Friday Night SmackDown emanated tonight from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and was quite the female-heavy show.
To start things off, WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY was featured in a vignette. From the get go, SKY paints a negative picture of her WrestleMania opponent, Bayley: only starting Damage CTRL because she was lost, lacking in relevance, and wanting to stay in the spotlight. The champ also takes offense to the perhaps fickle behavior of the WWE Universe for choosing to cheer Bayley on in spite of her prior antagonism over the women’s division during the past two years.
Although she once saw Bayley as a friend, that was a decision she says she will always regret, and hopes to never see her again following this year’s Show of Shows. She may have spoken a bit too soon though, as Bayley crashed the vignette as soon as filming had finished, resulting in an on-set tussle that will only fuel the flames between the two, a flame that may only be extinguished in 8 days’ time at WrestleMania XL.
The show then immediately switched gears as the storm has finally arrived to the blue brand! Once entering the ring, Jade Cargill made sure to put the women of Team Blue on notice in a short but sweet promo as she officially signed her contract.
A brief backstage appearance by The Unholy Union of Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre seemed to do nothing to convince general manager Nick Aldis to bring them out of catering. They’re witches! Just curse him already.
The mayhem between Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits against The Final Testament continues. B-Fab, on the side of Lashley and the Profits, hyped the team of Angelo and Montez before their match against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory, but the match would end just as it was discovered that Bobby and B-Fab had been laid out by Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
Wherever Legado del Fantasma goes, Elektra Lopez follows. Ms. Lopez was in tow as Dominik Mysterio cemented his alliance with LDF leader Santos Escobar. This of course brought out the LWO and Zelina Vega, with the announcement that Rey Mysterio and new group member Dragon Lee would be facing Dominik and Santos Escobar at WrestleMania.
With both feuding factions now evenly matched, Zelina being called a “puny little troll” by Elektra triggered a huge scuffle between both groups, with the LWO coming out on top at the end. It remains to be seen what kind of role these two will play at the Grandest Stage of Them All. To throw hands or not to throw hands? That is the question.
WWE Women’s World Champion and Raw Superstar Rhea Ripley made an appearance, emphasizing the importance of communicating among The Judgment Day as they head into the Show of Shows. It appears that they’re not exactly on the same page.
SmackDown had some time for Tiffy Time as we saw a vignette for Tiffany Stratton. The “Buff Barbie” is quite the multi-faceted talent: doing some modeling one second, gymnastics the next, and addressing the WWE Universe the second after that. Anyways, she mentions how hard it is to carry the burden of perfection when she’s a main event-level talent. For her adoring fans, she vows to always look hot. According to her, it’s the lip filler that’s not so hot.
Bianca Belair took on Dakota Kai in the main event. Bianca won after a KOD but it wasn’t long before Dakota, Asuka, and Kairi Sane would gang up on her, leading to an unsuccessful save from Naomi, who was also beat up by the trio. As it turns out, bad weather was headed the way of Damage CTRL as Jade Cargill made her way to the ring and wiped out all three members before standing tall with Bianca and Naomi.
Here’s what’s set up for next week’s SmackDown:
- Zelina Vega vs Elektra Lopez
