Bayley, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi VS Damage CTRL and Tiffany Stratton
Friday Night SmackDown in Lyon, France kicked off with an 8-woman Tag Team match as Bayley, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi teamed up to take on the paring of Tiffany Stratton and Damage CTRL. This was a decent match, Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton were probably the stars of this match, they’re very much the future of the Women’s Division! Also, there was some good story as well as Bianca Belair and Bayley really didn’t want to tag one another in, but in the end, it was The EST who scored the 1,2,3 after dropping Dakota Kai with the K.O.D!
Grade: C+
The Authors of Pain VS New Catch Republic, The RKO Show (Featuring Paul Heyman), Angel VS LA Knight, A-Town Down Under VS The Street Profits: WWE Tag Team Championships
A-Town Down Under hyped themselves up backstage before Bianca Belair fired some shots at Bayley and Damage CTRL. Carmelo Hayes then told Nick Aldis that he was declaring for the King of the Ring Tournament before we got a great moment between Melo and Bobby Lashley. Those guys can definitely tell a good story if given the chance! It was then time for the second match of the night as The Authors of Pain clashed with the New Catch Republic. This was actually good fun, as both teams showcased their skill with some really nice offense. It was actually really nice to see this match get some time because that’s not always the case which can be disappointing. In the end, Karrion Kross’ (smart) interference led to AOP dropping Pete Dunne to score a rather good victory.
Grade: B-
Paul Heyman accidentally revealed to Nick Aldis that he withdrew Roman Reigns from the WWE Draft last week, not Roman himself before Kevin Owens and Randy Orton arrived for the first-ever “RKO Show”. KO talked in French for a bit before Paul Heyman arrived and pleaded with the Babyfaces to call of tomorrow’s Tag Team match against The Bloodline. Owens and Orton obviously laughed this off before Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga arrived to start a brawl, with Randy and Kevin ultimately standing tall. There wasn’t much to this segment, but the crowd definitely made it feel bigger!
Grade: C+
The Street Profits got their own hype promo before LA Knight arrived to a huge pop as The Megastar went one-on-one with Angel. This was the most “house show-like” match I’ve ever seen, with LA completely dominating his opponent to the delight of the crowd before Knight hit the BFT to score the win. After the match, The Megastar declared himself as a participant in the King of the Ring Tournament before Santos Escobar jumped onto the apron to laugh this all off. I thought both Knight and Escobar did a good job here, and Santos looks like someone who could wear a crown well!
Grade: B-
Carlito explained the reasons why he attacked Dragon Lee (basically it was Rey Mysterio’s fault) before Dragon Lee attacked him from behind. It was then time for the Main Event match of the night as A-Town Down Under put their WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against The Street Profits. This was actually another good match, which was just so refreshing from SmackDown’s usual stuff. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller are a really fun pairing, whilst Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford are more than capable of showing out. We actually got a really good near-fall following an assisted blockbuster, but in the end, Theory and Waller were able to just about walk out with their Gold following a Flatliner behind the referee’s back.
Grade: B-
Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles Come Face-to-Face
Before their Undisputed WWE Championship match at Backlash, Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles came Face-to-Face right in the middle of the squared circle. AJ took a few shots at Cody for leaving all those years ago whilst also saying that he is still indeed Phenomenal. Rhodes then came back and said he will beat AJ at Backlash and that will be too sweet! This led to Styles slapping The American Nightmare to close that segment as the show went off the air with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton brawling with The Bloodline (backstage). This was certainly a much better promo segment than last week’s contract signing, but I think AJ and Cody were both very much helped by the rather bonkers, ridiculous, and awesome French crowd! I will now very much look forward to Backlash this weekend!
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