It was just another night on the European tour calendar for WWE as the Superstars of Friday Night SmackDown made entry into Bologna, Italy’s Unipol Arena for this week’s edition of the blue show.
We start things off with a side-by-side interview of Charlotte Flair and her WrestleMania opponent, the WWE Women’s Champion, Tiffany Stratton. Conducted by Joe Tessitore, the commentator asked Stratton about her mindset only four weeks away from the big show. As she was beginning to answer, Flair would cut her off, demanding that “The Queen” speak first. She says that Stratton finally looked like a star after their brawl last week, having had a hard time buying into the hype of the Buff Barbie, but Charlotte Flair always brings out the best in everyone. Referring to Stratton as a “pick me”, Flair says that she used her Rumble win to choose her because she feels sorry for her, continuing to insult the champ by calling her delusional and disrespectful in trying to compare herself to The Queen, when in reality, she’s not that special as everyone compares themselves to her.
Stratton would point out she has the WWE Women’s Championship. As she mentions that she earned it, Flair claps back by mentioning that she won it via cash-in, and warns that WrestleMania will be the pinnacle of Stratton’s career, but for her, she’s just going to get to shine her light on an undeserving girl who, because she has blonde hair and can do a backflip, thinks that she can compare herself to her, lastly reminding her that she has not earned that. The argument continues as Stratton asks Flair if she doesn’t remember supporting her early in her WWE career; Stratton looked up to her, and then they were in the ring face-to-face, and she saw the real Charlotte Flair, who couldn’t even look Stratton in the eyes because she knew that the Center of the Universe was going to take her throne.
Flair says she does remember making those supportive comments about Stratton, saying that she was a star – a star in the making, adding that she’s looking for real competition instead of giving Stratton high fives, a slap on the butt, and a “Yes girl! We can do this!” attitude.
Stratton retorts and the two go back-and-forth, saying that Flair always finds the hottest thing and throws water on it. Charlotte says Stratton is not even the hottest thing on SmackDown, let alone the whole company, and that Stratton has always been underneath her on the ground, struggling to catch her breath. Stratton says that she’s struggling with connecting to the fans that don’t want her back, and that she has her entire career to beat her accolades. Charlotte says Stratton will be lucky to have a job with WWE once she reaches Flair’s age, to which Stratton finishes off the segment by saying that at WrestleMania, she is going to cement what she already knows: the WWE Universe doesn’t bow to Charlotte Flair anymore, they run on Tiffy Time.
Cathy Kelley was backstage to interview the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, mentioning that they interrupted her interview with Jade Cargill last week and got themselves into a match between Cargill and Morgan tonight. When asked why they still have an issue with Jade even after finding out that Naomi was her attacker, Morgan says their issue with Jade Cargill is that she allowed them to be blamed for attacking her, meanwhile having all the time in the world to update her Instagram but not enough time to clear their names, so this is personal to Morgan. The two believe Cargill takes this match personally also as they beat Bianca Belair and Naomi to become the first-ever “history-making, record-breaking, three-time, greatest Women’s Tag Team Champions of all time”. Morgan does say that she is impressed with what Naomi tried to do to Cargill, but unfortunately, she couldn’t finish the job, so tonight, she’ll do it for her.
Piper Niven made her entrance with the Women’s United States Champion, Chelsea Green, and the other half of the Secret Hervice, Alba Fyre, as her match with Zelina Vega was underway. Vega debuted a new theme as well, and an on-screen graphic noted that it was her first match back on SmackDown since being transferred from Raw in January. Vega slapped Niven to start and continued to dodge the attacks of her taller and heavier opponent, putting the Scotland native in a chokehold in an attempt to wear her down, but when that didn’t work, attempted to resort to several punches to the face. Green would slap Vega while the referee wasn’t looking, and Niven took control by slamming her to the mat twice and elbowing her. This remained the case as the match continued, with Vega starting to fade as she was in pain. Vega was able to get another chokehold and an Octopus hold on Niven, but Niven still wasn’t out even as Vega attempted a 619; the move would nearly be reversed by Niven into a side slam, then reversed into a Satellite DDT for a near-fall. Green would get up on the ropes, yelling to Vega that she doesn’t belong in WWE, but would get punched for her troubles. Vega would hit a 619 again, but got distracted by Fyre, allowing Niven to hit a running crossbody for the victory. “The Green Regime” would stand tall over Vega as the trio remains on top of Team Blue’s women’s mid-card division.
Jade Cargill was preparing for her match backstage when Cathy Kelley walked up to her for an interview and apologized for their interview last week being cut short. Cargill says that since Morgan wants to disrespect her and run her mouth, she’s going to show her what happens when she tries it with her. But as for when she’s done with Morgan, all eyes will be on Naomi, and her match will be a “little preview” of what she does to her.
Cargill vs. Morgan then took place. Cargill began with a big boot to Morgan, quickly getting into the face of Rodriguez and continuing her assault by throwing Morgan into the barricade and back into the ring. Morgan attempted obLIVion but it was no match for Cargill’s strength, leading to Morgan deciding to walk out of the match with Rodriguez, but Cargill attacked Morgan anyways and the match continued. Rodriguez was able to set up a distraction which allowed Cargill to be thrown out into ringside. Morgan began to laugh and pose with her Women’s Tag Team Championship belt, but Cargill got back into the ring, where Morgan continued to control the match with a series of kicks and chokeholds, which Cargill attempted to fight back from. Cargill soon regained her momentum with a kip-up followed by some clotheslines and elbows before hitting a spinebuster on Morgan to the mat for a near-fall.
Cargill was getting set for Jaded when out of nowhere Naomi appeared standing near the ring ropes and looking in Cargill’s direction. Cargill tried to take a take a swing at her, but Naomi would clock Cargill with the Women’s Tag Team Championship belt, giving Morgan an opportunity to successfully hit obLIVion for the win.
As Naomi took glee in Cargill’s loss, she would immediately launch an attack on her nemesis, pummeling her to the sound of boos from the crowd. Not sporting the bright neon colors she’s typically associated with and opting for a look inspired by caution tape, The Girl with the Glow – if I can even call her that now – mocked Cargill’s entrance pose before knocking her onto the floor at ringside near the commentary desk.
Friday Night SmackDown heads on over to London, England next week, although no women’s appearances or matches are currently advertised.
Nonetheless, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below!
