The Tag Team Champions kick off the show, LA Knight VS Xavier Woods
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn kicked off the show by talking about their feud with the Usos/the Bloodline. The Usos (and Solo Sikoa) then made their way down to the ring as they questioned Zayn and Owens’ commitment to one another. It then looked like the Bloodline were going to take them out before Matt Riddle came down to even the odds. Riddle eventually got in a few strikes on Solo Sikoa before the heels retreated. I still don’t understand why this feud is continuing.
Grade: C
The first match of the night saw LA Knight take on Xavier Woods in a pretty solid contest. Both men got lots of time to showcase themselves and Woods looked particularly up for it. The Megastar LA Knight continues to be over with the crowd, but what also continued was LA Knight’s “losing streak” as referee Jessica Carr spotted when the former Million Dollar Champion grabbed Woods’ tights, but she didn’t notice when Xavier did the same thing to Knight to get the win. I’m happy for Xavier that he’s winning matches, but LA really needs some wins too.
Grade: B-
Damian Priest VS Santos Escobar, Raquel and Liv’s Championship Celebration, Shinsuke Nakamura returns
Imperium were trying to focus backstage before Xavier Woods kept annoying them with his trombone. Gunther called Woods a “fool” before he said he doesn’t like fools and he’ll teach him a lesson soon. The two will battle for the Intercontinental Championship next week which should be pretty fun. Sami Zayn told Matt Riddle backstage that he doesn’t want to see him get hurt tonight before the Original Bro cut a fiery promo on both Sami and Kevin Owens. Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio all made their way down to the ring as Damian Priest pleaded with Bad Bunny to not get in his business again. Santos Escobar and the Latino World Order then arrived as the Emperor of Lucha Libre was about to go one-on-one with the Punisher. Both Escobar and Priest have been on a tear for a while now and they put on a good showing here. Damian mainly had control in this bout, but Santos would use his quickness to get back into the fight. Late on, Dominik Mysterio interfered before he was taken out by Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro. Damian Priest chucked both of them over the top rope before Rhea Ripley tried to interfere as well, resulting in Zelina Vega hurricanranaring the SmackDown Women’s Champion into the barricade. However, this didn’t affect Damian Priest as he picked up yet another victory with South of Heaven. After the match, Priest wanted to inflict more punishment on his beaten opponent, but Rey Mysterio came out to make the save before he sent his son packing.
Grade: B-
Paul Heyman spoke backstage about how disrespecting one member of the Bloodline means you’re disrespecting all members of the Bloodline before Solo Sikoa told the Wiseman to tell Roman Reigns that he will handle it tonight. Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan then made their way down to the ring as it was time to celebrate! Raquel and Liv thanked one another for getting this far as a tandem before Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville came out to complain about their championship victory. After a bit of back-and-forth bickering, Liv told Green and Deville that they would be their first challengers. This wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good.
Grade: C
Shinsuke Nakamura returned to Friday Night SmackDown with his old NXT music as he was about to go one-on-one with Madcap Moss. Emma tried to syce up her boyfriend backstage by telling him that he’s better than Shinsuke because he’s won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal whilst the King of Strong Style hasn’t. That is by far the worst compliment I have ever heard (it would’ve been worse if she said 24/7 Champion). The match itself went about 2 minutes and Shinsuke picked up a dominant victory after hitting Madcap with the Kinshasa. After the match, Karrion Kross and Scarlett appeared on the screen so it looks like that could be Shin’s first feud on his return which would be really cool. Just a shame that Kross would probably have to suffer yet another loss.
Grade: C+
Matt Riddle VS Solo Sikoa
Braun Strowman and Ricochet were walking backstage before they were attacked by the Viking Raiders. This ended up resulting in Ricochet being slammed through the table after the Raiders hit Ragnarok. The two teams will settle their scores next week. The Main Event then saw a match 4 months in the making take place as Matt Riddle took on Solo Sikoa. Before the match, Paul Heyman announced that The Usos will get their rematch with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in two weeks before he issued the words “the Tribal Chief is losing patience with the two of you”. He was pointing at Zayn and Owens, but he was clearly looking at The Usos which was pretty great. The match itself was alright, Solo is really good in his role whilst Matt Riddle can go in the ring. Earlier on in the match, the Usos and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions were sent to the back before the Usos showed up 5 minutes later to remind everyone that WWE’s officials are as bad as the ones in other major sports. KO and Sami also showed up to brawl with their rivals before Matt Riddle decide to take the twins out. When he got back in the ring. Sikoa connected with a kick before he delivered the Samoan Spike to get the victory. Solo then dropped Riddle on the announce table before he tipped the table on top of him to close the show. I’ve really enjoyed The Bloodline for the past 32 months, but even I’m starting to get annoyed over these stupid, screwy finishes.