With WWE Super ShowDown 2019 concluded, it’s time to look back on what happened and assess the damage, praise the positives and talk about what went down.
Per usual, at the end of this post, you’ll see my regular Smack Talk Pay-Per-Viewpoint post-show podcast, which reviews the event in more detail, but for those who want a more condensed version of my thoughts, I present to you my “quicker than a hiccup” reaction to the different parts of the evening:
Kickoff: The Usos def. The Revival:
After waiting an hour for the pre-show to be worth watching, I was disappointed that this match was completely meaningless. It did nothing to further any story, it had no effect on the card at all, and it might as well have been two other random tag teams against each other.
It’s a shame, as I’m a big fan of both these teams, and all four guys are more than capable of doing great things (and have done just that many times in the past), but this was completely forgettable and I would have rather had a women’s match on the card for the sake of progress than this.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin:
Admittedly, I spent the entire match wondering if the rumors of Brock Lesnar’s failed cash-in would be true. Once that didn’t happen exactly as I had hoped, and Lesnar retained the briefcase, it sucked my focus and energy away from me for nearly the entire rest of the show, as I thought that it was a done deal that Kofi Kingston would be cashed-in on and lose the title.
But even though that didn’t happen, and I’m thankful for that, it meant this whole time, I had this lingering disappointment, which threw me off and made it so I couldn’t enjoy anything, including the end of this match, which took me by surprise.
Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor vs. Andrade:
This was the start of the “barely paying attention” time frame of this event. I honestly don’t know what happened here, outside of Finn Balor’s entrance, which was much better than what the Demon Balor gimmick normally involves.
That was great and a real highlight, as I enjoyed most of the entrances and the pyro and such throughout the night, but I couldn’t tell you a single move that happened during the match itself, or if it was great or horrendous. I guess that will make it easier for me to enjoy their upcoming rematch, which I’m sure is inevitable. #GlassHalfFull
Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon:
If I could go back in time to show WWE that the stupid World Cup tournament booking was going to lead to “Roman Reigns beats Drew McIntyre again, just like he did at WrestleMania, but it’ll be at some event called Stomping Grounds that has a lackluster build, all because you wanted to keep Shane McMahon looking like a top heel authority figure despite how you purposely acted like not doing that could help your tanking ratings” I’m sure nobody would believe me.
I didn’t enjoy this, I haven’t been enjoying the McMahon stuff for a while now, I don’t want to see what’s coming next for Reigns and McIntyre, I feel bad for The Miz, and all four of those guys deserve better booking than what has happened since November.
Lars Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party:
WWE managed to find a way to take a meaningless match I had zero interest in and make it even worse.
I do not care about Sullivan, and this did nothing to convince me otherwise. If anything, I feel like this just made it harder for other people who haven’t gotten off the train still want to stick around.
This did him no favors, nor did it help The Lucha House Party, and if they try to pull the typical “Super ShowDown REMATCH!!!)110LOLZZU” nonsense on Monday Night Raw, you might be able to hear my groan of annoyance across the globe.
Triple H vs. Randy Orton:
I wasn’t as into this as the crowd was, namely because I was still salty as hell about the Brock Lesnar stuff and couldn’t quite focus. That continued to carry on.
I was disappointed that Triple H’s entrance was just that bike again. We’ve seen that enough times now and it wasn’t cool (from my perspective) the first time, let alone the second or third or whatever. I’m not a bike guy. You may disagree with me and say you loved it. Good for you.
At least the audience seemed pumped.
Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley:
I liked Bobby Lashley’s entrance and Braun Strowman’s trashing of that little platform than I did the match itself, and better than most of the show as a whole.
But I actually didn’t hate this. I thought there were moments that were kind of fun, like Strowman running around the ring twice. Low expectations led to a better end result, to me. You might have hated it, and if so, I don’t blame you, either!
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler:
I was really looking forward to seeing this, but wasn’t in the mindset to really watch it. Not only was the Lesnar thing weighing on my mind, but I’m always doing live coverage for multiple things at the same time anyway, so my attention was split around and I was writing up notes for how I’d potentially have to talk about how annoyed I was at what I thought was “the inevitable cash-in” from Brock.
When it finished, I was super pleased that Lesnar wasn’t champion, and that made me want to go back and watch this match again for a better assessment. However, once they announced that they would be having a steel cage match, I figured this might be a blessing in disguise, and that might be better and more enjoyable if I erase this from my memory as it is.
50-Man Over-the-Top Battle Royal:
Good to see a wide variety of talent, ranging from 205 Live wrestlers, returning AOP and Sin Cara, and bigger stars like Samoa Joe and The Miz.
I know some people are going to hate the idea of going with Mansoor as the winner, as it’s 100% pure pandering, but I’m okay with it, and I’ll even go so far as to say that I liked it.
That win means more to him and to those crying kids in the crowd than any other person in that match could have gotten out of it. It shows progress for Mansoor’s career, too, as he was just one of a few names trotted out in front of Greatest Royal Rumble, and within a year, he’s advanced that far, while the others haven’t.
This will give him a big boost in NXT and it’s never a bad thing to have a guy on that roster be treated like a bigger deal. That way, when he wrestles other people, the fans will be more invested in him.
Goldberg vs. The Undertaker:
The entrances were awesome, and the start of the match had me wondering if they’d be able to pull it off. Then, it went to hell, and became one of the scariest and saddest finishes to a match that I can remember seeing.
This got me hyped and then bummed me out so, so much…
For more opinions on the show as a whole, check out the latest edition of the Smark Out Moment wrestling podcast SMACK TALK as the panel reviews Super ShowDown 2019 with our immediate reactions following the event before the dust has fully settled.
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