Friday Night SmackDown was dubbed “Super” this week, but it had its moment where it wasn’t so super. This is mainly in reference to the only match of the night. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross took on Fire & Desire for what feels like the hundredth time. What makes matters even worse is I don’t think we know why they are wrestling each other, to begin with.
These two teams have had their fair share of feuds in the past, but this one has literally zero storyline. They have been having matches against each other for weeks now and no one knows why. The main story is actually between Mandy Rose and Otis. After all, she did get a date with Otis set for Valentine’s Day.
Fire & Desire suffer another loss after a short match between the two teams. Michael Cole repeatedly said that whoever wins may have a chance at the Women’s Tag Team Titles against The Kabuki Warriors. A match hasn’t been made official, but at least we are starting to talk about the tag titles again. Rose would take the pin after a neckbreaker by Cross sets up Bliss to deliver the Twisted Bliss.
Despite the one win Rose picked up on Bliss a couple weeks ago, this is the same result week after week.
Now on to a better moment of the night. Naomi has returned! That’s right, Naomi, who returned at the Royal Rumble, is now back on the blue brand. The SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley was out in the ring first. She was gloating about her win against Lacey Evans at the Royal Rumble.
She goes on and on about how much of a role model she is and how she has beaten everyone there is to beat. Expecting Charlotte Flair to pick her to face at WrestleMania, she calls out the Queen but gets the Glow instead.
Naomi’s music hits and her entrance had a new fresh element to it. She heads to the ring with an EDM Fishbowl placed upon her head. Once she enters the ring, she states that she could stand in the back with Bayley spilling lies. She reminded Bayley that she hasn’t beaten her when she so boldly stated she has defeated everyone.
Bayley would attack Naomi, but the Glow Queen would get the last laugh as she lays out the champion who winds up on the floor at ringside.
It looks like Naomi is going to be the next challenger for Bayley. This could very well just be a one-off at Elimination Chamber, or perhaps they will continue this through WrestleMania.
WINNER: Naomi
Naomi is the clear winner this week. She has made her long-awaited return and seemingly has claimed her spot in the title picture. The former two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion can use this title match/feud and so do the fans. Both SmackDown and RAW have been rather stagnant with the same talent being used and recycled storylines. This seems fresh between Naomi and Bayley and I am ready for it.
LOSERS: Fire & Desire
Unfortunately for Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, they continue to end up on the losers list. The only thing that would make either one a winner would be Rose securing a date with Otis. As much as I love these two together, the best thing may be to try them out as singles competitors. I do hope they can win the tag titles before they are broken up though.
Final Thoughts:
It is good to hear the tag team titles being talked about again, but we need more teams. Having Bliss and Cross go right back at the titles when they are the ones who lost them to the Kabuki Warriors is just recycling again.
Overall SmackDown has a similar problem that RAW has. The same few women used every week. For several weeks at least SmackDown was using every member of their roster, but now we are back to the same few (minus the inclusion of Naomi). Bring back, Dana Brooke. Where is Carmella? Let’s fix this.
Also can we start having more matches? If NXT can have two to three matches a week consistently then so can SmackDown and RAW.
I really think they may be ready to move a few NXT talent over. Hopefully this happens around WrestleMania time. Top picks to move over are Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Candice LeRae. It would be nice to see those who haven’t won the NXT Championship to do so, but I don’t see Rhea Ripley dropping the title anytime soon.
What were your thoughts on this week’s SmackDown? Who were your Winners & Losers? Use the comment section below to let us know what you think.