WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 04/07

Linus O'Howell
Jul 5
4 min read

Cody Rhodes Starts the Show, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair VS The Secret Hervice VS Michin and B-Fab: Evolution Qualifying Match

After Solo Sikoa was attacked by Jacob Fatu at the start of the show, this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown properly kicked off with Cody Rhodes addressing his victory at Night of Champions! Cody talked about being the new King of the Ring and how it represents both the past and the future, and Rhodes’ future is facing John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Summerslam! This brought out Randy Orton who admitted that whilst he hesitated, Cody did not, and whilst he won’t forget that any time soon, Orton does respect it! This is when Drew McIntyre made a surprise return to SmackDown following an injury, with Drew talking down on both Cody and Randy before Orton delivered an RKO to end the segment! It’s cool to see Drew back, but I have to say, I’m not at all interested in seeing Cena-Rhodes 2!

Grade: C+

Nick Aldis told Charlotte Flair that he’d gotten her an opportunity to earn her way onto Evolution, but to win Gold, she would have to team with Alexa Bliss! Drew McIntyre then got himself a match with Randy Orton for Saturday Night’s Main Event before Aldis told Jacob Fatu that if he finds himself a Tag Team partner, he can face The Bloodline in the Main Event! Jacob then found one pretty quickly in the form of Jimmy Uso! It was then time to see which one of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, Michin and B-Fab, and The Secret Hervice would progress to Evolution to fight for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships! What I liked about this match is they did the much better Triple Threat Tag rules, where one member of each team is in the match, that is so much better! The Secret Hervice were good, Alba Fyre and Piper Niven are great, but what I liked the most was the dynamic between Alexa and Charlotte, I thought they did great together! The ending was also superb as Flair mockingly tapped on the head of Bliss, but this just meant Alexa was now legal, leading to a Twisted Bliss to score the win as Charlotte turned around in shock! Strong stuff!

Grade: B

Montez Ford, Berto, Chris Sabin, and Johnny Gargano VS The Wyatt Sick6, Tiffany Stratton Chooses her Evolution Opponent, FRAXIOM VS Andrade and Rey Fenix

The SmackDown Tag Team Division were once again arguing backstage which led to Nick Aldis making two matches; a match between FRAXIOM and Andrade and Rey Fenix, and an 8-Man Tag where one member from each of the remaining 4 teams would team up to take on The Wyatt Sick6! Those four men were Montez Ford, Berto, Chris Sabin, and Johnny Gargano! All four men don’t like each other, they all wanted to be the leader of the team, but they were at least aligned when it came to wanting to get rid of The Wyatts! My favourite part here was the interaction between Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis, Lumis is definitely not a member of that family anymore, but it was also Gargano who made the most difference at the end as he jumped off the apron when Chris Sabin was looking to make a tag, leaving Sabin to get destroyed by Erick Rowan to finish the match!

Grade: B-

After Giulia had her own video promo talking about being the new Women’s United States Champion, Tiffany Stratton made her way down to the ring to announce her opponent for Evolution! However, before Tiffany could do that, Jade Cargill’s music hit as Jade interrupted to say that whatever happens, she’s taking the WWE Women’s Championship at Summerslam! This is when Stratton brought out her pick, which was none other than Trish Stratus! This was not a great segment, the promos were weak, but Tiffy VS Trish could be quite interesting!

Grade: C-

Solo Sikoa introduced Tala Tonga as the newest member of The Bloodline before Jade Cargill bumped into Trish Stratus backstage, only to then get laid out by Naomi! FRAXIOM were then set for their first match in well over a month as they took on the newest duo on SmackDown, Andrade and Rey Fenix! This was a good match, I thought all four men did well, they’re all so good in the ring, but I was kind of expecting more! The reason it wasn’t more was the crowd, the crowd was so flat, and it’s so unfair because all four men are just as good as the top guys on this show! The pairing of Andrade and Rey Fenix is an interesting one, if it brings them success and Gold then I’m all for it, but I feel like they would be better served on Raw! Anyway, the finish was really nice, with Fenix delivering a dive to the outside before Andrade scored the win with the Message!

Grade: B-

The Bloodline VS Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso

After Damian Priest and Aleister Black had another backstage interaction, it was Main Event time as Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo of The Bloodline took on the pairing of Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso! This was a totally standard match, it got about 10 minutes, there isn’t really much to write home about honestly! Interestingly, Jacob Fatu won this match by pinning Solo Sikoa, that seemed like an interesting move to make, but it didn’t seem to matter much as the rest of The Bloodline then showed up to beat up both men, eventually sending Fatu crashing through the announce table to close the show!