The Very Last One Before WrestleMania. Dark Matches Before And After This Week’s SmackDown Live With Champion Involved

Two more on one night. We’re less than a week away from WrestleMania so the last TV shows of the week might not seem like the most important things in the world. However, there is a lot that still needs to be done and some people who could use a bit more TV time. Or in this case, just some ring time, which was the case on Tuesday when a match took place both before and after SmackDown Live.

According to Wrestlinginc.com, there were a pair of dark matches on Tuesday night with one taking place before SmackDown Live and another taking place after 205 Live. Before the show went on the air, Lacey Evans defeated Nikki Cross. After the second show was over, Kevin Owens defeated Rowan via DQ when Daniel Bryan interfered. Bryan had been scheduled to face Owens but refused to wrestle so close to WrestleMania.

Bryan was on SmackDown Live and had a heck of a shouting match with Kofi Kingston. Check out the fiery exchange:

Opinion: As good as Owens vs. Bryan one on one sounds, it makes sense for Bryan to not want to wrestle both from Bryan and WWE’s side of things. There was no reason to risk Bryan’s health in a match that only matters to the live crowd and the fans got to see what they wanted in the end anyway. It may be annoying for some fans, but it’s the right call at the end of the day.

Do you see Evans becoming a big deal? When will Bryan lose the title? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28 wrestling books. His latest book is the the Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1.

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