The LWO kick off the show, The O.C. VS The Viking Raiders
Rey Mysterio’s music hit before the rest of the LWO arrived to a huge pop from the Puerto Rico crowd. After Rey spoke for a bit, the Judgment Day interrupted and the crowd was just as loud for them as they were the babyfaces. However, the same couldn’t be said for Dominik Mysterio who was basically booed out of the territory. In the end, a mixed tag team match was made before Dominik Mysterio laid in a cheap shot on his “dead-beat Dad”. Most of this segment was said in Spanish, but given the way the crowd reacted, I could tell it was pretty cool.
Grade: B-
The O.C. then arrived to a surprisingly huge pop as the Good Brothers were about to battle the Viking Raiders in the first match of the night. This match got time and I thought it was pretty decent. AJ Styles was on commentary which is always entertaining and you’d think that Gallows and Anderson were back in their hometowns if you listen to the reactions from the crowd. Valhalla got involved a few times to give the Viking Raiders an opportunity to get the win, but as soon as “Michin” Mia Yim took out the “god whisperer”, the O.C. were able to pick up the victory after delivering the Magic Killer to Ivar. Clearly, the O.C. are going to be a staple of Friday Night SmackDown going forward, but the amount of times the Viking Raiders have lost since they returned is getting ridiculous.
Grade: C+
Bianca Belair, The Street Profits VS Imperium, Karrion Kross VS Shinsuke Nakamura
Bianca Belair made her way down to the ring as she talked about how a win against Iyo Sky at BackLash would see her become the longest reigning (main roster) Women’s Champion of all time. Damage Control then arrived as Bayley made it clear that her and Dakota are going to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions whilst Iyo Sky is going to become the Raw Women’s Champion tomorrow at BackLash. I would very much like to see that happen. Bayley, Kai and Sky then beat down the EST of WWE before Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez ran down to make the save. I’m sure Belair-Sky will be fun, but this segment didn’t do much to further the feud.
Grade: C
Karrion Kross sent a message to Shinsuke Nakamura before their match (which takes place later on in the show) before we saw the Bloodline talking in their locker room. Solo Sikoa made it clear to his older brothers that he’ll do his end of the deal, so they’d better do the same. It was then time for the Street Profits to take on Imperium in the second tag team match of the night. Imperium started off at a rapid pace with Giovanni Vinci hitting moves out of the Tiffany Stratton playbook. However, as soon as Angelo Dawkins got tagged in, he ran wild, delivered a spine buster to Vinci before Montez Ford delivered the Frog Splash to get the victory. This match can’t have gone more than 3 minutes and I really hope that after BackLash, Imperium can start winning matches again because Vinci and Kaiser are great.
Grade: C
Cody Rhodes made his way down to the ring as he talked about his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar. Rhodes admitted that he does still fear the Beast, but he knows he has to win this match if he’s going to get back on the right track when it comes to “finishing the story”. Short promo, good promo. Matt Riddle then cut a promo on the Bloodline whilst Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens stood there before Shinsuke Nakamura took on Karrion Kross. These two definitely have two of the best entrances in all of WWE and the match itself was good. I said it on Raw and I’ll say it again, Shinsuke Nakamura is in the top 3 when it comes to best wrestlers in WWE when he’s performing at his best and even though he wasn’t at his best here, he was still pretty good. Karrion Kross also deserves more praise because he’s a good professional wrestler who sells moves really well. Kross was never quite able to lock in the Kross Jacket though and in the end, Shinsuke Nakamura picked up the win after hitting Kross with the Kinshasa. A big win for the “King of Trash” and I really hope Karrion Kross can start winning feuds after BackLash.
Grade: B-
The LWO (Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega) VS The Judgment Day (Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio)
We got a video package showcasing the new talent that will appear on SmackDown after being called up from NXT in the draft. I tell you what, SmackDown’s got some exciting picks. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are a good tag team, Cameron Grimes in fantastic, Pretty Deadly deserve the world and Grayson Waller is a star. Cameron Grimes was then speaking to Adam Pearce before Baron Corbin came up to him and called him “Mr. Irrelevant”. Grimes challenged Corbin to a match which will take place next week. Hopefully, Mr. Grimes can follow in the footsteps of one Brock Purdy. The main event of Friday Night SmackDown then occurred as the LWO’s Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega took on the Judgment Day’s Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio. This match was alright, Rey and Zelina were clearly over with the crowd whilst Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio are really good in their roles. Didn’t think I’d be saying that about either one of them a year or so ago. Vega was able to avoid Ripley for the most part and when she took out the SmackDown Women’s Champion, Rey Mysterio was able to roll up his cocky son to get the victory. Finn Balor soon attacked the Legendary Luchador as well as Dom before Damian Priest arrived to make it a 3-on-1 assault. Bad Bunny’s music then hit and the music sensation arrived along with the rest of the LWO (Legado) as they took out Balor and Evil Mysterio. As Bad Bunny got into the ring to stare down Damian Priest, Dominik jumped back into the ring, got met with a kendo stick by Bad Bunny before Damian Priest escaped. This was a good way to end the show and I will be disappointed if Bunny-Priest doesn’t main event BackLash tonight.
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