The big selling point for this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown was WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his next challenger, Drew McIntyre, signing the contract for their title match at Saturday Night’s
Main Event . They’ve built the entirety of this feud on the fact that Rhodes keeps losing his cool against the guy who has done nothing but lose his cool over being screwed around for so many years.
Also, who the hell attacked Jacob Fatu?
SmackDown General Manager asked Rhodes if he had anything to do with it, was told no and that Cody likes him, and just bought it instantly. Not sure I agree with that level of belief, even in an upstanding individual like the reigning QB1.
You?
Anyway, it came time for the two to meet in the ring to sign on the dotted line and it was McIntyre who objected to signing it, claiming it was too lopsided. Rhodes was all too eager to do so.
Aldis tried to talk him into it, claiming it was all standard language. McIntyre brought up all the contradictions within the rules, like how Rhodes will remain champion in the event he is counted out, or disqualified, and what have you. It’s too slanted in the champion’s favor.
He’s not wrong.
Aldis got so pissed, he threatened to have someone else take McIntyre’s place. Drew called his bluff, hilariously enough, and it was the WWE champion himself who insisted he stay.
“You think I’m a fool, Drew?”
He was always pretty clear about that, I think.
Rhodes laid it out — McIntyre wanted it added in that if he gets counted out or disqualified he will lose the title. Well, he’s fine with that, so add it in and they can do this match after all.
Aldis pushed back even more and once again it was Cody getting slightly unhinged en route to getting his way. The I’s were dotted, the t’s were crossed, and we are finally good and official, folks.
Of course, they couldn’t end it there. McIntyre made clear why he hates Rhodes taking his path but Cody threw the shot he needed to — when he got fed up with WWE, he grew some balls and walked while McIntyre just got fired.
“Nice guys used to finish last … and then I showed up.”
That could have been cool. McIntyre wouldn’t let it ride like that, though. Instead, he went after the man’s family. How they would love it if he was there to trick or treat with them but instead he’s pandering to an audience all too eager to turn on him.
Rhodes tried to use the belt to lay McIntyre out but he got out of the way. Aldis flat out told him, if he gets unhinged at Saturday Night’s Main Event, it’s going to cost him the title. McIntyre used the advantage that distraction provided and ended the show by putting the champ through the table they signed the contract on.
This was actually about as good as they could have done with this, all things considered. A fine set up to a title match.
All the rest
- Jade Cargill is a heel now, and she had one opportunity to build to her women’s championship match against Tiffany Stratton at Saturday Night’s Main Event just 24 hours later. The champ demanded her presence, and she got it. Decked out in a black bodysuit like Catwoman, Cargill said “at Saturday Night Main Event, Taffy Time is up.” Really, that was it. It’s not great when she’s asked to deliver just a couple lines and screwed up multiple times along the way. This did very little to create any kind of excitement for the match.
- They’re doing a great job of building up Ilja Dragunov here early on into his run as United States champion, with a simple but effective hype package before giving him another open challenge victory, this one over Nathan Frazer. The chaotic tag team division getting involved in the U.S. title scene could be super fun, and I would love Dragunov just working fun matches like this every week. He also called Tommaso Ciampa a jackass. Fun! Tama Tonga teased going after Ilja, however. Less fun, but I believe in Dragunov so much I think he could drag a 4 star match out of him.
- Carmelo Hayes beat up Kit Wilson, as expected, but The Miz rushed him and laid him out after the fact. This has to be a star making vehicle for Hayes, and if anyone can do it it’s Miz, but I don’t have the highest of hopes considering everything we’ve seen of Melo’s run on the main roster so far.
- Nia Jax kicked up the dust on her old feud with Alexa Bliss last week, and they settled up here. Nia threw her around for much of the match, and then Charlotte Flair interfered, directly leading to Bliss scoring the victory. The referee didn’t care much at all about this. I don’t think we were supposed to either.
- The continued push for the MFTs as unstoppable monsters continued on this show, with Solo Sikoa and his crew taking out the Motor City Machine Guns. Rey Fenix tried to stand up to them after the fact, and he, too, was left laid out. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this group feels like the nWo in its later stages when there were 48 members but the top stars of the group weren’t in town. Just me?
Not the worst way to spend Halloween while handing out candy, I suppose.
Grade: C+
Your turn.
