Before Owens’ attack, Rhodes was busy with Chad Gable, who appeared from Raw, and after exchanging words with Rhodes, he found himself lined up opposite the champion in the night’s main event.
Rhodes was able to survive a tough challenge from Gable, but that gave Owens the opportunity to attack, leading to a brawl between the two as the show went off the air.
Rhodes and Owens fight to close the show
The show opened with American Made interrupting an opening promo for Cody Rhodes’ show. Chad Gable said that Nick Aldis had called to ask about bringing them to SmackDown since “the transfer window is about to open.” After some arguments between the two about seeing several disappointments from each other, Rhodes told Gable to go talk to Aldis and lace up his boots for a match later that night.
Rhodes’ Saturday night main event opponent, Kevin Owens, was set to participate in an interview with Michael Cole. Owens instead sent a cellphone video while sitting in his car in the parking lot. He said he was refusing to enter the building and that Cole could come interview him in the parking lot. Cole eventually did so and Owens claimed that Cole would not have been impartial before briefly arguing with the man on play-by-play, kicking him out of the car and driving away.
Cody Rhodes defeated. Chad Gable via pinfall after hitting Cross Rhodes. Gable took Rhodes’ boot and attacked his ankle throughout the match, but ultimately was unable to get the victory. After the match, Owens stormed the ring before landing his own blows to Rhodes’ ankle. Rhodes eventually fought back and the pair continued fighting as security and wwe officials attempted to separate them as the show went off the air.
Overall, this was a very good episode of SmackDown with good story beats and plenty of in-ring action. Rhodes and Owens delivered what they needed, even if the last few months of wwe programming seemed to see one or two matches a week. Despite that, the build-up to Saturday Night’s Main Event continued and Owens conveyed his anger well with both Cole and his attack on Rhodes. Grade: B+
What else happened on wwe SmackDown?
- Solo Sikoa and New Bloodline were shown arriving before the show.eliminating Apollo Crews and several others backstage in a fit of rage.
- Tiffany Stratton defeated. Naomi and Elektra Lopez via pinfall after performing the most beautiful Moonsault of all time on López. With the victory, Stratton advanced to the US women’s championship.
- Bianca Belair defeated. Piper Niven via pinfall after hitting Niven with a Kiss of Death on Chelsea Green. Earlier in the show, Niven and Green had attacked Belair backstage.
- Shinsuke Nakamura was in the ring with his new United States Championship when he was interrupted by LA Knightwho demanded Nakamura a chance to regain the title. Those two were then interrupted by Andrade, who said he had his own unfinished business with Nakamura. It was at this point that Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu came into the ring to attack Knight and Andrade before Nakamura escaped. Sikoa took the microphone and said he was tired of not being taken seriously and challenged anyone to step up and shoot.
- wwe Tag Team Championship — #DIY definitely. Motor City Machine Guns (c) via pinfall to win the titles. Motor City Machine Guns were supposed to defend the titles against the Street Profits, but the Profits had been attacked backstage, prompting Johnny Gargano to ask Nick Aldis to take his place in the match. Gargano would land a low blow to set up the victory, effectively completing a heel turn for #DIY as they won the belts.
