My WWE 2K18 Results: WWE SmackDown Live (Apr.W4.17)

WWE SmackDown Live

April.Week 4.2017

Phoenix, AZ

WWE CHAMPIONS

WWE CHAMPION: The Rock

WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPION: Triple H

SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S CHAMPION: Natalya

SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)

LAST WEEK AFTER SMACKDOWN LIVE WENT OFF THE AIR: A focused Jinder Mahal gave an interview where he said that he would issue a challenge to John Cena to face him in a match at Backlash. With a victory over John Cena, Mahal would then challenge and subsequently defeat the WWE Champion. This momentous victory would usher in the era of “The Modern Day Maharajah”! He tells the WWE Universe to prepare themselves because he is about to take over SmackDown Live.

SHOW OPENER PROMO

AJ Styles brings up Jinder's comments from last week about challenging John Cena to a match at Backlash and surmises that the WWE Universe definitely does not want to see that. AJ thinks that a match between Cena and Styles at Backlash sounds much, much better to him. So he calls out Jinder and challenges him to a match tonight. The winner faces John Cena at Backlash!

AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal

PROMO BATTLE WINNER: Jinder Mahal

LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN LIVE: The gatekeeper to Triple H's United States Championship, Kevin Owens, picked up what some are calling an upset victory against Roman Reigns.

TONIGHT: With Roman wanting to run it back and Owens wanting to prove that it wasn't some fluke, they will compete in a rematch from last week's hard-hitting affair!

IN THE BACKSTAGE AREA: Sami Zayn approaches Roman Reigns and informs his about rumors he's heard of Triple H being in Kevin Owens' corner tonight. He tells Roman that he's been best friends with Kevin Owens and he's been bitter enemies with Kevin Owens. He knows that Roman doesn't need any help handling himself but tells him that he's got his back tonight.

MATCH #1

SMACKDOWN LIVE REMATCH

Normal Brawl

Kevin Owens (w/Triple H) vs Roman Reigns (w/Sami Zayn)

WINNER: Kevin Owens!

Method: Pinfall

Finish: Pop-up Pwerbomb

Note: Kevin Owens has just defeated Roman Reigns twice in a row!

THIS SUNDAY AT WWE PAYBACK: Chris Jericho challenges “The Game” Triple H for the WWE United States Championship!

MIDDLE CARD PROMO

Dolph Ziggler calls out the artist known as Shinsuke Nakamura and verbally lays into “The King of Strong Style”, following up with various insults. Nakamura retorted smoothly by calling Ziggler a jackass.

Dolph Ziggler vs Shinsuke Nakamura

PROMO BATTLE WINNER: Shinsuke Nakamura

UP NEXT: Kalisto and Sin Cara find themselves once again on the same brand and are reuniting as The Lucha Dragons to take the SmackDown Live tag team division by storm.

MATCH #2

Tag Team Match

The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) vs The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara)

WINNER: The Ascension

Method: Pinfall from Konnor on Sin Cara

Finish: Flapjack

POST-MATCH: The Ascension beat down The Lucha Dragons and expel them from the ring.

Rating: *** Very Good

LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN LIVE: James Ellsworth was out to prove that he is the real “Face that runs the place” by defeating a cultural icon last week in Colonel Sanders. Tonight, Ellsworth continues his quest!

MATCH #3

Normal Match

Kane vs James Ellsworth

WINNER: Kane

Method: Pinfall

Finish: Chokeslam

Note: Squash

UP NEXT: The New Day and American Alpha will compete to decide who will be the #1 contenders to challenge the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The Usos, at Backlash.

• The New Day are currently slated to challenge for the RAW Tag Team Championships this Sunday at WWE Payback. Tonight, The New Day seek to earn the opportunity to possibly win both brand's tag team titles!

- After recently losing both SmackDown and NXT Tag Team Championships, American Alpha are looking for a big rebound and they look to start it off tonight! Many claim that Chad Gable and Jason Jordan wore themselves out defending both titles. However, they dispute that they are at 100%. And now that they're solely focused on the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, they have no doubt that they've got what it takes to have another long title reign with those SmackDown tag titles!

MATCH #4

#1 CONTENDER'S MATCH FOR THE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Tag Team Match

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods)(w/Kofi Kingston) vs American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan)

WINNER and #1 CONTENDERS: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods)(w/Kofi Kingston)

Method: Pinfall from Big E on Gable

Finish: Big Ending

LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN LIVE: Naomi defeated Charlotte Flair to retain her status as the #1 contender for the SmackDown Women's Championship.

IN PROGRESS: Naomi and Charlotte are about to engage in a rematch from last week with the #1 contendership once again on the line when both Superstars are attacked by Natalya, Tamina and Carmella!

