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Friday night’s edition of WWE SmackDown certainly drew unusual attention. When Vince McMahon resigned as CEO and Chairman of WWE following allegations of misconduct related to a sexual relationship with a female employee, WWE announced that McMahon would be performing live on the show. Add in a match between Roman Reigns and Riddle for Reigns’ undisputed universal championship, and you had the recipe for a night that would have more viewers than normal tuning in.
While McMahon’s performance meant nothing except for some ego boosting, Reigns and Riddle put up a wonderful match before Reigns clinched the win. Then Brock Lesnar returned and made it clear that he still had his sights set on Reigns after “The Tribal Chief” defeated Lesnar to unify WWE and the Universal Championships at WrestleMania.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Reigns survives Riddle’s brave challenge before Lesnar’s return
Undisputed Universal Championship – Roman Reigns (c) def. Riddles about pinfall after a spear. After McMahon’s opening segment (see below), Riddle came to the ring to show a video summarizing his troubles with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. The match went down as the main event of the evening, with plenty of drama with both men showing signature moves. This included Riddle stepping out of a Superman punch and kicking Reigns out of an RKO delivered as a counter to Reigns’ spear. Riddle went for another RKO, which was countered before Reigns delivered the javelin to retain his undisputed championship.
After the match, Reigns announced that there was no one left to question his place atop the WWE mountain. Before he could leave the ring, Brock Lesnar’s hit music and “The Beast” arrived. Lesnar offered to shake hands with Reigns before delivering the champ an F-5 and then making the same move on both Usos as the show went off the air.
Unlike the McMahon segment, Reigns vs. Riddle was everything you could ask for. Riddle really showed he can move with the champion, and the match bit the live audience on every pin attempt. Professional wrestling is not complicated when two men perform at this level. However, Lesnar’s return feels more like the same thing as WWE struggles to really find footing for Reigns’ titular reign, which dulls the moment a bit. Grade: B+
Vince McMahon emerges amid allegations
McMahon took to the ring to open the show to his theme song, “No Chance in Hell,” and drew a mostly positive response before using some cheap heat by praising Minneapolis to blow the crowd. McMahon then reiterated the WWE motto “then, now, forever” before saying the most important word is “together.” After repeatedly triggering cheers for the short promo, McMahon threw the mic and exited the ring while high-fiveing fans on his way back to the entrance ramp.
It’s hard to say anything positive here. Every bit of that completely unnecessary opening segment felt like an excuse to have McMahon show up live and bask in the cheers of the fans as he faces allegations of misconduct for telling an employee he was having an affair with gave her a raise and then paid her millions of dollars to sign a non-disclosure agreement and walk away. McMahon temporarily stepped down as CEO and chairman earlier in the day, but this felt like an opportunity to step out and send a message that he was going nowhere and was still in control despite the news from earlier in the day. Class: F
What else happened on WWE SmackDown?
- Defeated Madcap Moss. Happy Corbin via pinfall in a “Last Laugh Match”. After the match, Corbin interrupted the commentary booth and confronted Pat McAfee for making jokes about him. Corbin said if he didn’t stop, he would throw McAfee in the ring and make him wish he were dead. McAfee then made the crowd “laugh Corbin from the arena.”
- Natalya cut a promo for Ronda Rousey She vows to be the first woman to make Rousey tap when she challenges Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank.
- The new day def. Jinder Mahal & Shanky via Pinfall when Kofi Kingston beat Mahal with Trouble in Paradise. Shanky was in control before Xavier Woods played the trombone, forced Shanky to dance and set the finish.
- Adam Pearce announced that both Drew McIntyre and Sheamus will be in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. McIntyre attacked Sheamus when Pearce announced he was in the match before finding out he would be included in the match as well.
- Money in Bank Qualifier – Defeated Raquel Rodriguez. Shayna Baszler on Pinfall with a scoop powerbomb.
- Max Dupri has not announced Maximum Male Models’ first client after it was claimed the arena’s lighting wasn’t good enough.
