WrestleMania made a bit of a splash (at least on Night 2), but would this week's “WWE SmackDown” do the same? Kicking off just hours after the news of the latest WWE releases — with sad goodbyes to Kairi Sane, the Motor City Machine Guns, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, The Wyatt Sicks and others — this week's show had somewhat of a hill to climb in terms of putting us in that Friday night mood. So let's see how they fared …
Being the first challenger to the new champion is no easy feat. Just ask AJ Styles, whose final run against newly-minted champion Cody Rhodes failed to excite us back in spring 2024. But can Jacob Fatu, the fearsome Samoan werewolf, do any better when it comes to that feat?
This week's "SmackDown" kicked off with Jacob Fatu in the ring in Fort Worth, explaining how beating Roman Reigns — the new WWE champion — could be his ticket to success. Sadly "The OTC" himself wasn't available to respond, leaving The Usos to do the job for him. Then just when we were ready to hear Jey Uso out, the PA system throbbed with another theme: Solo Sikoa and the MFTs.
"Why are we here, spending time with this?" asked Tama Tonga, capturing my thoughts nicely. There's only one thing worse than another convoluted Bloodline storyline, and that's a Bloodline angle without the main man Roman Reigns. We theater kids have a phrase for this kind of thing: Hamlet without the prince ….
Still, the family dynamic would lead into the main event, pitting Fatu against Solo Sikoa to finish the show. After Jacob got the win over his former ally, the MFTs attempted to launch an ambush only to be thwarted by a near superman performance from "The Samoan Werewolf". The Usos — who had appeared on the ramp — watched on impressed from the ramp, seemingly taking notes to report back to their "Tribal Chief".
She might be a relative newcomer to pro-wrestling, but Tiffany Stratton has one thing under her belt: She very rarely has a dull outing in the ring. This time around, the gymnast-turned-grappler was up against Giulia for the women's U.S. title — a match that narrowly failed to make the card at WrestleMania.
Once Wade Barrett opined about Tiffy missing the stadium show, it seemed more than likely that she would win – and so it proved. A ripple of tension between Giulia and her manager Kiana James led to the former NXT champion getting the win, thanks to a characteristically smooth moonsault (do we really have to call it "The Prettiest Moonsault Ever"?).
That's great for Tiffany, but where does it leave Giulia, whose US title run didn't exactly get the star treatment from WWE? On a night where releases are at the forefront of our imaginations, no one likes to see these promising young talents being dealt such a duff hand.
"I'm so happy to be home," said Paige, giving her first promo since her massive return at WrestleMania. I'm sure she said the same thing when I saw her a few months ago making a cameo at World Association Wrestling – the Knight family's longstanding wrestling promotion here in England – last year, but I guess we can let that one slide.
No sooner had Paige finished her thought, she and Brie Bella were interrupted by Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. The crowd popped when WWE authorities greenlit the tag title match, only for the occasion to be rudely interrupted by Jacy Jayne and the rest of Fatal Influence making their “SmackDown” debut with an ambush attack on Paige and Brie Bella.
What do we make of that? While it's nice to see the Fatal Influence girls getting a break, the loud boos for the non-finish told the story on that one.
Holy crap, he did it. Cody Rhodes actually went full blown heel, giving us the most shocking twist of the entire WrestleMania season … Wow!
Ha, sorry. Just testing you there. Of course, he didn't. Instead "The American Nightmare" took to the microphone with his usual grand style taking pot shots at Randy Orton and Sami Zayn. Rhodes also had a message to those "outside forces" who try to pry the title out of his hands, telling them they are "0 for 3" when it comes to beating him.
Does that mean the whole nascent "Team TKO" storyline isn't quite over yet? Prior to Mania, WWE had teased the idea that Pat McAfee might be the conduit for some kind of dastardly corporate alliance intent on stealing the limelight from the standard-bearers of pro-wrestling (i.e. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk), only to drop the whole thing on Saturday night.
If the storyline is back on, it begs the question as to who might be the one pulling the strings on those "outside forces"? Could it be the man who just pocketed $900,000 of TKO cash (pocket change for him, admittedly) purely for them mentioning his name – i.e. "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson? That would be one way to make the long-term audience actually care about this ongoing storyline.
Am I the only one who found themselves warming to Lil Yachty tonight? The rapper consistently draws muted reactions from the live crowds, but that doesn't stop him trying his best: he actually sounded pretty passionate on the mic tonight alongside the newly-minted US champion Trick Williams, while the crowd checked their phones or headed out to grab beers.
The segment led to Sami Zayn revealing himself as the masked assailant in the Gingerbread Man costume, launching an opportunistic attack on the man who took his championship at WrestleMania. If this feud still has a road to run, then could WWE make good on the whole Carmelo Hayes situation and book a triple threat for Backlash?
The open challenges were back on the menu on "SmackDown", as Rhea Ripley appeared in the Dickies Arena to invite someone to try to take her WWE Women's Championship.
The invitation was answered by Jacy Jayne, who drew one hell of a heel reaction from the crowd. Wow. Did they have Fatal Influence slap the hell out of Miss Rachel before the show or something? There are talents backstage who have tried for months to get that kind of reaction. Even newcomer Lainey Read had the crowd booing at full volume when she took the microphone briefly.
Nick Aldis made the match (though seemingly without putting the title on the line), giving Jacy Jayne quite the debut fixture to kick off her main roster career. While the contest itself was very good – see our Gem of the Night below – it was brought to a premature end by Fatal Influence's decision to launch a group attack on the alpha female of "SmackDown".