The superstars of the World Wrestling Federation rolled into the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, tonight for Friday Night SmackDown!, the first episode following Saturday’s Money in the Bank premium live event.
The evening featured five matches, including an AAA Cruiserweight Championship defense, Damian Priest’s first singles encounter with former partner R-Truth since their falling out, and the continuing rivalry between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. Unfortunately, two of those five matches ended by disqualification, including the main event, but there were some interesting developments as WWF begins building toward Crown Jewel.
Here’s what happened on tonight’s SmackDown!
Trick Williams Defeats Johnny Gargano
The show opened with WWF Champion Sami Zayn addressing the crowd alongside Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Zayn discussed his upcoming champion-versus-champion match against Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel, while also congratulating Penta on winning the men’s Money in the Bank briefcase. Naturally, Sami suggested Penta should focus his attention on Roman rather than the WWF Championship.
United States Champion Trick Williams interrupted, and the two exchanged words before Johnny Gargano got involved, leading to an impromptu match between Gargano and Williams.
Gargano targeted Trick’s knee throughout the contest, with Candice LeRae providing a few distractions and Sami Zayn watching from commentary. Williams eventually fought back, connecting with the Trick Shot followed by a Book End to pick up the victory.
Afterward, Williams celebrated while staring down Sami Zayn, making it clear that the United States Champion has his sights set on bigger things.
Winner: Trick Williams via pinfall.
Paige Defeats Nikki Bella
Before the match, WWF Women’s Champion Chelsea Green had a backstage confrontation with Nikki Bella, which resulted in Bella receiving a championship opportunity in two weeks. Considering Nikki was about to wrestle Paige, you might have expected the company to give her a victory heading into that match.
Apparently not.
Paige and Nikki battled back and forth, with both women borrowing moves associated with John Cena. Nikki applied the STF, while Paige connected with an Attitude Adjustment that wasn’t enough to put Bella away.
The finish came when Paige countered a pin attempt into a roll-up, using the ropes for additional leverage to steal the victory.
So Nikki Bella gets a championship opportunity and then immediately loses to Paige. That’s certainly one way to build a challenger.
Winner: Paige via pinfall.
Damian Priest Defeats R-Truth
Damian Priest finally got his hands on former tag team partner R-Truth, although things didn’t end quite the way either man probably expected.
Truth came out aggressively, attacking Priest before the match and attempting to get some revenge for his former partner’s betrayal. Once the match settled down, however, Priest took control and began wearing Truth down with his considerable size and strength advantage.
Truth managed to fight back and connected with a missile dropkick from the top rope, but appeared to injure himself on the landing. The referee checked on him and ultimately stopped the match, awarding Priest the victory.
Priest wasn’t satisfied with simply winning and attempted to continue the assault with a steel chair, but Fraxiom rushed to the ring to prevent any further damage.
Whether Truth’s injury was legitimate or part of the storyline wasn’t immediately clear, but the referee stoppage gave Priest a decisive victory without requiring Truth to submit or be pinned.
Winner: Damian Priest via referee stoppage.
New Women’s Tag Team Champions Confront Fatal Influence
New WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley came to the ring to celebrate their championship victory from last week’s SmackDown!
The champions also acknowledged Charlotte Flair, who had stepped aside from her championship opportunity because of an injury. Paxley promised Charlotte a special gift when she returns, although she only whispered the details to Bliss.
Their celebration was interrupted by former champions Fatal Influence, who weren’t particularly interested in congratulating the new titleholders. After exchanging words, Fatal Influence attempted an attack, but Bliss and Paxley fought them off and stood tall.
Elsewhere in the women’s division, Blake Monroe was informed that she’ll face Giulia in a Street Fight next week.
Rey Fenix Retains the AAA Cruiserweight Championship Against Ricky Saints
One of the more intriguing matches advertised for tonight’s show saw Rey Fenix defend the AAA Cruiserweight Championship against Ricky Saints.
The two put together an entertaining contest, with Fenix showcasing his high-flying offense while Saints used his strength and aggression to keep the champion grounded. Fenix connected with a spectacular hurricanrana and a frog splash, while Saints countered several of the champion’s attacks and came close to winning the championship himself.
Unfortunately, things fell apart when Saints shoved referee Charles Robinson into the ropes, causing Fenix to lose his balance on the turnbuckle. Saints followed up with Rochambeau and covered the champion, but Robinson refused to count after witnessing the interference.
Saints argued with the referee and shoved him again, prompting Robinson to call for the bell.
That’s right, the championship match ended in a disqualification.
Saints continued attacking Fenix afterward until additional officials arrived to break things up.
Winner: Rey Fenix via disqualification. Rey Fenix retains the AAA Cruiserweight Championship.
Cody Rhodes Defeats Baron Corbin by Disqualification — Randy Orton Makes His Presence Felt
The advertised face-to-face confrontation between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton closed the show, although things didn’t go quite as planned.
