AJ Styles Did The ‘Mark Henry’ And Attacked Cody Rhodes

Friday Night SmackDown came to us live from MVP Arena in Albany, NY, after airing a pre-taped show last week in Jeddah. This was also the first SmackDown since the events of KQOTR, though only Nia Jax was able to bring home a crown from Saudi.

Nia Jax was given the show’s opening segment, and it could not have been less interesting. With her QOTR tourney win, Nia will receive a title shot against Bailey. She worked the crown gimmick and carried the modest look with real grace. However, beyond Nia’s great aesthetic, she was dry on the mic and only knows one style of playing heel, and that style has one gear. Eventually, Bailey made her way to the ring with a new cut, new threads, and the same blue belt that has evaded Jax since her 2-month reign as RAW women’s champion ended a couple of weeks shy of six years today.

Piper Niven came out with Chelsea Green to attack Bayley, and that was the entire segment. If you did not associate a crown with royalty, there would be no way of knowing that Jax won anything worth winning.

The Wise Man, The Best Man, And Mystery Man

The Bloodline segment for this week was excellent. The writing was mid at best, but the delivery from a petrified Paul Heyman put this over the line, and without him, nobody in this program would get over, not even Solo Sikoa (maybe Reigns?).

Paul pleaded with Solo about his recent plans/changes within The Bloodline, and ever since Roman’s been MIA, Paul said that the need for violence is something that needs strategy and planning. Paul really sold the idea of this loose-cannon figure in Solo with a taste for violence that could have grave outcomes. At the end of that backstage segment between Heyman and Solo, Heyman mentioned keeping Cody Rhodes in check for when Roman gets back, to which Solo said that they ‘have Cody in check and he doesn’t even know it.’

The idea of recruiting was once again mentioned, and Heyman flat out asked Solo who he was referencing when he said “we” throughout his monologue. This is clearly a reference to the soon-to-debut Jacob Fatu, but hopefully, WWE Creative and Triple H aren’t setting up Fatu for a flat debut. Heyman pleaded with Kevin Owens, who has dropped some noticeable weight (good for him), not to pick a fight with The Bloodline out of concern for someone Roman respects, according to Heyman.

Then, when confronted with his twisted past and the backstabbing nature of his reputation in the sport, he broke down, perhaps out of anger but likely a place of pure fear. He broke down and lost total control of himself. It was brilliant on every level and did more for the new, scarier Bloodline 2.0 than any of its members thus far.

Eventually, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa came out to face the outnumbered KO, but that was until the Street Profits showed up to back up Owens. At some point in the next few weeks, Bloodline will gain ahold of the numbers game, and when that day comes, expect all of the Heyman forecasting of unadulterated violence.

How far will they go? `The Profits and Bloodline 2.0 eventually faced off in a tag match, and The Bloodline’s Tonga and Loa picked up the win.

AJ Styles Retired?!?!

AJ Styles hinted at retirement all night, and the entire show was leading up to his “big announcement” at the end of SmackDown. He came to the ring with the Good Brothers by his side and spoke about his son’s high school graduation. “So, instead of being the ‘Phenomenal’ AJ Styles, maybe I stay at home and be a phenomenal father,” Styles said to the crowd before acknowledging his love for Gallows and Anderson.

AJ put the ‘too sweet’ in the air for what he said was the ‘last time.’ He then called Cody out, explaining that he had previously asked Cody to join him. AJ said he wanted Cody out there to ‘give him the keys’ in a metaphorical way. He said one of his best matches was with Cody Rhodes.

Cody accepted, and the crowd ate it up. The two faces embraced, and Cody raised AJ’s arm to the crowd. And just when you thought this could be the last of Styles, he attacked Cody in a brilliant heel move. It was all a show, a strategy to get Cody’s guard down, and it worked.

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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