Posted on 4/25/126 by Bob Magee
– Our night began with a recap of what went down last
weekend at WrestleMania 42. Following that lengthy opener,
we went to a live shot of Cody Rhodes arriving to the arena
in a Ram truck in a similar manner to Pat McAfee and Randy
Orton. Also seen making their arrivals was the new WWE
Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, as well as new U.S. Champion
Trick Williams. Li’l Yachty and the Gingerbread Man were
seen with Williams. As they got off the arena, Danhausen
drove up in his coffinmobile as Trick’s entourage left.
Jacob Fatu kicks off SmackDown
Fatu made his way down to the ring just days after having
challenged new World Heavyweight Championship Roman Reigns
for a match at Backlash.
He started off by stating that he told Reigns that he wanted
him, and that he needed the World Title. Then Reigns looked
at Fatu in the eye and said “you’re not ready”. The truth
is, however, Reigns was right in that assessment. Because
what Reigns told Fatu has been something he’s heard all his
life from his friends and family. But, to break it all down
and to keep it 100, Reigns might say Fatu’s not ready, so he
should step in the ring to prove it. The Usos interrupted as
Jimmy and Jey Uso walked down to address Fatu.
Jimmy took the mic and said that he heard what Fatu had to
say on Monday about how Fatu wanted to level up for his
family. Jimmy told Fatu that he should not go after Roman
Reigns’ title and instead go for Cody Rhodes. He said that
Fatu should join the “Family” and run things with them. Jey
Jey said that if Fatu wanted respect from Roman, he better
get ready to look him in the eye and get ready for war,
because Reigns was going to bring it. That’s when The
M.F.T.s interrupted things.
Solo Sikoa said that the Usos were lying to him. Sikoa took
credit for bringing Fatu into WWE two years ago. The M.F.T.s
entered the ring as Sikoa continued to insist Fatu to not
listen to Jimmy and Jey. Sikoa said that Fatu wasn’t going
to beat Reigns along, and that he was going to need an army
in the form of the M.F.T.s. Tama Tonga aggressively took the
microphone from Sikoa and asked him why they were wasting
their time with this. Tama called Fatu a “lost cause”,
stating that he couldn’t even beat Sikoa.
For his troubles, Tama got superkicked by Fatu, who told
Sikoa that the only one who should be talking to is Roman
Reigns. Fatu then issued the challenge to Sikoa to face him
later tonight.
If you’re not a fan of more Bloodline drama unfolding, then
this opening segment is certainly not for you. I found it
just kind of there and a means to an end to set up our
likely main event
*******************
Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana
James) vs. Tiffany Stratton
Stratton avoided Giulia’s attacks on opposite corners before
she hit her with a clothesline. Giulia responded with a
jumping rollup pin for a near-fall. We got a series of
dueling pinfalls between champion and challenger for a bit
before Giulia caught Stratton’s cartwheel and connected with
a neckbreaker.
Stratton got the rolling senton, but couldn’t get the
Prettiest Moonsault Ever as Giulia trapped her in a tree-of-
woe position before hitting the dropkick to the head. Giulia
then got Stratton with an elevated neckbreaker from the
apron to the outside as we took a commercial timeout.
We returned from commercial as Stratton was starting to
mount her comeback. She connected with the springboard
cartwheel Stunner for a close near-fall. Stratton tried to
go up to the top rope, but Giulia intercepted her and turned
it into an avalanche butterfly suplex. One, two…. Stratton
just managed to kick out. Giulia headbutted Stratton and
tried for a slam, but got reversed. Stratton looked for a
running attack, but Kiana James grabbed her leg. Giulia ran
at Stratton, but she moved out of the way Giulia ended up
hitting James instead.
Stratton looked for another Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but
Giulia caught her in a modified Rings of Saturn submission
hold. Stratton countered it into a pinfall attempt that
Giulia kicked out of. Giulia recovered and blasted Stratton
with the Arrivederci knee. She set her up for the Northern
Lights Bomb, but Stratton reversed it into a rough-looking
Alabama Slam. She then finished Giulia off with a Prettiest
Moonsault Ever to pick up the win and the Women’s U.S.
Title.
