Yeah, I’m not buying this one bit.
This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, the final stop for WWE before hitting MetLife Stadium for SummerSlam across two nights this weekend, featured John Cena and Cody Rhodes coming together just before their rematch for the WWE championship. Rhodes had previously said he wants the old John Cena back and not this new heel version who, quite frankly, sucks.
So Cena did it.
He turned babyface again.
I’m just not buying it.
Cena told Rhodes “thank you” after everything
he did — kicking his ass and forging his name onto a contract for a match he isn’t ready for — giving him “just the boot in the ass that I needed.”
He claimed he bought into someone selling him on making shocking TV, and then those people left him all alone trying to pretend to be something he is not. This lining up so well with WWE: Unreal’s release had my ears perking up. I just can’t buy it. It’s all story. All of it.
Cena would go on to say that he doesn’t want to ruin pro wrestling, he loves pro wrestling. He really just wants to take the WWE championship home with him so everyone doesn’t forget him. Rhodes forced him to see the right side of things, forced him into a fight where he would have to dig down and be the man he really is, and it worked.
John Cena is really back now.
I just do not buy it, man.
To be fair, this felt so much more authentic than anything we’ve seen from Cena since the heel turn at Elimination Chamber. It felt like the guy everyone has known and loved. The cheeseball playing to the crowd with some damn good lines in his promo.
Sure.
I simply cannot believe this is how they turn him back babyface. Cody bought it — he grabbed a couple of beers and they had a toast right there in the ring. But this just isn’t sitting right with me.
I just can’t believe they’re really doing it this way.
Maybe it’s the precursor to Cody turning heel and aligning with The Final Boss and this is the start of a double switch. That would make this sit much better. And maybe I’m wrong anyway, and this isn’t all a big ruse.
I just can’t shake the feeling.
I just can’t buy it.
They gave us a pre-tape of Logan Paul showing up to a Jelly Roll training session and getting into a brawl with the big fella before Drew McIntyre showed up and gave the bad guys the edge. McIntyre had a great line, telling Roll “you’re always crying for someone to save you from yourself, well…” and then dropping him with a Claymore.
Fantastic.
They’re keeping with the angle that guys pay dues for years to get a moment at SummerSlam and McIntyre and Paul are pissed that Jelly thinks he can waltz right in and get his without doing so. I love it.
Later in the show, Paul and McIntyre hit the ring to say as much, with Logan saying it’s basically impossible to do what Jelly Roll is attempting unless, of course, your name is Logan Paul. Jelly is a country star, not a Superstar, and he will never belong.
McIntyre, meanwhile, promised to talk to God about a favor. I loved that.
As they were chatting, wouldn’t you know it, Jelly Roll pulled up with a pissed off Randy Orton right there with him, eager to get payback for that attack in the training room. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis briefly tried to step in but quickly bailed after a simple staredown from Orton.
The way they shot it looked pretty great.
It turned out, Aldis had reinforcements in the form of a bunch of security guys, who ran down to get in the way of the big SummerSlam preview brawl. The heels were yanked away without taking much damage, so the babyfaces did what any cool babyfaces would do.
They beat up the security guards.
Orton hit two of them with an RKO, leaving the last one in the ring to take a chokeslam from Mr. Roll. This ended up being a pretty damn good show closing angle to send us to what should be a solid celebrity tag team affair. I’m honestly surprised at how much I’m looking forward to it.
All the rest
- They treated Giulia vs. Zelina Vega for the U.S. title like an important match, though they didn’t get a great reaction for much of it. Vega played the role of the underdog babyface fighting valiantly to overcome the strong heel champion but she simply didn’t have enough. After a brief run with the title, it sure feels like Vega is right back where she started at. Giulia’s rise, meanwhile, continues, slow but steady.
- Los Garza and Santos Escobar are totally cool again, it seems, now that they’re the AAA tag team champions. They offered up an open challenge and Mr. Iguana & Psycho Clown answered the call to an actually good pop, followed quickly by chants for him. I don’t know how he’s this over already but he is, and we’re going to have to reckon with it. You know he’s loved because he screwed up in the match and no one really cared. Anyway, they lost.
- Damian Priest and Aleister Black were having a decent enough match when the latter was disqualified for using a chair right in front of the referee while they were on the outside. Black refused to stop, continuing his attack after the bell. Standard stuff here.
- The only actual build they did for Tiffany Stratton defending the women’s championship against Jade Cargill was a backstage segment where Cargill said they don’t have a Money in the Bank cash-in to worry about now and nothing will get in the way of her winning. Granted, they don’t have much of a story to tell here beyond this, but treating it like this has made this moment feel far lesser for Cargill, who they obviously want to be a big star.
- Talla Tonga and Jimmy Uso were given a surprising amount of time for a singles match, and it was about what you would think just from hearing that. They worked hard to put Talla over for his size and power, putting him over relatively clean after a chokeslam. Meanwhile, they had a steel cage hanging above the ring and Solo Sikoa asked for it to be lowered while he and his MFTs took Jimmy out. Naturally, Jacob Fatu showed up in time to square up with all of them, giving us a fun visual of Sikoa, Talla, Tonga Loa, and JC Mateo all backing away and making like they were afraid of actually being trapped in the cage with Fatu. Solo and Talla got out while Loa and Mateo were left to get eaten alive. This made Fatu look incredible.
- Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are not friends. Probably champions soon, but not friends.
Good show.
Grade: B-
Your turn.
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