WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Damage CTRL VS Liv Morgan and Tegan Nox
This weeks edition of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with a battle for the Women’s Tag Team Championships as Damage Control’s Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky took on Liv Morgan and Tegan Nox. This match started slow but once it got going, it was actually pretty good. Kai is a good wrestler, Sky is a great wrestler, Morgan has improved massively and it was really nice to see Tegan wrestling again. After a tough fought encounter that looked like the babyfaces could win, Nox was booted out of nowhere by someone in a hood. Nox was then thrown back into the ring and Sky hit the “Over the Moonsault” to get the victory meaning Damage CTRL are still your WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. I thought all four women did well and the hooded figure is interesting. It was later revealed to be Xia Li, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was sent by somebody else.
Grade: B-
Awesome video packages, Uncle Howdy arrives
Gunther got a dramatic video package were he was beating somebody up before Ricochet got one in Las Vegas. This were great, they felt like they were from a film. We then cut backstage to the Bloodline’s room and Jey Uso was clearly hyping this up as a big night for the Honorary Uce Sami Zayn. When Zayn left, Jimmy made it clear to his twin brother that he was setting up Zayn for disappointment. We then were shown a creepy video from last weeks SmackDown before LA Knight demanded that Bray Wyatt came down to the ring. Wyatt did that and made it clear that he hasn’t laid a finger on the Megastar before Knight started to beat him up. A video then aired of Uncle Howdy before he came out onto the stage to show everyone that he and Wyatt aren’t the same person. I thought this segment did it’s purpose, particually because Bray Wyatt didn’t seemed to happy at his arrival.
Grade: B-
Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS Ricochet
The Intercontinental Championship was on the line as the Champion Gunther took on the winner of the SmackDown World Cup Ricochet. Before the match even started, Adam Pearce threw both Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci out meaning it was going to be a fair, 1-on-1 contest. Gunther dominated the first half of this match but Ricochet’s high flying ability kept him in it. However, every time Ricochet hit Gunther, the Ring General hit back with about 5x the force. However, Ricochet kicked out of both the lariat and the powerbomb before he nearly got the win with his shooting star press. Gunther was clearly rocked and he was pretty much done for after Ricochet continued to slap him and connect with hard hitting strikes. However, the Champ ended up wrecking the One and Only with a chop of his own before he hit the Last Symphony to retain his gold. Another great win for one of the wrestlers of the year whilst Ricochet proved to everyone why he is the “Highlight of the Night”.
Grade: B+
A big match gets announced, Hit Row VS Legado Del Fantasma VS The Viking Raiders
Roman Reigns was backstage with Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman before Jimmy Uso told him that he has his back. Reigns then asked Heyman to get Pearce and when we came back from the ad break, he was there. After some talks, it was confirmed that on the last SmackDown of the year (30th December), Roman Reigns will team up with Sami Zayn to take on Kevin Owens and a partner of his choice. That person gets revealed in the main event. We then went into a triple threat tag team match between Hit Row, Legado Del Fantasma and the Viking Raiders where the winner would earn a Tag Team Championship match for next week’s show. This was an ok match were LDF really stood out. Both Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde are great entertainers. What did go wrong however was Top Dolla’s attempt at a dive to the outside. By the looks of it, the fall hurt him too. Zelina Vega, B-Fab and Valhalla all got involved as well and in the end, Hit Row picked up the victory. Hit Row were the right team to win this match. The Viking Raiders and Legado Del Fantasma should both be kept for bigger and longer feuds with the Bloodline.
Grade: C+
The Bloodline get a Christmas Surprise
Raquel Rodriguez was sitting in the trainers room and she made it clear that she intends to compete in next weeks Gauntlet match where the winner earns a shot at Ronda Rousey’s SmackDown Women’s Championship. The Champ and her buddy Shayna Baszler must have heard this as they attacked the former NXT Women’s Champion some more. I’m guessing Raquel will be in from Number 1 and will probably get taken out near the end. It was then time for Roman Reigns to come out to the crowd for the first time since Survivor Series. He told Sami Zayn that he wouldn’t be getting what he wanted due to there being a “KO problem”. Zayn’s reaction to this was brilliant. After a bit more talking, John “Bloody” Cena popped up on the titantron and announced that he had gotten a text from his “good friend” Kevin Owens. He then told everyone that he will be KO’s tag team partner in two weeks. Cena then sang a Christmas song because he’s John Cena. The show then ended with Reigns laughing. This was a great final segment. Roman, Zayn and the rest of the Bloodline are the number 1 thing in wrestling right now whilst John Cena is arguably the biggest star in WWE history (in the top 5 anyway). Cena is very likeable and the fact that he is going to keep his streak alive of having a match in every year of his WWE run is great. Good job by all.
CENA CLAUS!!!