This episode of Friday Night SmackDown took place at the Performance Center in Orlando Florida with PC trainees in attendance. Scheduled on the show was the toast to Jeff Hardy by Sheamus and AJ Styles defending the Intercontinental Championship against Drew Gulak.
Michael Cole interviewed Matt Riddle in the ring. Riddle said he psyched to be on the main roster. Cole pointed out him wrestling without shoes. Riddle tells the story of his feet getting frost bite in the snow once. King Corbin came out to interrupt the interview. Corbin scolds Coke for giving Riddle time on the show and kicked him out. He tells Riddle that nobody wants him here. He said that Riddle needs to be put in his place and Riddle dares him. Corbin said his opponent won’t be him and introduces John Morrison as his opponent.
Matt Riddle Defeated John Morrison
Review: Really great match. I think this is the best match Morrison has had since coming back and Riddle shined as always. This match didn’t need two commercial breaks though and it probably went on a little longer than expected but those were the only takeaways.
AJ Styles attacked Riddle on the stage after the match. Drew Gulak came to his aid, attacking AJ.
Sarah interviewed Corbin, Miz and Morrison about the match. Corbin said he will end Riddle’s career.
AJ Styles Defeated Drew Gulak To Retain The Intercontinental Championship
Review: Good match. It didn’t really get me that invested as it was going on. I like the two of them together but I guess I expected a little more from this match. They made the right call of AJ retaining especially in the fashion that he did. With him losing since he’s been champion he needed to go over strong in this match and this continues Gulak’s chase for the title.
Sasha Banks and Bayley came out to the ring. Bayley bragged about how they are running the whole division. She talked about how The Undertaker called her saying she’s the greatest champion in history. She said Taker gave them his wish to do a tribute to Bayley and Sasha Banks. They show the tribute video for them. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross interrupted them, naming their accomplishments. Sasha said that nobody has been able to touch Bayley. Nikki said she will take Bayley’s title. Alexa landed a right hand to Bayley. Sasha gets pissed and challenges Alexa to face Bayley one on one right now. Alexa accepts.
Bayley Defeated Alexa Bliss By DQ
Nikki Cross beat down Bayley in the ring to cause a DQ.
Review: Okay match. Nothing much to add to it , this match was just there and to build towards Nikki and Bayley’s title match at Extreme Rules.
A vignette was shown of a swamp, narrated by Braun and Bray as they explain their history.
Shinsuke Nakamura Defeated Kofi Kingston
After the match, Cesaro and Nakamura brought out a table but Big E came out for the save.
Review: Another okay match. They work well together but nothing much came out of it that really sparked anything memorable.
Jeff Hardy came out to call out Sheamus for the toast. Sheamus showed up on the screen, saying that he’s not there to give Jeff space. Sheamus gave a solution to his problems, saying it’s in the bottle then calls Hardy a junkie. He tells Jeff to take a drink but Jeff asked if it’s funny for Sheamus to mock his struggles. He tells Jeff to follow his instincts as the server hands him champagne. Jeff takes it but then pours the drink on the server then breaks the bottle over his head. Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb on the server. Jeff Hardy stares down at Sheamus on the screen as the show ended.
Overall Review: This was an average show. It started out good with Matt Riddle’s match with John Morrison then it kind of went downhill when Bayley and Alexa had their match. The ending with Sheamus and Jeff could’ve been better with Sheamus actually being there to be honest.
Overall Grade: 5/10
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