WWE’s international tour continues, and Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the O2 Arena in London, England.
We got our first glimpse of Team Blue’s female fighters this week in a backstage segment with Zelina Vega and the recently transferred duo of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, who saw what the Secret Hervice (Alba Fyre and Piper Niven) did to Vega following her match last week where she lost to Niven. Carter says that the two and Chelsea Green think they’re untouchable, but someone’s going to have to stop them eventually. It’s a “speak of the devil” moment for the three, as Fyre and Niven enter the room to clear space for the Women’s United States Champion. Vega says that she’s glad that the “bootleg Men in Black” decided to crash the party. She continues to speak as she adds that she may be small, but the “small threat” is a big threat to Green and her championship, otherwise it wouldn’t have taken the trio to beat her. Carter and Chance agree, and decide that tonight, Fyre and Niven will see what happens when the odds are even.
Their tag team match was next following the segment. Carter and Chance started off with a double team sequence, but both women would be taken out by a Swanton Bomb from Niven at ringside. The “spicy margarita” would get back in the ring to focus on Chance, and Fyre was tagged in to continue the offense. Niven would use her tie to try and choke Chance while the referee wasn’t looking, allowing the Secret Hervice to continue controlling the match. Chance would tag in Carter; the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion gained momentum for her team by throwing the artist formerly known as Kay Lee Ray in for a loop, but not enough momentum could put her away as Fyre had tagged in Niven once again, with a senton attempt failing to work. Carter and Chance took advantage, hitting a lateral press for a near-fall.
The end would come when Chelsea Green distracted the referee, which frustrated Chance; this would lead to Niven pushing Carter into her to send her to the floor, followed by a Piper Driver for the win. The trio would continue to beat them down post-match, but Vega would run in to make the save, attacking Niven and Fyre but being pummeled by Green, who tried to hit the Unprettier but was reversed. Vega would try and get the upper hand, but just like last week, was once again outnumbered by the Secret Hervice.
After re-emerging last week to exact payback on Jade Cargill for attacking her twice in this past month in response to being revealed as her attacker, a Naomi vignette aired featuring her talking to herself, unsure of why she was filming the segment and how she ended up here. Turning to the camera, Naomi would say that she’s always been a woman to do the right thing. Directing her attention to Bianca Belair, she questions the EST on thinking that attacking Jade was somehow different from doing the right thing. When Naomi thinks about all that she has sacrificed and given, it breaks her heart to be seen as the “bad guy” of the situation between her, Belair, and Cargill. At the same time, she just can’t understand how Jade could just come in out of nowhere and take her place. She then asks Bianca, who inspired her? Who has inspired women over the last decade? Who always had her back from day one? It’s not Jade.
Naomi concludes by saying that what she has learned throughout this situation is that you teach people how to treat you, and she is done with being treated as a third wheel. She’s done being pushed to the side, with being too nice, undervalued, underutilized, and underappreciated. Moving forward, her message to Cargill is that if she continues to get in her way, she strongly advises her to proceed with caution.
Jade Cargill was in Nick Aldis’ office, wanting to get her hands on Naomi and demanding to know where she is. Aldis says that he nor anyone else has seen her, so as far as he’s concerned, she’s not in the building, but Jade doesn’t care, because when she finds her, it’s on sight. As Jade walks out of his office, Michin & B-Fab appear. B-Fab tells Cargill that they think what Naomi did to her was trash and uncalled for, and know that Jade will take care of her, while Michin says she’ll take care of Charlotte Flair; the two have a match following Charlotte’s victory over B-Fab two weeks ago. B-Fab continues and says that Naomi deserves everything that’s coming to her: no sympathy, no regrets.
As Michin made her entrance accompanied by B-Fab, Naomi would attack and punch her in the ring. Turning her attention to B-Fab, Naomi would throw her into the barricade and the commentary desk before Cargill chased her enemy away and checked up on her. Helping B-Fab to the back, Charlotte Flair would make her entrance, at which point Cargill and Flair would have a brief stare-down.
With Michin still visibly hurt but ready to fight, Charlotte would give her a superkick and a near-fall attempt, but The Crazy One held on, taking some hard chops from The Queen. The match remained in Flair’s favor, with her putting Michin in many holds and more pin attempts. Michin eventually started to take control, although Flair was able to counter Eat Defeat and even kicked out of a powerbomb. After a second try at Eat Defeat, Charlotte would put her foot on the ropes and would drop to the floor, evading a kick that sent Michin crashing into the steel steps. Flair began to focus on Michin’s leg and put her in the Figure Eight to win via tap-out.
Immediately following the match, Jackie Redmond stood side-by-side with Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton to talk about last week’s interview segment. Stratton says that Flair loves to hear herself talk, and after 10 years in this business, she’s still so insecure that she wouldn’t let her get a word out. She did, however, learn something last week: walking into WrestleMania, she’s not the one who has something to lose. If she loses, she loses to Charlotte Flair, the legend, as a 25 year-old rookie with a year of being on SmackDown. But if Charlotte Flair loses? Then she loses to an “undeserving, delusional, unoriginal, backflip-doing, blonde hair having, little girl”. The Buff Barbie can’t wait to see the look on her face when she hears “AND STILL…” after retaining her title; maybe then Flair will shut up for the sake of everybody. They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, and she’s going to make damn sure that Flair’s massive ego stays there, because she’s walking out of WrestleMania as the WWE Women’s Champion.
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Here’s what is set to take place:
- B-Fab vs. Naomi
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s edition of SmackDown in the comments below!
