Braun Strowman and Ricochet VS Imperium, Charlotte Flair VS Sonya Deville: SmackDown Women’s Championship
Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with the Bloodline arriving at the arena. However, there was no Jey Uso in sight. When Kayla Braxton tried to ask Roman Reigns a question about it, Reigns walked off before Paul Heyman said very little. The first match of the night then took place as Braun Strowman and Ricochet took on Imperium in a battle to become the number 1 contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. The match was alright, Imperium did a really good job at making their opponents look good, but I just couldn’t get into this match. One of the reasons for this is these guys have been feuding for far too long and the other reason is because this match shouldn’t even be happening. I was going to let it slide on the basis that Imperium were going to win. However, that did not happen as Ricochet did a dive off of Braun Strowman’s shoulders to get the win. I just don’t get it.
Grade: C
Charlotte Flair was being interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton and she said that she is really excited to face Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania. Sonya Deville came up to her and told her that she wouldn’t be making it to WrestleMania as the SmackDown Women’s Champion. We then got this video advertising the “Clash at the Coliseum” which is Nascar’s first race of the season. Rey Mysterio was there with the NXT Tag Team Champions The New Day before the Judgement Day came up to them. This ended up with Rey and Dominik having a race against each other which Rey eventually won. I like cars, I really like the stadium and this was a good way to further the storyline between father and son whilst allowing Fox to do some advertising. The New Day being there was a little strange though. It was then time for the SmackDown Women’s Championship to be on the line as the “Queen” Charlotte Flair took on the “Pridefighter” Sonya Deville. I think Charlotte Flair is the greatest female wrestler of all time and she’s probably in my top 10, maybe even top 5 greatest wrestlers of all time. I also really rate Sonya Deville, she’s someone (like Mandy) that could go down and win the NXT Women’s Championship and I’d be totally fine with it. The match here, whilst not the greatest that either woman have had, was pretty solid. Sonya got in a lot more offense than I expected and she came close to winning the belt a few times. In the end, though, Flair used her experience to lock the Jersey Devil in the Figure-8, forcing Deville to tap out. I think this storyline has shown that Sonya deserves to be featured in bigger feuds a lot more often.
Grade: B-
The Brawling Brutes VS The Viking Raiders, Elimination Chamber Fatal 4-Way Qualifying Match
Roman Reigns was sitting in his locker room with Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa and he asked both men if they’d seen Jey at all. Jimmy Uso said that he hadn’t seen or heard from him and even though we never got a proper response from Solo, it was implied that it was the same for him. This segment ended with Reigns telling Uso and Sikoa to “find their brother”. This works so well because Roman Reigns knows that he can’t keep his championships without his Right Hand Man. We then got a match between the Brawling Brutes and the Viking Raiders. The match was ok, but I again struggled to get into this match. The main reason for that is I just want Butch and Ridge Holland to beat the crap out of Sheamus for caring more about Drew McIntyre than them. I do think Ridge Holland deserves some credit though because he showcased a lot of power against both Erik and Ivar. In the end, The Raiders picked up the win with the Ragnarok (great name for a finisher). After the match, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus came out and they won the brawl against the Vikings. I don’t enjoy that feud to be honest.
Grade: C
We then got a recap package showcasing the “Mountain Dew Pitch Black” match from the Royal Rumble before Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy were in a room. There is literally nothing more that I can add. We then got a Fatal 4-Way match where the winner would earn themselves a spot in the Women’s Elimination Chamber match. The competitors were Shotzi, Shayna Baszler, Natalya and Zelina Vega and I think they all did alright. Shayna Baszler was definitely in control for a lot of this and that's how it should be whilst Shotzi and Zelina Vega showed that they are very capable workers. In the end, though, it was Natalya who picked up the win after locking in the Sharpshooter on Zelina Vega. Even though Natalya is the least exciting choice to advance to the chamber, it’s in her home country so at least that makes sense.
Grade: C+
Roman Reigns ends the show
The Bloodline were once again backstage and Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa said they couldn’t find Jey anywhere. Roman then apologised to both men for getting angry earlier on in the night before he told them to go to the bus as there is some nice food in there. This led to the Tribal Chief coming down to the ring with just his Special Counsel alongside him. Roman Reigns wanted to talk about Cody Rhodes, but he felt forced to talk about Sami Zayn due to the crowd chanting his name. He said he saw greed in Sami’s eyes back at Survivor Series before Zayn attacked Reigns from behind for a massive pop. Roman was able to get back on top though, but as Paul Heyman gave him a chair, Sami Zayn stunned the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion with a Spear. Reigns escaped to the entrance way and Zayn cut a brilliant, fiery, babyface promo and he told the Head of the Table that he is coming for his championships. Out of nowhere, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa attacked and laid out Zayn before Reigns stopped Sikoa from going any further. Roman then told Zayn that because he broke Roman’s family, he is going to break Sami in front of his family. That’s genius. It once again positions Roman Reigns as the Darth Vader of WWE whilst making Sami Zayn the biggest good guy in the world. I can’t wait for their match at the Elimination Chamber and I can’t wait to see Jey Uso return to tv.
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