AJ Styles Returns to SmackDown, AJ Styles VS Carmelo Hayes
WWE Friday Night SmackDown kicked off this week with the return of “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles! AJ said he was glad to be back and that it’s time to focus on the future which is when Carmelo Hayes arrived to throw shade at “the old timer”. Both AJ and Carmelo actually had some good back back-and-forth lines, but when it came to having a match, Hayes wasn’t interested. However, LA Knight then arrived and told Melo that he would get a shot at the United States Championship if he beat Styles so this ultimately led into the first match of the night! The action was solid here, but there wasn’t much of it because the focus was on the story being told. See, after a difficult landing for AJ Styles, The Phenomenal One went down hurt and the match had to be called off. This meant that Carmelo Hayes won which is important for his character whilst AJ was taken to the back. This is certainly an interesting direction to go with Styles, but I’m intrigued to see where it goes!
Grade: B- (Promo and Match Combined)
Chelsea Green VS Michin: Dumpster Match, Bayley Calls Out Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton VS Naomi
We then had the second match of the night as Chelsea Green and Michin collided in a Dumpster Match! This felt very much like a “Holiday Match” in the sense that it was quite goofy, and the commentators were just having a laugh. However, there were also some good moves, and Chelsea Green hitting a Canadian Destroyer was particually impressive! Piper Niven also showed up to try and help her buddy, but in the end, Michin delivered a crazy Powerbomb on Green through a table into the Dumpster before she locked Chelsea in to score the W! Both women are good in these style of matches so this worked!
Grade: C+
AJ Styles was getting checked on by medical personnel backstage before Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi annoyed me backstage. Bayley then arrived to tell Naomi that she was heading to the ring to call Nia Jax out, and that’s exactly what The Role Model did! Both Nia and Tiffany Stratton arrived as Bayley cut a great promo on the WWE Women’s Champion before Tiffany made an error and said that she doesn’t need the Money in the Bank Briefcase to beat Jax! A brawl then started which Bayley stood tall in before Naomi arrived to go one-on-one with Miss Money in the Bank! This match was odd, it was weak to begin with, but got better towards the end. Stratton is a star so she was able to push through this well, but once again, The Center of the Universe came up short as Naomi came away with the roll-up win! All of this was fine, but I’m fed up of the Money in the Bank winner always losing!
Grade: C+ (Overall)
WWE Tag Team Championships Ladder Match: The Bloodline VS The Street Profits VS DIY
After the backstage locker room was horrified by Chelsea Green and Nia Jax sent a strong warning to Tiffany Stratton, this week’s Friday Night SmackDown Main Event saw The Bloodline defend their WWE Tag Team Championships in a Ladder Match against both The Street Profits and DIY! This was a pretty good match, easily the best on the show, and I thought it was good fun! The Street Profits and DIY worked together a lot to try and take out The Bloodline, and it worked as both Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa were put through tables! However, when it came to Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano, all four men ended up taking each other out with nasty ladder bumps which unbelievably opened the door for Tonga Loa to unhook the Titles and keep Gold within The Bloodline! I honestly thought there was going to be a Title change here, so fair play to The Tongans!
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