SmackDown
airs tonight (May 8) with a live show emanating from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. This is the final episode of SmackDown during the three week build to Backlash, which you can watch here on ESPN tomorrow night (May 9).It sounds like people in WWE don’t like the ‘hokey’ Gingerbread Man angle
Last week’s episode of SmackDown featured a truly bizarre angle where Sami Zayn dismembered and killed the Gingerbread Man. WWE commentators were broken up about Gingerbread’s untimely demise (Rest In Pieces), and a funeral for Man is scheduled
on tonight’s broadcast.
It’s the kind of absurd comedy angle that some wrestling fans get a kick out of, but makes others cringe. That’s apparently the case even within WWE. According to a new report from WrestleVotes Radio, multiple members of WWE’s creative team don’t like the Gingerbread Man angle because it’s too “hokey and archaic.” I’m just reading between the lines here, but the fact that the Gingerbread Man gets so much TV time despite the “significant internal pushback” shows that someone important behind the scenes must really like the idea.
Perhaps tonight’s show is the swan song for the Gingerbread Man story because it’s a funeral segment. United States Champion Trick Williams will be there to speak in memory of Gingerbread, and Zayn is sure to interrupt and maybe even desecrate the mannequin body, hopefully in a way that doesn’t bring back memories of Katie Vick. I don’t think this is leading to a Coffin match stipulation being added to Trick’s title defense against Zayn at Backlash, but I guess you never know.
Tune into SmackDown tonight to see more wackiness ensue as WWE says goodbye to the Gingerbread Man.
The rest of the card
Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley team up tonight in a 6-woman tag match against Fatal Influence. Can The Queen and The Eradicator get along and remain on the same page, or will Jacy Jayne’s crew take advantage of the babyfaces’ potential lack of cohesion while continuing their takeover of the SmackDown women’s division?
Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton defends the gold tonight against Kiana James. Will former champion Giulia prove to be just as ineffective at ringside in support of Kiana as James was when Giulia dropped the belt to Tiffy Time?
Raw star GUNTHER showed up out of nowhere on SmackDown last week to attack WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and put him to sleep. The Ring General will be on tonight’s show to address his actions. Will he bother explaining why he’s allowed to cross brands like this? Will Rhodes interrupt GUNTHER’s promo and incite a brawl? Is a WWE title match going to be booked for either Saturday Night’s Main Event or Clash in Italy later this month?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– If The Usos are in the building tonight, will Jacob Fatu also be there to take them out with the Tongan Death Grip? Why weren’t Jimmy and Jey at the contract signing between Fatu and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns on Raw?
– Solo Sikoa’s MFTs have fewer members around after WWE cut Tonga Loa and JC Mateo off the roster. However, Talla Tonga emerged as a bigger threat last week when he beat the shit out of Royce Keys and WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth. Are the babyfaces coming for payback on MFT tonight?
– Danhausen needs to figure out who his mystery tag team partner is going to be at Backlash. Will he conduct a search for the right partner tonight and curse all of the bad applicants? Is he going to fall victim to The Miz and Kit Wilson again without anybody there to help him?
– Ricky Starks got called up from NXT and lost his debut match on SmackDown. Will WWE make sure to get Starks his first win tonight by matching him up against a jabroni like Matt Cardona?
– Who will Drew McIntyre and Jade Cargill target next whenever they return to SmackDown?
– Has WWE dropped the angle that was going on between Tama Tonga and Shinsuke Nakamura?
– Where do Nia Jax and Lash Legend go from here after failing to win back the WWE women’s tag team championship from Paige and Brie Bella last week?
– “The Glamour” Blake Monroe is “coming soon” to SmackDown. Could her debut happen as soon as tonight?
– Do the SmackDown commentators or GM Nick Aldis have anything more to say about John Cena’s huge news at Backlash that will apparently “shock the very foundation of WWE”?
– Where the f*** are Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
