Before the WWE Superstars can walk into WrestleMania, the women of Team Blue took a brief detour to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tonight for Friday Night SmackDown, where WrestleMania XL is set to take to place at the nearby Lincoln Financial Field.
Kicking things off on the women’s side of things was Scarlett in a vignette with The Final Testament. She didn’t have a speaking role, but their attack on Bobby Lashley last week was explained by her hubby Karrion Kross as a “lesson of humility”. The Final Testament, represented by Kross and The Authors of Pain, and Bobby’s faction with The Street Profits, The Pride, will clash head-to-head on Night Two of WrestleMania XL on Sunday, April 7th.
Zelina Vega checked up on an injured Dragon Lee with Carlito and Cruz Del Toro of the LWO, but it was too late for Vega to do anything as she had to go out to the ring to face Elektra Lopez of Legado Del Fantasma, with Rey Mysterio by her side. When Elektra made her entrance, she was not only accompanied by Santos Escobar, but by Dominik Mysterio and Andrade as a nervous Zelina looked on before the commercial break.
Once we were back from the break, Zelina brought the fight to Elektra and seemed poised to win via DDT until Dominik got up on the ropes to distract the referee, but a resulting punch in the face got her put away via an Electric Shock from Lopez. After a match, the threesome of Dirty Dom, Andrade, and Santos attacked Rey while Elektra made Zelina watch. It quickly led to a swerve among the trio of hombres as Andrade turned his back on Dominik and Santos, helping Rey up and embracing his former manager in Zelina.
Next, Naomi and Bianca Belair made their way out to address Damage CTRL less than 24 hours before their big six-woman tag team match alongside Jade Cargill. Bianca started off by mentioning that everyone knows of her history with the group going back to the very beginning 2 years ago, fighting them time and time again to the point of wanting to give up, until Naomi returned to WWE and made her realize she was not alone in her goal of ridding them once and for all.
Jade Cargill was then introduced, and reassured the WWE Universe that with “The Big Three” of her, Naomi, and Bianca around, there will be “no Damage CTRL”; for Asuka, Kairi, and Dakota, this is no promise, simply a threat, as in Jade’s words, they are now “in the eye of the storm”.
Backstage after Zelina’s match, it was revealed that Dragon Lee would be unable to compete with Rey Mysterio against Santos and Dominik at Night One tomorrow. Andrade however, stepped in to tag with Rey at the Grandest Stage of Them All, leaving Zelina happy.
A victory by New Catch Republic over the team of Grayson Waller and Austin Theory was quickly interrupted by an attack from The Judgment Day, who of course were accompanied by WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Ms. Ripley watched on with glee as the two teams were laid out in the ring.
A vignette for Bayley followed. Bayley is no stranger to making history, as clips of her being the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champion and first ever women’s Grand Slam champion were shown early on. Damage CTRL was her brainchild, as she wanted to make something unique and groundbreaking. Her vision to take over WWE was shared by IYO and Dakota, as demonstrated by the success of the two as Women’s Tag Team Champions and IYO winning the Money in the Bank contract last year plus securing the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam.
However, Bayley feels things took a turn once Asuka joined the group and Kairi Sane made her WWE return, as she became the group’s outcast. Not even winning this year’s Royal Rumble made IYO believe in her, and getting turned on made her question whether or not the friendship she had with the rest of the group was even genuine. Now, as the person who built Damage CTRL with all of her heart, it will take all of her soul to break what she created.
To end things before the big show, B-Fab appeared in a vignette with The Pride. Over the past few months, the group has continued to be the recipient of attacks by The Final Testament, but on Sunday, they’ll be finished as there will be nowhere to hide from and nothing to hide behind with the Philadelphia Street Fight stipulation. Scarlett and B-Fab will be accompanying their respective stables, and it is inevitable that they will get in on the action on Sunday.
The WrestleMania match card is as follows:
Night One:
- Becky Lynch vs Rhea Ripley (c) for the WWE Women’s World Championship
- Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Asuka, Dakota Kai, and Kairi Sane)
Night Two:
- Bayley vs. IYO SKY (c) for the WWE Women’s Championship
