Posted on 3/21/126 by Bob Magee
– The show opened with a recap of last week’s WrestleMania
contract signing and the heinous (or perhaps justified in
some circles?) actions of Randy Orton against current
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Following that recap,
we went to our commentary team of Joe Tessitore and Wade
Barrett, who stated that Orton’s actions were viewed as
“heinous” by a majority of WWE fans. We then got shots of
the various stars in action tonight
– As Jelly Roll arrived to the arena, we got a commotion
backstage as several people ran out to the parking lot. As
the cameras followed, Drew McIntyre was seen attacking Jacob
Fatu in his car and beating him to a pulp. Security
officials dragged McIntyre off of Fatu as the SmackDown
parking lot seemed to become the NXT Parking Lot in this one
instant.
Drew McIntyre fools around, finds out
An irate McIntyre stormed to the ring and shouted that what
happened to Fatu is because of his WrestleMania main event
being taken away from him. He’s interrupted by General
Manager Nick Aldis, who called him the most self-sabotaging
superstar around. Aldis talked about how McIntyre’s efforts
cost him the Undisputed WWE Title, a match with Fatu
tonight, and potentially being at WrestleMania. McIntyre
stated that firing him and quitting is what Aldis would’ve
wanted, as he then said that Aldis’s son, Donovan, would be
ashamed of the kind of father that he was. McIntyre declared
that he’d cause as much chaos as he wanted to when all is
said and done.
Jacob Fatu walked down to the ring and wanted more of
McIntyre as the fight was on at ringside. Fatu gained the
upper hand in this brawl with a throw to the steel steps.
The announce table was re-arranged while McIntyre was
pummeled endlessly by a relentless Fatu. Security seemingly
got Fatu to back off, but only for a moment, as he then got
a head of speed and hit a big splash from the timekeeper’s
table, as he crushed McIntyre through the commentary table!
Fatu finally left as McIntyre was left lying in a heap.
I have to admit, this was a very hot start to the evening,
and it seems that this is how we’ll push the Fatu/McIntyre
match to WrestleMania, as the two were scheduled to compete
tonight. As for that presumed Mania match, it’s one that
can’t be just a standard one-on-one contest. There has to be
a stipulation at play.
*************
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The M.F.T.s (Tama Tonga &
J.C. Mateo) (w/ Solo Sikoa, Talla Tonga, and Tonga Loa) (c)
vs. Damian Priest & R-Truth
Mateo & Tama represented the M.F.T.s under the Freebird Rule
for this match.
Priest started off hot with a Flatiliner on Mateo, as he and
Truth then hit a unique double team maneuver on Tama. Priest
continued the momentum with a running forearm on Mateo.
Talla Tonga clipped Truth at the corner as Priest got
clotheslined out of the ring by Mateo. Talla attacked Priest
behind the referee’s back as we took a break early on.
This match continued from commercial as Priest tried to
fight out of the M.F.T. corner, but was rammed into the
corner by Mateo. Priest then found himself being hit with a
standing moonsault by Mateo, who then hit a running splash
on his foe. Mateo shoved Truth from the apron, but he got
cracked by a spinning kick from Priest. This gave him an
opening to get the hot tag for Truth.
Truth channeled his inner “Ron Cena” as he hit the shoulder
tackles, the Protoplex, and then the Five-Knuckle Shuffle.
Truth couldn’t connect with the AA as Tama got out of it,
with the M.F.T.s began to double team Truth. Priest was
thrown out of the ring, as Truth hit Tama with a Stunner. At
ringside, Tama was taken out by a clothesline from Priest
while Truth locked in the STF on Mateo. Solo Sikoa created a
distraction for the referee, which allowed Tama Tonga to hit
a chokeslam on the apron. However, Truth kicked out at two
somehow.
The Wyatt Sicks appeared and began to brawl with the
M.F.T.s, as Uncle Howdy snuck up and got the Mandible Claw
on Solo Sikoa at ringside. Mateo rolled out of the ring and
threw Howdy into the barricade as he gave the Wyatt lantern
to Sikoa. Inside the ring, Priest hit Tama with a running
lariat, and Mateo was dropped by an AA from Truth and that’s
it, over. We have new WWE Tag Team Champions.
