review as Simon Miller recaps The Rock Concert, Bayley vs. Dakota Kai, New Catch Republic vs. Pretty Deadly, Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee, Randy Orton vs. Grayson Waller, Logan Paul discovering his Wrestlemania match, Legado del Fantasma vs. The LWO and much more.
For more awesome content, check out: whatculture.com/wwe
Listen to our free podcasts: www.whatculture.com/wrestlecul...
Follow us!
Facebook: / whatculturewwe
Twitter: / whatculturewwe
Instagram: / whatculturewrestling

[@joeparrillo7075]

Man, once the Rock realized nobody wanted him to be the hero, he dove headfirst into being the villian. He is killing it and looks like he is having a ton of fun with a wink and a nod.

[@steelpan_Ace]

Smack down had a heel crowd last night 😂😂

[@Scotch1927]

This is going to be a problem at Mania

[@Urineil]

​@scotch7859 i was thinking about that. But im not sure its a problem. There will be a 50/50 crowd for wm i believe

[@j54life21]

I was there, not a heel crowd. Memphis just has a personal connection to Rock and vice versal

[@khesipresents1885]

Rock is just to cool for fans to boo him long term

[@j54life21]

@@khesipresents1885 true, no matter how hard we try

[@beardedotter4220]

The Whoop That Trick chants going off twice and Wade Barrett acknowledging Trick Williams was amazing! There is no way the Trick Mello feud finishes on NXT!

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

The Rock just made it WAY more personal.

[@AKking27]

Involving Cody dog was bad enough lol

[@thewolf01x95]

Good

[@tomseville2345]

Yeah, with The LWO and Dragon Lee; he got Cruz/Joaquin and Zelina's entrance and the Santos/Dragon match slashed short...

[@johankarreman8787]

He made it dWAYne more personal.

[@boblester8641]

The Rock gets taken out by Stone Cold

[@DJDoubleCee]

The Rock sure did get personal with Cody and Seth in his promo.

[@0PhillMC0]

I liked that Randy orton went to RKO Kevin Owens and Kevin owens was like "what are you doing?"

[@MetalCharlo]

KO wasn't even scared he just went "bruh"

[@PaulBeast1]

Randy didn’t know it was him at the time

[@AdiMumbai]

Rock segment was a Golden UP

[@nervoussips2622]

It was a brown down.

[@johnsullivan3069]

​@@nervoussips2622why?

[@thewolf01x95]

​@@nervoussips2622found the crybaby

[@nervoussips2622]

@@johnsullivan3069 because the rock peaked 20 years ago

[@vb2806]

​@@nervoussips2622and his plateau is a peak the entire current roster will never be able to climb

[@enothewonderdog]

Asuka was limping heavily at the end - I didn't see what she did to her knee. Did anyone else catch it?

[@radioqueenbee7008]

I saw her limping and I couldn't tell how she might have injured it either.

[@Baebino]

There were some people on twitter that were at the show and said she walked to the back fine without a limp, so she may have just tweeked it during the beatdown and just walked it off.

[@azenar1894]

She got hit by a bit of the over the moonsault at the end of the beatdown

[@mattlewis8889]

Happy 3 16 everyone!

[@jesserice7777]

*GLASS BREAKS!!*

[@btipton6899]

What

[@paullowdon5883]

A huge brown down for not having Tiffany Stratton on the show, and effectively ending her hopes of making it to Mania.

[@aaronhurst4379]

She'll probably only be in the battle royal, which is a shame because she's great

[@paullowdon5883]

@@aaronhurst4379 Yeah, better than nothing if they did bring that back, which is no guarantee, but without wanting to sound disrespectful, and annoy any fans, it will probably feel beneath her if she's 5-0 on Smackdown, stealing the show at the last PLE, mixing with the likes of Liv and especially Bianca on TV and press events, but then on par with the Indi's, Tegan's, and Maxxine's at Mania, and probably on the Kick Off too. There were 18 wrestlers on the Elimination Chamber, and it looks like Tiffany (along with Raquel, who obviously has her condition) will be the only ones not to make a 2 night PLE consisting of up to 50 wrestlers, especially after being such a standout. The Aussie crowd has probably ironically cost her her marquee match with Bianca, as they have clearly pivoted from that.

[@kierangill5856]

Absolutely glad she ain't on it, imagine seeing more of that botchfest smh.......what a boring wrestler

[@tomseville2345]

They listened to the fans about the Hollywood Rock theme! Amazing, because they never did about Drew or Sheamus' themes...

[@fullmetalplatinum5915]

I was there, and the crowd was the biggest and most electric crowd I have ever seen 🔥

[@jonesyjones74]

Same, pretty sure it was the highest grossing wrestling event at FedEx forum!

[@jesserice7777]

.... and it was worth it. 😬

[@dc0169]

I actually got to be there live last night. Fun show and a great time. Had a couple dark matches afterwards that was awesome to!

