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WWE SmackDown on April 3 took place at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo., and featured a men’s US title rematch between Sami Zayn and Carmelo Hayes.
This week, WrestleMania 42 got a little weirder with a twist in the Randy Orton-Cody Rhodes storyline. We saw Rhea Ripley tap Michin, Lil Yachty was attached to Trick Williams’ hip throughout the show, Aleister Black picked up a win over Matt Cardona, and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair beat Bayley and Lyra Valkyria.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s Raw:
Kicking off the show was a promo segment with Randy Orton. "The Viper" acknowledged his hometown before tearing into Cody Rhodes. He said Stephanie McMahon was right in saying Rhodes can’t beat him when he’s like this.
Rhodes soon joined him in the ring, and there were no word exchanges, just fists. Rhodes got the upper hand and stomped out Orton in the corner. Then, Pat McAfee entered the ring, and kicked Rhodes in the junk. Orton grabbed a chair and went to work on Rhodes while McAfee talked trash about the current state of the business on the mic. He also revealed that he was the man on the phone with Orton giving him advice.
Bruh. WHAT?
The reveal of McAfee being the voice in Orton’s ear is easily a top 3 worst creative decision of this current regime, and it’s not No. 3.
We’re talking about a feud between Orton and Rhodes. The story is there. Twenty years of it, in fact. Pulling in McAfee as a key piece to this build, especially this late, is so creatively inept that it should be a fireable offense. Luckily, there’s more on this later…
Tama Tonga is fed up with having the MFTs decisions hovering around the protection of Bray Wyatt’s lantern, and he let Solo Sikoa know about it. This led to Tonga taking on Uncle Howdy in a singles match – and Tonga told Sikoa he wanted to do it alone.
The match was fine, but forgettable. Sikoa came out flaunting the lantern while Howdy had a mandible claw on Tonga, causing him to release the hold. A moment later, though, Tonga argued with Sikoa about being ringside, and a Sister Abigail from behind scored the three count.
However, after the match, things got interesting. Tonga ripped the lantern out of Sikoa’s hands and set it on the apron for Howdy to take it.
If you’ve been invested in the lantern story or not, it appears it finally has its conclusion. Honestly, this is the best way for this to close out because it ran its course months ago. Tonga convinced Sikoa this was the best way forward so they can focus on winning gold, and he’s not wrong.
R-Truth and Damian Priest put the men’s tag titles on the line against Kit Wilson and The Miz after the match was created in a backstage segment. Before heading to the ring, Danhaused attempted to join the challengers, but was denied.
The match was going along alright until both Truth and The Miz were down in the middle of the ring, and Priest had just taken out Wilson ringside. Danhausen’s theme hit, and he marched to the ring, attempting to tag into the match. The Miz and the ref weren’t having it, but R-Truth tagged him in anyway.
The Miz tried to tell Danhausen he didn’t belong, which prompted a curse, but The Miz pulled the referee in front of him as a shield. The Miz tried to hit a Skull Crushing Finale on Danhausen, but the lights went black, and when they came back up, Danhausen was running away at the entrance. A moment later, The Miz hit Truth with his finisher. The referee got to the count of two before pulling a muscle and yelling in pain. A moment later, the champs got the pin with the referee using his other arm.
Danhausen’s curse on the ref was probably the highlight of the show because the execution from everyone involved was on point. It was genuinely funny. Truth confusing Danhausen for Asuka in the backstage segment was good as well.
After the tag title match, Cody Rhodes appeared to hit Kit Wilson with a Cross Rhodes. He then grabbed the mic and unleashed a fiery promo on Pat McAfee.
Rhodes said the reveal of McAfee being the voice in Orton’s ear is like if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash called on Disco Inferno to be the third man for the nWo instead of Hulk Hogan. Hilarious. Rhodes continued to tear into McAfee and also questioned if he even had the ability to become a heel at this point. He also even threatened the company.
"What are you gonna do? Fire me? It sure worked out for you the last time."
Rhodes said he’s hearing voices in his head finally, but nobody really wants to know what they’re saying.
OK. So, this promo was actually really good, and not just because it broke the fourth wall, but in a strange way. It was like Rhodes was speaking directly to creative for putting McAfee in that spot with Orton. The nWo-Disco Inferno reference was perfect. I don't know if the aim was to come off like Rhodes was speaking directly from an anti-WWE Twitter troll account, but that's how it sounded.
The heel turn tease was well done, too, giving life to the growing thought that we’ll get a double turn at Mania.
After a controversial title win last week, Sami Zayn was confronted by Carmelo Hayes during a segment with Trick Williams to give him a rematch. Zayn reluctantly agreed.
As far as in-ring action goes, this match was the best of the show, and rightfully so as the main event. Hayes sold damage to the knee as the match went on, which came into play during the finish. The referee was checking on Hayes in the corner, but Zayn took advantage to land a Helluva Kick.
Trick Williams, who was seated ringside with Lil Yachty, attacked after the match to pose with the title as the credits rolled.
Zayn and Williams are still on a collision course for Mania. This rematch ended pretty clean, all but shutting the door on the hope for a triple threat match involving Hayes at Mania. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Williams doesn’t take the title. Putting the title on him with Lil Yachty by his side is right up the WWE-celebrity infatuation playbook. I mean, aside from that, Williams needs a big first Mania moment, and defeating Zayn would be exactly that.
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown: Pat McAfee revealed as man on phone with Randy Orton
Continue reading...
