After reportedly suffering multiple injuries at the hand of the Riott Squad two weeks ago, SmackDown Superstar Naomi made her return to the blue on tonight’s (Dec 12th) SmackDown Live.
The night saw Charlotte Flair take on Ruby Riott, just days before Flair defends the SmackDown Women’s Title at Clash of Champions against Natalya in a Lumberjack match.
Flair began the contest by tossing Riott across the ring all while keeping a close eye on the rest of the Riott Squad (Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan) who were at ringside. A small distraction from Logan gives Riott a chance to land some offense on Flair by sending her face first to the turnbuckles.
Switching gears, Riott locked in a grounded headlock but Flair managed to break free by backing Riott to a corner. Riott reapplied the submission after pulling Flair by the hair and taking her back down. Riott climbed the turnbuckle for an aerial attack but Flair was able to counter by getting the knees up.
When the action spilled to the outside, Flair began to fight off the Riott Squad and even took a swing at Natalya who was sitting at commentary. Natalya struck back, thus ending that match via disqualification.
The Riott Squad would then set their sight on Flair, using the numbers game to their advantage against the SmackDown Women’s Champion by tossing her to the barricades and steel steps. As the group began to set up the steels steps over Flair to cause more damage, Naomi bursted out to make the save, landing a double dropkick to Logan and Morgan and a Rear End to Riott.
As the Riott Squad retreated to the back, they attacked by the rest of the Lumberjacks to Sunday’s SmackDown Women’s Title in Carmella, Lana and Tamina.
What did you think of this week’s episode of SmackDown? Are you excited to see Naomi return? What do you think will happen at Clash of Champions? Let us know in the comments below!