[@tomseville2345]

Love Wade shouting out Trick Williams with the chants; although Corey had to bring it down to earth with the Memphis sports reference...

[@matthewhostetter8974]

One of the best Rock Concerts of all time and a hell of a show. Wrestlemania also continues to build up as one of the most stacked Manias of all time.

[@JohnSmith-mw8hf]

😂😂😂😂😂 “best” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SUPREMERoyale]

I think the LWO/LDF feud is taking so long because Rey was injured and it had to peak with him versus Santos. I do agree the Dragon Lee/Escobar match was WAY too short but I think some of that is probably The Rock’s fault 😅

[@MHruskamusic]

I think all the matches pretty much being short except for the first one and the main event was because of Rocky. One of the reasons that Smackdown is weaker in my opinion. He literally talks about nothing important and takes 5 years to get to the ring. He is an unnecessary part of this lame storyline unfortunately.

[@urbaindelva7869]

​@@MHruskamusicWell, it's too late to remove him now this deep in. They're laying the groundwork for Rock vs. Roman down the line.

[@atlien1988]

The Rock's concert was probably one of the best segments in WWE or wrestling period for at least a decade. I'm surprised it didn't get a golden up.

[@nikwalters1029]

I get Smackdown is pretty synonymous with the Rock but really, I kinda want them to move the build up over to Raw. It has three hours so doing a 25 plus promo would work better and allow more actual matches on Smackdown to showcase the talent. Also, allow for more time to be dedicated to the Bailey/Iyo and AJ/LA feuds.

[@Kevmaster2000]

Rock concert gets a golden up!

[@JohnSmith-mw8hf]

You spelt brown down wrong 😂😂 I swear you Rocky crybaby fans know that segment was fucking trash. But because it was rocky you guys are blowing your nuts over it 😂😂😂

[@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn]

​@@JohnSmith-mw8hfUse more emojis, maybe your point will get across better. Then again, probably not.

[@JohnSmith-mw8hf]

@@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn the fact you cared more about the emojis proves you are just retarded

[@jonmartin9686]

@@JohnSmith-mw8hf ur the biggest mark i have ever seen

[@stefanweigl6438]

It was like on an old smackdown vs raw game....stunner as a signature move followed by a *insert finisher*

[@sfruizmiranda]

They gotta start having Roman vs Cody segments on Raw too to build this up

[@khesipresents1885]

At this point Roman feels like a tool for Cody to get the belt from and feud with rock

[@ronald-xs7sp]

Good afternoon, Simon!

[@chadrowland4670]

Knight said AJ would be at WrestleMania.

[@kennyhall9117]

SIMON IS THE BEST, SIMON NUMBER ONE 👏👏

[@christopherwilliams2351]

I was there last night. Was a great time. Was wild cause you could tell he wasn’t gonna be able to be a heel but the Ja Morant line was hilarious

[@chrisford7909]

I kinda hope Bailey brings back the wacky inflatable fun loving arm guys for her mania entrance!!!😂😂🎉🎉

[@aguyfromnewzealand3392]

Bayley buddies 😊

[@afp445]

Nah, I think that persona has run it's course Just my opinion

[@chrisford7909]

@@afp445 just for her mania entrance. A one time last time

[@afp445]

@@chrisford7909 Well if it's one time only then cool 👍

[@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn]

That part of her character is gone she literally killed it lol. You'll see that in her hof induction

[@kcalexander1995]

I’m 28 and I’m happy Hollywood rock is back

[@MelodicQuest]

I see that Rey Mysterio secured that 'Just For Men' sponsorship 😂

[@longbeachhippy694]

I finally see another person with that shirt on. I thought I was the only one! Awesome shirt yoyo

[@frankhoward6645]

Hollywood Rock is awesome his Concert was entertaining as always Simon great job

[@AliFrankTheTank]

That Rock🐐 Concert lol 🔥🔥🔥, new entrance every week ahahah & the three Mania matches announced 🔥🔥🔥

[@marcrapaccuiolo2406]

Paul getting scared when she walked up on him was hilariuos 😂

[@InYourWalls101]

That promo was so excellent and bringing back the old theme was so cool, not only did it make The Rock a babyface again for the night, I think this is the first time the crowd unanimously booed Cody Rhodes 😂😂

[@chadsherrill7559]

Surprised you didn’t mention anything about the 2x a “Whoop Dat Trick!” chant was going

[@blackhelm5773]

Asuka was limping at the end. I hope shes ok it would suck for the womens tag title curse to strike again.

[@trivolinnaidoo07]

“I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long either” Pause Simon, Pause.