R-Truth & Damian Priest def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall to win
the WWE Tag Team Championships
Well, I can at least say that the Tag Titles are now likely
out of the endless Wyatts/M.F.T. vortex for the time being,
so I can’t hate this result all that much. Yes, a makeshift
tag team won the gold, but I’d be lying if I said that this
Truth/Priest team wasn’t growing on me. Maybe it highlights
Priest’s strength as a tag team guy, so there’s that.
*************
– The Bella Twins were interviewed about their tag title
match against The Irresistable Forces later tonight.
Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss interrupted while they ate ice
cream. “Charlexa” called the Bellas selfish for jumping the
line when it came to taking on Nia Jax and Lash Legend for
the Womens’ Tag Titles. Brie and Nikki responded by saying
that they’ll show Flair and Bliss how legends get it done,
as they left while stealing Bliss’s spoon.
– Elsewhere, Candice LeRae was still with the ever-
despondent Johnny Gargano, who was lying on a production
crate. Danhausen appeared out of nowhere in true Danhausen
fashion and offered his help with Gargano’s plight — on the
condition that LeRae give him $20. LeRae gave the dough to
Danhausen, who then vanished.
– Sami Zayn was asked by Cathy Kelley about what happened
with Cody Rhodes last week. Zayn said he had a match against
Aleister Black tonight, but he had a piece to say about
Rhodes. He said that Rhodes tries to be a good person. Last
week, Rhodes ended the night on a stretcher and bloodied,
but Randy Orton ended the night with the Undisputed WWE
Title in his hand. That seemed to shake Zayn to his core
about what he believed in. Zayn was interrupted by Trick
Williams, who talked trash to him, as he said that if he had
time, he’d check out Zayn’s match with Black later tonight.
Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) vs. Motor City Machine Guns
(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)
Frazer and Shelley got things going for this match, with the
former showing some impressive speed with a 23mph kick. With
Axiom as the legal man, the MCMGs got the upper hand with
some double team action. However, the masked man battled his
way with a leaping dropkick on Sabin. Fraxiom then teamed up
with superkicks on Sabin and Shelley, as we took a break.
We picked up from the commercial as Axiom held his own
against Shelley and Sabin before he tagged in Frazer, who
hit a running dive over the ropes onto both MCMGs. In the
ring, splash from Frazer to Sabin, but Shelley broke the
count. With Sabin isolated, Fraxiom did an amazing rolling
double team attack that led to their superkick and suplex
combo on Sabin for the near-fall. Sabin was placed on the
top rope in the Fraxiom corner, but he fought out of it and
hit a splash on both Axiom and Frazer. The tag to Shelley as
he and Sabin hit a Magic Killer for the near-fall. At this
point, Candice LeRae appeared on the ramp.
Back in the ring, all four men got into it as Fraxiom
leveled the Machine Guns with repeated suicide divesto
ringside. LeRae walked up to the ring and got Frazer with a
cheap shot, which allowed Sabin to roll Frazer up for the
victory.
Motor City Machine Guns def. Fraxiom via pinfall
A fun little tag match, and I do appreciate we’re getting
tag team storylines now that isn’t just the Wyatts and
M.F.T.s fighting forever. This dynamic with the MCMGs and
Candice LeRae & Johnny Gargano has me interested so far. I’m
just glad that there seems to be a shift when it comes to
tag team wrestling based on this story and the Truth/Priest
victory earlier tonight.
*************
– Randy Orton, who was still sporting the shirt he wore last
week, walked past the wreckage of Jacob Fatu’s car. We’ll be
hearing from him up next.
– A recap of CM Punk and Roman Reigns’ faceoff from this
past Monday’s Raw was shown, which included Punk popping
Reigns with a punch for being called “old”.
Randy Orton on his brutal attack on Cody Rhodes
Despite being meant to be booed for bloodying up Cody Rhodes
last week, Orton was cheered as he entered, with fans still
singing along with his song. Orton held the chair that he
used to brutalize Rhodes last week and set it up in the ring
to sit on it.
