Asuka VS Charlotte Flair
This week’s Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with long-time rivals Asuka and Charlotte Flair trying to get themselves right back into Championship contention. For whatever reason, matches involving these two women haven’t really clicked, and whilst this was alright, it still wasn’t nearly as good as it could’ve been. Also, it had a silly finish as Damage CTRL decided to come down to the ring and play shenanigans before the brand-new WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky hit a double mid-air dropkick meaning the match ended in a DQ. I like Damage Control, I think all 3 members are very cool, but this didn’t make them look particularly great. It very much just felt like a “WWE doesn’t want anyone to lose so we’ll cause a DQ” type of finish. I also realised that Zelina Vega is the only likeable Babyface in the Women’s Division on Friday Nights.
Grade: C
AJ Styles VS Karrion Kross, Edge and Sheamus, LA Knight VS Top Dolla, Austin Theory VS Santos Escobar: United States Championship
Santos Escobar was being interviewed by Kayla Braxton before Austin Theory arrived and viciously injured the leg of Santos. Karrion Kross then had an eerie video package before it was time for Mr. Kross to finally try and end his feud with AJ Styles. This feud has not been particularly great and this match was pretty fitting of it. It very much just happened and both guys could/should be doing better things. After Michin threw Scarlett over the announce table, AJ hit the Styles Clash onto Kross to get the victory.
Grade: C
Austin Theory was mocking Santos Escobar outside the trainers’ room before Rey Mysterio walked out and told Theory that Santos will make it to the ring for their Championship match later tonight. Edge then made a surprise appearance as he talked about how much respect he has for Sheamus. He then said he wanted to celebrate his “25 Years in WWE” by facing The Celtic Warrior in his hometown next week. Sheamus and the rest of The Brawling Brutes then arrived and Sheamus thanked Edge for giving him some advice whilst he was just a nobody from Dublin. Sheamus then agreed to have the match with the Rated-R Superstar, but not before he sent a little message to his buddy. I don’t really know how to grade this as this felt more like a podcast than it did a promo segment. What I do know is that the match should be a lot of fun next week.
Grade: B-
LA Knight then arrived for the biggest pop of the night (just pipping Edge) as The Megastar was about to go one-on-one with Top Dolla. This was what you would expect, Top Dolla hit about 2 months before Knight dropped him and then hit the B.F.T. to get the victory. There’s really not much else to add other than LA Knight cut a good promo at the end (because that’s what he does).
Grade: C+
Adam Pearce asked Santos Escobar if he could go and of course, Santos said he could. Pearce gets more and more infuriating every week because there was no chance in hell that Escobar would’ve said he couldn’t fight. Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits were then sitting in their suits and talking about how far they can go as a group whilst also drinking wine. If their group isn’t eventually called “The Suit Profits”, WWE have really missed the ball. Santos Escobar was then making his way down to the ring as he was about to try and beat Austin Theory and take the United States Championship at the same time. However, that didn’t happen as Theory hit a chop-block on his rival and this ruled Escobar out of contention. Adam Pearce then decided that Austin Theory would have to defend his title against Rey Mysterio instead (because that makes sense) and after a short match (it has to be said), Mysterio hit the 619 and then a Splash to get the victory. One of my biggest “pet peeves” in Professional Wrestling is when older, more established stars take opportunities and moments away from younger, more deserving talent. Rey Mysterio under no circumstances needed to win this belt and if you look at it from a real-life point of view, why did Rey Mysterio get the opportunity over either Joaquin Wilde or Cruz Del Toro considering Rey technically lost to Escobar two weeks ago? Whilst I’ve seen some people say this is being done to create a jealously storyline in The LWO, I think the reason they’ve done this is to have Dominik Mysterio beat him for the title on NXT so WWE can have The Judgment Day on all 3 brands. Also, let’s not forget Austin Theory as this was the final nail in the coffin of a pretty lackluster United States Championship reign (especially after Mania) which wasn’t at all Austin’s fault.
Grade: D
The Bloodline Saga Continues
The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns arrived and after demanding acknowledgment from the crowd in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Roman asked Paul Heyman if he’d spoken or seen Jimmy Uso. Jimmy Uso then arrived and told Reigns that what he did at Summerslam wasn’t for him before Jey Uso arrived. Jey demanded an explanation from his twin brother and Jimmy responded by saying he cost him the match at Summerslam out of love and fear that if he won, he’d turn into Roman Reigns (figuratively, not literally). Jimmy then walked off as Roman laughed his head off before “Main Event” Jey Uso Superkicked Reigns. He then Superkicked Solo Sikoa before he eventually laid out the Tribal Chief with a Spear (after Reigns Superman Punched him). Jey then left the ring and asked his brother to come back down the aisle. As Jimmy went to hug his brother, Jey Superkicked his head clean off (again not literally) before Jey Uso announced that he’s “leaving” The Bloodline, SmackDown, and WWE. I thought this was actually a pretty good angle and it makes total sense that Jey should leave everyone laying and it also makes sense that the former Right Hand Man would want no further part in a company that is basically run by his corrupted family. Jey will eventually come back and that’ll be great when he does, but he can now enjoy some peace for a while because we’ve established for months that nobody knows where he lives.
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