WWE SmackDown Live 3/7/17 Retro Recap, WWE Raw 3/6/17 Review

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Fred Richani recaps WWE SmackDown Live on March 7, 2017, headlined by the first AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton match, plus his thoughts on Raw on the road to WrestleMania 33.

SmackDown and Raw Review

Adapted from the episode and edited for clarity and brevity. Listen above for the full review.

Randy Orton beat AJ Styles in their first-ever match to earn a WWE Championship match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. It was an awesome match with a clever finish: Orton caught AJ out of a 450 splash with an RKO. But WWE hasn’t created many major stars in the last decade because it burns through matchups on free TV. This could have headlined SummerSlam. I would have had the lights go out and Bray attack Orton for a DQ, keeping AJ’s story of being screwed by Shane McMahon alive. One loss won’t hurt AJ, but that’s three big losses in a row after John Cena and the Elimination Chamber.

Alexa Bliss’ “Blissertation” turned into Daniel Bryan announcing that Alexa will defend her title at WrestleMania against every available woman on SmackDown, which leaves room for Naomi to return from injury. Baron Corbin attacked Dean Ambrose with a pipe and pinned him under a forklift, a callback to The Rock vs. Mankind at Halftime Heat in 1999. John Cena and Nikki Bella beat Carmella and James Ellsworth, and The Miz then ripped into Cena with straight fire, using real-life storylines from Total Divas. I’d still love Cena vs. The Undertaker at SummerSlam. Thumbs up for SmackDown.

On Raw, The Undertaker chokeslammed Roman Reigns, so it looks like Reigns vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania. That could be a hell of a match or a disaster depending on Taker’s condition and whether WWE turns Reigns heel. Kevin Owens squashed Sami Zayn, who has the talent to be the next Daniel Bryan, and Samoa Joe beat Chris Jericho by countout, a match that did nothing for either guy. Sasha Banks beat Raw Women’s Champion Bayley to set up a WrestleMania triple threat with Charlotte, and I don’t understand why Nia Jax is nowhere to be found after all that TV time.

Brock Lesnar offered Goldberg a handshake, then hit him with an F5, and Goldberg either sold it extremely well or was exhausted after his first bump in 13 years. The best part of the night was Neville’s excellent win over Rich Swann for the cruiserweight title, followed by Austin Aries, passed over by WWE years ago for being too small, hitting Neville with the microphone. That got over huge. I don’t want another failed Roman Reigns babyface run. Let Braun Strowman beat him, then beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at SummerSlam. Rest in peace to Ron Bass.