10 Things You Might Have Missed On The WWE SmackDown Live! Superstar Shake-Up (April 17)

4. So 2000-And-Late

Samoa Joe
WWE.com

...because the former 'World's Greatest Tag Team' star was for one night only the 'Gold Standard' on SmackDown Live! with a superlative display against the incoming United States Champion.

It was all quite the bizarre flashback to darker days. Spunky babyface Jeff Hardy earned the sneers and leers of a surely-soon-to-turn Randy Orton as he took his open spot in the match against Benjamin, whilst Shelton lived for the moment himself with a powerful performance against the perennial crowd hero.

Hardy's bump card was already stamped full in 2008 when he first won the WWE Title, but he appears reinvigorated a decade on after the much-needed 'Brother Nero' transformation in TNA gave his tired and tenured gimmick a break. 'The Viper' infamously injected some of his venom in Hardy's original push that same year, defeating him clean with an RKO at the Royal Rumble in a contest that set Jeff back nearly a full year. One assumes the pair would be capable of something far greater this time around - particularly considering how little the last decade seems to have aged them.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett