WWE SmackDown 5/3/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that occasionally travels to France so the Lyon crowd can show all the rest of us how it's done (looking at you, Winnipeg). And yes, the crowd noise was the big story Friday night, and we're definitely going to get into that here — even though it's hopefully just an appetizer before the Backlash main course. But of course, other things happened besides the fans cheering! Things like tag team title matches, and King of the Ring declarations, and shady characters delivering dire warnings!

And anyway, what were the fans in Lyon reacting to? In what order? And most importantly, what did the WINC staff think about it? For the full answer to the first two questions, you'll need to check out our "SmackDown" results page. For the answer to the third question, however, all you have to do is stay right here, because these are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 5/3/2024 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

We saw this in Perth, Australia at Elimination Chamber. We saw this in Puerto Rico at last year's Backlash. On Friday, the French crowd had absolutely insane energy, and it made what would have been another edition of "WWE SmackDown" so enjoyable.

The energy in Lyon was exhilirating from the beginning moments of the night and didn't taper off for the entirety of the two-hour broadcast. We saw France lose their mind over WWE Women's Champion Bayley (correctly so), sing the lyrics to Randy Orton's iconic theme song, and even chant Paul Heyman's unmistakable introduction alongside "The Wise Man." We even got "we want Roman" chants, in 2024! The Lyon audience left nothing unsaid, no match without a supportive crowd behind it, and no superstar unacknowledged by the finest folks France had to offer. The entire show was taken from a B-rating to an A-rating, because the energy of the crowd was just that infectious. The experience, even while watching from a computer an ocean away from the LDLC arena, was elevated as a result.

To see a crowd so fully invested in a show, because they genuinely love professional wrestling and love the product WWE is putting out, is a humbling experience. Throughout the entire show, one is made very aware that an international show like this doesn't happen often. The crowd is electric in their excitement because they are experiencing something us North American fans take for granted — seeing a live show for something they love. Sometimes in the United States, where we have several opportunities a year to go watch our favorite mainstream promotions in-person, we tend to take the magic of seeing a wrestling event live for granted. We get bogged down by the poor booking decisions, the controversies, and the tribalism — so much so that we forget why we even bother turning on the television or the computer every Monday, Friday, Wednesday, or Saturday night. This is not saying that we shouldn't be conscious consumers. When our "why" becomes less about enjoying a performance and more about finding things to critique and argue about, though, there's something to look at. Both realities can exist.

Friday's Lyon crowd sparked a love for wrestling that may have laid dormant in a lot of jaded viewers for a long time. Seeing WWE's international fanbase just immerse themselves in a rare opportunity to enjoy the product should serve to remind our American-based audiences just what a privilege it is to experience a wrestling show live. It is an experience that brings us together. We are all here because we love this, and international fans remind us of that love, no matter how unhinged it may be.

We appreciate you, Lyon, Perth, Puerto Rico, and assorted international audiences! Us over in North America — we should take this as a sign to be more appreciative of the craft we have access to every week. Let's all love wrestling together.

Written by Angeline Phu

Carlito's reason for blindsiding Dragon Lee given that Rey Mysterio had initially chosen him as his tag team partner to face Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar at WrestleMania 40 was fine enough, and makes sense in the context of everything, but having him explain everything backstage — only for Dragon Lee to attack him — felt like the wrong place for him to be sharing all of this with the WWE Universe. It could've very easily been featured as an in-ring segment to make it feel bigger and more important, especially with how much of Friday's show featured videos meant to eat up time. Instead, it felt a little lost as a backstage interview between Carlito and Byron Saxton.

The implosion of the LWO should feel like a big deal considering the involvement of notable talent like Rey and Carlito. Instead, it feels like it's a lower mid-card storyline that's taken a backseat to others being positioned higher on the card, that shouldn't be. Backlash would've been a great opportunity to have a match between Carlito and Dragon Lee, but instead, WWE has done little to keep fans invested in things, and the backstage segment between the two perfectly illustrated that. With Legado Del Fantasma moving over to "Raw" with the WWE Draft and their feud with LWO seemingly wrapped up, hopefully there will be more room and television time for WWE to build up this story even further and recover from his little fumble.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Carmelo Hayes took to "WWE SmackDown" on Friday to announce his involvement in the upcoming King of the Ring tournament. Despite losing to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in last week's main event, it is abundantly clear that Hayes is undeterred by the loss, and intends to establish himself as a big-time name on the blue brand. He has good reason to be — ever since being drafted to "SmackDown" in the first round of this year's draft after an extraordinary run in "NXT", the sky is truly the limit for the high-flying Carmelo Hayes.

So, where was his match?

Admittedly, this is a pretty shallow hate. It is uncommon, bordering on unrealistic, for one star to be involved in in-ring competition week after week. Still, when the talent is as young and, as far as the main roster goes, as unestablished as Hayes is, it is a bit disappointing to see a show without a Hayes match.

Hayes is getting a push — WWE doesn't just give out first round draft picks and "SmackDown" main events to just anybody — but if he is not consistently allowed to showcase his talents, it is a bit nonsensical to expect him to get over. And if the goal of WWE is to build new stars and create sustainable talent for the next generation, then it's a bit strange that talent like Hayes are not given an opportunity to showcase their wrestling prowess, while LA Knight and Angel inexplicably got in-ring time to set up more King of the Ring announcements. It may be unrealistic to expect a star to have matches every week, but it is also unrealistic to expect the newest addition to the "SmackDown" locker room to somehow make a name for himself if the platform is not given for him to do so.

