With WWE WrestleMania less than a month away, everyone is fighting for an opportunity on the March 10th edition of Friday Night SmackDown. On this week’s edition, we saw Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, LA Knight, Karrion Kross and Kofi Kingston duke it out in a Fatal 5-way match to determine the No.1 contender for IC Championship and also the unlikely pairing of Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes.
We are covering this week’s episode of SmackDown, discussing its results and highlights in case you missed it.
IC Title No.1 Contender: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Kross vs. LA Knight vs. Woods
This was an excellent match to kick off the show at SmackDown. It contained fast-paced action from all the 5 contenders. We got to see Kross and Knight partner up against the Sheamus, McIntyre and Woods. Their teamwork seemed pretty solid until Knight and Kross start to argue, eventually leading to Knight hitting Kross with a right hand. We also got to see a lot of action from Xavier Woods, who almost won the match, but in the end, it was clear he was not going to win.
The match ended with Sheamus and McIntyre winning by double pinfall. Therefore, both of them will face each other next week to determine the true No.1 Contender to challenge Gunther for the IC championship.
Rey Mysterio to be inducted into WWE 2023 Hall Of Fame
Michael Cole reveals the very first inductee to the Hall Of Fame Class of 2023- Rey Mysterio! A video clip is shown, highlighting Rey’s career. The Master of 619 comes out, looking to celebrate with his fans, whose cheers could be heard throughout the arena- “You Deserve It!”.
However, Rey is interrupted by Dominik Mysterio, who is coming out with the rest of The Judgement Day. Dominik starts by taunting Rey, asking him how many birthdays and holidays did he miss out with his son, to make his Hall Of Fame career. He goes on to say that he is ashamed of being Rey’s son. Upon hearing this, Santos Escobar and the rest of Legado Del Fantasma come out to the ring. Escobar says that Rey might forgive Dominik for what he did last week, but he couldn’t. Escobar calls out Judgment Day for a match right now.
Legado Del Fantasma vs Judgement Day
This match, although being quite predictable, having the repeated notion of Heels defeating Babyfaces through unfair means, it was quite interesting to see, mainly because of the rivalry between the two factions, with Legado Del Fantasma fighting for Rey’s honour. At the end of the match, Priest hit Del Toro with a big boot with the ref distracted. Although Priest was in the match, Dominik covered for the three count.
After the match, Dominik tells the Judgement Day to leave the ring. He continues to taunt Rey saying that he “should’ve been Eddie’s son”. This took things a little far, with Dominik shoving Rey and as the crowd cheers him on, Dominik charges towards Rey, and Rey pulls down the middle rope to cause Dominik to crash to the outside.
Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs The Viking Raiders
The Viking Raiders have been improving their teamwork and presentation over the past couple of months and they got to show it in this match. Ivar and Erik executed a flawless game plan, isolating Ricochet from Braun. They targeted him as the “weak-link” of his time, and although Ricochet himself is a great superstar on his own, isolating him from Braun was a heavy disadvantage on his part. Valhalla saved Erik from a charging Braun Strowman, who ran into the chairs at ringside. Ivar finished off Ricochet with a diving splash.
Charlotte Flair vs. Shotzi
The match began with a handshake between the two competitors. Although the match started in a great manner, it began to feel like a squash match for The Queen. Rhea Ripley kept close eyes on her opponent at WrestleMania, as she was watching from the ringside. Charlotte finally caught Shotzi with a Spear followed by locking in the Figure-Eight to force a submission. Although Shotzi tried her best, fans already knew the outcome of the match before it even started.
Cody Rhodes Joins Sami Zayn’s Fight Against The Usos
For the final event of the night, we see The Usos making their way to the ring. Jimmy Uso announces that The Bloodline is officially back together. As the fans demanded Jey to explain his actions last week, Jey steps out and asks the crowd what they would do if they were in his shoes. He says that Jimmy is his family and that he would do anything for his family. The only person he blames is Sami Zayn. But now that they have gotten rid of the Sami Zayn problem, they turn their attention to Cody Rhodes, who was making his way to the ring in a suit.
Cody, however had backup as Sami attacked Jey from behind. It quickly turned into a brawl, with Sami and Cody taking out the Usos and standing tall in the ring.
What will be the outcome of this rivalry? Well, stay tuned to find out next week!
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