WWE Friday Night Smackdown 9/1/2023
Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-8252023.html
Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-982023.html
John Cena comes out to talk. He thanks the fans for all that they have given him. He said he was also given the chance to host Payback tomorrow. He says he will do his best to give back tothe fans. He says that starts right here right now. He says Samckdown will be epic tonight and says we will get answers to our questions. Jimmy Uso then comes out making mean faces.
Uso asks what Cena is doing here. He said the fans came to see him, not Cena. He said he did what he did to Jey because he loves his brother and wanted to save him. He said he didn't want his brother to be corrupted like Roman Reigns or Cena. Uso says this is his ring and says Cena and Roman are exactly alike. He said Cena takes but does his with a smile which Roman doesn't. Cena tells him the wrong Uso quit. Uso goes to superkick him then takes an attitude adjustment and leaves him laying.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory are interviewed. They aren't impressed with Cena being back. Theory says he beat Cena at Mania and told the interviewer if she's impressed with Cena, then come watch Theory and Waller beat Rey Mysterio and "Santos Uno Leg".
Jimmy Uso is almost rammed by a box on wheels. Jimmy tells the guy to say his name and asks if he knows who he is.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory vs Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar
Waller punches Santos then Santos dropkicks him. Waller forearms Rey then pulls him out of the ring. Theory pushes Austin out too and Rey is lifted into a plancha on them. We go to break and return.
Rey is in trouble and takes a corner lariat from Theory. Rey is double stomped in the corner by his opponents as Theory gets Santos tied up with the ref. Waller is called, "The Dynamite from Down Under". Waller hits knees on Rey. Theory holds Rey on the ropes and Waller accidentally forearms him.
Waller stops a tag to Santos then Rey ddt's him. Santos gets in and beats up the heels. He hits flying forearms then Santos top rope crossbodies him. Santos flying double knees Waller in the corner then Santos 2nd rope hurricanrana's him. Rey bodyscissors Theory out.
Waller is kicked off the apron by Santos. Theory comes in from the outside to spear Rey while he is posing with Santos. Rey gets on Theory's shoulders and rolls him outside. Waller then rolls in from the outside and stunners Santos to win it. They say Waller's move should be called, "rolling thunder from down under".
This was short though the little we did get was entertaining with lots of rolls.
Michin tells Adam Pearce she is ready to go then Jimmy Uso comes in. Pearce yells at Jimmy for being rused to Michin and the crew member earlier. Jimmy asks if that's it and then leaves. Pearce apologizes to Mcihin.
Bobby Lashley heads to the ring.
Michin talks to Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows about Jimmy Uso interrupting her. AJ Styles walks in. The OC says it's not a big deal and AJ says he will handle this.
Kevin Owens and Sammy Zayn come out then walk into Lashley and The Street Profits
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs LWO (Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde)
Sami shoulders Wilde over. Wilde slingshots flips over Zayn then does a weird corkscrew elbow. Zayn lariats Wilde then Owens top rope swantons Wilde. Owens does a pop-up on Wilde and Wilde dropkicks him. Cruz gets in and hits a bicycle kick while holding the ropes on Owens. Owens pop-up powerbombs Cruz. Owens running facekicks Cruz then Owens cutters Cruz to win it.
This was just a quick face vs face match. The LWO locked like jobbers here and I don't know if that was the intention. Cruz's kick on the apron was cool.
Zayn gets on the mic after. He says tomorrow night won't be fun or pretty and says tomorrow will be the fight of their lives.
Jimmy Uso goes to leave and AJ Styles said nobody wants him here anyway. AJ said he disrespect Michin then he pushes Jimmy. Solo then nails AJ. Solo asks if Jimmy is done with Bloodline. Jimmy says nobody from the Bloodline can tell him anything and he leaves.
AJ Styles is interviewed. He said the Bloodline thinks they run Smackdown and the WWE but they don't. AJ says he wants Solo tonight. The OC come in. Karl and Doc say to stay out of the Bloodline drama and Michin encourages AJ to get involved. AJ says The Bloodline needs reminded that this is the house that AJ Styles built.