[@urbaindelva7869]

I like the Rock as much as anybody else, but I'm starting to get WrestleMania 27 vibes from this buildup now: Rock overshadowing the two men who are ACTUALLY COMPETING for the top championship in the main event. Granted, Rock will be competing himself at Mania, but it feels like he and Cody will squaring off on Night 2, not Cody and Roman.

[@patrickdare5356]

You would think that babyfaces would be able to make friends more easily, instead of always being on the wrong end of a 3-on-1 beatdown.

[@schw0373]

WWE has completely lost its way since the Bloodline angle was in its prime a year ago. The returns of Punk and Rock don't really matter when you don't have interesting storylines or angles.

[@Morganj27]

I feel the same way. It's almost like they are being too dependent on the big names and not the actual content sometimes.

[@schw0373]

@@Morganj27 Nailed it, this is exactly right.

[@afp445]

Bingo 🎯 (No hate towards WWE but facts are facts)

[@schw0373]

@@afp445 It brings to light the reality that Triple H isn't necessarily a great booker, he just looks good compared to Vince, which is a VERY low bar. There's just no creativity or intrigue in the way Hunter and Friends are booking things right now.

[@vb2806]

​@@schw0373I mean how did people take so long to realise that? HHH's idea of a champion was Johnny Gargano and then Adam Cole. He also pushed Rollins heavily and he still feels like an upper midcarder. HHH has no eye for stars

[@anthonymazurkiewicz9629]

The timing was off on that move, but I watched it about seven times laughing

[@isaacw.brooks8417]

Smackdown was a pretty good show last night.

[@mephistro]

Loving the return of heel Rock! Kinda makes me wish Cody would've defeated Reigns at last year's Wrestlemania so for 40 we could've had Rock vs Reigns. I don't like how they're nerfing LA Knight. He should be in a title match at Wrestlemania.

[@BobbyCrosthwaite]

Simon as usual u get the GOLDEN UP

[@Mahasdev]

I am more excited for Rock vs Cody than Roman vs Cody Rocks promo's are utter great. They should make a singles match between Cody and Rock.

[@Tubbyz1986]

They should do Bloodline V WWE angle. Rock as the final boss for Bloodline and HHH as the main man for WWE. Re run the NWO V WCW angle but a lot better!

[@shadhinov]

One moment its all fun roast, next moment terrifying final boss. Unhinged rock is goated.

[@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn]

This rock version is on par with the one that went against Cena. More menacing

[@kathdonbetnan761]

Simon has some of the best t-shirts. And I don't mean the pro wrasslin' tees ones, but those aren't bad either. =p

[@Xomitsious]

It's good to have the Rock start the show. That way you don't have to watch the rest. Just who are all those guys?

[@nakulsprakash1640]

Such a treat to have the Rock on SmackDown

[@trentthornton4828]

Love the shirt

[@jonesyjones74]

I was there live in Memphis!!!

[@RanaTerrellCsIt]

I love the T-shirt!

[@jasonsierchio1167]

Dakota and Sane keep getting hotter

[@thetruthhurtsALLTHETIME]

I WANT THAT SHIRT!!!!!

[@panthazt29]

It is dope AF

[@comeflexwithme_4493]

Hollywood rock theme is goated

[@dominikgose2609]

I'm so glad they brought it back!!

[@markypaul85]

The as a bad guy and with the bloodline, wow

[@DrezzyEFTP]

I was there last night. I will upload the video soon, the event was amazing

[@MetalCharlo]

We all saw it on tv bro

[@DrezzyEFTP]

@MetalCharlo it's way different when you at the event, especially between breaks, and after the show goes off. There was two matches after the show went off, and rhea wrestled without her usual makeup. I just posted the video

[@ChrisLT]

Rock promo was almost as good as Trick's. Then a good one by Mercedes. A solid week for promos!

[@aldoesagood4862]

Personally, as long as Legado and LWO keep delivering banger matches, I don’t mind this feud going on

[@grahamgalton6949]

I think the dark matches after the show goes off air should still be part of the storylines and be KZbin exclusives

[@reinaldosantana7479]

Simon my friend I want one of those Mumm-Ra T-shirts!!! I need it! Now!

[@cdmit27]

I'm sick of the Legado/LWO story they have drug this out way too long for a midcard feud. Did Carlito forget how to cut a promo? He hasn't said a damn thing since he confronted Santos over Rey losing the US belt.

[@urbaindelva7869]

Rey's injury put things on hold. They wanna have he and Dantoa square off at Mania in some way.

[@rogerb1667]

Simon should be at n announce table with jim ross or Micheal cole

[@severianokautapa5034]

Rocky Be showing up more than Roman now 🤣

[@1236empireent]

Ja not Jay 😂 Simon is hilarious 🤣

[@oluwaseunaderibigbe2465]

Best theme song of all time. The Rock is a very great heel

[@suolasfilms]

Yo Simon! Where did you score that Meta-Mumm-Ra t-shirt?

