On last week’s SmackDown, GUNTHER invaded and attacked Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes by putting him in a sleeper following a match before taking the Undisputed WWE Title and raising it, signalling he wanted a shot at Rhodes’ title.
Tonight, GUNTHER is set to appear to address his actions last week, though Rhodes will surely be around to offer up a rebuttal of his own.
With Jacob Fatu getting ready to face Roman Reigns tomorrow night for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash, what will he have to say tonight after he put Reigns through a table with a Tongan Death Grip during a contract signing on Raw?
Fatal Influence get their first big test as a unit when they take on Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss in six-woman tag team action tonight. Jacy Jayne and company have made life miserable for their opponents in recent weeks and look to continue their torrid pace since making their SmackDown debuts.
Our live coverage begins at 8pm ET.
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– The show began with a dedication to Ted Turner, who passed away at the age of 87 earlier this week.
– Following the signature, we got the arrivals for Rhea Ripley, Fatal Influence, Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga, Damian Priest, as well as the mourners for the Gingerbread Man’s funeral (which literally was shown minutes after the Ted Turner dedication, go figure) We then got a recap of Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns’ road to tomorrow’s World Heavyweight Title match at Backlash.
Jacob Fatu prepares for Backlash
The challenger for Roman Reigns’ World Title made his way down to the ring to get ready to address the crowd 24 hours before Backlash.
Fatu said that tomorrow night at Backlash, he wasn’t fighting Roman Reigns for the title, he was taking the World Title. He recounted that since he and Reigns were young, all everyone’s seen in Reigns was the future. Meanwhile, nobody saw anything in Fatu. Fatu said that people wanted him to fall back and fall in line, which he refused to do. He stated that everyone was trying to protect Reigns when they were doing this.
Fatu talked about how when Reigns was born, he was born with opportunity. Meanwhile, Fatu was born with doubt. At this point, Jimmy and Jey Uso interrupted Fatu’s promo.
Once the Usos got to the ring, Jimmy took the mic and said that he and Jey weren’t out to change Fatu’s mind. He said that part of him was rooting for Fatu, but the other part of him was looking out for Fatu. Jimmy talked about how the win was important for Fatu, but he didn’t think what would happen if he lost to Reigns tomorrow. Jey interjected and said that what was going to happen tomorrow instead was that the Tribal Chief was going to beat Fatu’s ass. That wouldn’t even be the worst part, according to Jey. That worst part was going to be the breakdown that Reigns would inflict on him afterwards. The Usos said that Fatu’s family would have to watch tomorrow as Fatu would have no choice but to acknowledge the OTC, Roman Reigns.
Fatu answered by saying that he wasn’t losing tomorrow. He pointed out how Jey never beat Roman, and how there would be no losing or acknowledging anything. To Fatu, this was more than just a main event, it was for his family. The only thing that Fatu’s family would be seeing tomorrow was him becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Fatu said he was ready to put it all on the line, but he wondered if Reigns was ready to die for it. He concluded by declaring that he was all gas and no breaks, yaddiahmean.
Before Fatu left, he warned the Usos not to get involved, otherwise he was going to burn the whole family tree down.
I liked this promo from Fatu, even if the Bloodline drama has kinda worn thin for me. Some nice fire ahead of his match tomorrow and got me believing he could beat Reigns at Backlash.
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– After a recap of GUNTHER’S attack on Cody Rhodes, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was interviewed. Aldis pointed out that GUNTHER’s actions were unacceptable and he’d speak with him about it. Ricky Saints interrupted and complained that he was stuck fighting “QB4” after mixing up with the QB1. Matt Cardona appeared and said he was gong to teach Saints a lesson in respect later tonight.
– Jacob Fatu was wished the best of luck by Mr. Aldis as he met with Royce Keys, who motivated Fatu to take everything tomorrow night at Backlash. After Fatu left, he was confronted by Solo Sikoa. Keys threatened Sikoa for what he did last week. Sikoa brushed it off as Keys being in the wrong place at the wrong time and offered a place for him with what’s left of the M.F.T.s
WWE Women’s U.S. Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Kiana James (w/ Giulia)
James and Stratton traded side headlocks until the champion hit a takeover. She then got James with the stepover clothesline. Stratton tried to knock James off the apron, but she missed and ended up being tripped up. James then targeted Stratton’s left leg by slamming it across the ring post twice as we took a timeout.
