Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Following Survivor Series: WarGames last Saturday, several of the women involved in the WarGames match got into a brawl on Raw this past Monday in what became a battle of the tag teams. In response, Alexa Bliss and Kairi Sane squared off tonight. Meanwhile, Chelsea Green’s Women’s United States Championship celebration was ruined last week, was Alba Fyre brave enough to face the storm that is the Women’s Champion Jade Cargill? Let’s get started and find out.
Damian Priest appeared in a vignette to talk about his continued issues with Aleister Black and Zelina. The shadow of a woman could be seen walking from a distance as the Archer of Infamy said that he’s been listening to the two talk in circles for way too long. Priest questions their belief that he can be broken or be delusional; for Priest, delusional was thinking they could walk away from him after burning his face, but all it’s done is delay the inevitable. Taking aim at Black for bringing in his own wife, and thus his family into their problems, Priest gets to bring in his, and it is none other than Rhea Ripley.
Ripley says that the mistake Aleister and Zelina made was thinking that they could poke the bear, and that she wouldn’t be there by his side. As the founding members of The Judgment Day, a group that has since ousted them, Priest and Ripley have been through hell and back, and if he is going to go through that fire, then she is willing to be there by his side. Proceeding to then call out Zelina for thinking she would get under his skin, all she’s done is sign her own death wish, because next week, the two pairs will go up against one another, and both Aleister and Zelina will find out real quick why no one survives the Terror Twins.
Cathy Kelley was backstage with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, and brought up their WarGames win alongside Rhea, AJ Lee, and IYO SKY last Saturday, seeming like they were cohesive as a team together. Asking Flair if she felt any of that was attributed to her putting her differences aside with Ripley, The Queen makes things clear: she joined the team because “Lexi” needed her.
Bliss says that she’s really proud of Charlotte as WarGames was really good for her social skills, and made their bond a lot stronger, the same bond that won them the Women’s Tag Team Championships, which they have not forgotten about. Flair says WarGames was fun, but they are back to wanting to win the titles, and Bliss beating Kairi Sane tonight. Kelley wishes them good luck, and Bliss makes one half a heart shape with her hand, with the Team Blue interviewer making the other half with her hand to make a full heart, ending the segment.
A bit of time passed before Kairi Sane and Alexa Bliss had their match, with Asuka and Charlotte in the corners of their respective partners. The two of them began by locking up, although Sane gained control of the match in no time. Bliss, however, wasn’t so willing to give up, hitting a running senton on Sane’s abdomen. Now outside the ring, Sane got in the face of Flair, with the referee trying to prevent possible interference; unbeknownst to him, Asuka would grab the leg of Bliss and tripped her, falling face-first on the ring apron before a commercial break.
The show then returned with Sane on the top turnbuckle, with The Pirate Princess giving Bliss some punches and a headbutt before jumping off on the fallen and upside-down body of Bliss, who got up and fought back with some slaps, a knee to the chin, and a dropkick, topping it off with Natural Selection to Sane, taken of course from her tag team partner.
With Bliss now gearing up for Sister Abigail, Asuka got up on the ring apron to distract the referee, helping Sane get the advantage as she tried to roll her up for a pin, but Bliss kicked out at 2 as Charlotte attacked Asuka on the outside with a big boot to the face. As Sane got up on the top turnbuckle again, she seemed to wait a bit too long to execute her next move, allowing Bliss to counter it into a Sister Abigail, which this time proved successful enough to get her the win.
As Bliss and Flair celebrated their victory, the two were jumped from behind by Nia Jax and Lash Legend, with Legend giving Bliss a right forearm while Jax hit a Samoan drop on Flair. Once both were out of the ring, Legend and Jax shifted their attention to Kairi, with Asuka trying to stop it by hitting Legend with back hands and strikes, keeping The Boujee Bully almost down on the mat before being powerbombed by Jax, herself grabbed by Sane who had gotten up and tried to jump on her back.
The Irresistible Force swung Sane off of her and onto the mat, with Legend hitting another big boot to ensure Sane stayed down. The Irresistible Force then attempted to perform the Annihilator on Sane, but Asuka would drag her partner out to safety. Jax and Legend lastly held the Women’s Tag Team Championship belts that had been left behind in the ring, holding them up in the air as a visibly flustered Asuka and Kairi looked on from the floor.
