WWE Friday Night SmackDown was live from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, with Cody Rhodes booked to address the crowd ahead of his ‘Clash in Paris’ title defense. Despite Gunther being promoted as his next title defense, the title scene would not become completely clear until the end of tonight’s episode.
Aside from the top of the card, WWE announced a singles match between the roster’s most recent call-up, Ricky Saints, taking on former U.S. champion Melo Hayes. With Saturday Night’s Main Event next week and Clash In Paris the week after, there is much to book heading into a busy run upcoming.
CODY RHODES GETS A CONTRACTUAL CURVEBALL
Cody Rhodes has been ‘easy to find’ on SD post-WM42, almost too easy when you consider how many times his opps have gotten the jump on him to set up a program (Fatu, McIntyre, Roman, etc.), but even so, Gunther found a way to complicate things for himself. The segment opened with the champ in the ring alone with nothing but a couple of chairs and a table meant to be the setting for the contract signing.
After Cody’s promo, Gunther came out to accuse the champ of making ‘everything about him,’ though Gunther arrived on SD by way of Paul Heyman’s favor he earned by facing Seth Rollins at Mania. Gunther slowplayed the entire segment, so much so that Cody began to ‘crash out’ in the ring as he grew more and more desperate for the contract to be finalized.
As the match’s “soft-launch” continued, Royce Keyes’s music hit, and he stepped out from ‘Gorilla’ to answer the call. He stopped side-by-side with Gunther, gave him a look, and then headed into the ring to claim the contractual title match for himself.
Fans often have to suspend belief when consuming specific content. Whether that exists in the form of ‘time-travel’ storylines in science fiction movies or continuity errors in the most beloved superhero franchise, you have to look past certain rationalities.
In combat sports, fans are more than familiar with the concept of contracts and the idea that anyone can sign on the dotted line to challenge for a title, which flies in the face of everything we know about ‘prizefighting.’
Gunther ran to the ring to grab the pen from Royce before he grabbed it back, and in the middle of their thumb-wrestling match (Money in the Pen?) Nic Aldis came out to settle the escalating situation. Instead of explaining contract law to Royce, he rewarded his initiative by booking a ‘number one contender’ match between the two challengers.
GUNTHER VS ROYCE KEYES-#1 Contender for WWE World Championship
Gunther and Keyes were more than a ‘beefy battle’ between behemoths as the two told a story based on their abilities to inflict pain. The wrestling portion of the match was physical, but it was high-level physicality. The ref ended up taking a bump in the match at the hands of Royce, calling on a narrative that he might still be learning how to ‘control’ his immense power.
The ref bump allowed Solo to interfere as he caused a distraction of Keyes on the apron. Solo and Royce have bumped heads over the past few weeks, and they shared words in a backstage segment before the match. Royce managed to launch a chair at Solo that sent him to the ringside floor, but the distraction allowed for Gunther to take advantage—winning by pinfall.
Gunther secured his spot at Clash in Paris against Cody, and Cody came down to ringside to ‘payoff’ the earlier segment. Cody might not have succeeded in getting Gunther’s signature, but he managed to tattoo the challenger with a series of blows to close out SD.
TRICK WILLIAMS TREATS HIS HOMETOWN
The South Carolina crowd was enthusiastic to see their hometown United States champion, Trick Williams, and they popped for every local reference he made. Lil Yachty accompanied the champ, and with his family seated ringside, Trick was able light to fuse on the crowd for the rest of the night.
The Miz answered the call for an antagonist, though it made little sense from a storyline standpoint, but the SC crowd did not care who got it so long as Trick was the one dishing it. Boos did end up ringing out when Kit Williams went for the poetry book, and he spit another diss. Lil Yachty picked up the mic and went toe-to-toe with the man fighting ‘toxic’ male culture, and the crowd ate it up.
Trick defeated The Miz in front of the hometown crowd, but it did little to advance the champ’s position following his BackLash win over Sami Zayn. Still, it was a fun homecoming as Lil Yachty was involved in the pre-match segment and managed to wrap a kendo stick over Kit’s back to provide Trick with the assistance.
TALLA TONGA TAKES OUT PRIEST
Damian Priest defeated Tama Tonga in singles action, but the entire match was designed to book the former hw champion as a foe for Talla Tonga. With nearly half of the MFTs now gone from WWE, Tama Tonga’s painted face stood out a whole lot more alongside Solo. They had a conversation ahead of Tama Tonga’s match, but that was utilized to sell Tama’s feud with Nakamura.
The current booking is a bit convoluted, yet it also exists to give the SD locker room a ‘real world’ feel—something that lives and breathes rather than scripted segments. The Tama Tonga-Solo beef is being booked glacially slow, but having Talla Tonga active in separate feuds gives him a chaotic feel that Bronson Reed once achieved early in his time on RAW.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Melo picked up the win over Ricky Saints in a terrific match with some clunky exchanges. The match pitted these two men against each other in a rare meeting, and they did not have the immediate chemistry you hope for when two incredible talents come together. The story told was also great, as Saints hit his finisher, only for Melo to slip out of Ricky’s slick moves. When he was caught with his feet on the ropes, Melo was able to roll him up as the ref ‘gave him the business.’
– Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss took on B-Fab and Minchin in a match meant to set up their six-man tag match at next week’s SNME. Flair and Bliss took the ‘L’ in the match thanks to Jade’s interference, and in the backstage segment that followed, Bliss insisted that they ‘get help.’ Rhea and the former tag champs will team up to face Jade and company in 8-days time.
– WARNING—Dan Hausen is in the lab… and the ‘clones’ are getting BIGGER.
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