WWE WrestleMania 42 has come and gone, and tonight WWE SmackDown moves forward as it emanates live from Fort Worth, TX’s Dickies Arena.
After challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight title on Raw, Jacob Fatu will make an appearance as he awaits Reigns’ answer this Monday.
New WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will be in the house to celebrate after wresting the title from Jade Cargill last Sunday.
There will be another celebration as new WWE United States Champion Trick Williams will be on hand as will his running mate, rapper Lil Yachty.
Paige returns to SmackDown for the first time in nearly 10 years as she and Brie Bella celebrate their WWE Women’s Tag Team title win last Saturday.
After earning the title shot last Friday, former WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will challenge reigning Women’s U.S. Champion Giulia for the gold tonight.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 pm Eastern.
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– Our night began with a recap of what went down last weekend at WrestleMania 42. Following that lengthy opener, we went to a live shot of Cody Rhodes arriving to the arena in a Ram truck in a similar manner to Pat McAfee and Randy Orton. Also seen making their arrivals was the new WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, as well as new U.S. Champion Trick Williams. Li’l Yachty and the Gingerbread Man were seen with Williams. As they got off the arena, Danhausen drove up in his coffinmobile as Trick’s entourage left.
Jacob Fatu kicks off SmackDown
Fatu made his way down to the ring just days after having challenged new World Heavyweight Championship Roman Reigns for a match at Backlash.
He started off by stating that he told Reigns that he wanted him, and that he needed the World Title. Then Reigns looked at Fatu in the eye and said “you’re not ready”. The truth is, however, Reigns was right in that assessment. Because what Reigns told Fatu has been something he’s heard all his life from his friends and family. But, to break it all down and to keep it 100, Reigns might say Fatu’s not ready, so he should step in the ring to prove it. The Usos interrupted as Jimmy and Jey Uso walked down to address Fatu.
Jimmy took the mic and said that he heard what Fatu had to say on Monday about how Fatu wanted to level up for his family. Jimmy told Fatu that he should not go after Roman Reigns’ title and instead go for Cody Rhodes. He said that Fatu should join the “Family” and run things with them. Jey
Jey said that if Fatu wanted respect from Roman, he better get ready to look him in the eye and get ready for war, because Reigns was going to bring it. That’s when The M.F.T.s interrupted things.
Solo Sikoa said that the Usos were lying to him. Sikoa took credit for bringing Fatu into WWE two years ago. The M.F.T.s entered the ring as Sikoa continued to insist Fatu to not listen to Jimmy and Jey. Sikoa said that Fatu wasn’t going to beat Reigns along, and that he was going to need an army in the form of the M.F.T.s. Tama Tonga aggressively took the microphone from Sikoa and asked him why they were wasting their time with this. Tama called Fatu a “lost cause”, stating that he couldn’t even beat Sikoa.
For his troubles, Tama got superkicked by Fatu, who told Sikoa that the only one who should be talking to is Roman Reigns. Fatu then issued the challenge to Sikoa to face him later tonight.
If you’re not a fan of more Bloodline drama unfolding, then this opening segment is certainly not for you. I found it just kind of there and a means to an end to set up our likely main event
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Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Tiffany Stratton
Stratton avoided Giulia’s attacks on opposite corners before she hit her with a clothesline. Giulia responded with a jumping rollup pin for a near-fall. We got a series of dueling pinfalls between champion and challenger for a bit before Giulia caught Stratton’s cartwheel and connected with a neckbreaker.
Stratton got the rolling senton, but couldn’t get the Prettiest Moonsault Ever as Giulia trapped her in a tree-of-woe position before hitting the dropkick to the head. Giulia then got Stratton with an elevated neckbreaker from the apron to the outside as we took a commercial timeout.
We returned from commercial as Stratton was starting to mount her comeback. She connected with the springboard cartwheel Stunner for a close near-fall. Stratton tried to go up to the top rope, but Giulia intercepted her and turned it into an avalanche butterfly suplex. One, two…. Stratton just managed to kick out. Giulia headbutted Stratton and tried for a slam, but got reversed. Stratton looked for a running attack, but Kiana James grabbed her leg. Giulia ran at Stratton, but she moved out of the way Giulia ended up hitting James instead.