We returned from the break as James had a single leg crab locked in on Stratton, but the rope break forced her to let go of the hold. With the ref’s back turned, Giulia refused to attack Stratton, as the she and James had a disgareement afterwards. Back in the ring, Stratton fought back with strikes, followed by a springboard stunner and a dropkick for the near-fall. James responded with a cartwheel kick to the corner, then the Death Valley Driver for another near-fall. A flustered James punched Stratton a few times before she threw her in the corner. James drove her shoulder into Stratton’s chest twqce, but missed on the third. Giulia got on the apron and created a distraction, but this was just as James countered a rolling senton into a pinfall attempt. Stratton escaped and punched Giulia off the apron before she finished James off with the rolling senton and the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to retain the Women’s U.S. Title.
Tiffany Stratton def. Kiana James to retain the Women’s U.S. Championship
This was a good match and I felt Stratton and James really had some nice chemistry here. The angle with Giulia and James’ split was also being built well here.
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– Backstage at the “funeral” of the Gingerbread Man, Sami Zayn was flustered at what was going on as Nick Aldis warned him to stay within his lane. R-Truth snuck up behind Truth and said that the Gingerbread Man apparently talked about Zayn all the time and he didn’t want Zayn to cry.
– Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair were interviewed about their six-woman tag match against Fatal Influence later tonight. Ripley said that Fatal Influence wanted to make an impression, they made the wrong one. Flair tried to snipe at Ripley, but Bliss played peacekeeper by getting the two to be on the same page.
– Elsewhere, Damian Priest was getting ready for his match against Talla Tonga as R-Truth talked to him about Sami Zayn’s funeral. Truth wanted to help out, but Priest talked about how he knew the game that the M.F.T.s played and he wanted Truth to stay back. Truth reluctantly agreed with Priest’s request.
Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa)
Priest went after Talla right away as the bell rang, as he managed to send him out of the ring in the process. Priest tried to leap from the apron, but Talla blocked it. That didn’t seem to create any separation as Priest kept the attack going even with Sikoa’s distractions. Priest tried to go for his spinning kick, but Talla grabbed him mid-kick and threw him into the ringpost. Talla hit Priest with an uppercut as he then lifted him and slammed him across the commentary table as we took a commercial break.
We returned to our match as Priest tried to fight from underneath with a kick. He avoided Talla and kept the barrage of kicks to stun him. Priest broke free out of Talla’s chokeslam with a bell clap, followed by the spinning kick. This caused Talla to stagger back out of the ring to take a breather. Priest kept the attack going with a leap from the steel steps to Talla. He then kicked Sikoa before he headed back to the ring. Up top and Priest took down Talla with a diving clothesline for the near-fall.
Priest pulled down the straps to signal he meant business as he sized Talla up for South of Heaven. Tama Tonga walked down to cause a distraction as Solo Sikoa attacked Priest behined the ref’s back. Discus lariat by Talla wasn’t enough to pick up the win. As Sikoa and Tonga had a staredown, R-Truth ran down to even the odds. Talla attacked Priest and then threw him back to the ring to finish the match with a chokeslam.
After the match, the M.F.T.s surrounded Damian Priest before Royce Keys ran down to make the save. The M.F.T.s backed off, seemingly on the orders of Sikoa, who was trying to recruit Keys.
Talla Tonga def. Damian Priest via pinfall
Kind of a whatever match. Might just be general fatigue with all things Bloodline-adjacent doing me in. Not even the added Royce Keys drama is enough to keep me interested here. WWE cut half of the M.F.T.s so a lot of it just seems like really wasted potential and not really worth the trouble.
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– Backstage, Danhausen was trying to find a tag partner for his match against The Miz and Kit Wilson tomorrow night. Wilson said that Danhausen was too toxic to even have anyone teaming up with him. Danhausen said that he had friends like Papa Shango and “Bob, the Gatorade Guy”. Wilson pointed a mirror in Danhausen’s direction and said the only one who was going to team up with him was himself. This seemed to excite Danhausen as he just zoomed all around afterwards.
– A “clip” of Gingerbread Man being at WWE events of the past was shown before we saw Nick Aldis and Paul Heyman meeting. The latter was handed a contract as GUNTHER walked in. Aldis stated what GUNTHER did last week was unacceptable, but he was happy to have him aboard on SmackDown. Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes was just about to make his way down to the ring. This seemed to upset GUNTHER, who handed the SmackDown contract back to Aldis, stating he wasn’t going to do business like this.
