Sean Ross Sappdown Live (5/1): Podcast Notes, Jinder Mahal, KO vs. Y2J

Opening segment

• Backstage Jinder forces some lines as he's being photographed with the WWE Title. Shane McMahon takes the belt from him
• Shane welcomes Chris Jericho to the ring, who celebrates coming to Smackdown. He's joined by AJ Styles and Owens.
• What a great crowd early on. Chanting "Y2J," "you tapped out."

Jinder Mahal (w/ Singh Brothers) defeated Sami Zayn
5.75/10

• The suspended Baron Corbin's really good Talking Smack attack on Sami Zayn is shown.
• Zayn is the right kind of opponent for Jinder Mahal.
• JBL saying 'WAH WAH WAH' makes me want to change the channel, not boo Jinder Mahal.
• There's a lot of offense from Mahal I'm seeing for the first time, because he's rarely been booked to beat someone down.
• They portray Mahal winning over Orton as a "miracle," which is consistent. I'd like a "is he for real, or just lucky" narrative. 
• People outside of WWE have been putting Mahal over to me in regards to his work ethic.
• Every time a babyface goes after a manager on the apron, he looks dumb.
• Tornado DDT botch. Mahal didn't help where he was supposed to. 
• The Singh brothers get involved and Mahal wins with a Cobra Clutch slam.
• Consistent booking of Mahal so far. 

Backstage crappenings

• The heel girls are trying to convince Becky she should hate Charlotte.
• Ziggler is trashing Nakamura backstage to Shane McMahon.
• I can't do the Fashion Files segment justice. Watch it.

Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
SQUASH/10

• Aiden English is a jobber, but he's one with a gimmick. Good for him. 
• Tye Dillinger is on fire. He has a really good ring presence that has translated to the main roster.
• Aiden English goes off after the match. Backstage Jericho puts Aiden and Renee Young on the list.

The Welcoming Committee (w/ James Ellsworth & Tamina) defeated Naomi & Charlotte 
5/10

• "The Welcoming Committee" attacks Charlotte backstage before the match. Kind of like the name. Liked it more before the announcers said it a dozen times.
• Cool spot where Natalya slams Naomi's face into the stairs. 
• After Naomi gets beaten up, Charlotte makes the save. Weird to see her work as a babyface.
• Naomi gets a hot tag too, and does well with it. 
• Naomi almost kills Carmella with a Rear View. CARMELLA ROLLS UP NAOMI FOR THE WIN!!
• The committee attacks Naomi & Charlotte, but Becky Lynch comes out after big chants. This is getting over great with the crowd.  She gets beaten down.
• The match wasn't great, but the angle was pretty good and had great heat.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Sin Cara

• Sin Cara is remarkably versatile for this late in his career — if that's even him. He's wearing a full body suit now.
• I love Dolph Ziggler's new gear. At least it's not all black. 
• Sin Cara dominates a good portion of this match, But Ziggler wins.
• Still a great crowd all night. 

United States Championship
Kevin Owens (c) defeated Chris Jericho
7/10

• Owens brilliantly has his fingers taped up.
• These two have the type of Owens-Jericho match you'd expect, and it's good. 
• I didn't think it was as good as the crowd did, but I'd rather see an over-excited crowd than a dead one.
• How many times can you do the "I CANT BELIEVE HE KICKED OUT OF MY MOVE THAT NEVER PINS ANYONE!?"
• I would have Jericho film some interview segments, backstage stuff where he puts people on "THE LIST" to air for the next month. I'd have KO/Styles go to a non-finish at Backlash, and Jericho invoke his rematch clause when he has a free date next month. Then Styles pins Jericho, with Owens losing his title without being pinned. It lets the KO/Styles feud continue longer. 
• That's not gonna work, though. Kevin Owens wrote Jericho off with a DDT to the floor.