WWE SmackDown live results: Randy Orton addresses attack on Cody Rhodes
The road to the Undisputed WWE Championship title match between current champ Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton took a shocking turn last week when the contract signing for the match turned into a brutal affair.
Orton appeared to show his true colors to his long-time friend last week by laying a vicious beatdown on Rhodes, leaving him a bloody mess to end SmackDown last week. Tonight, Orton is set to address why he did what he did to a man he once called a friend.
Also set for tonight is Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre, as their bitter rivalry looks to explode once and for all. After Fatu played a role in McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Title loss two weeks ago, the Scotsman returned the favor and attacked him on last week’s show.
Both sets of Tag Team championships will be on the line as The Irresistable Forces defend against The Bella Twins, while the makeship Damian Priest & R-Truth look to take the men’s Tag belts away from The M.F.T.s.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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– The show opened with a recap of last week’s WrestleMania contract signing and the heinous (or perhaps justified in some circles?) actions of Randy Orton against current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Following that recap, we went to our commentary team of Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett, who stated that Orton’s actions were viewed as “heinous” by a majority of WWE fans. We then got shots of the various stars in action tonight
– As Jelly Roll arrived to the arena, we got a commotion backstage as several people ran out to the parking lot. As the cameras followed, Drew McIntyre was seen attacking Jacob Fatu in his car and beating him to a pulp. Security officials dragged McIntyre off of Fatu as the SmackDown parking lot seemed to become the NXT Parking Lot in this one instant.
Drew McIntyre fools around, finds out
An irate McIntyre stormed to the ring and shouted that what happened to Fatu is because of his WrestleMania main event being taken away from him. He’s interrupted by General Manager Nick Aldis, who called him the most self-sabotaging superstar around. Aldis talked about how McIntyre’s efforts cost him the Undisputed WWE Title, a match with Fatu tonight, and potentially being at WrestleMania. McIntyre stated that firing him and quitting is what Aldis would’ve wanted, as he then said that Aldis’s son, Donovan, would be ashamed of the kind of father that he was. McIntyre declared that he’d cause as much chaos as he wanted to when all is said and done.
Jacob Fatu walked down to the ring and wanted more of McIntyre as the fight was on at ringside. Fatu gained the upper hand in this brawl with a throw to the steel steps. The announce table was re-arranged while McIntyre was pummeled endlessly by a relentless Fatu. Security seemingly got Fatu to back off, but only for a moment, as he then got a head of speed and hit a big splash from the timekeeper’s table, as he crushed McIntyre through the commentary table! Fatu finally left as McIntyre was left lying in a heap.
I have to admit, this was a very hot start to the evening, and it seems that this is how we’ll push the Fatu/McIntyre match to WrestleMania, as the two were scheduled to compete tonight. As for that presumed Mania match, it’s one that can’t be just a standard one-on-one contest. There has to be a stipulation at play.
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WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The M.F.T.s (Tama Tonga & J.C. Mateo) (w/ Solo Sikoa, Talla Tonga, and Tonga Loa) (c) vs. Damian Priest & R-Truth
Mateo & Tama represented the M.F.T.s under the Freebird Rule for this match.
Priest started off hot with a Flatiliner on Mateo, as he and Truth then hit a unique double team maneuver on Tama. Priest continued the momentum with a running forearm on Mateo. Talla Tonga clipped Truth at the corner as Priest got clotheslined out of the ring by Mateo. Talla attacked Priest behind the referee’s back as we took a break early on.
This match continued from commercial as Priest tried to fight out of the M.F.T. corner, but was rammed into the corner by Mateo. Priest then found himself being hit with a standing moonsault by Mateo, who then hit a running splash on his foe. Mateo shoved Truth from the apron, but he got cracked by a spinning kick from Priest. This gave him an opening to get the hot tag for Truth.
Truth channeled his inner “Ron Cena” as he hit the shoulder tackles, the Protoplex, and then the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Truth couldn’t connect with the AA as Tama got out of it, with the M.F.T.s began to double team Truth. Priest was thrown out of the ring, as Truth hit Tama with a Stunner. At ringside, Tama was taken out by a clothesline from Priest while Truth locked in the STF on Mateo. Solo Sikoa created a distraction for the referee, which allowed Tama Tonga to hit a chokeslam on the apron. However, Truth kicked out at two somehow.
