Seth Rollins crashed the party but Cody Rhodes was ready. And where does Randy Orton fit into all this, now or later?
Before WWE Champion Cody Rhodes could get into asking about what everyone wanted to talk about on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Paul Heyman and his two Brons interrupted. Before they could do anything, Randy Orton, Cody’s partner in the tag match later in the evening, showed up to stand by the champ’s side.
It was then that Heyman revealed he’s been trying to get a hold of The Viper. He knew, too, that the best way to do it was to go after Rhodes.
Naturally, it was time for Heyman to drive a wedge.
He claimed Orton would be looking at the title, and when things go wrong, as they inevitably will, whatever will he do? He’ll look to his friend and wonder where he was and why it all went down that way.
They’ve been building to this for some time now, and they made sure to leave us with a teaser when Cody looked to his title facing away from Randy but Orton could be seen looking at it too.
The main event was your standard fare, a fun showcase of the top stars, but it ended predictably enough — Seth Rollins showed up at the right time, hit a Stomp on Orton, and Bronson Reed followed up with a Tsunami to score the pinfall. It was indeed a scenario in which Orton very well could decide to wonder where Rhodes was in that moment.
Cody came in to check on Randy after the fact and when Rollins couldn’t help himself and went for a Stomp there too — even while Paul Heyman told him not to — Rhodes was ready for it and laid him out with the Cross Rhodes. It was yet another example of Cody having Seth’s number.
Same lesson, same teacher.
See you in Perth.
Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer came to SmackDown to do a contract signing for her match against Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton at Crown Jewel. This will be for the Crown Jewel championship, or the ring, or whatever the hell it is.
It kinda sucks!
The idea is fine, mostly, but it’s a poor excuse for a reason to do a match like this, forcing these two together at a time when it makes little sense to do so and ensuring one of them takes a loss when they don’t need to. It feels like trying to appease an outside influence instead of doing the right thing for all involved.
The match should be fine, but they knew they needed more so they had United States Champion Giulia crash the party to get herself involved alongside Kiana James. She had an offer for Vaquer to team up, but Stratton, who they had taken out beforehand, got a fight kicked off. This will give them something coming out of this, and gets Giulia, wasting away in a non-existent mid-card scene, closer to doing something truly meaningful.
We’ll take it.
All the rest
- Carmelo Hayes told The Miz the two of them are done. He did this backstage, in a nothing segment. There had to be more coming, right? Sure enough, Hayes tried to answer Sami Zayn’s U.S. title open challenge and Miz hit him with a Skull Crushing Finale before he could even head to the ring for it. In his place, Aleister Black walked out and right over him.
- Black and Zayn had themselves one hell of a fun TV match too, one I found myself wishing got even more time than the multiple breaks it had. The end was satisfying in the live sense but I was left wanting, because Damian Priest showed up as a distraction that helped Zayn retain his title. I’m not here to say Black deserves better so much as to say I wanted a straight up finish. Still, it was a lot of fun. Black took a Razor’s Edge through the announcer’s table after the fact too. Tough night!
- Sol Ruca and Zaria came up to the main roster for a match against The Secret Hervice for positioning in the women’s tag team division, or at least that’s how commentary sold it. The match ended up being one big showcase for the NXT squad, who looked fantastic going over clean after Ruca hit the Sol Snatcher and pinned Chelsea Green. They quickly interviewed the champs, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, and they playfully confirmed a title match is all but official.
- Speaking of NXT folks showing up and showing out, Je’Von Evans had a chat with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and it appeared to go well. He found himself in a tag team match alongside Rey Fenix against Los Garza, and it was an absolute thrill ride from start to finish. Evans is so clearly a star in the making and this showcased that. The question is whether or not he’ll get stuck on the way up needed something depth to his character. Here’s to hoping he finds a catchphrase or something soon because he’s got everything else down pat.
- It just occurred to me while they ran a promo for Solo Sikoa’s guy, Talla Tonga, that he is tall as hell and they named him “Talla.” He loves Solo. Yeah. The bigger story coming out of this week’s promo is that Sikoa said there is something missing but once he finds that, it’s over for everyone. Intrigue!
An entertaining enough evening.
Grade: B-
Your turn.
Category: General Sports