Stratton looked for another Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Giulia caught her in a modified Rings of Saturn submission hold. Stratton countered it into a pinfall attempt that Giulia kicked out of. Giulia recovered and blasted Stratton with the Arrivederci knee. She set her up for the Northern Lights Bomb, but Stratton reversed it into a rough-looking Alabama Slam. She then finished Giulia off with a Prettiest Moonsault Ever to pick up the win and the Women’s U.S. Title.
Tiffany Stratton def. Giulia to win the Women’s United States Championship
That was an alright match between Stratton and Giulia. It was odd that these two were left out of the WrestleMania card and they put together a good match here. I will say that Giulia’s second Women’s U.S. Title reign was much like her first, a whole lot of nothing that led nowhere.
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– A pretaped vignette of Danhausen visiting The Miz’s mansion was shown. Danhausen got into the pool, much to the Miz’s annoyance, and it looks we’re going to get more of these skits tonight.
– We returned as Tiffany Stratton was interviewed after her Women’s U.S. Title win. Stratton said that this felt amazing to be on the top again. She was no longer the runner up after winning gold, and that she was ready to show that WWE was running on “Tiffy Time”. New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Brie Bella and Paige made their way to the ring after this.
Paige and Brie Bella celebrate their Women’s Tag Title win
Once the new champs entered the ring, Brie said that it felt incredible to stand in the ring to be a champion. She noted that while it was a shame she couldn’t win it alongside her sister Nikki, she was more than happy to take the gold alongside a good friend like Paige. Brie then welcomed her back to WWE.
Paige spoke next and talked about how hectic a week she just had. When Brie gave her the call to tag with her at WrestleMania, Paige said that she was more than happy to answer. Paige noted that it was a rough road to get back here, but she was so happy to be back home. She and Brie stood against the best competitors in the world, but SmackDown was still Paige’s house. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss showed up to interrupt proceedings.
Flair started by saying that she could speak for her and Bliss in welcoming Paige back, but the returnee had something that belonged to them. Flair and Bliss had been working for so long to get back, so Flair suggested that if Paige wanted to prove she was the best, she and Brie would defend the Women’s Tag Titles against her and Bliss. The Women’s Tag Champions accepted the challenge and this match would take place after the commercial break.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair
This match began during the commercial and we joined the action in progress after the break.
Bliss hit Brie with a dropkick as she tagged in Flair, who chopped away at Brie’s chest. She then hit a fallaway slam before kipping up to her feet. In the corner, Flair blasted Brie with a kick to the jaw, but missed with an attack to the knee. This gave Brie an opening for a tag, however, before we could get a tag, Jacy Jayne from NXT pulled down Paige from the apron as the rest of Fatal Influence — Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid ran in and laid waste to everyone.
Paige & Brie Bella vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair ended in a No Contest
Not so much of a match here as it was to introduce Fatal Influence into the Smackdown roster, and it’s giving a much needed infusion of talent to the women’s roster of SmackDown, which is something that I’ve made a point to discuss on more than one occasion. This is a good piece of business.
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– We got a vignette for Royce Keys that focused on how much he was an inspiration to his hometown of East Pala Alto, CA.
Cody Rhodes talks WrestleMania 42 fallout
The Undisputed WWE Champion, sporting one heck of a shiner after taking Randy Orton’s punt kick, walked down to the ring battered, bruised, but certainly not broken.
As Rhodes got into the ring, he took in the reaction from the Fort Worth crowd before asking them what they wanted to talk about. Rhodes wanted to talk about he walked out of WrestleMania, even though he was beaten down. It was a decision he made to walk up the ramp to show that he always got back up. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even though he wouldn’t be medically cleared, and that he’d get stitches on the back of his head… he wanted to send it to Randy Orton. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even though Orton gave him his best shot — the punt to the head — he was still standing.
He wanted to send the message to a “sarcastic and condescending” Sami Zayn as well, who said that nothing ever went wrong for Rhodes. That’s why he showed up in all-gold attire at WrestleMania, because he wanted to show that he was gold, his family was gold, and every fan of his was gold. Most especially, he wanted to send a message to those outside forces that kept trying to get involved in his business: they’re 0-3, so send your best or count your money and mind your damn business.