The funniest part about all of this is that Hayes is very entertaining to watch. He has incredible athleticism and a cohesive moveset that contribute to his character, which itself is well-formed and easy for the WWE Universe to rally behind. Hayes literally is the whole package, so why isn't he being showcased like he is? If Knight can make an announcement after beating up Angel, then why was Hayes just relegated to a backstage segment, and not even a post-match in-ring announcement? Hopefully, as Hayes continues in the King of the Ring tournament, he will be involved in matches, and matches with ample time. For now, though, it is a bit disappointing to get Hayes crumbs on a show as big as an international go-home show for an even bigger pay-per-view event.

WWE bookers must have amnesia, because it seems that they forgot that Hayes is Him. Hayes has been Him, is currently Him, and will continue to be Him. So book Him!

Written by Angeline Phu

Talk shows in professional wrestling have never been a favorite of mine. They always end up blending into one another and become quite repetitive and boring to watch. "The R-KO Show" broke that streak for me, and was in fact used quite effectively to help build up the inevitable implosion of The Bloodline.

Using a backstage segment between Paul Heyman and Nick Aldis to set up Heyman being a guest on "The R-KO Show" to try and talk Kevin Owens and Randy Orton out of facing Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga for the sake of their safety sounds boring and expected on paper. However, the execution and detail in the segment was fantastic and set up several future points to revisit, such as Heyman having no contact with Roman Reigns since WrestleMania 40 and him withdrawing Reigns' name from the WWE Draft. If all that wasn't enough, the segment still managed to create hype for the Orton, Owens and Bloodline match and didn't once pull the focus away from that. It somehow managed to be my favorite part of "SmackDown" and was very well done.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Last year's Backlash was surprisingly one of the better premium live events of the year for me, but I could be remembering that a little strangely because the street fight pitting Bad Bunny against Damian Priest was one of my favorite things of 2023. Backlash this year, following the incredible WrestleMania 40 featuring Bloodline Rules, The Rock's return, and Cody Rhodes finishing the story, makes Backlash feel just kind of bland this year. I certainly don't remember feeling this strongly last time. I talked last week about specifically hating the build between AJ Styles and Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and while I still don't like it at all, and it really needed more behind it, their face-to-face confrontation Friday night at least had some substance behind it. While it's a little too late for me and it's certainly still an issue in regards to the lackluster build to Backlash this year, I don't think it's my main issue now, the more I think about it.

The continuation of The Bloodline storyline is still captivating, even without The Rock and Roman Reigns. The work Paul Heyman has been doing, as we saw once again, is second to none. However, the tag team match where Tama Tonga will make his in-ring debut for WWE alongside Solo Sikoa against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens just isn't exciting to me as a match, because the storyline of the seemingly inevitable Bloodline split from Reigns and Heyman is overshadowing the match itself. The segment on the "R-KO Show" was okay, but the beatdown was to be expected. I'm more interested in what's going on with Reigns. Honestly, I even forgot that tag team match had been set up previously and thought it was going to be made official tonight. And I watch the product every week! I expect Jacob Fatu to debut during or after this match, and I'm more excited about that and the story it will tell than the actual in-ring product.

The card itself is pretty predictable (if you don't believe me, check out WINC's predictions), and I think the only title that could potentially change is the Women's Tag Team Championship. Even that's predictable, because WWE is hyping Jade Cargill up (for good reason!) so much, that her losing in a title match would just be silly and seems impossible at this point. While every single match is going to be excellent from an in-ring competition standpoint, as someone who has always been extremely invested in good storytelling and drama around the in-ring, it's been a miss from me. I hope Backlash proves me wrong and there are more surprises on the horizon.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I could bog you down with my version of recapping what the latest mysterious QR code took us to on tonight's "SmackDown" but you'll find that elsewhere on the site and I wouldn't have much to add to Daisy's wonderful work. Instead, I'll use this pulpit to stand tall and proud in saying, "I bolieve!" and I am beyond excited for what I imagine will be the reintroduction of Bo Dallas/Uncle Howdy at Backlash on Saturday — perhaps, even, along with some friends. An added layer of intrigue was put forth this time, with the word "believe" transforming into Dallas' old trademark "bolieve," if only because last we saw him, outside of the "Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal" documentary and his part in the Hall of Fame induction for The US Express, we didn't really see Taylor Rotunda. Obviously, we didn't see Bo Dallas either, and the fact that there's a specific tease toward that persona really piques my interest.

More than anything, this tells me that they're really thinking this through, as well they should. Any return for Dallas/Howdy/Rotunda will at least partially invoke the groundwork laid by his late brother (obvious, as per the vignettes and Easter eggs we've seen to this point) and pay tribute thereto, which means so much care must be taken. It cannot simply be a continuation of "The Firefly Funhouse" or some adaptation of "The Fiend" character. Instead, an ongoing portrayal of respect and honor could very well be amazing, for however its course would run. And I trust that Rotunda would know not only how to honor his brother's legacy, but also for how long. If that involves not only Uncle Howdy (if Uncle Howdy at all) but also at least a reference to Dallas (or even Rotunda), that connects with reality of Wyatt and his legacy — a reality with which we all had to come to terms upon Windham Rotunda's untimely passing.

So what can we expect? I don't know exactly, but I do think there's a slim-to-none chance of whatever it is being less-than, especially if you factor in the rumored involvement of the likes of Alexa Bliss, Erick Rowan, and possibly others, all of whom would only agree to be a part of such creative if they felt very comfortably that it was as respectful as it could be to their fallen loved one.

No matter what, they've got me lured in. And much like the relatively obscure Extreme Rules PLE in Philadelphia was in 2022 for Wyatt's return, this Backlash event, even overseas in Lyon, France, just might be the perfect place for an extended Wyatt tribute and/or Wyatt Family offshoot to kick off what should be one hell of a ride.

Written by Jon Jordan