Yahoo News Kofi Kingston runs the Gauntlet to WrestleMania 35
Note: This article contains full show match results for WWE SmackDown Live from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, which aired on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.
We got a couple more WrestleMania 35 matches lined up on this week's Monday Night Raw, as the big day gets ever closer.
Last night it was the turn of SmackDown Live to take us further along the Road to WrestleMania.
Read on for four things we learned on yesterday's show.
1. Daniel Bryan (and Vince McMahon) block Kofi Kingston's path to WrestleMania 35
There's something deliciously (in)appropriate about it being Daniel Bryan who has halted the rise of a fan favourite looking for an opportunity of a lifetime at WrestleMania.
It's even stranger that it's Vince McMahon who's the orchestrator behind all of this, too.
Of course it was Vinny Mac (and Triple H) who held down Daniel Bryan time and time (nd time) again in the lead-up to WrestleMania XXX.
Those plans were only changed after D-Bry Occupied Raw AND beat Triple H at a Mania Title Match qualifier AND overcame Batista and Randy Orton both in the main event there to win the title.
Times change, and the crowd's golden boy is now Kofi Kingston, who has scrapped his way into contention from pretty much nowhere a few weeks ago.
But McMahon doesn't think he's good enough for that WWE Championship match, and put an (almost) insurmountable barrier in his path.
A Gauntlet match he had to win from the start, against Sheamus THEN Cesaro THEN Rowan THEN Samoa Joe THEN Randy Orton.
(That's despite Daniel Bryan not really having the kindest words for McMahon or his company of capitalist polluters of late).
But somehow, against all the odds and all the post-count beatdowns, Kofi did it... but there was a twist yet to come.
Vince McMahon had one more challenge, and it was a fresh-as-a-daisy Daniel Bryan to cap off the Gauntlet run, with The New Day banned from assisting their man Kofi.
The New Daniel Bryan did for an exhausted Kofi with a Running Knee, and as things stand, KofiMania has been halted and Daniel Bryan is still without an opponent for WrestleMania.
2. The IIconics force their way in to WWE Women's Tag Team Title contention (and Lacey Evans must do SOMETHING ELSE soon)
Sasha Banks and Bayley have shrugged off the initial attentions of Nia Jax and Tamina and remain WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, but their SDLive challengers made a statement last night.
The IIconics took advantage of yet another Lacey Evans distraction (she did that walking down to the ring thing) to gain an edge in their non-title match with The Boss 'N' Hug Connection and eventually made off with the win.
(Though women as experienced and talented as Sasha and Bayley should really be able to focus better and ignore every dapper lady who walks down that ramp until they've got the job done.)
That should help earn them a shot at the revamped Women's tag belts, but of course they're not the only contenders.
The newly-reunited Beth Phoenix and Natalya have been making noises on Monday nights. while despite picking up a couple of significant defeats, Nia Jax and Tamina refuse to let this one go.
As it currently stands, we're predicting a Fatal Four-Way for those belts: The Boss 'N' Hug Connection vs The IIconics vs Natalya & Beth Phoenix vs Nia Jax & Tamina.
As for what happens on the night itself, on recent evidence it could be anyone's match.
3. The Miz is finally pitching himself as the hero but his path after WrestleMania 35 – win or lose – is less than clear
"The problem is I'm never a good guy, I'm always the bad guy. I think I'm a good guy, but everyone thinks I'm bad... they just don't like me because I beat up their heroes. Someday maybe I'll be the hero." – The Miz speaking to Digital Spy in July 2012
Over six years ago we sat opposite a table with The Miz and he let on that despite lapping up all those AWESOME boos, deep down he though he was a good guy.
He let on a latent desire to be the hero of the WWE Universe, and over half a decade later here we are.
While his friendship with Shane-O-Mac inevitably bought the worst out of Mini McMahon, it somehow bought the best out of The Miz.
Their partnership (and its end) made Miz realise how hard he's worked and worked to get to the top of the WWE, often in the face of sneers from fans and colleagues alike.
So despite the occasional shortcut, The Miz was always the hero, and he'll look to take down the embodiment of the real villain (the boss's son no less) at WrestleMania.
But the big question is what happens next? If he loses, does Miz turn his back on the fans once more and go back to taking those shortcuts to success? If so, has anything really changed for him.
And if he wins, where does he then focus his energy. With an inevitable Superstar Shake-Up planned soon after WrestleMania we're intrigued about what's in store for the new People's Hero The Miz in the year ahead.
4. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair get back to basics to hype their two-thirds of their WrestleMania match-up
It's fair to say that the dizzy excitement around the WWE Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 35 has been dampened somewhat.
Be it Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey vs Becky Lynch, or Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch, we were completely on board at the start, calling for the match to make history and main event.
But since January things have got awfully convoluted.
Becky's Royal Rumble win was followed by her injury/suspension (okay), being replaced by Charlotte Flair (hmmm) and being re-instated in the match (yay!).
But with time to kill before the big day, there have been layers upon layers upon layers added to this one, with each taking away rather than adding to the thrill.
Even if you can take or leave Ronda's controversial extra-curricular hype videos, the fact is that recent weeks on WWETV seem to have been treading water (at best) when it comes to building this one, and at worse have been muddying the waters.
So it was something of a relief to see Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair strip it all away during a welcome return of The Kevin Owens Show last night.
Verbals gave way to fisticuffs before security intervened and we got a little reminder of why we've been looking forward to this match-up so much and why it's earned its spot on the grandest stage of them all.
Asuka might justly be wondering why these two Superstars are monopolising SDLive time to hype.... the Raw title, but we'll forgive that a few more weeks until everything gets straightened out at WrestleMania.
For what it's worth, we FINALLY found out how we'll find out her WrestleMania challenger.
A Fatal-Four Way #1 Contender's Match of Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville vs. Carmella vs. Naomi has been booked for next week's show, with the winner to face Asuka at Mania.
WWE SmackDown Live full show match results – Tuesday, March 19, 2019
The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay) vs Sasha Banks & Bayley
WINNERS: The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay)
Gauntlet Match:
Kofi Kingston vs Sheamus
WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston vs Cesaro
WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston vs Rowan
WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston vs Samoa Joe
WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton
WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan
WINNER: Daniel Bryan
What did you think of SmackDown Live? Let us know at @digitalspywwe.
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