Tiffany Stratton def. Giulia to win the Women’s United
States Championship
That was an alright match between Stratton and Giulia. It
was odd that these two were left out of the WrestleMania
card and they put together a good match here. I will say
that Giulia’s second Women’s U.S. Title reign was much like
her first, a whole lot of nothing that led nowhere.
*******************
– A pretaped vignette of Danhausen visiting The Miz’s
mansion was shown. Danhausen got into the pool, much to the
Miz’s annoyance, and it looks we’re going to get more of
these skits tonight.
– We returned as Tiffany Stratton was interviewed after her
Women’s U.S. Title win. Stratton said that this felt amazing
to be on the top again. She was no longer the runner up
after winning gold, and that she was ready to show that WWE
was running on “Tiffy Time”. New WWE Women’s Tag Team
Champions Brie Bella and Paige made their way to the ring
after this.
Paige and Brie Bella celebrate their Women’s Tag Title win
Once the new champs entered the ring, Brie said that it felt
incredible to stand in the ring to be a champion. She noted
that while it was a shame she couldn’t win it alongside her
sister Nikki, she was more than happy to take the gold
alongside a good friend like Paige. Brie then welcomed her
back to WWE.
Paige spoke next and talked about how hectic a week she just
had. When Brie gave her the call to tag with her at
WrestleMania, Paige said that she was more than happy to
answer. Paige noted that it was a rough road to get back
here, but she was so happy to be back home. She and Brie
stood against the best competitors in the world, but
SmackDown was still Paige’s house. Charlotte Flair and Alexa
Bliss showed up to interrupt proceedings.
Flair started by saying that she could speak for her and
Bliss in welcoming Paige back, but the returnee had
something that belonged to them. Flair and Bliss had been
working for so long to get back, so Flair suggested that if
Paige wanted to prove she was the best, she and Brie would
defend the Women’s Tag Titles against her and Bliss. The
Women’s Tag Champions accepted the challenge and this match
would take place after the commercial break.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella (c)
vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair
This match began during the commercial and we joined the
action in progress after the break.
Bliss hit Brie with a dropkick as she tagged in Flair, who
chopped away at Brie’s chest. She then hit a fallaway slam
before kipping up to her feet. In the corner, Flair blasted
Brie with a kick to the jaw, but missed with an attack to
the knee. This gave Brie an opening for a tag, however,
before we could get a tag, Jacy Jayne from NXT pulled down
Paige from the apron as the rest of Fatal Influence — Fallon
Henley and Lainey Reid ran in and laid waste to everyone.
Paige & Brie Bella vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair ended
in a No Contest
Not so much of a match here as it was to introduce Fatal
Influence into the Smackdown roster, and it’s giving a much
needed infusion of talent to the women’s roster of
SmackDown, which is something that I’ve made a point to
discuss on more than one occasion. This is a good piece of
business.
*******************
– We got a vignette for Royce Keys that focused on how much
he was an inspiration to his hometown of East Pala Alto, CA.
Cody Rhodes talks WrestleMania 42 fallout
The Undisputed WWE Champion, sporting one heck of a shiner
after taking Randy Orton’s punt kick, walked down to the
ring battered, bruised, but certainly not broken.
As Rhodes got into the ring, he took in the reaction from
the Fort Worth crowd before asking them what they wanted to
talk about. Rhodes wanted to talk about he walked out of
WrestleMania, even though he was beaten down. It was a
decision he made to walk up the ramp to show that he always
got back up. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even
though he wouldn’t be medically cleared, and that he’d get
stitches on the back of his head… he wanted to send it to
Randy Orton. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even
though Orton gave him his best shot — the punt to the head —
he was still standing.
He wanted to send the message to a “sarcastic and
condescending” Sami Zayn as well, who said that nothing ever
went wrong for Rhodes. That’s why he showed up in all-gold
attire at WrestleMania, because he wanted to show that he
was gold, his family was gold, and every fan of his was
gold. Most especially, he wanted to send a message to those
outside forces that kept trying to get involved in his
business: they’re 0-3, so send your best or count your money
and mind your damn business.
Rhodes concluded by throwing the gauntlet as he pointed that
if anyone wanted a shot at him, whether they were from NXT
or Raw or SmackDown. He was easy to find, but even harder to
beat.