Orton talked about how the crowd has sung along with his
theme song for years now, as he felt the love. He signed
fans’ posters, action figures, and that comes with the power
he has for doing it as long as he has been. The love he’s
gotten, it put a smile on his face. But… that smile was the
emptiest feeling he had felt in his entire life.
Orton said that nothing lasts forever, as he didn’t want his
legacy before retiring to be all the smiles he put on young
fans’ faces. Instead, he wanted that legacy to be how many
world titles he won. Orton talked about how he won the
Elimination Chamber, and he was expecting Drew McIntyre to
be his WrestleMania opponent. But, Cody Rhodes won the title
on him, and he wasn’t sure how he could fight someone he saw
as a friend.
However, last week, Rhodes took that burden off last week
when he wanted Orton to be the best version of The Viper he
could be. Orton said that he wanted to have the killer
instinct to add World Title No. 15 to his legacy. And he was
going to do it with the most dangerous letters in sports
entertainment: RKO. Orton said that he heard voices in his
head, and they counsel him, and that they talked to him. And
those voices? They told him that he was going to beat Cody
Rhodes for the WWE Championship and he was going to do it
WrestleMania.
As the crowd cheers couldn’t make it even more clear, the
uphill battle of getting fans to boo Randy Orton with
WrestleMania in four weeks will continue to get harder. WWE
commentary and promo packages can continue to spin Orton as
the dastardly heel against Cody Rhodes, but it’s clear the
fans aren’t taking the bait whatsoever. The promo tonight
didn’t really come across as an overly heel promo from Orton
at all, though a typical “you people” heel promo would come
across as forced at this point. It’s a dilemma WWE will need
to figure out before April 18th and 19th, and I’m not too
certain if the creative is up for it at this point.
*************
– Randy Orton was walking backstage as several wrestlers
were looking at him funny. Matt Cardona walked up to him and
called him out for his actions against Cody Rhodes last
week. Orton got upset at the “mark ass stooge indy nerd” and
punched him out. Orton shouted at Cardona to stay out of his
business.
Sami Zayn vs. Aleister Black (w/ Zelina)
After Zayn made his entrance, Trick Williams walked down to
a huge reaction from the crowd in Raleigh.
Black took advantage of Zayn being distracted by Williams’
arrival and floored him with strikes as the bell rang. Black
pummeled Zayn with punches as he then attacked him in the
corner. Zayn got out of the bind and then struck back with
punches of his own on Black. With Zayn on the advantage, we
took a break.
We returned from commercial as Zayn kicked out of a Black
pinfall attempt after he got hit with a knee to the face
just before the break ended. Zayn and Black traded strikes
until the latter dropped the former with a spinning back
elbow. Zayn avoided Black Mass and went for the Blue Thunder
Bomb. Black countered and then hit him with another knee to
the face. Black then locked Zayn in a pretzel knee bar
submission hold that was reversed into a pin attempt for the
two.
Zayn missed with the Helluva Kick as he then fell victim to
a diving Meteora from Black. One, two… not quite. Black
taunted the crowd, which opened him up to a clothesline from
Zayn that sent him out of the ring. At ringside, Black was
thrown repeatedly into the barrier by Zayn with enough force
to shake it. As the two men got back in the ring, Zayn
connected with the corner exploder suplex. The crowd seemed
to boo Zayn as he got his best moves in. Zayn went for
another Helluva Kick, but Black rolled out of the ring.
Zayn pushed Williams’ legs off the commentary table, which
prompted the man with the “Lemon Peppa Steppas” to throw
water at the back of Zayn. This frustrated Zayn to a point
where he attacked Williams. Once Zayn took care of Williams,
he got back in the ring and got cracked with Black Mass. The
three and this one’s done.
Aleister Black def. Sami Zayn
A nice little match made better by the dynamic going on with
Zayn and the crowd growing restless with his perpetual
underdog gimmick, which seems to be by design based on the
interactions he’s had with folks like Cody Rhodes and Jacob
Fatu in recent weeks. That the actual in-ring action was
solid was a good plus as well.
