Queen of the Ring Quarter-Final: Bianca Belair VS Tiffany Stratton
Friday Night SmackDown kicked off this week with a Queen of the Ring Quarter-Final matchup as Bianca Belair clashed with Tiffany Stratton. This was a decent contest, Tiffany looked good throughout whilst Bianca did a decent job selling her left knee. However, I do sometimes feel like Belair is booked too well because realistically, an injured EST should not be able to defeat The Center of the Universe. However, that’s exactly what she did as Belair dropped Stratton with the K.O.D. to book her place in the Semi-Finals!
Grade: C+
King of the Ring Quarter-Final: LA Knight VS Tama Tonga, Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul Contract Signing, Jade Cargill VS Nia Jax: Queen of the Ring Quarter-Final, DIY VS Legado Del Fantasma
We got an exciting stare-down between Logan Paul and LA Knight backstage before Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair teased their potential Semi-Final showdown. The Bloodline were then getting ready in their locker room before LA Knight came face-to-face with Carmelo Hayes! Exciting! It was then time for the first King of the Ring Quarter-Finals of the night as LA Knight took on Tama Tonga. LA was able to get plenty of offense in here to the delight of the WWE Universe, but the problem for The Megastar was the numbers game! This ultimately cost Knight as some interference from Tonga Loa allowed Tama Tonga to hit his finisher and score the win. This was totally fine!
Grade: C+
LA Knight and Carmelo Hayes got into it again backstage (that’s definitely the next feud on Friday Nights) before Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul arrived to sign the contract for their big match in Saudi Arabia. After a week of not really knowing what was on the line here, Nick Aldis announced that both Titles would be on the line before Logan pulled out his own contract with just the Undisputed WWE Championship on the line. This annoyed both Cody and Aldis, but Rhodes ultimately decided to sign it before he sent the United States Champion over the top rope to end the segment. I’m still not sold on this Main Event, mostly cause I’m a bit confused by it all!
Grade: C+
Nia Jax hyped herself up in a backstage promo before Nia Jax went one-on-one with Jade Cargill in another Queen of the Ring Quarter-Final. We got a great bit between Nia and Cargill’s child, but after that, we got a very silly ending where Jade hit Jax with a steel chair meaning The Irresistible Force is heading to the Semi-Finals! I don’t have a problem with Cargill losing without being pinned, the problem I have with this is it makes Jade look very dumb which is not a good thing!
Grade: C-
We then went straight into a Tag Team match as DIY clashed with Legado Del Fantasma. Both of these teams are talented, but the focus here was very much on DIY. It’s also worth mentioning that A-Town Down Under were on commentary and both Austin Theory and Grayson Waller have a lot of history with Johnny Gargano which was referenced which I really liked! Elektra Lopez and Santos Escobar were then thrown out from ringside after interfering, and this just allowed Ciampa and Gargano to hit Meet in the Middle to score the victory. An A-Town Down Under-DIY feud is a big yes from me!
Grade: C+
King of the Ring Quarter-Final: Carmelo Hayes VS Randy Orton
After an AJ Styles promo and Chelsea Green and Piper Niven taking the mick out of Bayley, it was Main Event time as Carmelo Hayes and Randy Orton collided in a King of the Ring Quarter-Final. There was a good bit to start with, with Carmelo celebrating on the table only to be back-body dropped 4 times onto it! This was definitely the best match of the night, and it’s very interesting to see a veteran take on an up-and-coming star, especially given Randy’s been in Melo’s situation in the past. In the end, Orton was able to beat Hayes by reversing the Fade-Away into an RKO before the show went off the air with The Viper sending a message to The Bloodline.
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