Smackdown recap and reaction: The Chiefs without the Tribe

This week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown It opened with a recap bad bloodA video package that seemed suitably epic for the story they were telling with The Bloodline I never cease to be amazed at the quality of these damn videos.

We didn't have to wait long to hear from the newly returned Jimmy Uso, who made his presence felt immediately. Not surprisingly, he ended up as the Rover, a big pop for his entrance theme and a chant as soon as he got in the ring.

He reminded us that he was out for six months thanks to Solo Sequoia, who jumped him from behind by his crew, his bloodline, his brothers. So they'll settle it on this show in a singles match, where Jimmy says “I plan on kicking your ass…”

Before he could finish that sentence, Roman Reigns' music hit.

Another huge pop.

The hottest heels around have become the biggest babyfaces on the planet. They used a camera angle that looked from the audience and you see Reigns walking down the aisle through a sea of ​​1's throwing arms. When he got in the ring, they gave us one hell of a side profile of him standing on the apron doing his own thing and every single soul in the arena facing him and doing it right back.

Fun. This shit is just too much fun. Hell, I was at Wal-Mart the other day throwing 1 at the deli for absolutely no reason. I was not getting anything from the deli either. How powerful is it, you know?

However, Reigns changes this and asks Greenville to join him and confess to him.

Jimmy is shocked, and then happy as hell that they suddenly seem to be on somewhat equal footing.

Reigns wouldn't give up the microphone though. Hey, he's still OTC.

He said he's not comfortable with his position now, and he wants everyone to know who they are — goats. And they are 1's.

“Yeah, but we're not.”

Jimmy had to disagree because he didn't see a strip around Roman's neck, except for a tribe. He returned to Bad Blood because “you needed me. You didn't ask, you need help. We need help.”

And then he said he knew someone from whom he could get some help.

Fans took it from there.

YEET.

“Not yet,” Reigns replied.

That took the heart out of the arena.

Jimmy then told Roman plain as day – “You will forever be my tribal chief but I am the only one who still acknowledges you.”

And then he left her standing there to think it over.

It was a strong segment that planted the seeds for what was to come, and I'm glad they're going about it this way. Sure, we all love Reigns right now, but there's no reason for him to act out of character. Same for Jimmy. This was absolutely the right way to go about it.

Later, Jimmy runs into Cody Rhodes backstage. Jimmy says he can count this past Saturday as an advantage but doesn't expect anything more from it. They respected each other before Big Jim left.

Finally, it was time for the main event and Jimmy Sequoia and the trio that came out to ringside with him had little in common. Jacob Fatu was delivering cheap shots there, and the numbers game was definitely too much to overcome. Naturally, they put the boots to Jimmy and it was Reigns who single handedly cleared everyone until there was only Solo left.

The fans again treated it like a big showdown, even if we saw how it played out.

Of course, Fatu recovered and attacked from behind, giving the rest of the squad time to come back and overwhelm Roman and Jimmy. Fans booed this loud and long but it had to happen this way. It served to drive home Jimmy's earlier point.

They need help.

They just can't do it with the two of them.

To drive that point home even more, Jimmy was shown saying this directly to Ring in the Rains.

It's time for Roman to right one of his biggest mistakes, and his legend will only grow when he finally does.

Yeat.

WWE continued the viral angle between Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes as The Lash Legend and Zakara Jackson made their entrance for a tag team title match. He grabbed a microphone and said he was asked not to be here tonight but wanted to address everyone claiming he turned on Cody Rhodes.

No, Cody turned him on, he said.

Before he can really get into it, they cut off his microphone. So he goes to ringside and grabs Corey Graves' headset, where he starts to turn it on to watch the WWE Champion walk down the aisle. So he dropped the headset and made a beeline for her, with WWE officials flying around to make sure the two couldn't get near each other.

Then Randy Orton hit the scene to try to keep the peace, eventually finding himself in the ring trying to hold Owens back and catch an errant elbow for his trouble. He responded to this by putting Owens on his ass with a big right hand.

No one is shocked. So shocked, in fact, that he walked through the crowd, stroking his chin. Orton looked annoyed with both himself and the situation.

Afterwards, Orton told Rhodes to calm down and get out of Dodge so he could talk to Owens and try to put everything together. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis was there as well and fully supported it as Cody has a match with Gunther at Crown Jewel in just a few weeks that requires him to stay healthy.

Orton promises to fix it. Who would have thought he would be the voice of reason?

Later, Aldis was dealing with some disgruntled tag teams when he noticed a commotion from the sidelines and ran over to see Owens put the boots to Orton while saying “You wanna pick sides? Well, you picked the wrong side.” Owens was eventually laid out on the concrete, needing Randy's help.

Damn parking lot strikes again!

It was a great way to play it out and it just added intrigue to the story. The R-KO team is over, and Cody is getting it from all angles. I look forward to seeing how this plays out in the weeks and months ahead.

all the rest

• LA Knight and Carmelo Hayes had a back and forth match with a really creative finish, where Hayes reversed and Knight came right back into the BFT for the three count. Andrade was watching ringside but didn't get involved at any point, not even in the form of a brief distraction, so this was about as clean a win as you can give Knight. He remained the United States Champion, although it seemed clear that he would not work with these two. Sure enough, later in the show Aldis booked Hayes vs. Andrade in their seventh match and the winner got a shot at Knight.
• Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, an NXT duo, got their first real action on the main roster with a tag team title match against Bianca Bellaire and Jade Cargill. They got a few shots early but were never competitive. Sure enough, Cargill took care of business when he came into the match and spent most of the commentary talking about Chelsea Green, who was ringside for it, smelling bad. Michael Cole really overdoo it on this one. Not great!
• Women's Champion Nia Jax cut a promo crediting Bayley for making her sweat. bad blood Before Liv turns her attention to Morgan, whom she will take The crown jewel. After winning that match, he said, it will be tiffy time! Because he expects Stratton to cash in on Liv Morgan that night. Hey, it makes sense! Naomi interrupted the two, saying that Jax couldn't win without her sidekick, and that she didn't need anyone to help her win the match against Nia. They set up an impromptu title match and then Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Dominic Mysterio showed up. Rodriguez actually got involved, taking out Stratton when he tried to intervene on Jax's behalf. Then, Morgan gets involved and that causes Naomi to powerbomb Jax off the ropes and stack her for the pin! Except it turns out the title wasn't on the line, even though they made 100-percent it was a title match. As soon as Rhea sees Ripley, she forgets everything and vandalizes the store.
• Legado del Fantasma complained about not getting the same opportunities as Hayes and Andrade, so Aldis booked Angel and Berto in a tag team match next week against a mystery team in what he hinted would be a brutally tough match that would qualify them for a title match if they could. . We are not told who will be the mystery team that emerges victorious.
• Speaking of tag team issues, The Street Profits and DIY were so upset about the ladder match last week that they almost came to blows with each other. Aldis stops them telling them it was their shot, and a new team is coming in next week. This is right after Motor City is promoted for Machine Gun. Hey, maybe they are the mystery party!

It was a very good show if only to improve it's multiple storylines.

Grade: B+

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