*************
– Matt Cardona tried to get a match with Randy Orton booked
tonight from Nick Aldis, but was thoroughly denied. Carmelo
Hayes wondered why the U.S. Open Title challenge was closed,
because someone stepped up. That someone was Ilja Dragunov.
Jade Cargill addresses Rhea Ripley
The WWE Women’s Champion walked dowjn to the ring, ready to
discuss her WrestleMania 42 foe, Rhea Ripley.
As soon as Cargill got in the ring, she demanded that Ripley
face her down in the ring right now. On cue, Ripley entered
to a huge ovation from the Raleigh crowd. As Ripley got into
the ring, she wondered if they were going to keep talking or
actually do something. Cargill said that it wasn’t about
what Ripley wanted. Cargill talked about how she didn’t need
the title or the fans. With or without wrestling, Cargill
said she was that bitch, as she then paraphrased CM Punk,
stating that she wasn’t here to make friends, she was here
to make money.
Ripley responded by saying that she wanted to be here and
how she lived for this since age 16. Cargill talked about
how she didn’t need the locker room’s approval, but Ripley
replied by stating that she didn’t need the WWE Women’s
Title. Ripley said that the title needed her. Ripley offered
to let Cargill take the first shot. Cargill refused and said
“on my time”.
As Cargill left, Michin and B-Fab confronted her and
seemingly were going to stop here. But, it turns out they
were aligned with Cargill instead. The three took it to
Ripley with a three-on-one beatdown.
This feud, I’m just not feeling it, and having Michin and B-
Fab be aligned with Jade Cargill after months of feuding
with her, I’m not sure about either.
*************
– The Miz and Kit Wilson were discussing how the latter
should approach the Jelly Roll situation later on when
Danhausen popped up once more. Miz said he wasn’t going to
mentor Danhausen as a ladder fell behind everyone. After
Wilson left, another ladder fell, but right on Miz, as he
was still cursed courtesy of Danhausen.
– Solo Sikoa angrily yelled at the M.F.T.s for losing the
WWE Tag Team Titles. Tama Tonga told Sikoa that maybe he
should give back the Wyatts’ lantern to the Wyatt Sicks, as
he then told Sikoa that he was starting to sound like Roman.
The tense situation between Tama and Sikoa was interrupted
with Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre still brawling as security
tried to break things up.
United States Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja
Dragunov
These two started things off with a little chain wrestling
action before Hayes slapped Dragunov in the face. That
seemed to fire the challenger up as he charged into Hayes
and went after him fiercely in the corner with chop after
chop after chop. Hayes and Dragunov traded their best shots,
as the challenger connected with a particularly hard
Constantine Special, which took us to commercial.
We returned from commercial as Dragunov still had the
advantage on Hayes, who tried to battle from underneath. A
standing T-Bone Suplex from Dragunov snuffed out that
attack, but Hayes managed to kick out at two. Dragunov
kicked at Hayes, who got back up and responded with some
strikes of his own. He lifted Dragunov on his shoulders as
things picked up. Hayes got ahead of another Constantine
Special attempt and connected with Dirty Diana for the two-
count. Hayes clotheslined Dragunov out of the ring as he got
a head of speed and hit a Fosbury Flop that he barely
overshot as he collided with the commentary table. Frog
Splash by Hayes on Dragunov wasn’t enough to get this match
done.
Dragunov recovered and gripped Hayes by the waist and hit a
German suplex as he then took off from the top rope with the
diving senton for a close near-fall. Hayes headed to the
opposite corner and looked for a Coast-to-Coast, but was
intercepted with a First 48 from the U.S. Champion. Dragunov
somehow turned that into a surprise H-Bomb. One, two… Hayes
managed to get a foot on the ropes in the nick of time. We
got another break in the action.
This excellent U.S. Title match returned from break as Hayes
attempted a DDT onto the apron, but Dragunov caught him and
instead dropped him with the Death Valley Driver onto the
hardest part of the ring. Dragunov lifted Hayes and tried to
go for the suplex as he took his foe up on the top rope for
an attempted superplex. Hayes countered that into a falling
cutter! One, two…. 2.99999999999!!!!!!! Hayes got back up to
his feet and chopped Dragunov. The challenger withstood the
pain and fought back with strikes of his own. Hayes and
Dragunov traded their best shots at one another, as the
latter hit a powerbomb at the end of it all. Hayes kicked
out, but found himself hit with a backbreaker for another
two-count.
