Posted on 5/02/126 by Bob Magee
– Our show opened with a recap of Raw this past Monday and
the situation between Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns that led
to a World Heavyweight Championship match at Backlash to be
made. Following the recap, we got our usual rigmorole of
wrestler arrivals, including Charlotte Flair, Jacy Jayne,
and Sami Zayn.
Cody Rhodes opens SmackDown
The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down to the ring,
his left eye looking somewhat better than it did in the wake
of WrestleMania 42 and to a warmer reception than in recent
weeks.
“Tulsa, Oklahoma, what do you wanna talk about?” started
Rhodes in his usual fashion. He said that it’s always nice
to get new information, namely if he was medically cleared
for action. Rhodes spoke with WWE Medical officials and
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and got news that he was cleared to
compete. Which begets the question: “What’s next for Cody
Rhodes on SmackDown?”
At that point, an old friend interrupted in the form of
Ricky Saints, who was making his SmackDown debut. Saints
arrived to a middling reaction from the Tulsa crowd. As soon
as he got to the ring, Saints said that the crowd booed what
they didn’t understand as he introduced himself. Saints
declared himself as the “hottest, fliest SmackDown free
agent” standing in front of Rhodes.
Saints talked about he and Rhodes were no strangers with one
another, but that there was a change in the air. It was a
revolution and there was only one man leading that: Ricky
Saints himself. He welcomed everyone to “Friday Night
Saints”.
Rhodes got back on the mic and said that he was glad to have
Saints here, but it was a bold move to do it now. He asked
Saints what the difference between now and the last time he
stepped up to him. Saints responded by pointing out Rhodes’
recent wounds and hyped up his achievements as a former NXT
Champion and a NXT North American champion. Saints said that
he stood in the background of Rhodes’ own achievements to
the detriment of his own benefit. Saints said he was ready
to relieve Rhodes of his duties.
Rhodes officially issued the chalenge to Ricky Saints to
face him tonight. Saints accepted and said that he was here
to change who this show was about. Rhodes concluded by
repeating what he said last week: “easy to find, hard to
beat.”
I liked this opening segment and immediately putting
newcomer Ricky Saints with a familiar foe in Cody Rhodes is
a good way to establish him on SmackDown.
**************************************
– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were interviewed
about the Fatal Influence situation. Rhea Ripley appeared
and said that she tried to take on Fatal Influence alone,
but got overwhelemed. She pointed out how she was willing to
put her differences with Charlotte aside to take on Fatal
Influence. Flair refused, stating that “three is kind of a
crowd”. Bliss remarked that Flair was just about to make a
“dramatic entrance”.
Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Fallon
Henley & Lainey Reid)
As Jayne made her entrance, she had something to say. Jayne
noted that last week was just a taste of what Fatal
Influence will do to SmackDown. Jayne declared that she and
Fatal Influence were going to take out the legends one by
one, starting with Charlotte Flair.
This match kicked off with a lock-up that got broken up by
the ref in the corner. Jayne answered with a kick to the
gut, but Flair hit her with a running shoulder block in
response. Flair got clubbed in the back after a leap from
the turnbuckle as Jayne worked her over in the corner. Jayne
hit a hurricanrana, but got sent face-first into the middle
turnbuckle. Flair then did three successive head scissors on
the ground to keep Jayne down.
Flair attempted a Figure-Eight, but Jayne escaped to the
outside, as Bliss snuck up behind her. Jayne flinched in
fear and we took a break.
Back to the match as Flair broke free of Jayne’s resthold,
but was left stunned in the corner. However, that was for
naught as Flair recovered and hit a back suplex on Jayne.
The former WWE Women’s Champion got her second wind and
shelled Jayne with chops, followed by the stepover
clothesline. Flair got herself up to the top rope and hit a
high crossbody. Jayne rolled it over to a near-fall to
nearly win. Flair blasted Jayne with a big boot and had her
in the drop zone for the signature moonsault. One, two…
Jayne managed to kick out at two.