[@dewyorkciti532]

It was nice to see Bayley in the main event….finally, I almost forgot she won the Women’s Royal Rumble.

[@deathbykonami5487]

The Rock's heel promos are generating som Attitude Era level heat. He's roasting Cody Rhodes just like he did Billy Gunn back in the day, except this is getting the opposite effect since instead of breaking Cody's motivation, it's juicing him up.

[@chibwekapalajnr]

I wanna stop and the clock because I can’t believe we see the rock on wwe almost every week now. Especially Hollywood rock

[@Skyfire08]

You know Rey Mysterio is so nice, WhatCulture showed him twice

[@PMRoadie52]

Simon, I think you're one of the best but "SmackRock" is right there.

[@MrBobbyz24]

Gee, who would have thought that Damage CTRL would jump Bayley? Also, why is the WWE Women's champion treated differently than the Women's World Champion? Rhea is treated like an invincible goddess, and IO Sky is just...IO Sky.

[@Mohahmed121]

I love how the rock is essentially doing Romans job for him. For example building the main even for WM40….

[@carlosalbelo7946]

What about the crime counter going up for rock’s concert?

[@fonz14]

The pic of Rey making a reprise made me laugh. Like if he had let dragon lee get beaten and then came out in the pretty deadly match to challenge Santos instead. Better late than never, maybe coz he’s old. There’s an angle there for sure!

[@herrnein4164]

Simon always mentioning Tia the Turnbuckle, Rhea the Ringpost and Barry the Barricade. Where is the love for Matt the mat?

[@DarioMalandra]

I think it is Tina and Rita

[@Tha_Trigga]

What are you going to do with LWO after the blow off? AOP? Who will they lose to 600 times in a row?

[@user-sy5sy2np8r]

Gosh! I sure hope that AJ didn't mess up LA Knight's vocal chords. I mean, the only reason I watch is to hear him go "Yeah" at the end of every third sentence!

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Cody & Rock are interesting happening in storyline

[@cadendicky1855]

Is it just me or does the Rocks veins in his bald head keep becoming more and more visible with every episode of Smackdown? Good show as always by the way.

[@ronald-xs7sp]

It's not just you.

[@cadendicky1855]

@@ronald-xs7sp good

[@PremiumAli]

Rock was damn disrespectful gotta love it.. and the theme Yes Yes Yes

[@Rand0mDood26]

If tonight was RockDown, last week was SmackRock.

[@johndoiron9615]

This should be the top comment.

[@johnbennett7863]

Smack down was great the Rock was great and Simon miller makes me feel warm and fuzzy in my tum tum

[@lornebuchanan3387]

No up for Paul Heyman's reaction to Kayla???😂

[@tomseville2345]

LOVE that they brought that running gag back... 🎤"PAUL!?" "😱😱!!" 🤣🤣

[@HZWY_Records]

Bro i couldnt find anywhere that it stared early. It was super annoying when i tuned into smackdown at 1 am only to go back up at 2

[@shellc]

The US put their clocks forward an hour starting on the 10th March so depending where you are, it's an hour earlier than what you are used to. For example, in the UK, Raw/Smackdown usually starts at 1am but for the next few weeks it will be 12am until the clocks go forward on the 31st.

[@HZWY_Records]

@@shellc oh, yeah I live in the uk and was wondering why we were in the middle of a match with orton and paul

[@heatherwright3981]

To be fair, if I were AJ I wouldn't wanna go to Memphis either, its become a cess pool. 😭

[@Swaggybro77]

Love the mum ra t shirt

[@anthonyleong9901]

I only watched this episode of UPS AND DOWNS because of The Rock.

[@Cross3061980]

It's an Up just for using his Hollywood theme.

[@lucaassmartin3154]

2003 theme 👏🏻

[@skanker1772]

Love the rocks new heel theme throw back to his Nation of Domination days

[@navtejnahal]

Who else can't wait to see the rock back in the ring, you just know he can still GO

[@anthonyperkins1668]

Wait. Simon didn't give the concert a golden up? Well, Simon gets a brown down

[@pt5728]

I feel like they’re sidelining Jimmy Vs Jey.

[@RaghavanN]

The Rock concerts never grow old,still entertaining even as a Heel😅

[@anthonysmall6167]

I hate to keep hearing of "the story" Not sure how good a story can be when EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE knows exactly how its going to end! Not much intrigue there IMO!🙄🙄🙄🙄!!!

[@urbaindelva7869]

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Many people thought Cody was gonna win last year, and look at what happened. Seth could turn on Cody. Rock and Roman could win, thus shifting the odds in Roman's favor. There is always room for doubt.

[@luissanchez4973]

Simon that is a cool T shirt. Oooodaladie

[@numero1superfly393]

WWE Rematch Counter: 41

[@josephlawson9547]

HOLLYWOOD ROCK!!!