Rhodes concluded by throwing the gauntlet as he pointed that if anyone wanted a shot at him, whether they were from NXT or Raw or SmackDown. He was easy to find, but even harder to beat.
Just a standard Cody Rhodes promo to get things going post-WrestleMania. This almost felt like a bit of a soft reset of sorts, in a way. The Pat McAfee-centered storyline that plagued Rhodes vs. Orton seems to be a thing of the past now, especially since it’s been reported that McAfee himself (and Jelly Roll) was not a fan of how things going down, and with good reason.
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WWE Tag Team Championship Match: R-Truth & Damian Priest (c) vs. The M.F.T.s (Tama Tonga & J.C. Mateo) (w/ Tanga Loa)
Truth and Tama got things going in this tag match. The two traded strikes, but Tama got the upper hand here. He hit Truth with a dropkick and mocked him with his “version” of the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Truth dodged and tagged Priest into the match. Priest unleashed his flurry of offense on both Tama and Mateo in the M.F.T. corner. Mateo responded by providing a distraction on Priest, which gave Tama the opening to clothesline him out of the ring. At ringside, Tanga Loa flattened Priest with a clothesline as we took a break in the action.
We returned from break as Mateo and Tama were shelling Priest with a double team assault. Mateo threw Priest into his corner, but the big man began to fight back. Tama went down with a clubbing blow, as Priest then swung for the fences like Aaron Judge with the massive lariat on Mateo. The hot tag from Truth as he hit the John Cena Moves of Doom on Mateo, ending with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Tanga Loa distracted the referee as Tama ran in and hit Truth with his spinning neckbreaker behind the back. Priest broke up the count as he blind tagged into the match. He and Truth hit the “Rise Up” tag finisher on Mateo for the three and the tag title retention.
Damian Priest & R-Truth def. The M.F.T.s to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships
Kind of an okay match. The Truth and Priest team continues to entertain, but this just felt like a match that was kinda there.
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– The second part of Danhausen’s visit to The Miz’s house was shown.
Trick Williams & Li’l Yachty’s U.S. Title Celebration
The new U.S. Champion was flanked by Li’l Yachty and the Gingerbread Man as the trio made their way to the ring to celebrate a successful WrestleMania. The ring was festooned with balloons, banners, and some champagne for celebration.
Williams stated to Yachty that the people were excited to celebrate the new United States Champion. He talked about how Yachty was there, and even the Gingerbread Man was there. The people weren’t there to gamble, but for three words: “Whoop That Trick”.
Yachty talked about how the WrestleMania promo tour was over, but he was still here, because he was here to stay. Yachty called himself “The Prophecy” as he stated that there would be no more U.S. Title Open Challenges for the foreseeable future. Williams concluded by talking about how if you wanted the U.S. Champion, you find Trick Willaims.
Just as Williams was celebrating, the Gingerbread Man hit him from behind with the cane. He removed his mask to reveal Sami Zayn. “A man-sized batch of walking cinnamon,” as Joe Tessitore called him, Zayn assaulted both Yachty and Williams before he finished the U.S. Champion with a Helluva Kick.
This was a nice segment, and the silly Gingerbread Man stuff had a point to it with Zayn using it to trick Trick. Nice work all around.
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– Solo Sikoa once again tried to recruit Royce Keys to his side after a backstage interview.
Danhausen vs. The Miz (w/ Kit Wilson)
Danhausen entered to the ring aboard his “coffinmobile”.
Outside the ring, Kit Wilson took the Slammy Award off the hood of Danhausen’s rided. He then caused a distraction to allow Miz to hit Danhausen from behind. The American Gladiators reboot hostg stomped on Danhausen as he and Wilson shared a moment. Danhausen did an Undertaker sit-up and then cursed Miz and Wilson, which caused pyro to shoot out to blind the two. This gave Danhausen the opportunity to roll-up Miz for the win.
After the match, Miz tried to chase after Danhausen, but he ran into a blinded Wilson, which allowed Danhausen to escape in his coffinmobile.