Cody Rhodes addresses the GUNTHER incident
the Undisputed WWE Champion walked down with a purpose as he raised the Undisputed WWE Championship high in the ring before he addressed the Jacksonville crowd.
“So, Jacksonville, what do you wanna talk about?” Rhodes started off before he talked about how GUNTHER put him to sleep last week and that was a sign that he wanted a shot at the title. With that in mind, GUNTHER was called out by Rhodes. Paul Heyman interrupted with the contract in his hand. Before Heyman said anything concise, Rhodes said that both him and GUNTHER were in Jacksonville and they were ready to rumble.
Heyman interrupted as he walked down to the ring and was the bearer of bad news for Rhodes. The contract for the title match between Rhodes and GUNTHER wasn’t for Jacksonville or the U.S. This fight would be in a few weeks at Clash in Italy. Heyman revealed the favour to GUNTHER was getting this title match set up. Before Heyman could leave, Rhodes butted in and talked about how Brock Lesnar retired on Heyman, Roman Reigns and CM Punk both ditched him. Was it because Heyman was running out of options? Heyman stated that sooner or later, they’d all need The Wiseman.
GUNTHER snuck up once again and tried to put Rhodes in the sleeper, but was foiled twice as he was forced out of the ring. Rhodes shouted at GUNTHER that he didn’t sweat him and it didn’t matter if GUNTHER beat John Cena, Goldberg, and AJ Styles. He’d refuse to back down from him. Rhodes again reiterated that he had the high ground and that he was easy to find, but hard to beat.
I will say this GUNTHER/Cody Rhodes feud has my interest and if it’s something that lasts past Clash in Italy, I’m all for it.
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– The M.F.T.s argued amongst themselves as Tama Tonga didn’t seem too happy with being embarrased by Royce Keys, despite Solo Sikoa’s attempts to recruit him. He was going to deal with Keys himself.
Ricky Saints vs. Matt Cardona
Cardona backed Saints off into the corner, but got slapped in the face for his troubles. Saints hit Cardona with a shoulder block as he struck his trademark pose afterwards. Cardona responded by battering Saints in the corner. Saints managed to turn it around and then took his turns attacking Cardona in the corner, but he got dropped with a flapjack from his foe. Saints dodged the Broski Boot by exiting the ring, but he didn’t get far as Cardona shelled him with a rope-assisted dropkick as we took a break in the action.
This match returned from commercial with Cardona starting to heat up. He had Saints propped in the lower corner for the successful Broski Boot and a two-count. The fans were chanting “goodbye” during this, likely due to some commotion in the crowd and somebody getting kicked out. Cardona attempted an Unprettier, but Saints countered that into his modified version of a rolling cutter for the near-fall. Saints rolled out of the ring to avoid Cardona’s Rough Ryder. As he got back in the ring, Saints fell victim to the Rough Ryder, but that wasn’t enough to get the win. Saints recovered and hit the Revolution DDT, then finished it off with the Roshambo.
Ricky Saints def. Matt Cardona via pinfall
This was decent between Cardona and Saints. Nothing really to write home about, but in terms of putting Saints over, job well done on that, at least.
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– Sami Zayn was still at the wake for the Gingerbread Man as he was chatting with Johnny Gargano, who was still lying down. Zayn was upset at Rey Fenix as he saw this entire thing as a thinly-veiled shot at him. Zayn walked off angrily.
– Another teaser for Blake Monroe’s arrival was shown, with no clear date for her debut still set.
Paige and Brie Bella hold court
The WWE Women’s Tag Champions made their way down to the ring, ready to speak their piece for the Jacksonville crowd.
Brie Bella started off tby saying that there were a lot of teams in WWE that wanted to prove that they could beat them, but as the Irresistable Forces found out last week, she and Paige were tough to beat. Paige addressed the Judgment Day’s remarks that she and Brie were a nostalgia tour, stating that she and Brie were the best they’ve ever been. They were ready to show their stuff to Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, any time and nay place.
Fatal Influence interjected, as Jacy Jayne declared that the Judgment Day shouldn’t be the ones that Paige and Brie should worry about. Jayne bragged about how they took out Paige and Brie two weeks ago, and that Fatal Influence was ready to take over.
