and Universal Champion Roman Reigns appears to have found his next challenger in the form of star Shinsuke Nakamura.
The former Intercontinental Champion stepped up to the Tribal Chief at the end of Friday night’s show after Reigns gave The Usos the huge task of unifying both brands’ respective tag team titles.
The Head of the Table came out with his cousins to close SmackDown this week, noting his doesn’t leave him with much to achieve.
However, he does seen a way for The Bloodline to grow, and he wants Jimmy and Jey Uso – the reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions – to head to Raw and win RK-Bro’s titles so they can also be unified.
However, he was soon interrupted by Shinsuke Nakamura, who looked to have something to say before Roman placed his hand on the microphone and kept talking.
He pointed out that Nakamura needs some direction after, and so he’ll offer him some Bloodline love – which leads to a hug to his apparent new rival, followed by stereo superkicks from The Usos.
This was a great way to establish Reigns’ next move, firstly in terms of his cousins potentially unifying the tag team gold which appears to be another step towards having one roster of champs for both brands.
Meanwhile, he also has his next challenger seemingly set for WrestleMania Backlash, and there is plenty of history with Nakamura going back to the Artist’s Royal Rumble win in 2018.
Happy Corbin turns on Madcap Moss, GUNTHER and Ludwig Kaiser debut, Lacey Evans returns and Ronda Rousey wants I Quit match
SmackDown kicked off with Ronda Rousey insisting she had Charlotte Flair beaten at WrestleMania and challenging the champ to a rematch at Backlash in an I Quit match.
The Queen shrugged off the potential clash, insisting the Baddest Woman On The Planet should get to the back of the line – and Rousey was later told by Adam Pearce she’d get an answer over the weekend.
Xavier Woods scored a small package win over Butch after some decent action which showcase the fire in, and it went some way to establishing the Bruiserweight’s new character alongside Sheamus and Ridge Holland.
Backstage, Sami Zayn insisted he wanted to get back on track after losing to Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania, and he told Pearce he would face the next star to walk through the door – which just so happened to be Drew McIntyre.
Zayn tried to change his made, but the match was on later in the night as he managed to eventually escape, setting up what should be a very entertaining feud between two big personalities.
Elsewhere, Ludwig Kaiser – FKA Marcel Barthel – , which saw the Ring General destroy a poor local talent in a dominating performance.
Fans were understandably nervous when WALTER was renamed, but this was a strong first night on the blue brand and suggests the company still understands what makes him such a special talent.
Up next, it was time for Happy Talk as Happy Corbin blamed Madcap Moss for his loss to McIntyre at WrestleMania, and trashed his friend’s jokes.
In a very welcome twist, the fans started chanting for Moss in an unexpected but brilliant show of support for the Andre the Giant Memorial battle Royal winner.
He told one last joke to bring their team to an end, which led to a brawl between them to the roar of the crowd, before Madcap trashed the set and potentially gave WWE its next big babyface.
Elsewhere, Lacey Evans told the first chapter of her story en route to a big comeback
The former Sassy Southern Belle opened up on her childhood and the challenges of being around a father suffering from addiction, leading to a young Lacey and her mum leaving before they move around in campgrounds.
She went onto become a mother, a sister, a United States Marine and now a WWE superstar, noting her journey doesn’t make her ‘better than any other superstar’, but she notes: ‘They damn sure ain’t better than me.’
In the last match of the night, Liv Morgan scored a big win over Sasha Banks as they delivered an entertaining clash giving Liv and her partner Rhea Ripley – who wasn’t at ringside – some momentum before they face the Legit Boss and Naomi for the gold.
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE SmackDown results and grades
- Xavier Woods pinned Butch (B-)
- GUNTHER destroyed Joe Alonzo (A for whole segment and presentation)
- Drew McIntyre beat Sami Zayn via count out (B+)
- Liv Morgan defeated Sasha Banks (B)