The Miz comes out to talk. He says LA Knight will be in the biggest match of his career tomorrow against him. He says LA is not on his level or half the star he is. LA Knight then comes out. LA Knight said Miz tries to cosplay Austin and Rock but can't be them. LA talks about how hard it was to get here and said Miz would not last a day in his shoes. LA said he's right that he isn't on his level, Miz got the easy path in and he came the hard way. He says he is above and beyond him and Miz is beyond him. Miz says LA has failed where he succeeded and said LA was eliminated first from a reality show called, "The Hero". He said it took LA 20 years to get here and he got here in 3.
He says he succeeds because he is a star. LA said he took advantage of the chances he got and said Miz's wife was the star of Miz and Mrs. He said to give his wife his regards because she will be empty inside when he sends her a broken and battered husband. LA says he can fix that quick though. Miz sayz people relate to him because people are failures. Miz said he crushes hopes and dreams of superstars all the time. He said LA loses his confidence and job when he loses to him tomorrow and will go back to life in 2003.LA says he doesn't know how to quit and says Miz lives in the past while he lives him. He says his present is trash and his future is about to get worse. LA says he will get stomped out and said he will learn whose game this is. Miz goes for a cheapshot, LA avoids it then Miz hits a skull crushing finale. Miz leaves him laying and says that's his fuure. I didn't like LA getting laid out here especially to Miz.
LA then runs after Miz and hits him from behind, then Miz runs.
Bayley vs Shotzi
Shotzi looks like something out of a horror movie and Bayley looks nervous. Graves says if you shave a panther, it's still a panther. They each hit punch flurries on each other and Shotzi headscissors her over the top rope. Bayley hits some upkicks and pounds on her. Bayley makes hair-cutting gesutres and Shotzi enzugiri's her. Shotzi hair throws her on the floor then cannonballs her off the apron.
We go to break and return. Bayley boots her in the corner and 2nd rope elbow drops her back. Bayley goes for another 2nd rope elbow drop and Shotzi gets her knees up. Shotzi then topes her. Shotzi hits a brazilian kick then is put in tree of woe and Bayley elbows her out of it. Shotzi suplexes her into the buckles then Shotzi cannonballs her in the corner.
Bayley asks Iyo to hand her the belt then Charlotte Flair comes out. Charlotte kicks Iyo in the arm and throws her into the rails. Shotzi then hits a weak looking fisherman ddt and wins it.
This was slow and everything they did looked pretty weak. Charlotte's save was not good and she barely connected with Iyo.
They do a package on Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura.
Solo Sikoa vs AJ Styles
AJ charges at him with forearms. Solo shoves him hard back then shoulders him. Solo slams AJ then AJ dropkicks him. AJ lariats him in the corner then Paul Heyman comes out. Solo nails AJ hard from behind. AJ running knees him from the apron then plancha's him outside.
We go to break and return. AJ comes off the 2nd buckle and is nailed. AJ's body is sent into the post and then his head is banged off the announcer's table. Solo belly to belly suplexes him then AJ takes a nice bump for a back body drop. AJ enzugiri's and bicycle kicks him.
AJ hits a running forearm then Solo hits a bad pop-up samoan drop. AJ lariats him then asai moonsaults him for 2. Heyman gets on the apron and AJ goes for a springboard but Jimmy Uso knocks him off of it. Solo then hits a samoan spike and wins it.
Jimmy hugs Solo after and Heyman is shocked. Solo goes to samoan spike him but doesn't. Jimmy superkicks and top rope splashes AJ then holds up the finger for the Bloodline.
The Solo/AJ match was short but good. AJ really bumped big for Solo.
I don't really know what to make of the angle after. It wasn't made clear that Jimmy fully left and it's not clear why Jimmy wants back in when he's insulting Roman so much.
Overall thoughts: Smackdown goes pretty fast and has a lot of short matches usually and that was the case here. Nothing was good as it could have been due to time constraints. The women's match may have had the most time, but it was slow and everything looked weak. It was a weird show as The Bloodline aren't on the PPV tomorrow but were in the main event angle. Lashley's new group also isn't on the show but was featured here and stuff like Bayley/Shotzi was on here but isn't on the PPV.
