SmackDown featured another promo between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley, who continued to discuss their upcoming match. Dom interrupted the promo, leading to a brawl between Flair and Ripley. Xavier Woods and Madcap Moss had a match, which Woods won, before LA Knight got dropped with one punch. Drew McIntyre and Sheamus fought for a chance to face GUNTHER for the Intercontinental championship, leading to a triple threat match at WrestleMania 39. The SmackDown shows have been tight, with no wasted time on fluff and extended time given to important programs.
Cody Rhodes made an appearance on Friday Night SmackDown, where he talked about his upcoming championship match against Roman Reigns in WrestleMania 39. However, he also had some other business to attend to. Rhodes called Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to the ring, which Owens was not pleased about. Rhodes then reminded everyone that Owens was the one who introduced him to his friends who helped start AEW, and therefore owed him a debt. Rhodes and Zayn tried to convince Owens to team up with them to take down The Bloodline, but Owens was resistant. He did not want to fight for a man who did not care about being his friend. After a commercial break, Sami Zayn ran to Owens and reminded him that they were not just friends, but brothers. Owens still seemed hesitant and left. Later in the evening, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn had a showdown. Jey accused Zayn of turning on the family and making him an embarrassment. Zayn fired back and said that Jey chose to take abuse from Roman Reigns every week. Jimmy then joined Jey in attacking Zayn, but then a familiar music hit.
Kevin Owens was fighting off The Usos, fueled by the need to protect his friend and brother, Sami Zayn. When the ring was cleared, Sami and Owens finally reunited in a thunderous embrace, much to the delight of the crowd. Cody Rhodes was seen backstage, smiling as he watched the beautiful execution of the ultimate babyface team taking down The Bloodline in two separate matches for all the gold at WrestleMania 39.
In other news, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio teamed up to face Zelina Vega and Santos Escobar. Although Zelina had a good showing, she ultimately lost to Ripley. After the match, Dominik began to run down his father, Rey, who eventually came out to confront him. Rey admitted to not being there for his family as much as he should have been, but that he was doing everything he could to make up for it. However, Dominik continued to disrespect his father, leaving Rey hurt and disappointed. This storyline has been a slow burn, and fans are eager to see how it will play out.
The WWE also announced two Fatal 4-Way matches for WrestleMania 39 in the women’s and men’s tag team divisions. Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan defeated Emma and Tegan Nox in a qualifier match for the women’s tag team division. While the match was as good as expected for a TV match, fans are excited to see what will happen in the upcoming Fatal 4-Way matches at WrestleMania 39.
Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley had another promo, where they reiterated the same points as before. Flair beat Ripley once before and she plans to do it again. Ripley, on the other hand, said that she needs to become a star like Flair and that means she needs to win the title from her. Dom interrupted the promo, leading to a brawl between Flair and Ripley. The crowd was into it and it felt like two big stars going at it.
Xavier Woods and Madcap Moss were gaming when LA Knight came along and talked some trash. Woods and Knight had a singles match, which Woods won after just a couple of minutes. Knight was then shown backstage telling Rey Mysterio he would beat up Dominik for him at WrestleMania, but got dropped with one punch.
Drew McIntyre and Sheamus had a singles match to determine who would face GUNTHER for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania 39. It was a back-and-forth battle that earned “this is awesome” chants from the crowd. However, GUNTHER charged the ring and got them both disqualified. This led to Adam Pearce booking the long-rumored triple threat match, which has real potential to steal the show.
One thing that has been enjoyable about SmackDown lately is the tightness of the shows. There is no wasted time on any fluff, and they are giving extended time to all the important programs heading into the big show.
Overall, SmackDown deserves an A grade.
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