Cody Rhodes defeats Solo Sikoa via pinfall in our opening steel cage match. Earned a lot of “this is awesome” chants. Post-match, the Bloodline entered the cage and beat down Rhodes, until Roman Reigns made the save.
Michin gets a quick win over Piper Niven. Post-match, Cheslea Green joined Piper in attacking Michin, with no help coming.
Kevin Owens and Randy Orton defeat A-Town Down Under
Andrade earned another win over Carmelo Hayes. The series we didn’t know we were having is now 3-2 in favor of El Idolo. Post-match, LA Knight told Andrade he was next for the title shot.
Best Match:
I mean, you could book 52 straight weeks of Carmelo and Andrade and it would probably get a lot of love here. But, this one goes to Rhodes and Sikoa in that era-opening steel cage match.
Worst Match:
Michin and Piper Niven. Just way too short.
Noteworthy Moments:
We knew it was a big night, being a new home (or old home once again). But you know how you know? When was the last time a SmackDown started with a cage match?
Credit: wwe
During Nick Aldis’ first appearance, talking about Solo Sikoa’s then-unknown challenge, I couldn’t help but notice a very obvious Wyatt Sick6 logo. Could have been nothing…
WWE brought in some audience members. We got a sighting for Rob Van Dam, Vickie Guerrero and Gunther with Ludwig Kaiser. Later we got shots of William Regal and Bobby Roode too.
Holy Sh!@ Moments:
Heck of a first match for the new USA Network era. You can see Reigns wanting the title back, but you also get the sense that Rhodes will end up the missing member for the WarGames team, along with Reigns and the Usos.
But we don’t have to wait for WarGames. Unless something changes in the next couple weeks, Reigns and Rhodes will be a team in Atlanta.
Lowlights:
Was it me? Or was the USA audio choppy? At first I thought they were doing their best to cut out what had to not make it to the broadcast, but I don’t know. Probably was, but it sucks to not have a way to keep the commentary going.
I have nothing against Orton and Owens as a team. Just, when you billed it as Owens and a mystery partner, even trolling us with Ricky…there was an opportunity to go a different direction.
Highlights:
Credit: wwe
Opening match for the win, with the drawn out “will they or won’t they” question. That is, will Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes accept the challenge from Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu . Answer was what closed the show, as both men took shots at each other before fending off Roman’s family and signing the contract. No idea yet if there was or is some hidden stipulation, but we will see Sikoa and Fatu against Rhodes and Reigns at Bad Blood.
Nice first SmackDown on the new USA Network era. Reigns had to be on, that was a given. Surprised we didn’t have any other big surprises, returns or debuts, given the big moment. But I do suspect it was done to make Reigns get a lot of the focus. And while Rhodes and Reigns may team up, before inking the contract they made it clear they don’t like one another. Buckle up!
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