After a post-match commercial break, Jax and Legend were seen walking down the hallway, clearly satisfied with their attack when Cathy Kelley returned, running up to them and asking if the attack was necessary. Jax told Kelley that that her and Legend were dangerous, and that the Kabuki Warriors got what they deserved, being “idiots” just like Bayley had told them Monday night on Raw and blaming their team’s loss at WarGames on Asuka spitting mist into Legend’s “beautiful face” by mistake.
Legend meanwhile, said the attack was a preview, a little taste of what they are capable of, and they’re coming after the women’s tag team titles. She lastly warns that there is absolutely nothing that The Kabuki Warriors, The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez), Rhea and IYO, or “wannabe besties” Charlotte and Alexa can do about it.
The WWE Women’s Champion, Jade Cargill made her way out to wrestle Alba Fyre, who was accompanied by the Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green after her celebration was crashed by Cargill last week.
Fyre started the match by hitting Cargill with a dropkick, some punches, and a hurricanrana. Fyre continued the assault with some more punches and kicks to the gut of Cargill, but The Storm rebounded quickly. It wasn’t long before Fyre hit Cargill with a big boot and tried to choke her out using her leg as Cargill’s head was on the middle rope, with Green slapping Cargill as the referee’s back was turned trying to restrain the redheaded Slaygent from getting too aggressive.
Kiana James would show up and tap on Green’s shoulder, drifting her focus away from the match as the two women argued. With James of course was The Beautiful Madness, Giulia, who swung at Green with punches and continued to do so even as Green tried to run off.
A distracted Fyre then turned around and was hit with a spinebuster from Cargill, who then hit a big boot that set her opponent in position for her to hit Jaded, resulting in Cargill winning the match.
A short time later, Cargill was walking backstage and when she once again ran into B-Fab. As with recent weeks, Cargill continued to mock her and asked if she said something. Cargill thinks it’s funny how history repeats itself when women in the locker room disrespect her. She assumes B-Fab saw her beat Alba, and asks if that reminds her of anything, as B-Fab also lost to Cargill in quick fashion a few weeks ago.
Cargill doesn’t get to say more insults, as Michin arrives with her trademark kendo stick. Michin tells Cargill that her attitude is what they are not going to do today. Cargill calls Michin a “lap dog” for B-Fab, but The Hardcore Princess sticks up for herself as a lap dog she is not, but she is friends with B-Fab, something Cargill would know nothing about. Cargill bites back and says that if Michin doesn’t like the attitude, then she can go get Nick Aldis – in fact, the champ will do it, so she can step up and get stepped on before she walks away.
Bayley interrupted a conversation between The Miz and SmackDown general manager, Nick Aldis; Miz questioned to Aldis why he wasn’t booked to wrestle on Saturday Night’s Main Event, which will be a week from tomorrow on December 13th, but as soon as Bayley entered the room, The Role Model expressed her joy to Aldis over being booked to have a match on the show, causing Miz to angrily walk off.
Aldis tells Bayley that he’s been discussing her match with Raw general manager Adam Pearce, and more specifically, NXT general manager Ava, because her opponent will be a star from NXT. That star is Sol Ruca, who shakes the hand of Aldis as Bayley introduces herself and welcomes her, mentioning that she’s seen her on the Tuesday night show and calls her “very impressive”.
However, Bayley does want her to know that on Raw and SmackDown, it’s a whole different level, which Ruca knows, but that’s what she wants, and she’s ready for it. Bayley likes her confidence, but she’ll see if Ruca is really ready when she watches her tomorrow night at NXT Deadline, where Ruca is set to compete against four other women in the Iron Survivor match for a future shot at the NXT Women’s Championship.
Lastly, Aleister Black and Zelina were given the opportunity to respond to Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley in their own video package. Carrying a snake with her, Zelina says that Rhea is the succubus that tempts Damian with the family he had in the past, accusing her of wanting to keep him in a cage of control. The Judgment Day that Damian once knew is over, and the Terror Twins is just a ploy to leave him in the lonely and sad state that they found him in.
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from inside the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with the following set to take place:
- Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley vs. Aleister Black and Zelina
- Alexa Bliss vs. Lash Legend
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s edition of SmackDown in the comments below.