The Wyatt Sicks appeared and began to brawl with the M.F.T.s, as Uncle Howdy snuck up and got the Mandible Claw on Solo Sikoa at ringside. Mateo rolled out of the ring and threw Howdy into the barricade as he gave the Wyatt lantern to Sikoa. Inside the ring, Priest hit Tama with a running lariat, and Mateo was dropped by an AA from Truth and that’s it, over. We have new WWE Tag Team Champions.
R-Truth & Damian Priest def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall to win the WWE Tag Team Championships
Well, I can at least say that the Tag Titles are now likely out of the endless Wyatts/M.F.T. vortex for the time being, so I can’t hate this result all that much. Yes, a makeshift tag team won the gold, but I’d be lying if I said that this Truth/Priest team wasn’t growing on me. Maybe it highlights Priest’s strength as a tag team guy, so there’s that.
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– The Bella Twins were interviewed about their tag title match against The Irresistable Forces later tonight. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss interrupted while they ate ice cream. “Charlexa” called the Bellas selfish for jumping the line when it came to taking on Nia Jax and Lash Legend for the Womens’ Tag Titles. Brie and Nikki responded by saying that they’ll show Flair and Bliss how legends get it done, as they left while stealing Bliss’s spoon.
– Elsewhere, Candice LeRae was still with the ever-despondent Johnny Gargano, who was lying on a production crate. Danhausen appeared out of nowhere in true Danhausen fashion and offered his help with Gargano’s plight — on the condition that LeRae give him $20. LeRae gave the dough to Danhausen, who then vanished.
– Sami Zayn was asked by Cathy Kelley about what happened with Cody Rhodes last week. Zayn said he had a match against Aleister Black tonight, but he had a piece to say about Rhodes. He said that Rhodes tries to be a good person. Last week, Rhodes ended the night on a stretcher and bloodied, but Randy Orton ended the night with the Undisputed WWE Title in his hand. That seemed to shake Zayn to his core about what he believed in. Zayn was interrupted by Trick Williams, who talked trash to him, as he said that if he had time, he’d check out Zayn’s match with Black later tonight.
Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)
Frazer and Shelley got things going for this match, with the former showing some impressive speed with a 23mph kick. With Axiom as the legal man, the MCMGs got the upper hand with some double team action. However, the masked man battled his way with a leaping dropkick on Sabin. Fraxiom then teamed up with superkicks on Sabin and Shelley, as we took a break.
We picked up from the commercial as Axiom held his own against Shelley and Sabin before he tagged in Frazer, who hit a running dive over the ropes onto both MCMGs. In the ring, splash from Frazer to Sabin, but Shelley broke the count. With Sabin isolated, Fraxiom did an amazing rolling double team attack that led to their superkick and suplex combo on Sabin for the near-fall. Sabin was placed on the top rope in the Fraxiom corner, but he fought out of it and hit a splash on both Axiom and Frazer. The tag to Shelley as he and Sabin hit a Magic Killer for the near-fall. At this point, Candice LeRae appeared on the ramp.
Back in the ring, all four men got into it as Fraxiom leveled the Machine Guns with repeated suicide divesto ringside. LeRae walked up to the ring and got Frazer with a cheap shot, which allowed Sabin to roll Frazer up for the victory.
Motor City Machine Guns def. Fraxiom via pinfall
A fun little tag match, and I do appreciate we’re getting tag team storylines now that isn’t just the Wyatts and M.F.T.s fighting forever. This dynamic with the MCMGs and Candice LeRae & Johnny Gargano has me interested so far. I’m just glad that there seems to be a shift when it comes to tag team wrestling based on this story and the Truth/Priest victory earlier tonight.
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– Randy Orton, who was still sporting the shirt he wore last week, walked past the wreckage of Jacob Fatu’s car. We’ll be hearing from him up next.