Just a standard Cody Rhodes promo to get things going post-
WrestleMania. This almost felt like a bit of a soft reset of
sorts, in a way. The Pat McAfee-centered storyline that
plagued Rhodes vs. Orton seems to be a thing of the past
now, especially since it’s been reported that McAfee himself
(and Jelly Roll) was not a fan of how things going down, and
with good reason.
*******************
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: R-Truth & Damian Priest (c)
vs. The M.F.T.s (Tama Tonga & J.C. Mateo) (w/ Tanga Loa)
Truth and Tama got things going in this tag match. The two
traded strikes, but Tama got the upper hand here. He hit
Truth with a dropkick and mocked him with his “version” of
the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Truth dodged and tagged Priest
into the match. Priest unleashed his flurry of offense on
both Tama and Mateo in the M.F.T. corner. Mateo responded by
providing a distraction on Priest, which gave Tama the
opening to clothesline him out of the ring. At ringside,
Tanga Loa flattened Priest with a clothesline as we took a
break in the action.
We returned from break as Mateo and Tama were shelling
Priest with a double team assault. Mateo threw Priest into
his corner, but the big man began to fight back. Tama went
down with a clubbing blow, as Priest then swung for the
fences like Aaron Judge with the massive lariat on Mateo.
The hot tag from Truth as he hit the John Cena Moves of Doom
on Mateo, ending with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Tanga Loa
distracted the referee as Tama ran in and hit Truth with his
spinning neckbreaker behind the back. Priest broke up the
count as he blind tagged into the match. He and Truth hit
the “Rise Up” tag finisher on Mateo for the three and the
tag title retention.
Damian Priest & R-Truth def. The M.F.T.s to retain the WWE
Tag Team Championships
Kind of an okay match. The Truth and Priest team continues
to entertain, but this just felt like a match that was kinda
there.
*******************
– The second part of Danhausen’s visit to The Miz’s house
was shown.
Trick Williams & Li’l Yachty’s U.S. Title Celebration
The new U.S. Champion was flanked by Li’l Yachty and the
Gingerbread Man as the trio made their way to the ring to
celebrate a successful WrestleMania. The ring was festooned
with balloons, banners, and some champagne for celebration.
Williams stated to Yachty that the people were excited to
celebrate the new United States Champion. He talked about
how Yachty was there, and even the Gingerbread Man was
there. The people weren’t there to gamble, but for three
words: “Whoop That Trick”.
Yachty talked about how the WrestleMania promo tour was
over, but he was still here, because he was here to stay.
Yachty called himself “The Prophecy” as he stated that there
would be no more U.S. Title Open Challenges for the
foreseeable future. Williams concluded by talking about how
if you wanted the U.S. Champion, you find Trick Willaims.
Just as Williams was celebrating, the Gingerbread Man hit
him from behind with the cane. He removed his mask to reveal
Sami Zayn. “A man-sized batch of walking cinnamon,” as Joe
Tessitore called him, Zayn assaulted both Yachty and
Williams before he finished the U.S. Champion with a Helluva
Kick.
This was a nice segment, and the silly Gingerbread Man stuff
had a point to it with Zayn using it to trick Trick. Nice
work all around.
*******************
– Solo Sikoa once again tried to recruit Royce Keys to his
side after a backstage interview.
Danhausen vs. The Miz (w/ Kit Wilson)
Danhausen entered to the ring aboard his “coffinmobile”.
Outside the ring, Kit Wilson took the Slammy Award off the
hood of Danhausen’s rided. He then caused a distraction to
allow Miz to hit Danhausen from behind. The American
Gladiators reboot hostg stomped on Danhausen as he and
Wilson shared a moment. Danhausen did an Undertaker sit-up
and then cursed Miz and Wilson, which caused pyro to shoot
out to blind the two. This gave Danhausen the opportunity to
roll-up Miz for the win.
After the match, Miz tried to chase after Danhausen, but he
ran into a blinded Wilson, which allowed Danhausen to escape
in his coffinmobile.
Danhausen def. The Miz via pinfall
Just some silly fun here. It’s not much in the way of actual
wrestling, but it’s harmless comedic fun as Danhausen
continues to be one of the more entertaining parts of WWE as
of late, even through the rough stretches en route to
WrestleMania 42.
