Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
We begin with Cathy Kelley interviewing Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab. Kelley mentions that Cargill requested to have a match against Alexa Bliss tonight. Cargill says she is ready to go. She doesn’t get dressed for nothing, and since Charlotte Flair wants to play games with her, she’s going to kick Alexa’s face in. Charlotte wants to cost her titles, so she’s going to make her life a living hell.
Michin adds that you would think Charlotte would know better after they attacked her a few weeks ago, but maybe she needs as many lessons as it takes until she gets the damn picture. B-Fab also mentions that Charlotte will get a front row seat to watch Jade snap her little friend Alexa in half like the twig that she is. As everyone knows, Jade is going to put on a show, but she’s not responsible for what happens to Alexa; you can put the blame on her little friend, Charlotte.
Later on in the backstage area, Candice LeRae confronted the new WWE Champion CM Punk mid-interview. LeRae told The Best in the World that she hopes he is proud of himself. For as annoying as she thinks previous champion Sami Zayn can be, he was the only person who cared about Johnny Gargano, considering Zayn to be the true Voice of the Voiceless, and as long as Sami held the title (which was only for 9 days), there was hope – hope for the real underdogs like Johnny and her, and Punk stole that from them, so she hopes he’s proud of himself. Punk says that he remembers Johnny Wrestling, not the Johnny of present that lies motionless, lastly advising them to go back to doing what they do best: wrestle in the ring.
Fatal Influence appeared in a video package sponsored by Chime, America’s #1 banking app, to promote their upcoming match at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Brie Bella and Paige for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Jacy Jayne begins by stating how the mighty have fallen, mentioning how satisfying it was to watch Lainey Reid mop the floor with Brie last week. Reid says that Paige’s road to the Hall of Fame is going to end after they embarrass her and take the titles at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Jayne said that Fatal Influence announced their presence from the day they walked through the door, and next week, they’re going to be the center of attention in The World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden. Fallon Henley adds that this might be the biggest match of their careers, but to be honest, Paige and Brie are the ones that should be worried. They know their time is up and there is nothing they can do about it.
Mocking the “baby girls”, Jayne says that they’ve been riding this high horse since WrestleMania, but come Saturday Night’s Main Event, they will fall under their influence.
Alexa Bliss then took on Jade Cargill in what was the one women’s match of the night. Flair distracted Cargill early on, openly rooting for her tag team partner as Bliss initially took advantage. By the time the show returned from commercials, Bliss was fighting back with a flurry of offense at the taller and more muscular Cargill. While B-Fab tripped Bliss to the mat, Flair yanked Cargill’s head over the ring ropes, nearly helping Bliss win the match with a roll-up. Michin then charged at Flair only for The Queen to give her a big boot, before B-Fab threw Flair into the ring post.
Bliss then punched out B-Fab when she tried to interfere, causing her to lose her focus as Cargill hit Bliss with a punt kick into Jaded for the win. Afterwards, Cargill instructed Michin to grab a steel chair, aiming to use it on Bliss, but Flair charged into the ring, causing a brawl with Michin and B-Fab quickly beating on her. As the two forced Flair to watch, Cargill took the arm of Bliss and folded it into the steel chair as referees came out to stop her. As Bliss communicated to the refs that she was in pain, Wade Barrett on commentary called her actions “disgusting” as he mentioned suffering a similar injury in 2012 that put him on the shelf for six months.
After a recap of the attack on Bliss’s arm, specified to be her elbow, she was seen walking alongside Charlotte and the referees, with an ice pack on her elbow, as they entered the trainer’s room.
In a segment that appeared to be taped to air on the show but was ultimately released to WWE’s YouTube channel instead, Cathy interviewed the Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton and asked Stratton what her plan is in the event that Jade and The Baddies attack her again, to which the champ says is to stay two steps ahead of everybody and keep the title exactly where it’s meant to be, with her. She aspires to add another belt to her collection: the WWE Women’s Championship, held by Rhea Ripley, who is still suspected to be injured and has been off television, and become “Tiffany Two Titles”.
Chelsea Green believes by two titles, Stratton must mean the Women’s Tag Team Championships, which Stratton didn’t actually mean, but tells Green that it is exactly what she meant. Immediately the two are surrounded by The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend), who are seemingly still set on the tag titles and potentially the Women’s U.S. title, but the two walk off, and so does Tiffany.
Green says that Lash and Nia are going to regret being mean to all of them; one day, her and Stratton will get them. Green is then hit from behind by Blake Monroe, who throws her to the floor and re-introduces herself before walking away.
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from inside the MVP Arena in Albany, New York, although no women’s matches or segments are currently scheduled as of this writing.
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below.