The Women’s Tag Team Championship was in jeopardy on SmackDown Friday night as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defended Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville.
Has the champion, still in the early stages of its reign, been able to hold on to its challenger, or has the company picked up a new titleholder for the second time in a matter of weeks?
Find out in this rundown of the show that also saw Gunther defend his Intercontinental Championship against Xavier Woods.
Here’s what was pre-announced for Friday’s show:
- Women’s Tag Team Championship: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville
- Intercontinental Championship Match: Xavier Woods vs. Gunther (c)
- Ricochet and Braun Strowman vs Viking Raiders
- Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar vs. Finn Balor and Damien Priest
- No Disqualification Match: Matt Riddle vs. Solo Sicoa
Before Bad Bunny’s return on Monday’s Raw, The Judgment Day scored an important victory over LWO as Damien Priest and Finn Balor defeated Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar in the night’s opening contest.
A competitive and energetic match, it was the perfect way to kick off the show and highlight two of the current WWE’s top acts. Considering they were part of Raw’s wild and chaotic conclusion, it makes sense to start Friday’s show with them and pick up where things left off.
It would be nice to see Escobar win big on WWE TV at some point, but as the company builds what is likely to be a massive tag team match involving the aforementioned Bunnies, At this point, he seems to wear out more easily than Mysterio.
Judgment Day took a rare clean win and Priest was impressive. Mysterio enlists the support of the world’s greatest musicians to end the differences that exist between him and the Healers.
result
Judgment Day defeated Mysterio and Escobar
School year
B.
top moment
- Mysterio delivered Bulldog to create a detachment and was able to hot tag Escobar.
- Escobar teased Diving, but Balor exploded out of nowhere on a clothesline.
- Priest rocked Escobar with a big superkick to stop his momentum and maintain control of the match.
- Escobar made a splash for Balor, but the former Universal Champion wasn’t a legal person. Priest entered and delivered South of Heaven to emerge victorious.
After a backstage raid at the hands of the Viking Raiders a week ago, Braun Strowman and Ricochet got some measure of revenge on Friday night with a hard-fought win against Eric and Ivor.
Despite the heel’s ferocious offensive weaponry and interference from Valhalla, Ricochet leaped into the air off his giant partner’s shoulder and brought victory to his team.
The commentary team of Wade Barrett and Michael Cole will see the winner win the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship following next week’s WrestleMania main event rematch between The Usos, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. I conveyed the idea of lining up for a shot.
With the WWE Draft just around the corner, you have a worse option than booking Strowman and Ricochet against either of these teams. We will provide
result
Ricochet and Strowman defeated the Viking Raiders
School year
B.
top moment
- Behind the scenes, Zelina Vega caught up with Adam Pierce and challenged Leah Ripley to a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Backlash, earning her status as the only Puerto Rican woman on the WWE roster and an unfinished tie with “Mami.” made a deal.
- A vignette placed over Shinsuke Nakamura’s combat background to re-establish his King of Strong style persona. Karion Cross appeared in his second video and did everything he’d had from a WWE superstar since his return before issuing a word of caution to Nakamura.
- Ricochet delivered a cartwheel plancha to the outside, wiping out both opponents.
- Valhalla distracted Ricochet during a break, allowing Heel to seize control.
- Ivar delivered a big splash for Strowman, but The Monster Among Monsters kicked it out with a 2.
- Ricochet delivered the Swanton Bomb off Strowman’s shoulder for the win.
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez successfully retained the Women’s Tag Team Championship on Friday night using tricks from Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville.
First, Morgan poured water on the green just four days after being disrespected in a similar fashion on Raw. After repeated attempts at the act returned the favor.
More important than the turnabout being fair play was the fact that the match took a good amount of time, featured solid character work by those involved, and the audience seemed relatively enamored with it. was.
When there are story and character elements that fans can stand by, the results are usually positive. That was the case here. Kudos to Triple H for giving the women time to play and talk.
result
Morgan and Rodriguez beat Green and Devil to stay
School year
B-
top moment
- “How do you get these common sense guys to understand what it’s like to wake up in the morning and win?!” Green asked before the game.
- Morgan fired a shotgun dropkick at the opening bell, eager to avenge the disrespect given to her on Raw on Monday.
- Morgan watered the green and Rodriguez added leverage to his rollup to win and successfully defend his title.
On paper, Xavier Woods challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship had all the makings of a banger.
When executed, it lived up to expectations as one of the best matches on TV this week.
Gunther retained the title, but Woods tested the ring general, accepting the underdog role and battling from the bottom until a spirited run late in the match. Ultimately, Gunther used a traditional sleeper to defeat Woods, but Woods proved he deserved his championship opportunity in singles.
In a long afterthought for The New Day, he has shown that he can thrive on his own through his work in the 2021 King of the Ring tournament and this latest outing against one of the best wrestlers in the world.
It will be interesting to see if the star of up up, down down If the WWE Draft is around the corner, or if you’re returning to tag team action when Kofi Kingston or Big E return, there’s an opportunity to do more.
result
Gunther beats Woods to stay
School year
a
top moment
- This was Woods’ first match for the WWE-wide Singles Championship.
- Woods responded to his opponent’s tough chops with a stiff forearm. He once shook a ring general and took him off his feet.
- The challenger delivered a leg drop for the count of two and the fan bit the finish.
- Gunther eventually put Woods to sleep to make a successful title defense.
The best way to get back on the good side of The Tribal Chief is to deal with the problem. Since the night after WrestleMania, few issues have been more persistent or troubling for The Bloodline than Matt Riddle.
Friday night saw Solo Sikoa win two straight games against The Original Bro. This was done in a no disqualification match this time, thanks to timely interference from The Usos. To remedy things, Enforcer joined his brothers and left Riddle lying down after driving him to a table.
The image of a dominant Bloodline standing tall to close out the show has been necessary since WrestleMania after others’ success against the faction, and with increasing pressure to impress Roman Reigns. So, I gave The Usos a little grace.
A so-so match heightened by the presence of Jimmy and Jay and the exclamation mark at the end of the show made this a success.
result
Sicoa pinned Riddle
School year
B.
top moment
- The Usos cut a pre-match promotional banger promoting WrestleMania’s rematch against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships on next week’s show.
- Riddle wiped out his opponent as Broton entered the commercial break.
- Riddle countered Cikore, who charged with an iron chair in his face. He added some body shots using a kendo stick and a chair-assisted knee to his face.
- Sicoa sent Riddle to the top of the announcement table and tried to bury him under it like last week, but his former companions fought.
- Riddle delivered a Floating Bro from the middle rope, wiping out the interfering Uso.
- Sicoa recovered, flipped the announce table, furious with Riddle, and eventually scored a pinfall victory on the Samoan Spike.
- The heel drove Riddle to the table to close out the win.
