The Bloodline kick off the show, Kofi Kingston VS Santos Escobar
Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with the Bloodline once again destroying the ringside area. Roman Reigns’ music then hit and Roman laughed off the fact that people said he lost last week. He then made it clear that Sami lost before he questioned why Sami was doing things that he would do. Roman then got really pissed off and started shouting at Sami Zayn before Kevin Owens’ music hit and he told Reigns that he was taking his anger out on Zayn when his problem was clearly with him. Owens then challenged Roman Reigns to a match at the Royal Rumble for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championships and the Tribal Chief accepted. This was a good start to the show and you could tell that Roman was genuinely bothered by what happened last week.
Grade: B
In a backstage segment, Santos Escobar made it clear that he was going to eliminate Kofi Kingston in this year's Royal Rumble and this ended up leading to a match between the two. This was a solid match between two very talented individuals, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the silly Royal Rumble spots. I know it’s Rumble season, but that doesn’t mean you have to incorporate it into actual matches. One bit I really liked in this match was after Kofi hit the S.O.S for a near-fall, Xavier Woods said the words “I hear them shouting”. Bonus points if you understand that reference. In the end though, Legado’s Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde used their smart tactics to trip up Kofi Kingston before Zelina Vega blocked off Xavier Woods (they both clearly enjoyed it) from attacking Legado and this allowed Santos Escobar to pick up the major victory with the Phantom Driver. Even though the match was fine, Santos winning was a massive surprise and a really good decision. Legado are one of the best factions in all of WWE and wins like this will show the wider WWE audience this too.
Grade: B-
Backstage segments, Karrion Kross and Scarlett VS Madcap Moss and Emma
Sami Zayn wanted to go in the Bloodline’s locker room, but Paul Heyman wouldn’t let him. Heyman said that now isn’t the time to talk to Reigns before he told him that he still loves him. Liv Morgan then declared herself for the Women’s Royal Rumble before she made the interesting statement that she would rather come in at number 1 than number 30. I wouldn’t mind seeing that. The Megastar LA Knight was then backstage and he cut a brilliant promo about how rubbish Memphis is before he said he was going to lay out Bray Wyatt at the Royal Rumble. YEAH! Scarlett then made her WWE in-ring debut as she teamed up with Karrion Kross to take on Madcap Moss and Emma. I thought this was ok, Scarlett and Emma did alright and Karrion Kross did a good job in this match. In the end, Karrion hit Madcap with the Kross Hammer before he sent Moss to sleep through the Kross Jacket. After the match, Karrion held up three fingers (the number of times Kross has beaten Moss) before Scarlett put a Rey Mysterio mask onto Madcap’s face. I think the Mysterio VS Kross feud could be pretty decent, particularly if/when Kross wins.
Grade: C
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair VS Sonya Deville, Ricochet VS Top Dolla
Sheamus and Drew McIntyre were inside Jerry “The King” Lawler’s bar in Memphis and the two kept hitting each other to remind one another of all the big battles the two have had in recent years. We then came back to the arena and Charlotte Flair came out to cut her first in-ring promo in a good 8 months. Charlotte thanked the WWE Universe for their positive responses to her return last week before the crowd chanted “Thankyou Charlotte” in regards to the Queen defeating Ronda Rousey. Flair even made a comment saying she never ever expected to hear those words from the crowd. Sonya Deville then came out and said she wanted to see how Flair would cope against a “real fighter”. Charlotte put her SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line and the two had a decent match considering it wasn’t very long. As expected, Charlotte got the victory with the Figure-8. I’m more than happy to see Flair as champion.
Grade: C+ (promo and match combined)
Another video aired for Lacey Evans and this time, she was in a wrestling ring. By the looks of it, Lacey seems to have a new finisher known as the Cobra Clutch. I wouldn’t mind this, but I still have doubts as to whether this character will work. I’m also guessing that Evans is returning in the Royal Rumble match. Speaking of the Royal Rumble, Ricochet took on Top Dolla in a qualifying match. Ricochet is an excellent wrestler, maybe even one of the best in the world, but he just wasn’t able to show it against Top Dolla. In the end, Ricochet got the comfortable victory after hitting his Shooting Star Press. After the match, Hit Row attacked Ricochet and even B-Fab got in the action. Braun Strowman’s music then hit and the music group ran off. Hit Row should work a lot better as a heel group as there really isn’t any reason to cheer them. I’m sure Ricochet will have a few fun spots in the Rumble.
Grade: C-
Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn, The Usos VS Drew McIntyre and Sheamus: Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships
A pretty solid video package aired for Gunther and Braun Strowman’s Intercontinental Championship clash which takes place next week before Roman Reigns asked for Sami Zayn. After the break, Zayn walked into the room and apologised to Roman, saying that he doesn’t want to be the Tribal Chief. Quite surprisingly, Reigns said that he wasn’t going to accept Zayn’s apology because if anyone should be apologising, it should be the Tribal Chief. Roman made it clear that he shouldn’t have shouted at him like he did before Paul Heyman announced that Sami Zayn would battle Kevin Owens next week. These guys are so good.
It was then time for the main event of Friday Night SmackDown as The Usos put their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against the team of Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. All four of these guys are really good, but unfortunately, I never brought into anything other than the Usos retaining. Drew McIntyre came close to winning the match with a Claymore Kick and Sheamus also nearly won the match with a Brogue, but every time I was just waiting for one of the Usos to break it up. Solo Sikoa then hit Drew with the Samoan Spike and the Spinning Solo behind the referee’s back before the Brawling Brutes came down and “dealt” with Sikoa. Back in the ring, Jimmy and Jey used their smart tactics to steal a victory and retain their tag team titles. Like I said, the match was alright, but by far the best part of the entire show was Sami trying to get Roman to eat popcorn. He offered some to Reigns during the match and the Head of the Table clearly looked disgusted at this whilst Paul Heyman was more than happy to have some. They then cut back to them and all three of them had their own bucket. Yes, Roman Reigns was eating Popcorn! 2023 may as well be over because nothing’s topping this!
Is the reference something to do with kofimania? And yes the tribal chief loves the popcorn!