The Irresistable Forces walked down to interrupt, calling Fatal Influence the meme girls, and warning them to walk back to the line. They then attacked Paige and Brie Bella and laid them out in short order. Rhea Ripley made her way down for the six-woman tag match and shared a staredown with Lash Legend and Nia Jax.
Kind of a “meh” segment, and I’m not sure about running back yet another Irresistable Forces/Paige & Brie tag title match so soon after last week. Does highlight how bare the women’s tag division is despite what Brie Bella said in her promo.
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– We got more of Gingerbread Man “present” at past WWE events, through the “magic” of (likely) AI-generated art.
Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid) vs. Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss
Bliss and Henley started things off for their respective teams. Henley slammed Bliss down head-first, but got slapped and kicked in response. Bliss mocked Henley’s taunt afterwards as she drove her knees to the back of her opponent. This was followed by the double-knees and the senton. Bliss took a shot at Reid, but that allowed Henley to take advantage as Fatal Influence began to exert their will on Bliss in their corner. Ripley tagged in and blasted Lainey Reid with a kick, followed by a dropkick. Fallaway Slam by Ripley was followed by the missile dropkick on Reid. She then took out Jayne and Henley with a rolling cannonball of the apron as we took a break.
Our match returned from commercial as Reid was working over Ripley in the middle of the ring. Ripley tried to reach out for a tag, but Reid dragged back her into a half-nelson slam of sorts. Ripley recovered and hit Reid with a spinning kick, which allowed her to tag in Flair. The former WWE Women’s Champion lit up Reid and Jayne with chops, followed by a walkover clothesline. Flair warded of Henley and Jayne before she took off the top rope for a double crossbody on Reid and Jayne. Double Natural Selection on the Fatal Influence duo did not get the win. Bliss tagged in and looked to hit a tandem move, but couldn’t. Rolling Encore was turned into a Sister Abigail attempt by Bliss, but that wasn’t to be. With Ripley on the apron, Jade Cargill emerged to pull her off the apron, which allowed a Rolling Encore from Jayne to pick up the win in six-woman tag team action.
After the match, Cargill stepped into the ring as Fatal Influence took their exit. Cargill looked at the fallen Bliss and trash talked her as Flair slid into the ring. Michin and B-Fab attacked Flair before Ripley ran in for the save. She took care of Michin and B-Fab, but a pump kick from Cargill snuffed that out. The not-quite Baddies stood tall in the aftermath.
Fatal Influence def. Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, and Rhea Ripley via pinfall
Not gonna lie, I kinda don’t like Fatal Influence’s big six-woman tag win being overshadowed Cargill’s Great Value version of The Baddies from AEW. The lack of crowd reaction to their post-match beatdown speaks volumes on how cold this heel trio is, especially when compared to the infinitely more over and superior Fatal Influence.
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Tama Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga) vs. Royce Keys
Tama hit Keys with a dropkick, but that didn’t seem to have any effect as Keys hit him with a powerslam afterwards. Keys punched at Tama in the corner as he tried for a suplex. Tama escaped and hit Keys in the back of his leg to gain the advantage. Tama found himself on the receiving end of an overhead suplex from Keys. Tama countered with a Flatliner as Keys rolled out of the ring. Even with the refere distracted, Sikoa and Talla refused to attack. Tama attempted a baseball slide, but Keys caught him for a World’s Strongest Slam onto the apron. Tama avoided calamity when he dodged Keys running at him, which caused the powerhouse to eat the stairs instead in the collision, as we took a break.
We returned from commercial as Keys and Tama traded blows. Tama got the better of Keys with a running splash, followed by the spinning neckbreaker for a two-count. Keys turned it around as he dodged a Tama Tonga splash and roared back with clotheslines and a running pounce. Down came the straps as Keys barreled into Tama across two corners, followed by a powerslam for the two-count. Keys hoisted Tama up, but he was reversed into an inverted DDT for a near-fall of his own. Keys withstood Tama’s kicks as he sent his foe over the top rope with a clothesline. Keys squared up with Sikoa and Talla outside the ring, but the M.F.T.s didn’t do anything. As Keys got back into the ring, Tama attempted a dive from the top rope, but he was caught in the “Ultimate Spinebuster” from Keys as he then ate the loss afterwards following the three-count.
Royce Keys def. Tama Tonga via pinfall
I enjoyed this one. For as much as I hate the M.F.T. stuff, I do like that Keys is being featured a lot more often now after months of inexplicably being benched. I’ve always liked his in-ring style and it’s nice to see him in action.
