Cody Rhodes Starts the Show, Bayley VS Candice LeRae VS B-Fab: Women’s United States Championship Tournament (Round 1)
Friday Night SmackDown kicked off this week with Cody Rhodes as the Undisputed WWE Champion wanted to call out Kevin Owens. Instead of KO coming out however, it was Nick Aldis who appeared to tell Cody that Kevin cannot come to SmackDown until certain things are resolved! Rhodes was not happy about this at all and told Aldis that if he doesn’t bring Owens back soon, he’ll go to his house and find him! This was actually a well-done segment, Cody delivered his lines well, Nick Aldis is always really good, and this furthered the storyline too!
Grade: B-
After Sami Zayn told The Usos that he has more ideas for who could be their 5th man inside War Games, the first match of the night saw the Women’s United States Championship Tournament start as Bayley, Candice LeRae, and B-Fab all clashed in a Triple Threat Match! This was a competitive bout, B-Fab got a lot more offense in than I expected, and it was all-round decent enough! I do feel like Candice LeRae should’ve won this match given this Title is meant to be giving opportunities to stars who don’t always get them, but anyway, it was Bayley who ended up scoring the win via roll-up!
Grade: C+
United States Championship Open Challenge: LA Knight VS ?, The Bloodline Gain Their 5th Member, Motor City Machine Guns VS The Street Profits: WWE Tag Team Championships
B-Fab had a quick chat with The Street Profits before Chelsea Green and Piper Niven walked over to make fun of her. Michin then arrived with a pair of Kendo Sticks for some reason before LA Knight arrived to host a United States Championship Open Challenge! The call was answered by Legado Del Fantasma, but Knight had no interest in facing Santos Escobar again so he decided to give an opportunity to Berto! For what this was, I thought it was fun, Berto sold LA’s moves well, and The Megastar looked more comfortable than he usually does! In the end, it was a pretty straightforward win for Knight via a BFT before the US Champ was dropped after the match by none other than the returning Shinsuke Nakamura! Finally!
Grade: B-
After Sami Zayn told Roman Reigns that nobody wants to be on their team at War Games, Solo Sikoa’s music hit as The New Bloodline came out to demand acknowledgment! The O.G. Bloodline then quickly arrived as a brawl got underway and ultimately saw Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu as the two men left standing in the squared circle! However, in a shocking twist, Reigns was then wiped out by Bronson Reed who destroyed Roman, Sami, and The Usos with a pair of Tsunami’s in what was a massive statement! I didn’t see any of this coming, but I thought this was so cool, Bronson Reed has elevated himself to a proper Main Event guy, and I think that’s terrific!
Grade: B+
Kevin Owens cut another video promo from his car where he said it’s a joke that he isn’t being allowed to come to SmackDown unless it’s what Cody Rhodes wants before the Motor City Machine Guns put their WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against The Street Profits! This was a pretty even contest, both teams got in plenty of offense, and it could’ve really gone either way! Ultimately, we’ll never truly know which way it would’ve gone because Tommaso Ciampa arrived to cause the Disqualification! After the match, Johnny Gargano tried to calm down his DIY brother, but Ciampa reacted by shoving Gargano down to the mat before Angelo Dawkins floored Alex Shelley with a right hand as tensions continue to rise in the Tag Team Division!
Grade: B-
WWE Women’s Championship: Nia Jax VS Naomi
After Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill once again acted annoyingly around Bayley and Naomi, it was Main Event time as Naomi looked to dethrone Nia Jax for the WWE Women’s Championship! This was a highly competitive bout, probably the best SmackDown Main Event I’ve seen in a while, and I’d definitely say it was Naomi’s best match since she returned to WWE at the start of this year! There were genuine near-falls where it looked like Naomi could’ve won the Title, but there was also a lot going on on the outside as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez attacked Belair and Cargill backstage, Tiffany Stratton got involved only to be dealt with by Bayley before Candice LeRae arrived to throw Bayley into the ring post which led to Nia hitting a great leg drop followed by the Annihilator to score the 3 count!
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