Jayne hit her with a chop block, followed by a big running
knee to the jaw of Flair for a close two. Another big boot
by Flair to block the Rolling Encore. Figure-Eight Leg Lock
by Flair, but Fallon Henley broke it up behind the referee’s
back. Reid dropped Alexa Bliss on the outside, as Jayne hit
a distracted Flair with Rolling Encore for the win.
Post-match saw Fatal Influence continue their attack on
Flair and Bliss until Rhea Ripley ran down with payback on
her mind. Ripley kicked fended off the trio as Jayne escaped
a Riptide attempt by nearly shoving Ripley into Flair.
Jacy Jayne def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall
This was a good match and the chicanery-filled finish is at
least consistent with regards to Jacy Jayne and Fatal
Influence’s methods of winning.
**************************************
– WWE Women’s Tag Champions Paige and Brie Bella were
interviewed about Fatal Influence. Brie talked about how
they were impressed by the trio, but sooner or later they
were going to have to face Brie and Paige. They then turned
their attention to Nia Jax and Lash Legend, who they’ll
defend their Women’s Tag Title against later tonight.
– Earlier Today footage set up Damian Priest & R-Truth
defending their WWE Tag Titles against Fraxiom, that was
apparently borne out of a misunderstanding because Truth was
telling Nathan Frazer and Axiom about filing their taxes,
but Priest assumed that a challenge was being made.
– We got some backstage antics with Danhausen and The Miz &
Kit Wilson. The latter two were trying to spring a trap for
Danhausen with “free human monies”, but it didn’t work.
Danhausen got the money without incident, and the trap
instead backfired on Miz and Kit Wilson after Danhausen
left.
WWE Tag Team Championships: R-Truth & Damian Priest vs.
Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)
Truth and Axiom kicked it off here as the former took down
his foe with a shoulder charge. Axiom quickly picked up
speed with a dropklck and a tag to Frazer, but nothing more
as Truth tagged in Priest. Frazer got ahead of it with a
slide underneath priest, followed by the kick. The tag to
Axiom, who got rocked with a elbow from Priest. Razor’s Edge
countered as Fraxiom looked to hit a stereo dive on the
champs. Truth and Priest wisely walked away as we took a
break.
We returned from commercial as Truth hit Axiom with a
suplex-into-a-Stunner. Priest entered the match and
proceeded to tee off on Axiom and Frazer on opposite
corners. Priest hit Axiom with the roaring lariat, but
Frazer acrobatically countered the South of Heaven
afterwards. Truth tagged in and unleashed the John Cena Five
Moves of Doom on Frazer, ending with the Five-Knuckle
Shuffle. Axiom pulled Priest down from the apron as Frazer
nearly had it won by rollup. As Truth was deposited over the
top rope, Fraxiom proceeded to hit the tag champs with a
barrage of dives to the outside.
Back in the ring, Fraxom hit a double team dropkick (a
“Catapult Inferno”, according to commentary), but Priest
broke up the count before he dragged Truth to his corner for
the tag. With Priest as the legal man, he hit Frazer with
South of Heaven, followed by the Razor’s Edge for the three
to retain the WWE Tag Titles.
After the match, the M.F.T.s launched an attack on everyone
as Talla Tonga laid waste to everyone.
Damian Priest & R-Truth def. Fraxiom via pinfall to retain
the WWE Tag Team Championships
This was an okay tag match, but I’m really not too keen on
the Bloodline D-Team going after the tag titles again as
teased in the post-match segment. The M.F.T.s just don’t
interest me.
**************************************
Solo Sikoa speaks
After the break, Solo Sikoa addressed the events of last
week as he stated that Jacob Fatu made a big mistake by
demolishing the M.F.T.s on SmackDown just seven days ago.
Even though Jacob took out Sikoa’s army, he took out his
family. Sikoa said that the reason why the rest of the
M.F.T.s weren’t standing was because of what Fatu did.