*******************
– A vignette for Blake Monroe was shown, stating that she’d
be joining the SmackDown roster soon.
Rhea Ripley celebrates her WrestleMania moment
The new WWE Women’s Champion entered to a huge ovation from
the Fort Worth crowd after her WrestleMania 42 victory this
past weekend.
As the crowd chanted for her, Ripley stated, “your Mami is
finally champion again.” Ripley talked about how at
WrestleMania, the grandest stage of them all, Jade Cargill
proved to her that she could actually go. But now, it was
Ripley’s time to prove that the WWE Women’s Champion is a
fighting champion. Ripley noted that she knew there were
women in the back that wanted a shot at her, and now she was
ready to take on all comers.
The music of SmackDown’s new additions, Fatal Influence,
signalled the arrival of the trio led by Jacy Jayne. They
walked down to the ring to massive boos from the crowd as
Jayne said she’d be the first one to give Ripley credit for
her win at WrestleMania, but she couldn’t talk over the
crowd booing. Jayne said that the people should be giving
credit to herself, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid for taking
out everyone’s favorite legends like they did earlier
tonight.
Ripley responded by stating that Fatal Influence should stop
while they’re ahead. Reid and Henley tried to get their
words in, but Ripley said that she was used to the number
games being against her, but that didn’t matter as she
gestured at her WWE Women’s Title. She challenged Fatal
Inlfuence to fight her right now.
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said that Jacy Jayne will face the
new WWE Women’s Champion right here and right now… or at
least after this commercial break.
*******************
Rhea Ripley vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Lainey Reid & Fallon Henley)
Jayne and Ripley sized each other up before engaging in a
chain wrestling battle. Ripley attempted a scoop slam, but
Jayne turned that into a standing headlock. She kept the
hold on for a bit before Ripley literally threw Jayne out of
it. A shoulder block from Ripley kept the newcomer to
SmackDown on her toes as Jayne talked over strategy with
Reid and Henley. That pep-talk seemed to work as Jayne got
Ripley with a running hurricanrana. Ripley responded with a
headbutt that sent Jayne out of the ring. Ripley caught
Jayne’s leg after a kick fromthe apron as she slammed her
face-first.
Reid and Henley got in Ripley’s face, which allowed Jayne to
recover with the running kick across the apron to Ripley as
we took a timeout.
We returned to live action as Jayne maintained command of
the match with a running neckbreaker on Ripley for the near-
fall. Ripley got back on top of things with a rising kick as
she hit Jayne with consecutive clotheslines, a kick, then a
running dropkick. Ripley raised Jayne up for the Razor’s
Edge, but she managed to escape from it. Ripley went for the
forearm, but was hit with the pump knee to the face by Jayne
for another near-fall.
Jayne missed with the discus elbow, as Ripley got her with
the big boot on the button. Ripley headed to the top rope,
but Jayne used the ropes to trip her foe up. This allowed
Jayne to get in position for an attempted superplex, but
Ripley escaped and hit the Cheeky Nando’s kick, as she tried
for an electric chair move. Jayne reversed into a roll-up
for the near-fall. Ripley hit back with the Razor’s Edge
followed by the Shining Wizard for a close two.
Ripley attempted a Prism Trap, but Jayne countered it.
Ripley headbutted Jayne and looked like she was going to hit
the Riptide. Fatal Influence got involved to cause the DQ
finish. After the match, Jayne, Reid, and Henley laid out
the WWE Women’s Champion with a three-on-one-attack.
Rhea Ripley def. Jacy Jayne via Disqualification
I know the DQ finish was going to wrinkle a few feathers,
but I thought it was deployed perfectly here, especially as
the aim was to put over the new arrivals to SmackDown as a
serious threat. I think Fatal Influence was used to great
effect here and got put over easily as a new heel force on
the roster.
*******************
– After a recap of Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu’s Raw
confrontation, we got a backstage segment with Fatu stating
to the Usos that he didn’t need their help against the
likely involvement of The M.F.T.s in our main event.
– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were stewing over
being laid out by Fatal Influence earlier. Rhea Ripley
appeared and asked if there was a problem. Flair was
defensive and said she was going to go take care of Jacy
Jayne next week, unlike “some” people, directing that
towards Ripley.
