Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, four weeks away from WrestleMania 42.
The tag team match between The Bella Twins and the team of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair was the first match of the night. Of course, it wouldn’t be a tag team match without the arrival of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend).
Jax tells the Pittsburgh crowd that there’s still tickets to this week’s Monday Night Raw so that they, a team Jax claims the fans actually want to watch, compete and defend their titles against Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. Unfortunately tonight, the fans will have to watch what Jax deems “wannabe contenders” try their best, but Jax is all about putting a spotlight on the tag team division, but there would be no spotlight without Lash and her, so it doesn’t make sense why they’re not out here.
Legend agrees with her and says that it doesn’t make sense, just like it doesn’t make sense that everyone thinks The Bellas are so hot when they are here in comparison; or the fans cheering Charlotte and Alexa with their “fake, phony-ass friendship”, but they won’t bring down the show much when the champs are out here, watching the two teams fight for what they have.
The match began with Charlotte and Nikki, with The Queen holding her own against both Nikki and Brie before shortly tagging in Alexa. Once the action shifted to Alexa and Brie as the legal competitors, Brie would tug at the ring apron, provoking an argument between the two teams as Lash and Nia watched on at the commentary desk; Nikki soon threw Bliss into them during the commercial break.
The show returned from commercials, with the Bellas taking their turns in dominating Alexa, although Charlotte would soon get the hot tag she had been waiting for. Things quickly reverted to The Bellas isolating Alexa; just when it seemed like Bliss would get the pin, the Cleveland, Ohio native was punched in the face by Legend, resulting in Brie getting the pin and winning the match.
After the match, Lash and Nia once again attacked the other teams, as they have the past two weeks. Just as they were going to lay out Bliss alone on the mat, Bayley and Lyra came running out to attack and send them out of the ring, although each team was still in the arguing mood afterwards (sans Nikki, who was still out on the floor from Nia throwing her out of the ring).
Rhea Ripley appeared in a segment with new WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth, as well as artist Jelly Roll, who gave her words of encouragement, telling her that Jade Cargill is mean, violent, big, and strong, but that he believed in her, and if there was someone who needed to get her ass humbled, it’s the reigning WWE Women’s Champion. R-Truth soon walked off, although Ripley had to address his unfounded belief that her and Priest were now in a relationship; she is proud of him for getting gold, and Priest says that while it was unexpected, he fully expects her to get gold herself at WrestleMania.
The show returned with an “NXT Origins” video package for Tiffany Stratton, who said NXT was very important in her development, taking her from an athlete and developing her character where it was her, but in an over-the-top way. Winning the NXT Women’s Championship in 2023 took her from being a new girl to the future of the business, and she credits NXT with building her from the ground up, feeling like she learned everything down at the Performance Center, and eventually, she developed into a big, beautiful WWE Superstar.
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were backstage when The Bella Twins walked up to them, starting an argument where Bliss called out Brie for capitalizing on a punch in the face, which Brie seemed to be unaware of, and Flair chastised both twins for not standing a chance if it wasn’t for Nia and Lash, telling them to get to the back of the line, with Brie arguing that they didn’t ask Nia and Lash to watch the match, so they can’t be blamed. Nikki would then tell Charlotte and Alexa that her and Brie came back to become the Women’s Tag Team Champions, and they will do whatever it takes to become that. Flair says they’ll see about that, while Bliss steals Brie’s flannel, only to throw it back into her face to end the segment.
NOTE: Same video, but starting at 0:48 for the Rhea/Jade/B-Fab/Michin segment.
Rhea Ripley made her way out to the ring for a promo. Ripley said that she didn’t expect integrity from Jade Cargill, fully under the impression that she would do whatever she needed to do to not get her hands dirty, but the one thing that she didn’t expect was for B-Fab and Michin to be so desperate that they had to stoop down to her level. If that’s the game they want to play, then that’s fine, because it is WrestleMania season, and she doesn’t care what she has to do or who she has to go through before she gets there. She invites the trio to come out and join her in the ring.
Jade, B-Fab, and Michin entered the stage with microphones in hand. Cargill tells Ripley she sounds real slick for somebody that got dropped last week. Cargill adds and says that B-Fab and Michin didn’t join her; they positioned themselves in power, and if Ripley thinks she’s going to drag them down, she already knows what it is.
It’s then B-Fab’s turn to talk, and she says she’s glad Rhea said what she said about taking down anybody and anything to make sure she gets anything she wants. Calling her a “selfish backstabber”, B-Fab accuses Ripley of not caring about who’s sacrificed and put in the work as she’s the one who gets the rewards. Michin inserts herself into the conversation, saying that she’s been grinding for decades just like Ripley; the three of them having been putting in work just like her, and while they are the ones that’s forgotten, she gets all the love and attention? They are sick and tired of the “not yets”, and want to come for what’s theirs now.
B-Fab then says that Jade had a plan and they jumped at the opportunity, and why wouldn’t they? She’s got the gold, she’s got the power, and at least with Jade, what you see is what you get. Cargill then tells Ripley that if she wants to get her ass beat tonight, be their guest as she has all the fans fooled, and isn’t even a SmackDown wrestler, rather a guest, but it’s fine, as they have spoken to Nick Aldis, and B-Fab wants to step up tonight, promising that Ripley will learn. Ripley, however, says that she’s going to teach B-Fab tonight is that actions have consequences, and Cargill is going to realize soon that she is something that B-Fab cannot be protected from, asking for a referee to come out to the ring.
The show returned mid-match with Ripley fighting off distractions from Cargill and Michin. Cargill and Ripley got into it with one another on the floor; when B-Fab tried to push Ripley into Cargill, the Eradicator responded with a loud headbutt, pushing Cargill to throw Ripley into the steel steps, causing a disqualification as Cargill threw Ripley head-first into the commentary desk. Ripley then kicked Cargill and tried to set up Riptide, only for Michin and B-Fab to attack her and once again be the recipient of Jaded.
Tiffany Stratton was walking in the hallway when she was dismayed to run into Chelsea Green, who told her that she felt that they got off on the wrong foot (although they’ve been co-workers for the past two years), and that since she has a match with Giulia, as a former two-time Women’s United States Champion, she feels like she would be great resource for Stratton, so they should be a pair. The Buff Barbie says Green is right that she won the title twice, but that also means Green lost the title twice, so thanks, but no thanks, which Green and Alba Fyre find rude in a disappointing way.
The match between Stratton and Giulia began right afterwards, with Giulia quickly taking control with a series of snapmares and maintaining dominance throughout the commercial break portion of the match.
The show returned with Stratton trying to fight back against Giulia with a spinebuster and a cartwheel into an Alabama Slam, but remained largely winded. Able to pull off a Swanton bomb, Stratton’s attempt at a Prettiest Moonsault Ever was stopped by a distraction from Kiana James, helping Giulia win the match.
NOTE: Same video, but starting at 4:28 for the final women’s segment.
Bayley and Lyra Valkyria were walking out of the arena with their luggage when Cathy Kelley walked up to them for a quick interview, wondering what brought them to SmackDown tonight. Bayley said that they saw Nia and Lash say that they run the tag team division but they also think they run SmackDown, so Lyra and her had to come over and tell them who has their eyes on the tag team division.
Valkyria adds that they had to come here, go out there, and beat it into their heads, but now, Nia and Lash plus everyone else should know that they are the biggest threat there is to the Women’s Tag Team Championships, especially after this Monday night’s Raw from Madison Square Garden when they get it done and the whole tag team division will be put on notice. The two then leave as Kelley wishes them safe travels.
Friday Night SmackDown will air next week from inside the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, 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 edition of SmackDown in the comments below.