Smackdown Live (4/11)

Sorry, dude.

As with Raw, we're going to deal with the non-shakeup portions of Smackdown Live.
Smackdown remembered it has a tag division, sort of, as The Usos retained their titles against American Alpha in a really good match that had some crowd heat despite a complete lack of any buildup.

Shinsuke Nakamura had a staredown with Dolph Ziggler. I'm fine with a slow burn on Nakamura, giving him intros and promos before matches with Ziggler types where he has strong, decisive victories. No need to shoot him into the title scene yet.

Poor Aidan English. Simon Gotch got released by WWE, ending one of my favorite teams and one of the bookers' least favorite teams, The Vaudevillains. But they don't give a shit about English either, so he's just reverting back to his pre-VV's gimmick, a horrible sort of Broadway singing thing based on the fact that he can carry a tune. Not a great way to spend another year before what will likely be a post-Mania firing spree (a tradition eschewed this year because of the massive talent acquisition kick WWE's been on of late).

AJ Styles became the #1 contender for the United States Title (Shakeup!) while Randy Orton wrestled Erick Rowan for some reason. The main event scene seems to be hovering around the title Oron's not holding, so who knows what'll happen after Payback.