WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 11/09
Randy Orton Starts the Show, Rey Fenix VS Ricky Saints: AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown, live from Mexico City, kicked off with Randy Orton cutting a promo calling Cody Rhodes “a good man”, stating that he’s not a “killer”! We’re still doing this?! Orton would then continue to get cheered as he set his sights on a 15th World Championship, and whilst that’s not a horrendous idea, I can’t get over the fact that we’re still doing the same Cody storyline, despite the fact that he pulled the trigger on Kevin Owens years ago!
Grade: C-
After Tiffany Stratton surprised Chelsea Green, we went straight into the opening match of the night as Rey Fenix put his AAA World Cruiserweight Championship on the line against Ricky Saints! Rey Fenix has been on an incredible run in recent months; this was another example of that, and it was nice to see Ricky back wrestling on TV again! It felt pretty obvious to me who was going to win this match, given the fact that Fenix is scheduled to defend his Cruiserweight Title in a Fatal 4-Way at TripleMania this Sunday! However, that didn’t stop this match from being entertaining, with Fenix eventually hitting an MMB to get the 1.2.3!
Grade: B-
Nikki Bella VS Paige, Trick Williams Celebrates
Sami Zayn was fired up backstage, whilst Johnny Gargano made Sami make it clear that if he beats CM Punk tonight, Gargano gets next! Speaking of next, next up saw Nikki Bella go one-on-one with Paige! I’ve been pretty honest about how little I care about this feud; I don’t need to see Nikki Bella wrestling in 2026, whilst Paige hasn’t done anything for me since she returned back at WrestleMania! This match also wasn’t that good, with Bella stealing the win by putting her feet on the ropes! What a waste of time!
Grade: D
After The Irresistible Forces made it clear that they have everything covered in terms of Nia Jax leaving Mexico City as the new WWE Women’s Champion, Trick Williams came down to the ring to celebrate with the Mexican fans over becoming a 2-time United States Champion! Trick did a good job of understanding the culture and what was being chanted at him, with Williams even showing that he’s pretty good at kicking a football! Trick Willy would then welcome out Lil Yachty to celebrate, only for Yachty to get dragged out by Baron Corbin, as Corbin would then attack Williams with the “Trick Stick”! Why are we still doing this feud?!
Grade: C+
WWE Women’s Championship: Chelsea Green VS Nia Jax, The War Raiders VS Damian Priest and R-Truth: AAA World Tag Team Championships
Finn Balor still believes that he should be first in line for a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship, which Gunther continues to find comical! Finn would then whack Gunther right in the face as Danhausen watched on, before Chelsea Green put her WWE Women’s Championship on the line for the first time against Nia Jax! I don’t know why, but it feels like Nia has gotten worse over the past year and a bit, which is honestly very surprising given how great she was in 2024! Whilst this match wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t exactly interesting either, with the best part coming on the outside when Tiffany Stratton took a bullet for Chelsea, getting smashed in the face by Lash Legend! With the face mask back on, Green was able to use said face mask as a weapon, following a headbutt up with an Unprettiher to come away with a successful Title defence! I’m glad that Chelsea won!
Grade: C
CM Punk was fired up backstage, whilst the AAA World Tag Team Championships were the next Titles to be on the line as The War Raiders faced R-Truth and Damian Priest! These two teams have been feuding for quite a while now, so this sort of had to be their final match! Despite taking place in Mexico City, the crowd didn’t seem to be too interested in either team, whilst it was also announced that the winning team in this match will put the Titles on the line on Night 2 of TripleMania 34! In the end, The War Raiders would secure a successful Title defence with Ragnarok, before Priest finally dropped Truth post-match! It’s about time: I’ve been waiting for that since March!
Grade: C+
Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk VS Sami Zayn
After Ricky Saints attacked Rey Fenix backstage, the Main Event of this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown saw CM Punk put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against Sami Zayn! After a couple of occasions of defending in hostile territory, CM Punk fully had the crowd behind him here, mostly because the Mexican crowd couldn’t stand Sami Zayn! As expected, “sports entertainment” chaos unfolded, with Johnny Gargano failing in his attempt to help his friend as Punk just floored him with a GTS! However, this distracted the referee, allowing Kevin Owens to jump in the ring, only to “accidentally” nail Punk in the face with the WWE Title! Zayn would then deliver a low blow to KO, following it up with a Helluva Kick to The Best in the World, as rather unbelievably, Sami Zayn won to become a 2-time Undisputed WWE Champion! There have been a ton of surprises in recent years, but this has to be right up there! Sami winning the Title once was stunning, but a second time is just incredible!
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