MATCH #5

Three on Two Brawl

Naomi & Charlotte vs Natalya, Tamina & Carmella

WINNERS: Natalya, Tamina & Carmella

LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN LIVE: Rusev outlasted five other Superstars to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship.

SHOW CLOSER PROMO

Rusev actually suggests renaming Backlash after himself and officially issues his challenge for the WWE Champion, The Rock, and tells him that after he beats The Rock at Backlash there will be a new “Great One”. “The Bulgarian Brute” reveals that he knows that The Rock is currently suffering from a minor back injury which means that he is only one Accolade away from making it a major injury. He closes by saying that he's been working hard and looking forward to this moment for a long time.

MATCH #6

MAIN EVENT

WINNER CHALLENGES JOHN CENA AT WWE BACKLASH

Normal Match

Jinder Mahal vs AJ Styles

WINNER: AJ Styles

Method: Pinfall

Finish: Styles Clash

POST-MATCH: Jinder gives Styles his due and offers him a handshake before walking off.

Rating: *** ½ Great

Countdown to WWE 2K19: 2 months, 1 week & 5 days (universe mode calendar)

REVIEW

• It might sound a bit convoluted but I will try to explain the relationship between Triple H and Kevin Owens in this Universe Mode currently. Triple H says that Owens is free to brand himself as "The Face of America" despite not being the WWE United States Champion. He believes in Owens as a Superstar and is okay with giving him free reign because, of course, Owens knows who the real "Face of America" is.

• From Kevin Owens' point of view, "The Face of America" is more than a nickname. It's a prophecy that he believes in fully. He thinks that if he plays the role of company man, waits his turn and plays by the rules of The Authority then in due time he will get what is rightfully his. One can only assume that will be the United States Championship. The potential for a rift between HHH and KO is definitely there although there doesn't seem to be any real signs towards it.

• Sami Zayn is ranked pretty low (in the US Title rankings) so it's good to see him cornering Roman Reigns to neutralize any shenanigans from the KO Kamp.

• I kind of hyped myself up for the return of The Lucha Dragons (thanks to the 2K18 Superstar Shake-Up). They suffered a loss right out of the gate but with that vicious beatdown after the match, perhaps this will give ground to a program between the two teams. That will give The Lucha Dragons an opportunity to even the score. There's a lot of talent on the SDL roster and not a lot of match slots to cater to everybody on a weekly basis. So we'll see what happens.

• The Ascension were the NXT Tag Team Champions for a combined 67 weeks. Was their dominant victory tonight shades of them returning to form?

• Looking forward to the upcoming Ziggler/Nakamura match as well as Nakamura's (WWE 2K) main roster run that's ahead of him. I get the feelings that we're in for some bangers. Perhaps even Nakamura with a good, headlining run.

• LOL @ Ellsworth harping on beating Colonel Sanders this week (The Colonel is a coveted sponsor to the company though. I don't think his appearances are meant for him to be used as fodder. If The Colonel was a heel character however...). If there was any doubt..."The Big Red Machine" delivered Ellsworth a wake-up call with that all-business squash.

• American Alpha has really been on a cold streak (Jason Jordan actually got the 'Cold Streak' status effect after this match). They lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to The Usos again as well as finally losing the NXT Tag Team Championships just four days shy of holding them for one year. Will their streak get colder or is their rebound imminent?

• The New Day are now challenging for the SmackDown AND RAW Tag Team Championships.

• Shout out to Naomi and Charlotte for nearly overcoming the odds as they eliminated Natalya and Tamina from the impromptu two on one handicap encounter. Shout out to Carmella for being the closer.

• Rusev's finally about to get some long-awaited payback (no pun intended) for that promo battle segment against The Rock several years ago. If The Rock is still injured at Backlash then an Accolade or two might just get the job done. A win for Rusev would definitely be the biggest of his career and would definitely elevate him to that next level. Shades of the game elevating Neville to that next level. It could happen...

• For a second there I thought I was seeing the genesis, the rise of the run of "The Modern Day Maharajah". Much like the run he had IRL with the WWE Title on SDL. AJ Styles halted that rise with a win over Jinder, hijacking Jinder's challenge against John Cena at Backlash.

• John Cena is the currently ranked as the #2 contender for the WWE Championship which explains why he seems to have a target on his back.

NEXT ON THE ICE CHILLED GAMING YouTube STREAM: WWE NXT

(I simulate games from MLB The Show and NBA 2K in conjunction with my WWE Universe Mode's calendar. I'll be doing those before I stream NXT. They don't get any views since they're old sports games so I don't really stream those. It's the playoffs right now in my NBA 2K and things are heating up!)