The Rock Performs A Vintage Musical Promo on Smackdown

It was another ‘big time’ edition of Friday Night SmackDown, and it was ‘cool, again,’ as The Rock opened the show in front of a frenzied crowd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. He began his promo by reminiscing on his time as Flex Cavana, the name he used on the Tennessee indie circuit before his WWF/WWE days, and just as he had the crowd ready to eat out of his hand, he went throwback.

The Rock decided to sing a song, a fitting tribute to a music town like Memphis and a gimmick that helped get “The People’s Champ” over in the late 90s and early 2000s. “The Rock is gonna come lay the smacketh down,” The Rock began in a Bluesy tone with a Country melody. “On your blonde Cody ass and your best friend, the clown.” While the second line referenced his fanny pack in some self-deprecating humor, the rest of the song was used to target Cody and Mama Rhodes.

The Rock then poked fun at Ja Morant, the star player for the Memphis Grizzlies, and his troubles stemming from social media posts with guns. That received some boos from the crowd, but they got even louder when the song targeted the “Cody Rhodes Crybabies.”

“There’s some lines you don’t cross, and you can kiss the a** of the final boss,” The Rock sang to end his song. The tone became much more serious when The Rock got into the “slap heard around the world.” He poked fun at Cody Rhodes crying on RAW this past Monday. “You respond by crying, you got to be sh**ing me,” The Rock said. “Mama Rhodes, let me break it down for you how WrestleMania plays out. At WrestleMania Night 1, we’re gonna beat your son and Seth Rollins.”

The Rock posted a 15-minute-plus video on social media today where he used some of the same language in his promo tonight, claiming that ‘Mama Rhodes’ would receive a belt at WrestleMania, but it won’t be because Cody will finish the story, but instead, it will be The Rock’s weight belt that he uses to beat Cody Rhodes.

“The Rock’s gonna (put this belt) in your lap, and you’re gonna be crying. I’m gonna say, ‘Michelle, what can I say, except you’re welcome,’ a line sung by The Rock in his hit movie “Moana.”

LA Knight Promo

LA Knight furthered his storyline with AJ Styles tonight with an intense promo on his likely Mania opponent. He was unaware of Styles’ presence in the building, and the “Phenomenal One” used that as a strategic advantage to attack him with a steel chair.

Uso vs Uso: Day 1 vs Day 1

They caught up with Jimmy Uso in the back who had an emphatic yes to his brother’s WrestleMania challenge, and he made it clear this one is as personal as it can get.

In-Ring Action

LWO vs Legado Del Fantasma

The two teams were the first to compete in the tag team tournament to qualify for a six-team ladder match at WrestleMania with The Judgement Day’s undisputed tag team championships hoisted above center ring. There were some amazing sequences and staunch double-teaming moves, including a double-standing gorilla press from the middle turnbuckle by LDF. LDF pulled off the win and will meet the winner of New Catch Republic and Pretty Deadly.

Randy Orton vs Grayson Waller

WWE United States Champion Logan Paul came out for commentary during the match. Paul cost Orton his chance at a Mania title shot at Elimination Chamber with his favorite new accessory, the brass-knucks. Orton took the momentum early in the match, and Waller had to ‘play from behind’ for much of the match. The crowd broke into a chant of ‘R-K-O’ as Austin Theory interfered in the match. That did not stop Randy from delivering the RKO for the pinfall victory. After the match, Theory attacked Orton and held back his arms as Logan threatened to deliver a knockout punch to a helpless Randy. Kevin Owens came out to make the save, although Randy almost landed a RKO on Owens by mistake.

Logan Paul get WrestleMania Oppenent

Nic Aldis announced that Logan Paul would defend his US title in a triple-threat match against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.

Rey Mysterio Returns

Santos Escobar vs Dragon Lee

It was short and sweet as WWE gave us their version of a Lucha TV match. Escobar picked up the win with a Santo’s Driver. The rest of the FDL and LWO came out to brawl. The Brawl created an opportunity for Rey Mysterio to return from injury. The crowd popped, and Rey got brief revenge on the man who turned on him, Escobar. Rey would grab a mic and challenge Escobar to a match.

Pretty Deadly vs New Catch Republic

The Bruiser Weight, Pete Dunn, and his tag partner Tyler Bate took it to Pretty Deadly, who never really had a chance in this match. Dunn and Bate got the win and will face LDF in this mini tournament’s finals. It was announced that the next stage of the tournament would be between The Street Profits, Authors of Pain, The OC, and Grayson Waller and Austin Theory.

Main Event: Bayley vs Dakota Kai

In a blood feud that has been building since the week after the Elimination Chamber, the former leader of Damage CTRL faced off against the woman who turned on her after offering a phony friendship to mask the feelings of discontent.

Bayley was behind the 8-ball for much of the show as Auska, Kairi Sane, and Iyo Sky interfered at will. She barely got in offense before the group caused a DQ, which prompted Naomi to help even the odds. That did not help enough, and the numbers game did not work well for Bayley as the champs stood tall to close the show.

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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