Randy Orton Interrupts Cody Rhodes, The Street Profits VS Pretty Deadly: WWE Tag Team Championships
This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Cody Rhodes as the Undisputed WWE Champion was serenaded to the ring by the London crowd! Cody talked about the fact that he will face John Cena in just over 3 week’s time before Randy Orton came out to praise his friend for how far he has come. However, Randy also made it clear that one day, he’ll be coming for the Undisputed WWE Championship, but unlike with Cena, Rhodes will see it coming this time! Drew McIntyre’s music then hit as Drew interrupted both men’s moment to say that once he’s done with Damian Priest, he too will be coming for the Rhodes and the Undisputed WWE Title! Drew then managed to escape from an RKO attempt, but this did lead to a match being set up for later in the show. This was all solid stuff!
Grade: C+
It was then time to head straight into the first match of the night as The Street Profits put their WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against Pretty Deadly! The crowd was well into this, they were super behind Pretty Deadly as they tried to win at home, and they were also booing The Street Profits too. Kit Wilson and Elton Prince actually came close to winning following Spilt Milk, but Montez Ford was able to break that up before The Profits hit their blockbuster combo to get the win and retain their Gold!
Grade: B-
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter VS The Secret Hervice, LA Knight VS Braun Strowman: United States Championship, Charlotte Flair VS Michin
Zelina Vega seemingly found some allies in the form of Katana Chance and Kayden Carter as The KC’s took on The Secret Hervice! Amazingly, Piper Niven and Alba Fyre were wrestling in suits, but unfortunately, the match itself didn’t flow. It’s actually a shame because Chance and Carter are a great Tag Team whilst both Alba and Piper are very talented, but things just didn’t click here. Ultimately, Chelsea Green’s Secret Hervice managed to pick up the win before they flattened Zelina Vega afterwards (who was attempting to make the save)!
Grade: C
We then went straight into another match as LA Knight took on Braun Strowman with the United States Championship on the line! The match that we were getting was alright, there were some decent moments in it, but as always with a Braun Strowman match, it didn’t end clean as Jacob Fatu arrived and wiped both men out to cause the DQ finish! Fatu then continued to take out Braun to send a message, and yeah, that was it!
Grade: C
Jimmy Uso got into a war of words with both The Miz and Carmelo Hayes backstage before Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu clashed over Fatu’s desire to take out Braun Strowman by himself! Naomi then cut a promo saying she wasn’t to be overlooked anymore before Michin headed down to the ring, only for Naomi to attack both her and B-Fab! Jade Cargill then arrived to make the save, but it was pretty much too late as Charlotte Flair’s music then hit as it was time for The Queen to face Michin! Whilst Mia Yim tried her best, she was weakened too much by Naomi’s pre-match attack, and she was never going to be able to tackle Charlotte in any condition, let alone when she was hurt! Eventually, Flair was able to lock in the Figure-8 to get the submission victory before Tiffany Stratton cut a backstage promo saying that Flair has everything to lose heading into WrestleMania!
Grade: C
Drew McIntyre VS Randy Orton, Jimmy Uso VS The Miz
After appearing in the opening segment together, Drew McIntyre returned to in-ring action in the UK against Randy Orton! This was a pretty tough match to call, both men are set for WrestleMania matches, and it was pretty even for the most part. Randy perhaps had a slight edge as he was setting up for the RKO, but Kevin Owens’ arrival distracted him, allowing McIntyre to nail Orton with a Claymore Kick to get the win!
Grade: C+
After it was confirmed that Rey Fenix will be making his WWE debut next week, Jimmy Uso made his way down to the ring as he was ready to go one-on-one with The Miz! I thought this match was totally fine, it was pretty filler, but it was just to get Jimmy a win before his match with Gunther on Monday. As expected, Jimmy delivered a Superkick followed by an Uso Splash to get the win before Big Jim called out The Ring General on the announce table!
Grade: C+
Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins Sign the WrestleMania Contract
After Damian Priest put Drew McIntyre through a windshield, the closing segment of this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown saw Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins sign the contract for their WrestleMania Triple Threat! Roman started the segment off in a good mood as the crowd sung his name, and even Paul Heyman decided to join in! However, Reigns got a bit annoyed when Seth Rollins arrived and talked about all the different moments together, with The Head of The Table believing that he’s the only reason WWE is as big as it is right now, not because of Seth! CM Punk then arrived to simply sign the contract, but it was Paul Heyman who confirmed to him that this will officially Main Event WrestleMania (most likely on Night 1)! This angered Rollins who went absolutely berserk whilst Reigns was just laughing at the fact that Punk is only in the Main Event because of him. An emotional CM Punk then ended the show by acknowledging The Tribal Chief, but also by telling Roman Reigns that this still isn’t the favour! After a pretty meh show, this was superb from everyone involved (Paul Heyman included)!
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