This week, WrestleMania 42 got a little weirder with a twist in the Randy Orton-Cody Rhodes storyline. We saw Rhea Ripley tap Michin, Lil Yachty was attached to Trick Williams’ hip throughout the show, Aleister Black picked up a win over Matt Cardona, and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair beat Bayley and Lyra Valkyria.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s Raw:
Pat McAfee revealed as man on phone with Randy Orton
Kicking off the show was a promo segment with Randy Orton. "The Viper" acknowledged his hometown before tearing into Cody Rhodes. He said Stephanie McMahon was right in saying Rhodes can’t beat him when he’s like this.
Rhodes soon joined him in the ring, and there were no word exchanges, just fists. Rhodes got the upper hand and stomped out Orton in the corner. Then, Pat McAfee entered the ring, and kicked Rhodes in the junk. Orton grabbed a chair and went to work on Rhodes while McAfee talked trash about the current state of the business on the mic. He also revealed that he was the man on the phone with Orton giving him advice.
Bruh. WHAT?
The reveal of McAfee being the voice in Orton’s ear is easily a top 3 worst creative decision of this current regime, and it’s not No. 3.
We’re talking about a feud between Orton and Rhodes. The story is there. Twenty years of it, in fact. Pulling in McAfee as a key piece to this build, especially this late, is so creatively inept that it should be a fireable offense. Luckily, there’s more on this later…
Uncle Howdy finally gets lantern back
Tama Tonga is fed up with having the MFTs decisions hovering around the protection of Bray Wyatt’s lantern, and he let Solo Sikoa know about it. This led to Tonga taking on Uncle Howdy in a singles match – and Tonga told Sikoa he wanted to do it alone.
The match was fine, but forgettable. Sikoa came out flaunting the lantern while Howdy had a mandible claw on Tonga, causing him to release the hold. A moment later, though, Tonga argued with Sikoa about being ringside, and a Sister Abigail from behind scored the three count.
However, after the match, things got interesting. Tonga ripped the lantern out of Sikoa’s hands and set it on the apron for Howdy to take it.
If you’ve been invested in the lantern story or not, it appears it finally has its conclusion. Honestly, this is the best way for this to close out because it ran its course months ago. Tonga convinced Sikoa this was the best way forward so they can focus on winning gold, and he’s not wrong.
R-Truth & Damian Priest retain tag titles thanks to Danhausen curse
R-Truth and Damian Priest put the men’s tag titles on the line against Kit Wilson and The Miz after the match was created in a backstage segment. Before heading to the ring, Danhaused attempted to join the challengers, but was denied.
The match was going along alright until both Truth and The Miz were down in the middle of the ring, and Priest had just taken out Wilson ringside. Danhausen’s theme hit, and he marched to the ring, attempting to tag into the match. The Miz and the ref weren’t having it, but R-Truth tagged him in anyway.
The Miz tried to tell Danhausen he didn’t belong, which prompted a curse, but The Miz pulled the referee in front of him as a shield. The Miz tried to hit a Skull Crushing Finale on Danhausen, but the lights went black, and when they came back up, Danhausen was running away at the entrance. A moment later, The Miz hit Truth with his finisher. The referee got to the count of two before pulling a muscle and yelling in pain. A moment later, the champs got the pin with the referee using his other arm.
Danhausen’s curse on the ref was probably the highlight of the show because the execution from everyone involved was on point. It was genuinely funny. Truth confusing Danhausen for Asuka in the backstage segment was good as well.
Cody Rhodes rips creative, teases heel turn
After the tag title match, Cody Rhodes appeared to hit Kit Wilson with a Cross Rhodes. He then grabbed the mic and unleashed a fiery promo on Pat McAfee.
Rhodes said the reveal of McAfee being the voice in Orton’s ear is like if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash called on Disco Inferno to be the third man for the nWo instead of Hulk Hogan. Hilarious. Rhodes continued to tear into McAfee and also questioned if he even had the ability to become a heel at this point. He also even threatened the company.
"What are you gonna do? Fire me? It sure worked out for you the last time."
Rhodes said he’s hearing voices in his head finally, but nobody really wants to know what they’re saying.
OK. So, this promo was actually really good, and not just because it broke the fourth wall, but in a strange way. It was like Rhodes was speaking directly to creative for putting McAfee in that spot with Orton. The nWo-Disco Inferno reference was perfect. I don't know if the aim was to come off like Rhodes was speaking directly from an anti-WWE Twitter troll account, but that's how it sounded.
The heel turn tease was well done, too, giving life to the growing thought that we’ll get a double turn at Mania.
Sami Zayn retains men’s US title in Carmelo Hayes rematch
After a controversial title win last week, Sami Zayn was confronted by Carmelo Hayes during a segment with Trick Williams to give him a rematch. Zayn reluctantly agreed.
As far as in-ring action goes, this match was the best of the show, and rightfully so as the main event. Hayes sold damage to the knee as the match went on, which came into play during the finish. The referee was checking on Hayes in the corner, but Zayn took advantage to land a Helluva Kick.
Trick Williams, who was seated ringside with Lil Yachty, attacked after the match to pose with the title as the credits rolled.
Zayn and Williams are still on a collision course for Mania. This rematch ended pretty clean, all but shutting the door on the hope for a triple threat match involving Hayes at Mania. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Williams doesn’t take the title. Putting the title on him with Lil Yachty by his side is right up the WWE-celebrity infatuation playbook. I mean, aside from that, Williams needs a big first Mania moment, and defeating Zayn would be exactly that.
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown: Pat McAfee revealed as man on phone with Randy Orton
Continue reading...
