Greensboro, North Carolina, was treated to a fun night of action at “WWE SmackDown” with Money in the Bank right around the corner.
The first qualifiers for the upcoming ladder matches were sorted, title matches were announced and title matches happened. Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena still hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since his win at WWE Backlash, but his next opponent has been revealed. Let’s just get it out of the way, folks.
🤡Joke of the Night
It’s officially official. John Cena’s heel run is terrible. Why? Besides the obvious we have already witnessed, Cena will take on R-Truth at Saturday Night’s Main Event next weekend.
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There needs to be a swerve to this because I can’t think of a more wasteful final match for Cena to have, other than providing a few small fun spots here and there.
Seriously though. What is this? Why? How does this make sense? Although it’s not a title match, which is even more wasteful, R-Truth will take on the guy he helped defend their title … because he helped said champion cheat to win. This sounds so stupidly unique that, off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other booking like this.
I don’t know how you redeem this Cena run, unless he gets turned back to a face in the Truth match, which felt somewhat teased after he beat Randy Orton. Or have him completely brutalize Truth to the point of discomfort, giving Cena the heat he’s missing with the crowd.
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Speaking of Orton, if anything, he should be trying to destroy Truth after being a part of his loss. And that’s your swerve, folks. Have Orton punt Truth next week, or even the night before the match. At his wits’ end, “WWE SmackDown” general manager Nick Aldis refuses to give Orton a rematch, leading them to the match we were teased for WrestleMania.
So, who replaces R-Truth? Since Cena would stay heel in that scenario, no one. Instead, bring back Cody Rhodes for a confrontation. We all know they’ll meet again anyway.
👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
Solo Sikoa just out of nowhere decided to start “WWE SmackDown” with brilliance and win our Uncrowned Gem of the Night.
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From the entrance presentation to the promo, Sikoa was back to feeling like a big deal despite falling off the radar since he lost to Roman Reigns in January. He was fantastic in his near collision with Jacob Fatu, as he reminded the U.S. Champion of his “I love you, Solo” line. All while crediting Jeff Cobb (now known as JC Mateo) for helping keep the belt in the family at WWE Backlash.
It really is wild seeing the human brick wall Cobb in WWE.
Despite LA Knight halting Sikoa and Fatu from coming to blows to end the segment, they’re very close to coming to a head, and it will be fun when it does happen. Ultimately, we have to give some props to Sikoa after seeing his stock plummet so dramatically this year.
🔺Trifectas of the Night
I love when WWE gives us multiple triple threats in one night, thanks to the first Money In the Bank qualifier matches.
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To continue the Sikoa chatter, it was just a good night for the former Bloodline prodigy. Sikoa won against Rey Fenix and Jimmy Uso to advance to the big ladder match. It admittedly wasn’t much of a triple threat, as a lot of the action came between pairings of each rather than them all getting involved at once. As much as I don’t love The Usos using spears, I also don’t love Sikoa winning this simply because of how incredibly fun Fenix would be in the PLE match. He also took the pin, so it was an overall rough result.
On the women’s side of the action, Alexa Bliss rightfully beat Michin and Chelsea Green. Bliss and Michin started the match hilariously double-teaming against Green to keep her out of the ring as long as possible. The match was fun and frantic, allowing Bliss to show off some technical work as she kept shaking the rust off.
I have to say, the DDT variation of the Sister Abigail finisher is too much. It makes the person taking it just look so clueless, allowing it to happen to them with the pause for the arm placement. Bliss becoming “Miss Money In the Bank” again would be fun, but I expect her and Charlotte Flair to have a mid-match feud begin.
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Bliss explained the reason for reaching out last week. It was a nice little callback to their NXT days, when Bliss said Flair took her somewhat under her wing. Flair, in heel fashion, said she didn’t remember it and that they barely knew each other. I still think a tag team might be the most interesting outcome between these two, but it’s an interesting path to put these two on if they’re about to stay intertwined.
😮 Spot of the Night
WWE sold me a ticket on that absurd powerbomb counter failure into an An-Nia-lator on Tiffany Stratton against Nia Jax. That had to have knocked the wind out of the Women’s Champion before she grabbed the rope to keep the match going. Sheesh.
Ultimately, Stratton (thankfully) successfully defended against Jax in the show’s main event. Jax looked ridiculously strong, surviving a Prettiest Moonsault Ever before taking a chair dropkick into a second moonsault for Stratton’s pin.
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In the middle of the match, Jade Cargill chased off a chair-wielding Naomi in one of the most unnecessary overbooking spots you’ll ever see. The latter brought the chair into the ringside area, leading to the finishing sequence, but other than that, they had no impact on the outcome. So, it was a sneaky nice little touch, but could have been done without — especially since it cut Jax open the hard way.
WWE somehow has to get Stratton to either a triple-threat match against Naomi and Cargill, or a singles match against either. I, of course, hope for the triple threat, not just for my love of that match type, but because then we won’t have to worry about an interference from either contender.
👍 FRIDAY NIGHT FIRE 👍
1. Fraxiom is getting put over early and often on “WWE SmackDown.” There’s nothing wrong with that. They beat #DIY in another excellent match. They get their title match against The Street Profits next week.
2. Giulia has officially been moved to “WWE SmackDown.” After setting the foundation alongside Roxanne Perez in recent weeks, there were some fun routes to explore on “WWE Raw.” Regardless, Giula on either show is a big win. She’ll face Charlotte Flair and Zelina Vega in a Money In the Bank qualifier next week. That match is going to slap.
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3. After the triple-threat skirmish, JC Mateo had his debut match against LA Knight and got the win. It was an excellent display for those who have never seen Cobb, and a first win over Knight is a big deal for him.
🤷 SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN 🤷
1. Damian Priest had a good video package, requesting a steel cage match with Drew McIntyre at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The dental record line was gold, and these two will surely put on another great match, but extending their program this far beyond WrestleMania 41 shows how directionless both are right now. The feud should have ended there. Regardless, McIntyre accepted later in the night.
👎 DOWN & OUT 👎
1. Aleister Black beat Carmelo Hayes via disqualification when The Miz attacked him. The match was fine. It wasn’t as good as last week, but the problem is that these three will likely all keep this feud going for whatever reason. However, Hayes standing tall with the other two on the ground was an interesting sight, as Black will face Shinsuke Nakamura and LA Knight in a Money In the Bank qualifier next week.
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2. On the flip side of the third Friday Night Fire, Knight taking a loss clean like he did to Cobb is pretty brutal. He looked weak, and I don’t know what direction WWE is trying to take him now, but there needs to be a quick rebuild.
3. Joe Tessitore has gotten very, very over the top with his commentary. We love the passion, but his freak-outs are just kind of comical at certain moments.
👑 I give this show a Crown score of: 8/10.👑
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