Chelsea Green VS Naomi
After Corey Graves welcomed us to Glasgow, Scotland, Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with a singles match between Chelsea Green and Naomi. This was a totally fine match, but it did feel a bit slow which was a shame. It also annoys me how WWE doesn’t allow Chelsea Green to showcase her full ability, instead acting as a more established loser. Towards the end of the contest, Bayley got involved and somehow avoided being disqualified and this distracted Green enough for Naomi to sneak away with a roll-up victory. Fine.
Grade: C
The Grayson Waller Effect (Featuring DIY), Apollo Crews VS Santos Escobar, AJ Styles Interrupts Cody Rhodes, Nia Jax VS Michin
Baron Corbin was excited to be back on Friday Nights before Santos Escobar asked Nick Aldis for a match against Apollo Crews. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill then got a video promo before it was time for another edition of The Grayson Waller Effect. A-Town Down Under welcomed out their guests DIY as Waller tried to trash talk Scotland. Tommaso Ciampa wasn’t having any of this and just straight-up demanded a WWE Tag Team Title Match which Austin Theory seemed interested in, but The Arrogant Aussie did not. Johnny Gargano then had a proper conversation with “his son” Theory about how he doesn’t need Grayson Waller, but Grayson then nail Gargano with a right hand before a brawl broke out. In the end, Theory took a bullet for his Tag Team partner in the form of a Johnny Wrestling Superkick, but Waller then pulled Austin in the way to get met with a massive knee from Ciampa. This was probably the best Grayson Waller Effect on the Main Roster, this was really good!
Grade: B
The Street Profits told Kevin Owens they’d have their back before Bayley and Naomi were chatting. Chelsea Green then arrived to send them a warning before the two good guys got flattened by Piper Niven! I’m glad Piper’s getting showcased more, she’s far too good to not be pushed strongly. Apollo Crews was then on SmackDown as he was prepared to take on the leader of Legado Del Fantasma, Santos Escobar. This was a good match, probably the best of the night as both guys were able to show-off their amazing abilities. Apollo is so strong yet so agile, and he does a great job making stuff look easy whilst The Emperor of Lucha Libre has always been one of the best! During the match, Baron Corbin arrived to take out Angel and Berto which the Scottish crowd absolutely loved, but in the end, it was Elektra Lopez’s interference that proved valuable as Santos was able to sneak away with the W!
Grade: B-
Cody Rhodes was out next as the Undisputed WWE Champion was serenaded by the UK crowd. Cody was however quickly interrupted by AJ Styles who made some great points about how The American Nightmare has a history of quitting different promotions. Rhodes responded to this by saying he always bets on himself and he always moves on to bigger and better things and at the end of the day, The Phenomenal One will be the one to quit on Saturday. This was all well done, and AJ’s line at the end which basically disrespected Seth “Freakin” Rollins was a very interesting one!
Grade: B-
The Bloodline attacked The Street Profits backstage to the disappointment of a late Kevin Owens before Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark got their own video promo as they explained why they’re going to walk out of Clash at the Castle as the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Tiffany Stratton was then on commentary as she watched Nia Jax go one-on-one with Michin. After about 20 seconds, Michin got into an argument with Tiffany which resulted in Stratton throwing water in The HBIC’s face. Michin then got back in the ring and got dropped by Nia before The Queen of the Ring hit the Annihilator to score the win. What on earth was this?!
Grade: C-
Logan Paul unfortunately lost in the Tetris World Championships to a 14-year-old before we saw Logan heading back home. However, when the United States Champion returned, he was met by LA Knight who was just chilling in his swimming pool! LP obviously kicked Knight out before The Megastar started reciting lines from Aladdin! What on earth?! Anyway, Carmelo Hayes then got the spotlight on him and cut a pretty good promo about how he’s going to become “Mr. Melo in the Bank”! I want it! Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were also then welcomed out as they told Jackie Redmond that they’ve come home to win Tag Gold! I hope they do, but they won’t.
Kevin Owens VS Solo Sikoa
After Nick Aldis banned Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa from ringside, it was Main Event time as Kevin Owens clashed with Solo Sikoa. This was a pretty decent match, better than most SmackDown Main Events, and the crowd were definetly invested in the action. Towards the end, it looked like KO had the match won, but Paul Heyman got involved before it looked like Kevin was going to beat up The Wiseman. However, Solo Sikoa made the save and ultimately scored the win via 2 Samoan Spikes before the rest of The Bloodline arrived to start a beatdown. However, they were then dealt with by a returning Randy Orton who made the save to send the Scottish crowd home happy. Solid stuff!
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