World Wrestling Entertainment’s weekly edition of Friday Night Smackdown was a stepping stone to promote next week’s edition from Madison Square Garden. The show featured Roman Reigns defending the Universal Championship against Finn Balor. The Street Profits faced the Usos in a championship contender’s match. Fans heard a word from Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, and Seth Rollins took on Cesaro. With a solid card and a monumental main event, let’s see what happened.
The Street Profits took on The Usos in a championship contenders match to start the night. Angelo Dawkins and Jimmy Uso started the match for their prospective teams. The Street Profits gained early control, as Dawkins was able to hit a flurry of moves. He tagged in his partner Montez Ford, who hit two beautifully placed dropped kicks. Shortly after, the Usos regained control by catching Ford, who dove to the outside and slamming him on the barricade. After that, the match was stale and didn’t pick up until the Usos got disqualified. This led to a fight between the two teams after the match. It looked as if The Usos gained the upper hand when they took out Dawkins. Then Ford performed a diving moonsault to the outside of the ring, taking out The Usos. Overall the match itself was stale and slow, but Dawkins and Ford showcased how agile and athletic they are. This match just furthers the feud, and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Grade: 5/10
The next segment featured Paul Heyman fetching the Usos after their match for Reigns. Heyman stopped for an interview when his phone began to ring. Brock Lesnar’s music was the ringtone, meaning it was Lesnar calling. This happened twice more, and it was great as it plants the seeds of Heyman having to choose between Lesnar or Reigns at a point. It was short, simple, and did its job.
Grade: 8/10
Next on the card, Becky Lynch came out to address the WWE Universe. Lynch recapped what happened last and explained how she didn’t get a chance to talk about Bianca Belair. “She’s strong, she’s fast, and she’s tough,” said Lynch, “But somehow I’m portrayed as the bad guy for saving her match.” Lynch elaborated further by saying, “You weren’t ready, and you don’t have what it takes, but I do.” Belair then came out and challenged Lynch saying, that since Reigns is defending his title, then Lynch should do the same. Lynch responded with no and exited the ring. This was an alright segment, but I disagree with Lynch’s more heel tendencies. “The Man” gimmick works with Lynch playing a tweener, not a heel. Belair repeated what she said last week: nothing new here.
Grade: 5.5/10
Rick Boogs took on Dolph Ziggler next, and it was something. The match itself wasn’t long, and it showcased Boogs more than anything. Starting the match, Boogs hoisted Ziggler up over his shoulders, showing off his strength. Then tossed Ziggler to the mat, and after a small back and worth, Boogs hit the Pump Handle ending the match. I disagree with Boogs wrestling because him working as Shinsuke Nakamura’s hype man works and has finally garnered interest in Nakamura again. It’s not the end of the world, but the match did showcase Boogs in a good light.
Grade: 6.5/10
Cesaro took on Seth Rollins next: another WrestleMania rematch. Automatically, I know it’s good on paper, but these two have already wrestled each other enough for the year. Starting the match, Cesaro took control after hitting a flying uppercut to Rollins on the outside. After a back and forth, Ceraso hit Rollins with an uppercut on the top rope, which Rollins turned into a buckle bomb. Another thing to note is Rollins was using Edge’s moves throughout the match, like the Impaler DDT and the Edgeomatic. It was a nice piece of storytelling that Rollins wasn’t over with Edge yet. The finish would be a disqualification after Rollins used a chair, but this is where it took an interesting turn. Rollins had a crazed look in his eye just like Edge would get, and then Rollins imitated Edge again by applying the crossface to Ceasaro with a chair bar. The cherry on top was Rollins setting up the conchairto, then that’s when Edge came out to run off Rollins. The match was great, the storytelling was better, and Edge made an appearance.
Grade: 8/10
The next match was Sami Zayn taking on Dominik Mysterio. This match served storytelling again as it helped light that small fire between Rey Mysterio and Dominic, which may be leading to a potential feud between the two. But that aside, Dominik looked great in the spots he did by hitting a springboard and flipping dive outside of the ring. After the dive to the outside is where the match went downhill. The exchange Dominik had with Rey distracted him, allowing Zayn to hit the Helluva Kick, ending the match. I would have liked to see this go longer and see Dominik work more, but it furthers the story.
Grade: 6/10
Finn Balor took on Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, and it had a big fight feel. While Finn was making his entrance, the Usos attacked him, hitting him multiple times with steel steps. Balor did a great job of selling the injury as it gives him credibility in defeat. Once the match was underway, Reigns had control early, but Balor threw him off with a dropkick to the knee. The match was highly contested: Reigns landed a powerful strike, and Balor followed with a Pele kick. At one point, Balor trapped Reigns with the ring apron and unloaded into Reigns. This turned into Reigns countering a Coup De Grace with a Superman punch. Balor then had a flurry of offense and finally hit the Coup De Grace, but Reigns kicked out, hitting Balor with a low blow in the process. Reigns then locked in the guillotine and Balor passed out from it, ending the match. This was a great match Balor was protected he wasn’t pinned or submitted. Reigns heel persona is still the best thing on Smackdown. Overall, great way to end the show.
Grade: 7/10
This week’s edition of Smackdown was a mix of ups and downs, but what saved the show was the great storytelling with Edge and Seth Rollins along with a great main event match.
Final Grade: 6.5/10