That’s why when Jacob arrived to the arena, he’d be a dead
man according to Sikoa.
The Usos interrupted Sikoa’s diatribe and confronted the
last two M.F.T members in the ring. Jimmy declared that the
M.F.T.s weren’t the only one who had a problem with Jacob
Fatu. He and Jey had a problem with Jacob for putting his
hands on their Tribal Chief, and doing so with the sacred
Tongan Death Grip. Jey said that whatever plans that Sikoa
had for Jacob, they’d have to wait until Roman Reigns got
their hands on him. They weren’t asking Sikoa, they were
telling him.
Sikoa said that they didn’t have time for this as Talla
Tonga took out both Jimmy and Jey with ease. Sikoa then told
the fallen Usos that Roman Reigns wasn’t his Tribal Chief,
and that Jacob was still a dead man.
I don’t think I have to go on a stretch about how much I
really don’t care about the retread for Bloodline drama, and
the fact that it seemed like the Usos regressed character
wise because of it isn’t helping. Jimmy and Jey were their
own men a little over a year ago, but now they’re back being
nothing more but Roman Reigns’ flunkies like it’s 2021 all
over again. This “absolute cinema” just doesn’t do it for
me, especially in rehehated leftovers form, and highlights
the creative laziness plaguing WWE. Though whether that’s
influenced by AI as rumored is up to your interpretation.
**************************************
– Just as Cody Rhodes was getting ready to face Ricky
Saints, Sami Zayn confronted him and seeemed taken aback by
being called “sarcastic” by Rhodes last week. Zayn tried to
suggest that he and Rhodes were friends. Rhodes didn’t see
it that way, stating that he and Zayn were not the same.
Cody Rhodes vs. Ricky Saints
Saints got ahead early with shoulder blocks on Rhodes,
followed by a pair of armdrags as he struck a confident
taunt in the middle of the ring. Rhodes responded with a
suplex attempt, but Saints escaped. Saints leapt on the
apron to escape, but he got socked in the face by Rhodes.
Back in the ring, Saints clotheslined Rhodes out of the ring
to take us into the commercial break.
We returned from the break as Saints had Rhodes in a
headlock, but couldn’t keep it on for long as “QB1” escaped.
Saints got back on top of it with a neckbreaker, followed by
a knee to the face of Rhodes. Saints dragged Rhodes’ face
across the rope before he walked the ropes for a little Old
School action at the champ’s expense. Saints took a bit too
long to showboat as Rhodes hit the snap powerslam, followed
by a Disaster Kick and the Cody Cutter. Rhodes attempted a
running powerslam, but got countered into a swinging
neckbreaker by Saints for the close two.
Saints attempted a roll-up, but couldn’t put the match away.
He then hit the Revolution DDT on Rhodes for yet another
close near-fall. Saints then lifted up Rhodes for
Rochambeau, but Cody reversed it into Cross Rhodes for the
victory.
After the match, Gunther snuck up and put the sleeper on
Rhodes as referees tried to pull him off. He took the
Undisputed WWE Title and raised it before leaving.
Cody Rhodes def. Ricky Saints via pinfall
A solid debut for Saints, but I’m very interested in Gunther
as Rhodes’ next challenger, because my goodness in heaven,
he needed something to do other than being pigeonholed as
“the retirement guy”. I don’t know if the big man will
actually be the champ, but Gunther’s booking post-John Cena
retirement (or lack thereof) has been really dire so I’m
just happy he’s getting this shot at the title like what
should’ve happened a while ago, y’know?
**************************************
Danhausen drops by
The incomparable Danhausen arrived in his “Hausen-Mobile”,
as he gave out merchandise that he bought with the money
that he had taken earlier. Danhausen’s fun was interrupted
by the arrival of The Miz.