Danhausen def. The Miz via pinfall
Just some silly fun here. It’s not much in the way of actual wrestling, but it’s harmless comedic fun as Danhausen continues to be one of the more entertaining parts of WWE as of late, even through the rough stretches en route to WrestleMania 42.
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– A vignette for Blake Monroe was shown, stating that she’d be joining the SmackDown roster soon.
Rhea Ripley celebrates her WrestleMania moment
The new WWE Women’s Champion entered to a huge ovation from the Fort Worth crowd after her WrestleMania 42 victory this past weekend.
As the crowd chanted for her, Ripley stated, “your Mami is finally champion again.” Ripley talked about how at WrestleMania, the grandest stage of them all, Jade Cargill proved to her that she could actually go. But now, it was Ripley’s time to prove that the WWE Women’s Champion is a fighting champion. Ripley noted that she knew there were women in the back that wanted a shot at her, and now she was ready to take on all comers.
The music of SmackDown’s new additions, Fatal Influence, signalled the arrival of the trio led by Jacy Jayne. They walked down to the ring to massive boos from the crowd as Jayne said she’d be the first one to give Ripley credit for her win at WrestleMania, but she couldn’t talk over the crowd booing. Jayne said that the people should be giving credit to herself, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid for taking out everyone’s favorite legends like they did earlier tonight.
Ripley responded by stating that Fatal Influence should stop while they’re ahead. Reid and Henley tried to get their words in, but Ripley said that she was used to the number games being against her, but that didn’t matter as she gestured at her WWE Women’s Title. She challenged Fatal Inlfuence to fight her right now.
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said that Jacy Jayne will face the new WWE Women’s Champion right here and right now… or at least after this commercial break.
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Rhea Ripley vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Lainey Reid & Fallon Henley)
Jayne and Ripley sized each other up before engaging in a chain wrestling battle. Ripley attempted a scoop slam, but Jayne turned that into a standing headlock. She kept the hold on for a bit before Ripley literally threw Jayne out of it. A shoulder block from Ripley kept the newcomer to SmackDown on her toes as Jayne talked over strategy with Reid and Henley. That pep-talk seemed to work as Jayne got Ripley with a running hurricanrana. Ripley responded with a headbutt that sent Jayne out of the ring. Ripley caught Jayne’s leg after a kick fromthe apron as she slammed her face-first.
Reid and Henley got in Ripley’s face, which allowed Jayne to recover with the running kick across the apron to Ripley as we took a timeout.
We returned to live action as Jayne maintained command of the match with a running neckbreaker on Ripley for the near-fall. Ripley got back on top of things with a rising kick as she hit Jayne with consecutive clotheslines, a kick, then a running dropkick. Ripley raised Jayne up for the Razor’s Edge, but she managed to escape from it. Ripley went for the forearm, but was hit with the pump knee to the face by Jayne for another near-fall.
Jayne missed with the discus elbow, as Ripley got her with the big boot on the button. Ripley headed to the top rope, but Jayne used the ropes to trip her foe up. This allowed Jayne to get in position for an attempted superplex, but Ripley escaped and hit the Cheeky Nando’s kick, as she tried for an electric chair move. Jayne reversed into a roll-up for the near-fall. Ripley hit back with the Razor’s Edge followed by the Shining Wizard for a close two.
Ripley attempted a Prism Trap, but Jayne countered it. Ripley headbutted Jayne and looked like she was going to hit the Riptide. Fatal Influence got involved to cause the DQ finish. After the match, Jayne, Reid, and Henley laid out the WWE Women’s Champion with a three-on-one-attack.
Rhea Ripley def. Jacy Jayne via Disqualification
I know the DQ finish was going to wrinkle a few feathers, but I thought it was deployed perfectly here, especially as the aim was to put over the new arrivals to SmackDown as a serious threat. I think Fatal Influence was used to great effect here and got put over easily as a new heel force on the roster.
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– After a recap of Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu’s Raw confrontation, we got a backstage segment with Fatu stating to the Usos that he didn’t need their help against the likely involvement of The M.F.T.s in our main event.
– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were stewing over being laid out by Fatal Influence earlier. Rhea Ripley appeared and asked if there was a problem. Flair was defensive and said she was going to go take care of Jacy Jayne next week, unlike “some” people, directing that towards Ripley.
– A Retrospective on Brock Lesnar was shown.
– Ricky Saints was teased to be making his debut on SmackDown next week as an official part of the blue brand’s roster.
Solo Sikoa (w/ The M.F.T.s) vs. Jacob Fatu
Fatu and Sikoa locked horns in the middle of the ring to start as the former backed the latter into the corner. A cheap kick to the gut by Sikoa led to a headlock, but Fatu got out of it and withstood two running shoulder blocks before he hit Sikoa in the throat with a strike. Fatu hit repeated headbutts on Sikoa, but got sent face-first into the turnbuckle, which allowed Sikoa to hit back with some punches of his own.
Sikoa taunted Fatu, but paid for it with a running forearm, followed by the spinning takedown. As Fatu tried to run, J.C. Mateo snagged his leg, as the M.F.T.s struck on the outside with the referee distracted. Meanwhile, The Usos appeared on the ramp, much to Fatu’s protestations. This gave Sikoa an opportunity to strike with a clothesline on Fatu as we took our last commercial break.
Our main event returned as Fatu began to try and mount a comeback. Sikoa caught Fatu’s running attack and turned that into a release German suplex for a near-fall. Sikoa tried to strike at Fatu, but got met wtih bigger attacks from his foe, which culminated in a series of rights and a clothesline to the face. Fatu then hit a clothesline in the corner on Sikoa, as he then got ten consecutive headbutts on his stunned foe. This left Sikoa at the mercy of Fatu’s running hip attack. Tama Tonga tried to distract Fatu, but Sikoa failed to hit the Samoan Spike, as a superkick took him out.
Fatu headed to the top rope, but J.C. Mateo pushed him off the perch with the referee distracted. Sikoa rolled up Fatu, but couldn’t get the win. Fatu took out the M.F.T interference outside with one suicide dive, as Sikoa used this opening to hit the Spinning Solo. Diving splash from the top, but Fatu kicked out of Sikoa’s best shot. Sikoa looke dfor the Samoan Spike, but Fatu responded with a superkick, followed by the pop-up Samoan Drop. One Mighty Moonsault later, and it was a victory for Fatu.
Post-match, Mateo, Tanga, and Tama attacked Fatu, which prompted the Usos to run it. However, it seemed like Fatu didn’t need the help as he took it to the remnants of the M.F.T.s Fatu wrapped the steel chairs around the necks of Tama and Mateo, as he hit the running hip attack on the both of them. Outside the ring, Tanga Loa ate a suicide dive. Fatu rearranged the furniture and got on the barrier to hit a diving splash through the announce table on Tanga.
The show ended with Fatu staring down the Usos, who only stood on the apron. Fatu said that he’d see Roman Reigns on Raw this coming Monday.
Jacob Fatu def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall
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That was a perfectly fine main event, and it did its job of establishing Jacob Fatu as a credible threat for Roman Reigns as the World Heavyweight Champion.
Meanwhile, this post-WrestleMania SmackDown fell kind of flat for me, even with moments I liked such as Fatal Influence’s debut and Danhausen’s antics. It just felt like a show that really didn’t seem like an important aftermath to WrestleMania, and not helped by the absences of certain players such as Randy Orton or Jade Cargill.
Moreover, I think a lot of why I couldn’t really get into tonight’s show was the news of WWE doing its annual spring releases just before SmackDown went on the air. Among those released were the entire Wyatt Sicks faction, as well as Aleister Black and Kairi Sane — all of whom were just on WWE programming in various storylines. It’s hard to really get excited about a show on a night when the company running the show you’ve covered decided it’d be a good idea for these cost-cutting cuts that do nobody any favours.
I don’t think I have to explain how losing a job sucks and that making jokes about it, no matter how you feel about the company that fired them is kind of terrible. At the end of the day, it comes down to corporate greed by the decisionmakers within WWE and TKO, and every year, it’s just a painful reminder.
I hope everyone that was released today find the feet elsewhere in the wide world of wrestling, because it’s a great big world out there now, and the sky is certainly the limit for everyone.
