The Brawling Brutes VS Imperium
Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with the Brawling Brutes taking on Imperium in a fun six-man tag. WWE did a good job to put over both sides, particularly Imperium. The structure of this match is we never quite got to see Gunther and Sheamus fight again so when they did, everyone went crazy. Sheamus was super over, it was pretty crazy. In the end, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci hit the Imperium bomb to get the important victory. Imperium are a great team so this was a much-needed victory but, this was easily the best the Brawling Brutes have looked. Very good start to the show.
Grade: B+
The Bloodline introduces Solo Sikoa
The Usos and Sami Zayn entered the arena and after the brilliant exchanges that Zayn has with the different Usos, they introduced the WWE Universe to Solo Sikoa. WWE then played a video package showcasing the Street Champion’s run in NXT. This was smart as this showed people who don’t watch NXT what Sikoa was all about. Sikoa then cut a promo saying he is here to stay and if anyone messes with his family, they will have Sikoa to answer too. Drew McIntyre then came out before Sami Zayn took a chair shot for the newest member of the Bloodline. Drew McIntyre then challenged Sikoa to a match with the former NXT star excepted. This was a good way to properly introduce Sikoa to the main roster.
Grade: B-
Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah VS Toxic Attraction plus a Number 1 Contenders Fatal 5-Way match
The Women’s Tag Team Champions faced off with the former 2-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Toxic Attraction. This was the match that was supposed to happen in the semi-finals and Gigi brought up the fact that Raquel and Aliyah would never have won the belts if it wasn’t for their injury. Once again Raquel showed her power and got the win with the Tejada Bomb. Raquel is going to be a megastar in the future and at least Aliyah is getting matches under her belt as that is the only way she is going to improve. Toxic A are a good team and even though a loss isn’t great, they did lose their NXT Tag Titles to Raquel earlier on in the year as well.
Grade: C-
After this, it was time for a Fatal 5-Way number 1 contenders match where the winner would face Liv Morgan at Extreme Rules for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Ronda Rousey quickly made Natalya tap and then as Sonya Deville locked in her submission on Xia Li, Rousey did the same onto Lacey Evans resulting in them both tapping out which was pretty cool. You then had two of the toughest strikers face off but there was only going to be one winner as Rousey locked in the ankle-lock onto Deville to get the win. Deville’s light tap before sitting through the pain made her look awesome. Liv Morgan was watching in her own independent box, and she “stared” down her challenger from about 30+ feet above. Rousey VS Morgan again is a bit uninspiring, but all the top stars are either on Raw or aren’t available.
Grade: C
Backstage segments, 8-Man Tag team match and Strowman returns to SmackDown
Solo Sikoa thanked Sami Zayn for taking the shot for him earlier and said if he needed help, he’d ask him. Jey Uso wasn’t happy about this and decided that they should all go out to the ring tonight despite saying that Sikoa should go solo just a few minutes before. After this, Ronda Rousey once again questioned when Shayna was going to go back to her old ways. Following this, we saw Maximum Male Models and Los Lotharios team up to take on Hit Row and the Street Profits. This was what you would expect out of these groups, the Street Profits are a great team, Hit Row have some decent chemistry, Los Lotharios are talented and the MMM are really underrated. After some stuff that saw Maxxine Dupri and B-Fab get into a little ultra-cation, Hit Row scored the victory with their crappy tag team finisher. An important victory to build the musical team up. As for the Models, given the segment that occurred after the show, Max Dupri may really become a “Megastar”.
Grade: C- for the match.
Following a really cool video showcasing the Monster Among Men, The Alpha Academy returned to the brand that they formed, and Chad Gable was once again on form with his delivery. His line about Seattle failing to keep hold off their basketball team sent the whole arena into anger, with them booing master Gable for at least a couple of minutes. Then, Braun Strowman arrived and “ran over” Otis and Chad Gable. Strowman looked great in this segment but Alpha Academy and particularly Otis, are starting to come across as a bit weak. Anyway, Strowman is being positioned as an unstoppable force which would serve him well in feuds with the likes of Gunther, Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns.
Grade: A-, just for Gable
Drew McIntyre VS Solo Sikoa, Karrion Kross sends a message
The Main Event of the night saw Drew McIntyre looking to get revenge on the younger brother of the Usos, Solo Sikoa. This was a solid bout that showed off Drew McIntyre’s star power but also showed that Solo Sikoa can hang in the ring. Drew had to fight the street champion whilst dealing with the interference from the outside but in the end, he received help from the Street Profits. The Profits are a great team but them facing off against The Usos again would be incredibly dull. Drew caught Solo with the Claymore Kick before Karrion Kross attacked the Scottish Warrior from behind. Kross locked in the cross jacket and sent McIntyre to sleep. This was great as it protects Solo and most importantly, it makes Kross come across as a proper main event threat. The screen going black and white as soon as he attacked makes him stand out from the rest. With Scarlett beside him, Kross should be a future World Champion. The commentary team made this feel even better as well.
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