In the corner, Dragunov had Hayes in his sights for the
Torpedo Moscow, but the U.S. Champion intercepted with the
First 48. Yet another close kickout from the challenger.
After Hayes missed with a dive from the top rope, Dragunov
blasted him with Torpedo Moscow. Dragunov lifted Hayes up
for a powerbomb, but Hayes turned that into a sunset flip
bomb of his own and the three to retain the U.S. Title.
Carmelo Hayes def. Ilja Dragunov to retain the United States
Championship
Wow. What a match between these two once again. Hayes and
Dragunov simply cannot miss and they’re magic in the ring
when they mix it up. Just tremendous, high-stakes action and
another fantastic U.S. Title match.
*************
– As Jelly Roll walked backstage, Randy Orton met with him.
Orton apologized for his actions, but Jelly tried to speak
some reason with him, as someone who knows how it’s like to
be a bad guy. Jelly said that the Randy Orton he knew was a
beautiful soul who loved his family and the business. Jelly
pointed out that life is not about what you to do, it who
you do it with, as he tried to convince Orton to make things
right with Matt Cardona. Orton seemed to agree with what
Jelly said after all this.
– We got a recap of the Oba Femi/Brock Lesnar segment from
Monday’s Raw, as the match between these two at WrestleMania
42 was officially made.
Kit Wilson calls out Jelly Roll
Wilson said that Jelly Roll crossed a line last week by
starting the fight, and he was here to finish it. Where
Wilson came from, they settled it like men. He proceeded to
call Jelly out, as the man himself walked down to the ring,
looking for a fight. Wilson rolled out of the ring as Jelly
entered.
Jelly said that Wilson called him out for a fight, and he
was ready for it, so he demanded that a referee head out
right now to get this match started. Wilson said that he
didn’t fight with his fists, he fought with his words. Jelly
seemed incredulous that he was brought out here for a rap
battle, something that he didn’t see Wilson has. There would
be no rap battle from, according to Wilson, as it was time
for ‘slam poetry’ instead.
Wilson recited a poem about Jelly’s criminal past and his
loss of weight, as he said that Jelly was proof that Ozempic
did work. Wilson continued to make strange fat jokes about
Jelly in his slam poetry. This prompted Jelly to come out
with some disses of his own. As Jelly admired his banter,
Wilson hit him from behind and hit him with a big splash.
Wilson headed up to the top rope and hit him with a diving
elbow.
I don’t think I have to go on a long, long rant about how
this segment blew. I think it’s clear how much I did not
find this segment funny or entertaining. That this could be
how they bring in Royce Keys officially for a WrestleMania
match doesn’t excite me either. Dire, dire stuff marked by
the WWE “brand” of humor that’s unappealing.
*************
– Backstage, Jelly Roll walked up to Nick Aldis and demanded
that he make a match between him and Kit Wilson for next
week. Aldis approved and that’s what we got.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: The Irresistable Forces
(Nia Jax & Lash Legend) vs. The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie
Bella)
Brie and Nikki hit the tag champs with stereo dropkicks to
the knees before we got Jax and Nikki mixing it up in the
ring for a bit. After a tag to Brie, the Bellas kept the
advantage as Jax was isolated from Legend. The twins tried
for a double team, but got blocked by Jax. However, Jax
couldn’t block the double bulldog from Nikki and Brie. At
this moment, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss made their
entrance, which distracted the Bellas. This allowed Legend
to lay them out with big boots as we took a commercial
timeout here.
We returned from break as Brie entered the match with a
missile dropkick on Jax, followed by a running knee on her
stunned foe. Brie avoided a hip attack from Jax, as she then
channeled Bryan Danielson with the kicks to the chest.
Legend tried to get involve, but got sent out by Brie. Nikki
tagged in and hit a diving crossbody to the outside on both
Legend and Jax. Back in the ring, a distraction from Legend
allowed Jax to llift Nikki on her shoulder for an avalanche
Samoan Drop. Legend then hit the big splash, but Brie broke
up the count. Outside the ring, Jax tried to hit Brie with
the Women’s Tag Title, but Flair broke it up as the referee
called for a DQ.
