6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (4 Apr - Results & Review)

Ups...

6. Keeping LA Knight Hot

Tama Tonga has now worked exactly five televised singles matches since signing with WWE approx one year ago. The last two have been against LA Knight (they also wrestled on the 24 January episode of SmackDown), and this was the better of the pair. That's not to say that Knight and Tonga sucked before, but they were in a groove this time.

All in all, the match marked a nice routine win for LA ahead of his big United States Title defence at WrestleMania 41. It's great to see Tama Tonga get some ring time as a featured singles as well. No, he was never winning, but it was cool to see regardless considering he's typically used in a tag or multi-man setting. Another point: This match won’t be remembered for longer than cup of coffee, but it was exactly what it needed to be and that's always appreciated.

Solo Sikoa’s failed interference tells the story of a wannabe ’Tribal Chief’ who has lost his grip too. Think of this as a mere appetiser for the ‘Last Man Standing’ bout between Braun Strowman and Jacob Fatu later on, which was fine. Knight and Tama gave Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett the chance to discuss chaos and a competitive division.

There's a fair chance Knight will drop the United States Title again in Las Vegas, but keeping him hot heading into the biggest weekend of the entire year was a good idea. So, not a match that'll live long in the memory, but a decent tune up bout for the champ against someone who's eager to impress and has chemistry with Knight.