The straight up results from this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown:
- Lash Legend & Nia Jax def. The Kabuki Warriors via pinfall
- Giulia def. Alba Fyre via pinfall
- Ilja Dragunov & Carmelo Hayes def. DIY via pinfall
- The Wyatt Sicks vs. MFTs goes to a no contest
The big story
The way they had SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis explain away the current WWE Champion, who makes his home on the blue brand, doing a home invasion on the number one contender this past week was that “it didn’t happen at a WWE event, so it’s up to local authorities to determine what happens from here on out.”
So, basically, Rhodes is in the clear, even if Aldis is publicly condemning the behavior, because his unhinged
attack happened at Drew’s home instead of in a ring. Makes total sense!
Still, Rhodes hit the scene to ask everyone what they wanna talk about. Gee, I wonder. It’s all just so silly.
Cody hammered on Drew for claiming an unsafe work environment, when he’s been surrounded by MMA stars and wrestlers all his life. Perhaps Staples would be a safe work environment?
He welcomed a fight, but this is where Aldis showed up to push back against the champ. He made clear he had to make a bad deal thanks to the corner Rhodes backed them into, and while he may be QB1, he’s not above the law, word to Steven Seagal.
It was made clear that once McIntyre makes his public apology, Rhodes cannot lay a finger on him or he will be stripped of the WWE championship.
Hilariously enough, Rhodes responded to this by inching ever closer to getting far too big of a head. This man outright said he’s the guy who “sent a tweet that changed the game” with a straight face. He said much more, namely that as long as he has the WWE title he is in face above the law because he is the law. Oh and also, Aldis works for him, not the other way around.
Wade Barrett right after all this: “Cody Rhodes is one bad, bad dude and don’t you forget that Nick Aldis.”
They gotta be close to turning this guy heel, right?
This was way too over the top otherwise.
Other happenings
- Damian Priest opened the show with a promo thanking John Cena before trying to look ahead to 2026. Zelina interrupted him before he could do so, causing a distraction that helped Aleister Black attack from behind, ultimately putting him through a table. They fought again backstage after a commercial break I just can’t imagine there are many fans out there who aren’t feeling some serious fatigue with this feud.
- Lash Legend and Nia Jax got to square up with the tag team champs, The Kabuki Warriors. They sold this like a win would give the former team a future title shot. Sure enough, they looked impressive en route to Jax pinning Kairi Sane after the Annihilator. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss hit the scene immediately after to remind us all they’re still around and trying to stay in the title scene too. They’re doing a good job, if nothing else, of keeping the women’s tag division loaded with star power.
- Giulia isn’t done with United States Champion Chelsea Green and that meant beating up Alba Fyre of the Secret Hervice. There wasn’t much to this, just a way to make it clear to all that Green vs. Giulia is coming sooner rather than later.
- Tama Tonga is still lurking in the shadows of the United States championship. Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes went out and defeated DIY in a fun tag team match after he was seen creeping on them in the background. Again, it’s clear what this is setting up, it’s just a question of whether or not WWE will have it in them to pull the trigger on Hayes.
- Solo Sikoa continues using Bray Wyatt’s words to mock Uncle Howdy and The Wyatt Sicks. Perhaps it’s just me, but it feels too much like they don’t have enough heat on all this to be doing that. The tag team title match wasn’t all that compelling either, as has usually been the case with these teams. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the match broke down into a huge brawl that they threw out. A 5-v-5 monster brawl with all that beef flying always works, and they did a few really fun spots here, like a Talla Tonga crossbody from the top rope followed by an Erick Rowan dropkick followed by Rowan literally throwing Nikki Cross out of the ring as a weapon. If there’s any way to keep me interested, this is it, I suppose. I just don’t see this ending in any way that feels satisfying.
A fairly standard show.
Grade: C
Your turn.