Things erupted after the match as the Bellas, Charlexa, and
The Irresistable Forces brawled it out. Jax and Legend
gained the upper hand in this skirmish as Legend held Flair
in position for a leg drop from Jax.
The Irresistable Forces vs. The Bella Twins ended in a No
Contest
This match was terrible, and things ending in a similar
manner to last week’s match, right down to Jax and Legend
standing tall didn’t help matters. It felt like they hit
CTRL+V on last week’s Charlexa vs. Jax/Legend match and just
swapped out Bliss and Flair for the Bellas. Really rough way
to end the in-ring action on tonight’s show.
*************
– Randy Orton was talking with an unknown person on the
phone as he told them that he was going to “go fix it” right
now in the ring.
Next Week on SmackDown
Kit Wilson vs. Jelly Roll
Women’s U.S. Championship Match: Giulia vs. Tiffany Stratton
The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella) vs. Charlexa (Charlotte
Flair & Alexa Bliss)
Let’s Hear From Randy Orton
As promised, Randy Orton was on his way to the ring yet
again, still armed with his steel chair. Orton seemed to
shake hands with some fans along the way on the ring, on the
way to “fix the situation”, so to speak.
Orton once again set up the chair in the middle of the ring
and took a seat, but then he got off it and said that he
needed to make an apology to everyone, but more importantly,
an apology to Matt Cardona. He called Cardona down to the
ring so he could hear that apology. Cardona walked to the
ring and stood face to face with Orton.
Orton said that he was out of his head in the past few weeks
and he wanted to apologize. He said action figures were cool
and video games were cool. Orton said that he had an apology
to Cody Rhodes to make for next week, but he wasn’t here
tonight. So, he asked if Cardona was going to accept the
apology.
Cardona accepted it, but got suckered into a low blow by
Orton, then an RKO out of nowhere. Orton threw Cardona out
of the ring and placed him on the announce table. Orton
grabbed the steel steps and set it against the announce
table as security poured out to back him up. Yet again, the
crowd was chanting for Orton in the midst of all this as the
man himself seemed to gather himself and stopped, for the
time being. Orton went after Cardona again and threw him
into the ring, as security and officials once again took
action to stop him. Cardona’s arm was wrapped around a
chair, as Orton then stomped on it. The fans chanted “one
more time” after it all as Nick Aldis got Orton to back off.
The Titantron showed Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre brawling
as Aldis ran to the area where the two were brawling.
Outside, Fatu and McIntyre were fighting on a ledge as the
two took a huge tumble off the ledge to end our show,
apparently without the usual copyright bug and Executive
Producer credits.
*************
What a weird and wonderful ending to tonight’s show. Between
the fans still cheering Orton despite doing really evil heel
actions and the Fatu and McIntyre brawl, it was just wild to
follow these last five minutes of the show.
First, let’s get back to the Orton stuff. At this point,
it’s going to be impossible to have these fans boo him, even
if he were to show up next week and Pillmanize Cody Rhodes.
It’s just a situation where the still-popular-as-always
Orton is going up against a Cody Rhodes whose crowd
reactions are beginning to sour, and we’ll be ending up with
a strange, strange situation, especially if WWE is dead set
on keeping Rhodes a babyface for this match.
As far as the rest of tonight was concerned, it was
surprisingly strong, with the in-ring action being good and
carrying a lot of the load. However, I wasn’t feeling
segments like the thing with Jelly Roll or the
Cargill/Ripley face-off (and subsequent Cargill/B-Fab/Michin
alliance), or the main event women’s tag title match. My
highlight of the night was, of course, the U.S. Title match.
Hayes and Dragunov can do no wrong at this point.
Buckle up, though, with four weeks until WrestleMania, the
road is getting closer to its final destination, and for
better or worse, things are going to be bumpy. Whether WWE
Creative likes it or not, it won’t be smooth sailing at all
for the stories they’re trying to tell, especially as far as
the main events are concerned.