Cody came to the ring demanding that Orton confront him, but The Viper was nowhere to be found. Instead, Baron Corbin interrupted and began criticizing Rhodes for lacking the killer instinct necessary to succeed at the highest level.
Cody wasn’t interested in listening to Corbin and challenged him to an impromptu match.
The two battled back and forth, with Rhodes eventually gaining momentum and connecting with a Disaster Kick. Before he could capitalize, however, Randy Orton appeared and attacked Cody, causing the referee to disqualify Corbin.
Orton and Rhodes continued fighting outside the ring, with The Viper attempting to deliver his infamous punt kick. Cody avoided the attack and fought back, eventually finding himself in position to deliver a punt of his own.
Corbin intervened and prevented Cody from connecting with the kick on Orton, allowing Randy to escape. Unfortunately for Corbin, Cody wasn’t finished.
Rhodes recovered, connected with a Cody Cutter, and then delivered a vicious punt kick to Corbin’s head while Randy Orton watched from the entranceway.
The message was clear. If Randy Orton wants to bring out a more dangerous side of Cody Rhodes, he might not like what he gets.
Winner: Cody Rhodes via disqualification.
Other Developments
Elsewhere on SmackDown!, Kevin Owens and CM Punk continued their rivalry during a confrontation in the trainer’s room. General Manager Nick Aldis indicated that the two will meet again once they’re medically cleared to compete.
Gunther also had another encounter with Danhausen, who was wearing a neck brace and arm sling following their previous confrontation. Meanwhile, Sami Zayn attempted to learn whether Penta might cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Roman Reigns or Zayn himself, but Rey Fenix wasn’t interested in giving the WWF Champion any inside information.
As for Tiffany Stratton, her Money in the Bank victory was acknowledged in a video package, while Chelsea Green discussed Stratton’s recovery with Nick Aldis. The new Miss Money in the Bank remains a potentially significant threat to the reigning Women’s Champion.
Stinger’s View
Well, that was certainly a SmackDown!
Five matches, two disqualifications, one referee stoppage, and an advertised face-to-face confrontation that turned into Cody Rhodes beating up Baron Corbin. I suppose we should be grateful that somebody actually got pinned tonight.
I said in my preview that Damian Priest should basically kill R-Truth, because the entire point of turning Priest heel was to get him away from the comedy act and establish him as a serious threat again. Instead, Truth got some offense before apparently hurting himself on a missile dropkick, and the referee stopped the match. I’m not going to criticize the referee for stopping a match when somebody might be injured, as this does seem to be legitimate, but it wasn’t exactly the decisive destruction I was hoping to see. Priest trying to continue the assault afterward at least helped reinforce his new attitude.
I also said that I couldn’t care less about Paige against Nikki Bella, and while the match had some entertaining moments, I’m not sure what the point was of giving Nikki a Women’s Championship match in two weeks and then having her lose tonight. I realize Paige cheated to win, but that doesn’t change the fact that your next championship challenger just lost. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I generally prefer my championship challengers to win matches.
The AAA Cruiserweight Championship match was the one thing I was looking forward to tonight, and naturally, it ended in a disqualification. Rey Fenix and Ricky Saints were having a good match, too, which makes the finish even more frustrating. I understand the idea of protecting both men and extending the rivalry, but sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable to let somebody win a wrestling match. Especially when you’re advertising a championship defense.
As for Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, I joked that their face-to-face confrontation would consist of talking followed by brawling. Well, we got the brawling, but instead of an actual confrontation between the two, Baron Corbin wandered out and somehow ended up getting punted in the head. I will give them credit for the finish, though, because Cody using Orton’s own move against Corbin was a nice touch. It suggests that Randy might be bringing out a more ruthless side of Cody, which could make their eventual match considerably more interesting.
Trick Williams defeating Johnny Gargano was a solid way to open the show, and I like the idea of positioning Trick opposite Sami Zayn. Trick has the personality and presence to become a major star, and working with the WWF Champion certainly isn’t going to hurt him.
Overall, though, this felt like one of those episodes where the company was more interested in setting up future matches than delivering satisfying conclusions to the ones happening tonight. There’s nothing inherently wrong with advancing storylines, but when two of your five matches end in disqualification and another ends by referee stoppage, it starts getting a little ridiculous.
And one final thing. Remember how I pointed out in the preview that WWF hadn’t bothered mentioning Tiffany Stratton winning Money in the Bank? Well, tonight we got a video package and a backstage discussion about her recovery, so at least somebody remembered that the new Miss Money in the Bank exists.
You’re welcome again, WWF.
What did you think of tonight’s SmackDown!? Are you looking forward to Cody Rhodes eventually facing Randy Orton, and what did you think of the controversial Cruiserweight Championship finish? Let us know in the comments below!