– A Retrospective on Brock Lesnar was shown.
– Ricky Saints was teased to be making his debut on
SmackDown next week as an official part of the blue brand’s
roster.
Solo Sikoa (w/ The M.F.T.s) vs. Jacob Fatu
Fatu and Sikoa locked horns in the middle of the ring to
start as the former backed the latter into the corner. A
cheap kick to the gut by Sikoa led to a headlock, but Fatu
got out of it and withstood two running shoulder blocks
before he hit Sikoa in the throat with a strike. Fatu hit
repeated headbutts on Sikoa, but got sent face-first into
the turnbuckle, which allowed Sikoa to hit back with some
punches of his own.
Sikoa taunted Fatu, but paid for it with a running forearm,
followed by the spinning takedown. As Fatu tried to run,
J.C. Mateo snagged his leg, as the M.F.T.s struck on the
outside with the referee distracted. Meanwhile, The Usos
appeared on the ramp, much to Fatu’s protestations. This
gave Sikoa an opportunity to strike with a clothesline on
Fatu as we took our last commercial break.
Our main event returned as Fatu began to try and mount a
comeback. Sikoa caught Fatu’s running attack and turned that
into a release German suplex for a near-fall. Sikoa tried to
strike at Fatu, but got met wtih bigger attacks from his
foe, which culminated in a series of rights and a
clothesline to the face. Fatu then hit a clothesline in the
corner on Sikoa, as he then got ten consecutive headbutts on
his stunned foe. This left Sikoa at the mercy of Fatu’s
running hip attack. Tama Tonga tried to distract Fatu, but
Sikoa failed to hit the Samoan Spike, as a superkick took
him out.
Fatu headed to the top rope, but J.C. Mateo pushed him off
the perch with the referee distracted. Sikoa rolled up Fatu,
but couldn’t get the win. Fatu took out the M.F.T
interference outside with one suicide dive, as Sikoa used
this opening to hit the Spinning Solo. Diving splash from
the top, but Fatu kicked out of Sikoa’s best shot. Sikoa
looke dfor the Samoan Spike, but Fatu responded with a
superkick, followed by the pop-up Samoan Drop. One Mighty
Moonsault later, and it was a victory for Fatu.
Post-match, Mateo, Tanga, and Tama attacked Fatu, which
prompted the Usos to run it. However, it seemed like Fatu
didn’t need the help as he took it to the remnants of the
M.F.T.s Fatu wrapped the steel chairs around the necks of
Tama and Mateo, as he hit the running hip attack on the both
of them. Outside the ring, Tanga Loa ate a suicide dive.
Fatu rearranged the furniture and got on the barrier to hit
a diving splash through the announce table on Tanga.
The show ended with Fatu staring down the Usos, who only
stood on the apron. Fatu said that he’d see Roman Reigns on
Raw this coming Monday.
Jacob Fatu def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall
*******************
That was a perfectly fine main event, and it did its job of
establishing Jacob Fatu as a credible threat for Roman
Reigns as the World Heavyweight Champion.
Meanwhile, this post-WrestleMania SmackDown fell kind of
flat for me, even with moments I liked such as Fatal
Influence’s debut and Danhausen’s antics. It just felt like
a show that really didn’t seem like an important aftermath
to WrestleMania, and not helped by the absences of certain
players such as Randy Orton or Jade Cargill.
Moreover, I think a lot of why I couldn’t really get into
tonight’s show was the news of WWE doing its annual spring
releases just before SmackDown went on the air. Among those
released were the entire Wyatt Sicks faction, as well as
Aleister Black and Kairi Sane — all of whom were just on WWE
programming in various storylines. It’s hard to really get
excited about a show on a night when the company running the
show you’ve covered decided it’d be a good idea for these
cost-cutting cuts that do nobody any favours.
I don’t think I have to explain how losing a job sucks and
that making jokes about it, no matter how you feel about the
company that fired them is kind of terrible. At the end of
the day, it comes down to corporate greed by the
decisionmakers within WWE and TKO, and every year, it’s just
a painful reminder.
I hope everyone that was released today find the feet
elsewhere in the wide world of wrestling, because it’s a
great big world out there now, and the sky is certainly the
limit for everyone.