Solo Sikoa Takes Over Bloodline & Cody Rhodes Challenges AJ Styles On Smackdown

It was the “leave home” episode of SmackDown as Clash in the Castle, scheduled for next Saturday in Scotland, makes this the last time we will see Smackdown live on US soil before the most significant pieces of the WWE roster make the trip. Smackdown started with a recap of last week’s closing angle—built up and promoted throughout the show—that saw AJ Styles swerve us with a bogus retirement angle.

Cody Rhodes was called out during AJ’s ‘retirement announcement’ and was eventually attacked to reveal that Styles has not let go of his Backlash loss. The first shot of Cody tonight was him backstage eagerly awaiting Styles’ arrival, but GM Nick Aldis attempted to keep things cool by intervening. Cody was not having it. AJ Styles eventually arrived, and Cody confronted unsuccessfully, but then went to the ring to lure out Styles.

Styles obliged but decided to stay on the stage and outside Cody’s ring. Styles got what he wanted the whole time—a championship rematch with Cody. So, Cody accepted like the no-nonsense face he is, only this time it feels personal. Aldis gave the thumbs up and made the match official for Clash at the Castle, but as amazing as this match-up is, it will be the ‘other’ title defense in Scotland next Saturday.

The Solo Dome At The Table

“The Head of the Table” was more than a position; it was a gimmick. Gimmicks can be recycled, and even if there was some mythological ‘head of the table’ within the extended family or not, it was Roman Reigns who introduced that title and defined its parameters. After Paul Heyman killed his performance last week, it was no surprise that he opened this week’s SmackDown in front of a live crowd at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville.

He was escorted to the ring by the rest of Bloodline 2.0 (The NEW Bloodline? Anyone?). This storyline has not fully developed, even with Kevin Owens and the Street Profits making for worthy advisories. We learned that Roman has not spoken to Heyman since losing the title at WrestleMania, but since then, the storyline has been mainly character driven. Tonight, though, Heyman made it clear that Solo is the “head of the table,” and he did it inside the squared circle with a mic in his hand.

The whole thing resulted in a shmoz that set up the 6-man tag main event for later in the evening (did they not plan on having a main event tonight, or was it so bad you preferred not mentioning it?). However, the takeaway was that Solo Sikoa desperately needs to establish himself in whatever role he attempts to carve out for himself. Calling himself the “head of the table” by bullying Paul Heyman does not make you the “Head of the Table,” not the kind that Roman Reigns was.

Call yourself the “head” of whatever table you want, but are you being given that respect? And if you aren’t, then how do you get it? Right now, it feels like this is the same old Solo with more talking time (sort of) but nothing new to say. Evolving into a lead role can be one of the most difficult things in this business, but Solo needs the truth for his evolution to succeed.

6-Man Main Event: Bloodline vs Kevin Owens & The Street Profits

Bloodline had a sick entrance, but the matching fit from Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa feels as unnecessary as they are basic. Creative should try to create individualism in the new Bloodline additions and not attempt to replace the USOs. Tama is a violent individual, and Loa needs identity, but even with great performances from these two, you will inevitably have a Smokin’ Gunns situation where only a breakup and complete gimmick change can salvage a solo career.

The match itself was well booked, and it helped to have different styles capable of blending, but unfortunately, a chair shot from Solo caused the DQ. This is clearly building, but the second shmoz of the night as the ending is not it.

Tidbits/Other Ring Action

• Grayson Waller and Johnny Gargano faced off in a single’s match that did not do enough to further the Waller-Theory split, but Gargano on TV is always worth celebrating. There was a spot where Waller pulled in Theory to take the bump from Gargano in his place, but it feels like all the escalation is coming from one side (Theory’s). It certainly plays into the idea that Theory will be turning face soon, but the psychology of a blood feud needs to be two-sided.

Sidebar

There was a botched spot on the outside just before the commercial break, committed by Gargano, no less. Gargano does not botch often, but WWE botches are not uncommon. However, it is sad that AEW botches are given so much more scrutiny, and it is doubtful anyone will point out the very dangerous risk in the Gargano-Waller spot. AEW works dangerous sometimes, but that is because their roster is built on guys from the same place Gargano is from, and that makes this a situation built on eras of the indies and not necessarily, or at least entirely, the contrast in WWE and AEW.

Some will argue that the spot was not nearly as bad as what we have seen in AEW, and the proper response to that would be there is no need to compare both companies if the situation is a product of a specific farm system. However, if you felt like being a troll, one could point out that Gargano’s botch was so bad that Wade Barret said, “That’s how you get killed” on commentary—something that was probably not appreciated in the back, but you can’t fault him for what seemed like his genuine knee-jerk reaction.

• The WWE women’s tag team champions successfully defended their championship tonight against LeRae and Hartwell and then continued a feud(?) that we did not know existed—or forgot. Belair and Cargill look great, but you can only say that for so long, eventually, they must be great against other greats. A fire feud would help.

• LA Knight faced off against Carmelo Hayes in a fun match. Hayes has received a lot of camera time in the same ring with the WWE’s best, but he’ll need a meaningful program soon. [Logan Paul shot a video to continue the feud with Knight; it was mid]

• Creative is not doing Bayley any favors with this roulette rivalry they have for the champ. She attempted to get Piper Niven away from Chelsea Greene, but it felt too like the Zayn-Gable feud.

Bayley defends her title at Clash of the Castle against Piven in her home of Scotland. Piven got her chance on the mic and attempted to deliver an emotional promo but was forced to stifle a “what” chant. Good on her for not letting it throw her and calling the crowd ‘inbreds.’

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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