WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 21/08

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s Conflict Continues, MFT VS Damian Priest and R-Truth: WWE Tag Team Championships

This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown started around the end of last week’s show, which saw Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton brawl around the arena! Sami Zayn was furious about all of it, as that cost him a future shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship, whilst Randy Orton’s thoughts were stopped by Cody Rhodes shouting in the ring! Nick Aldis quickly stormed out to try and defuse the situation, but this wouldn’t stop Randy from also heading down to ringside! However, Aldis made it clear that he’s had enough of their nonsense, and that if either of them lay hands on one another before Sunday Night’s Main Event, they would never get another shot at the WWE Championship! This was a pretty smart move from Nick, as it stopped any more fighting (at least for now), with Orton and Rhodes firing lines at one another instead!

Grade: C+

After Haku fired his sons up backstage, MFT headed down to the ring to put their newly won WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against Damian Priest and R-Truth! This was honestly a pretty good match; it’s ironic that Priest and Truth’s best performance as a team came after they lost the Tag Titles! Tama Tonga is really good; he delivered a couple of great moves in this match, whilst there was also a great near-fall after Truth rolled up Tama! Eventually, a good-looking Tag Team finisher was enough for The Tongans to retain their Titles, before Damian Priest embraced R-Truth, almost signalling that the end is near for them as a duo! A good opener!

Grade: B

Blake Monroe VS Giulia, Trick Williams and Baron Corbin Come Face-to-Face, Lash Legend VS Tiffany Stratton

CM Punk wasn’t at all worried about the fact that he’s walking into a hostile environment tonight, whilst Randy Orton wanted to make it clear that once he’s done with Cody Rhodes, he’s coming for the Undisputed WWE Championship! Tiffany Stratton would then ask Chelsea Green to please stay in the back for her match with Lash Legend, whilst Paige would also appear as Fatal Influence trash-talked the Babyfaces! Blake Monroe then made it clear to Cathy Kelley that she’s better than having a random match in Toronto against Giulia, and she clearly meant this as Blake would attack Giulia during her entrance, with a match not even going ahead! When is Monroe going to wrestle? It’s getting ridiculous now!

Grade: C

Charlotte Flair is still weirded out by Tatum Paxley, whilst Jade Cargill and The Baddies walked in and talked a ton of nonsense! Tatum will face Michin next week. Trick Williams and Lil Yachty were then out next as Trick quickly wanted to call out Baron Corbin, with The Anointed One wanting to get his United States Championship back! Baron would come out to explain that the US Title is currently getting a “haircut” (thank goodness for that), and honestly, Corbin has no intention of giving Williams another shot due to the fact that he’s already beaten him multiple! As a Heel, this makes perfect sense! So, Lil Yachty decided to attack Corbin with a kendo stick, with Baron eventually agreeing to a match at Sunday Night’s Main Event, but against the rapper! See, if Yachty can last 5 minutes, Trick will get another shot at the US Title! However, if (and when) Baron wins, their story is done; it’s finished for good! A Speed match on the Main Roster?! Also, this was a well-done segment, mostly because the crowd absolutely loves Trick Williams!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-

Finn Balor interrupted Kevin Owens’ interview to wish him the best of luck, whilst Gunther interrupted to talk trash! These are 3 incredibly exciting Main-Event players, so please let one of them become WWE Champion soon! It was then “Tiffy Time” as Tiffany Stratton went one-on-one with Lash Legend! This match was fine; it probably would’ve been better on NXT, as there really wasn’t much that happened in terms of excitement! Lash Legend would go on to win the match with a Lash Extension, before Nia Jax would join in on the post-match beatdown! This would result in Chelsea Green running down to make the save, taking care of The Irresistible Forces with the help of a kendo stick!

Grade: C

Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk VS Kevin Owens

Credit: WWE

After Shinsuke Nakamura introduced Kyoki as his new friend, it was Main Event time as CM Punk and Kevin Owens finally clashed with the Undisputed WWE Championship on the line! The atmosphere for this match was brilliant; whilst you could’ve easily saved this match for a big PLE, having Kevin Owens wrestle for the Undisputed WWE Title in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a genius move! It also meant that the crowd booed CM Punk, which is honestly one of my favourite things about people who are Babyfaces everywhere else, except when they face a home favourite! Owens actually may have won had it not been for a ref bump, whilst Punk will also be saying the same! So, Sami Zayn decided to show up, shoving Punk into the ring post, as KO delivered another Stunner for an incredible near-fall! I genuinely thought Kevin had won it here! Sami then tried to give his friend the Undisputed WWE Championship to use as a weapon, but unlike how it went when he became Universal Champion 10 years ago, Owens wanted to win clean! This cost him dearly, as Zayn smashed KO in the face with the Title, opening the door for Punk to deliver another GTS to successfully escape “and still”! After the match was over, Sami Zayn nailed both CM Punk and Kevin Owens (again) with the Undisputed WWE Title, potentially setting up a Triple Threat for World’s Collide! This was great, from the storytelling to the ending!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B+