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– Backstage, Danhausen was seen messing around with some vials and science-y things as his crate began to light up. Danhausen stated that his partner, whoever it was, would be ready for the tag match against The Miz and Kit Wilson at Backlash.
– Backstage, Tama Tonga was licking his wounds as Shinsuke Nakamura stated he was disappointed at him for being M.F.T. still. Talla Tonga showed up and threatened Nakamura, who wasn’t fazed by the big man.
Backlash 2026 Card
- World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu
- John Cena’s “History-Making News”
- IYO SKY vs. Asuka
- Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
- Danhausen and a Mystery Partner vs. The Miz & Kit Wilson
- WWE U.S. Championship: Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn
– A mournful Trick Williams was met by Nick Aldis, who told him that everything requested was in place and that the rest of the broadcast was his.
The Gingerbread Man’s Funeral
This segment opened with the ring set up with the coffin containing the “body” of the Gingerbread Man and a black mat as Trick WIlliams made his way to the ring, with milk and chalice in hand. Williams took a sip from the chalice before he poured out the milk as he got into the ring. Williams took the mic as he asked for the music to be cut. He said that we’d have to bear with him as we’d have to get through this.
Williams then sang a “tribute” for the Gingerbread Man, with a choir backing him up. We then went to a video memorial for the Gingerbread Man, that was largely made up of AI-generated images of our cookie-based friend. After the video, Williams asked for a moment of silence in honor of his friend. This was rudely interrupted by Sami Zayn, who was incredibly upset over what was going down. Zayn was mad that this entire thing was allowed to go on all night. He said that closing out an episode of SmackDown used to mean something, and that television time used to mean something. Zayn continued to be incredulous at the money spent by Williams over all this, as he insulted the singers, the coffin and flowers.
Zayn said that Williams was making a joke out of him, something that he’d never do himself , because he had too much respect. Zayn called himself a “working class hero” who represented his ride or die fans until the end. Zayn got into the ring and reminded Williams of who he was as he boasted about how he still stood twenty years in the game. However, Williams got into Zayn’s head and made him angry. Now, it was personal. It wasn’t just about taking the U.S. Championship at Backlash, it was about disrespecting and exposing him tomorrow night. Zayn feigned leaving as he took a cheapshot at Williams. Zayn grabbed the U.S. Title and raised it over his head as the Gingerbread Man suddenly woke up and removed his mask to reveal Li’l Yachty. Zayn took a cane shot from Yachty as Williams then finished it off with a Trickshot knee.
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Where do I even begin? That this whole nonsense with the “funeral” was the final go-home moment before the PPV was nothing short of ridiculous. I’m sure it was funny for some people, but this wasn’t the case for me. What began as a genuinely interesting U.S. Title feud pretty much veered into weird New Generation-style nonsense. Bless Trick Williams for trying to make it work, but it’s just impossible to turn utter crap like this into gold. Same with Sami Zayn trying his darndest to do his delusional heel shtick. He’s trying, but the material he’s been given is not up to par.
And speaking of utter crap, there was a very obvious use of generative AI throughout these segments, from the posters of the Gingerbread Man to the video “tribute” that was in the final segment. I’m sorry, that’s just inexcusable, especially in the wake of the remarks by TKO President Mark Shapiro stating that WWE has been using AI in various capacities. WWE’s video production crew used to be regarded as the best in the game, but I find that reputation slowly sinking as the “cheaper” alternatives are being considered oh so willingly. That the worldwide leader in sports entertainment is diving headfirst into AI “slop” is not a good sign at all and it was something that really couldn’t escape my thoughts as I saw this segment.
Lastly, I used to praise the SmackDown U.S. Title scene as being the shining beacon amidst the sea of awfulness, but even that seems to be no longer the case. With this Williams/Zayn/Gingerbread stuff taking up so much real estate, it’s meant standouts like Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov have been left in the dust, when they should still be prominent fixtures of the division. Like, what happened with the story of Dragunov needing to build himself back up after taking tough losses? As SmackDown is set to move into two hours in July, I suspect the problem to get even worse.
As far as the rest of SmackDown is concerned, I am enjoying Fatal Influence looking dominant in the early going, and Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER is a fresh matchup that both men badly needed after mediocre recent feuds. Overall, this episode was pretty much a “meh” way to lead into Backlash, and the focus on the Gingerbread Man shenanigans didn’t help either.