Miz said that ever since Danhausen arrived, all sorts of bad
things has happened to him. He said that he had come to a
realization that he was cursed. That’s why he was going to
do the thing that he never thought he was going to do: be
the Danhausen’s mentor. Before anything could formally
happen, Kit Wilson interrupted and said that Miz was making
a mistake.
Miz told Wilson to shut up because Danhausen gone above and
beyond. Wilson was aploplectic and wanted Miz to shake his
hand instead. After some indecision, Miz shook Danhausen’s
hand, and said that there was only one thing left to do… he
hit Danhausen from behind and revealing that this was a
ruse. Miz and Wilson proceeded to beat down Danhausen, with
a Skull-Crushing Finale and the Men Cry Too elbow.
Apparently Danhausen has no friends backstage given that
nobody helped him fight off Miz and Wilson. Okay, then…
**************************************
– A vignette for Blake Monroe was shown, promising her
arrival to SmackDown in the near future.
Royce Keys vs. Angel (w/ Berto)
Angel threw his jacket in Keys’ face, but that did him
little good as he was deposited out of the ring by the
powerhouse. As Angel got back into the ring, he tried to
avoid Keys’ clothesline, but not to any sort of success.
Berto tried to get invovved, but got hobbled knocked from
the apron by Keys. Angel went for a leap, but Keys caught
him and took him up to the top rope for an avalanche
powerslam. Keys then finished Angel off in short order with
the spinebuster.
Royce Keys def. Angel via pinfall
A rather short match that showed off Keys’ power off well,
especially with that avalanche powerslam. This was fine.
**************************************
– Tiffany Stratton’s interview was crashed by Chelsea Green,
Giulia, and Kiana James. This led to a Women’s U.S. Title
match between Stratton and James to be made for next week.
– Royce Keys gave Jacob Fatu a pep talk backstage, before
Talla Tonga and Solo Sikoa struck and laid the two out. Th e
Jamie Noble-led road agents and officials checked up on Keys
and Fatu.
Sami Zayn speaks
With the Gingerbread Man in the ring, Sami Zayn made his way
to speak to the Tulsa crowd.
Once Zayn got into the ring, he asked if we were having fun.
He said that he loved being in Tulsa, and he loved Bob
Dylan. Zayn talked about the day Dylan picked up an electric
guitar and how the people booed him for it, stating that he
could relate to that. Zayn didn’t know why what he did to
get the hatred from the crowd. But, that didn’t matter for
Zayn, because his “Ride or Dies” were here in the building.
Zayn talked about how he couldn’t deal with the disrespect
from Trick Williams. He pointed out that the Gingerbread Man
represented Williams more than it did Zayn, because of
Williams being a “shell of a person”. Zayn said that when he
looked at the Gingerbread Man, he saw Trick Williams not
taking him seriously, and as pure disrespect. Zayn said that
every time he looked at the Gingerbread Man as he kicked the
Gingerbread Man in the middle of the ring. The mannequin was
torn apart by Zayn before Trick Williams ran in to fight
with Zayn.
Williams struck Zayn with fists and had him set up for the
Trick Shot. Zayn rolled out of harm’s way. He then threw up
an “X” for the Gingerbread Man mannequin as it was getting
checked up on.
An… odd segment, with Zayn attacking a mannequin and
Williams making the save for said mannequin. I thought the
story of Zayn’s heel turn was going swimmingly in recent
weeks, but things kinda went off the rails here, and not in
a good way. “Oof”, is all I have to say about what we just
saw.
**************************************
– Trick Williams was asked about the status of the
Gingerbread Man backstage. Zayn crossed the line with his
action and that he’s got a lot to answer for. Williams said
that Zayn will face him for the U.S. Title at Backlash. A
doctor said that the Gingerbread Man didn’t make it.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella (c)
vs. The Irresistable Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend)
Legend threw Paige around easily to start off, as she then
struck her with a hard strike to the face after a Nia Jax
distraction. Big splash by Lash on Paige got an early near-
fall. Jax tagged in and continued the punishment on Paige
until a jawbreaker allowed Paige to tag in Brie Bella. Jax
got struck down with knees to the gut, followed by the “Brie
Mode Knee”. Brie got on the apron and was held by the leg by
Legend, which allowed Jax to knock Brie down to the floor as
we took a break.
