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WWE Smackdown Live results and observations (3/28/17): PG rating be damned

The Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. marked the final stop on the road to WrestleMania Tuesday, as Smackdown Live presented its last edition of television before the extravaganza this weekend.

How did the blue team do in its final effort? In some ways, Smackdown Live did a fine job of generating the last bit of hype before WrestleMania. In other ways, Smackdown Live came up woefully short.

Before I dig into the details, here are the full match results:

- Becky Lynch vs. Carmella ended in a no contest

- Alexa Bliss & Carmella def. Becky Lynch & Mickie James

- American Alpha, Mojo Rawley, Rhyno & Heath Slater def. The Usos, Breezango & Dolph Ziggler

- Bray Wyatt def. Luke Harper

Randy Orton torments Wyatt, fans

The WWE championship match between Orton and Wyatt is supposed to be Smackdown Live's top match, but it feels like anything but.

The potential was there for it to really mean something, but I believe WWE has dropped the ball with this feud ever since Orton committed arson on live television.

There was a time when I was into this story, particularly when Orton was a card-carrying member of the Wyatt Family, but since he abruptly burnt that bridge (pun intended), the story has lost me.

The problem for me is that it has crossed back into the cheesy, hokey horror movie motif, which was what I did not like about this story when it began back in 2016.

I know that is nothing new when it comes to the creative surrounding Wyatt, but I have always been someone that vouched for a more realistic approach to Wyatt's character, as oppose to the more fantastical and mythical approach WWE has routinely taken over the years.

That approach has reared its ugly head in the last few weeks and it did so again Tuesday night after Wyatt defeated Harper in a pretty good match at the end of the show.

As Wyatt celebrated with the WWE championship, Orton popped up on the big screen and appeared to be back at the burial site of Wyatt's sister, Abigail.

In a video that was full of slick editing and graphics, Orton drove what WWE is calling a "Crusix" into the "soul" of Sister Abigail.

If this wasn't the final episode of Smackdown Live before WrestleMania, I probably would have tolerated this, but it was the final episode before WrestleMania, meaning that this was a pretty lame way to wrap up this story heading into the big event.

I understand what WWE was trying to accomplish, which was Orton driving one more knife into Wyatt's back, but I don't think anyone was enthralled by what they witnessed Tuesday night, especially since Orton is the de-facto babyface in all of this.

Mixed tag match throws away PG rating

By far the best part of the show was the interaction between The Miz/Maryse and John Cena/Nikki Bella.

We got yet another edition of Miz and Maryse's Total Bellas spoof videos and they were fantastic once again.

By the end of them, The Miz and Maryse ditched the costumes and got real, saying that Cena's time on top of WWE is coming to an end and so would his bull crap lifestyle. The Miz used more colorful language on television, which had to be bleeped out.

The Miz and Maryse were in the ring basking in the glory of the videos when Cena and Bella ran to the ring and got real with their WrestleMania. I mean really real.

Cena all but verbally buried The Miz again, but used most of his venom on Maryse, saying that the reason why she had not come back to WWE sooner was because WWE didn't want her.

He said that the only reason why she is in WWE now was because The Miz begged for her to return so that he could be on Total Divas.

Cena challenged The Miz and Maryse to a physical confrontation and said that if Maryse stepped to Bella, she would knock the Botox out of Maryse's cheeks. Ouch.

Cena also called The Miz a punk, but used a different "p" to describe him, which made me wonder if I was watching an episode of Raw from 1999 or something.

At the end of the day, the story between these two couples has been arguably the best stuff in WWE for the past month. I believe both sides have done a fantastic job of making a mid-card mixed tag team match feel like one of the top matches at WrestleMania.

My only gripe about all of this has nothing to do with the four people involved. It is really geared toward WWE, as I wonder why it doesn't allow everyone on the roster to speak this freely.

I venture to guess that if everyone could be less rigid and robotic in his or her dialogue that they, too, could be as popular as these four. Maybe more of the stories would feel more realistic, which would instantly make them feel at least a little more compelling.

I just wonder what it would be like if Baron Corbin was turned loose and spoke more like the way he does on Talking Smack instead of when he has to recite a script.

I just wonder what Dean Ambrose would be like if he had the freedom to occasionally drop a sinful word or two. It doesn't have to be every week, but sometimes would be nice.

I just wonder how Roman Reigns would come across to his detractors if he sounded more like a relatable human being as oppose to a WWE superstar reciting his lines every week.

Again, I just wonder, because that freedom helped make this match feel way more special than it has any business to be.

Naomi is back!

The women's segment on Smackdown Live this week was going nowhere, fast. There were two matches that devolved into chaos, which felt secondary to all of the bickering and arguing that was taking place on commentary.

As expected, all of the women involved began brawling and it felt like a carbon-copy repeat of last week.

However, we all got a pleasant surprise in the form of Naomi, who returned from her knee injury and looked like she was no worse for wear.

Just her mere presence woke the crowd up from its collective slumber. She then announced that she in the WWE Smackdown Women's championship match at WrestleMania, which is set for the kickoff show.

It is nice to see Naomi be able to participate in WrestleMania in her hometown after suffering that knee injury during her championship victory at Elimination Chamber.

It is also nice to see her because she is one of the most exciting performers in WWE at the moment — male or female. At the very least she will help make the match more exciting to watch.

From a business standpoint, it helps WWE that she is on the card as well.

She is from Orlando, which means she will be doing lots of local promotion leading up to the show this week, but she is a much better story subject being in the ring instead of being on the injured list.