This Arby’s-sponsored match returned as Brie tried to tag in
Paige. Legend intercepted, but got thrown for a hurricanrana
by Brie. Paige finally re-entered the match on the hot tag
and floored Legend with a kick to the face. On the apron,
Paige battered Legend with kicks to the chest. On the top
rope, Paige went for a dive, but Legend caught her. Brie
blind tagged as Legend was hit with the Paige Turner. Bella
Buster by Brie couldn’t secure the win as Nia Jax broke up
the count.
Jax tagged in and had Brie in the Annhilator drop zone, but
Paige clipped her legs, as Brie got the flash pin for the
three.
Brie Bella & Paige def. The Irresistable Forces via pinfall
to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
A bit rough around the edges. Not a lot of chemistry between
the two teams and this match suffered as a result.
**************************************
– Inexplicably, an In Memoriam for the Gingerbread Man was
shown.
Next Week on SmackDown
We’ll hear from Gunther
Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley vs. Fatal
Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid)
Funeral for The Gingerbread Man
WWE Women’s United States Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c)
vs. Kiana James
– Nick Aldis made two matches for Backlash: Sami Zayn vs.
Trick Williams in a U.S. Title rematch, and Danhausen facing
The Miz & Kit Wilson, but only if Danhausen can find a
partner.
The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa &
Talla Tonga)
Jey went after Talla immediately with a superkick and a
strike to the jaw, but that did nothing as he got taken down
by the giant. Big elbow drop by Talla as Sikoa tagged in and
kept the attack on Jey. Sikoa got hit with an enzuigiri by
Jey, as Jimmy tagged in and worked over his foe with a chop.
A dive from a top by Jimmy was intercepted with the Spinning
Solo by Sikoa. Running hip attack to the corner by Sikoa as
we took a break.
Our main event returned as Jimmy Uso was down and out at
ringside after Talla ran into him just before the break
ended. Back inside the ring, Sikoa tagged in and and kept
the assault on Jimmy locked. Talla clotheslined Jimmy behind
the referee’s back as he next entered the match with a stomp
and a legdrop. Jimmy escaped the grip of Talla, but was
dropped with a Samoan Drop. Talla attacked Jey on the apron
as Sikoa tagged in and lined up his Samoan Spike. Jimmy
broke free from Talla and sent Sikoa out of the ring.
Talla wiped himself out by running into the post after Jimmy
dodged. With Jey recovered, he got the hot tag and dove onto
Talla outside before doing the same to Sikoa back in the
ring. Jey delivered a combo of rights to Sikoa and reversed
the Spinning Solo with a Spear. The count, but Talla made
the save. Jimmy joined in as the two hit double superkicks
and a clothesline to take Talla out of the ring. Jimmy tried
for a dive, but that was blocked by Talla. Both Usos were
thrown about at ringside by Talla, who began to rearrange
the furniture. Meanwhile, Jacob Fatu joined in and attacked
Talla to cause the disqualification.
Post-match, Fatu took out Talla with the steel steps as he
confronted Sikoa inside the ring. Sikoa tried to beg off,
but he got the brunt of the Tongan Death Grip. Talla
interjected and and looked like he was going to chokeslam
Fatu through the table, but he too ate a Tongan Death Grip,
followed by a Samoan Drop through the table!
Fatu stepped back in the ring and faced off with Jimmy and
Jey. He walked past the Usos with disrespect, making it
clear he wasn’t ready to make peace with them. Fatu ended
the night by stating that he was going to dogwalk Roman
Reigns’ ass at Backlash.
The M.F.T.s def. The Usos via Disqualification