– A recap of CM Punk and Roman Reigns’ faceoff from this past Monday’s Raw was shown, which included Punk popping Reigns with a punch for being called “old”.
Randy Orton on his brutal attack on Cody Rhodes
Despite being meant to be booed for bloodying up Cody Rhodes last week, Orton was cheered as he entered, with fans still singing along with his song. Orton held the chair that he used to brutalize Rhodes last week and set it up in the ring to sit on it.
Orton talked about how the crowd has sung along with his theme song for years now, as he felt the love. He signed fans’ posters, action figures, and that comes with the power he has for doing it as long as he has been. The love he’s gotten, it put a smile on his face. But… that smile was the emptiest feeling he had felt in his entire life.
Orton said that nothing lasts forever, as he didn’t want his legacy before retiring to be all the smiles he put on young fans’ faces. Instead, he wanted that legacy to be how many world titles he won. Orton talked about how he won the Elimination Chamber, and he was expecting Drew McIntyre to be his WrestleMania opponent. But, Cody Rhodes won the title on him, and he wasn’t sure how he could fight someone he saw as a friend.
However, last week, Rhodes took that burden off last week when he wanted Orton to be the best version of The Viper he could be. Orton said that he wanted to have the killer instinct to add World Title No. 15 to his legacy. And he was going to do it with the most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: RKO. Orton said that he heard voices in his head, and they counsel him, and that they talked to him. And those voices? They told him that he was going to beat Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship and he was going to do it WrestleMania.
As the crowd cheers couldn’t make it even more clear, the uphill battle of getting fans to boo Randy Orton with WrestleMania in four weeks will continue to get harder. WWE commentary and promo packages can continue to spin Orton as the dastardly heel against Cody Rhodes, but it’s clear the fans aren’t taking the bait whatsoever. The promo tonight didn’t really come across as an overly heel promo from Orton at all, though a typical “you people” heel promo would come across as forced at this point. It’s a dilemma WWE will need to figure out before April 18th and 19th, and I’m not too certain if the creative is up for it at this point.
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– Randy Orton was walking backstage as several wrestlers were looking at him funny. Matt Cardona walked up to him and called him out for his actions against Cody Rhodes last week. Orton got upset at the “mark ass stooge indy nerd” and punched him out. Orton shouted at Cardona to stay out of his business.
Sami Zayn vs. Aleister Black (w/ Zelina)
After Zayn made his entrance, Trick Williams walked down to a huge reaction from the crowd in Raleigh.
Black took advantage of Zayn being distracted by Williams’ arrival and floored him with strikes as the bell rang. Black pummeled Zayn with punches as he then attacked him in the corner. Zayn got out of the bind and then struck back with punches of his own on Black. With Zayn on the advantage, we took a break.
We returned from commercial as Zayn kicked out of a Black pinfall attempt after he got hit with a knee to the face just before the break ended. Zayn and Black traded strikes until the latter dropped the former with a spinning back elbow. Zayn avoided Black Mass and went for the Blue Thunder Bomb. Black countered and then hit him with another knee to the face. Black then locked Zayn in a pretzel knee bar submission hold that was reversed into a pin attempt for the two.
Zayn missed with the Helluva Kick as he then fell victim to a diving Meteora from Black. One, two… not quite. Black taunted the crowd, which opened him up to a clothesline from Zayn that sent him out of the ring. At ringside, Black was thrown repeatedly into the barrier by Zayn with enough force to shake it. As the two men got back in the ring, Zayn connected with the corner exploder suplex. The crowd seemed to boo Zayn as he got his best moves in. Zayn went for another Helluva Kick, but Black rolled out of the ring.
Zayn pushed Williams’ legs off the commentary table, which prompted the man with the “Lemon Peppa Steppas” to throw water at the back of Zayn. This frustrated Zayn to a point where he attacked Williams. Once Zayn took care of Williams, he got back in the ring and got cracked with Black Mass. The three and this one’s done.
Aleister Black def. Sami Zayn
A nice little match made better by the dynamic going on with Zayn and the crowd growing restless with his perpetual underdog gimmick, which seems to be by design based on the interactions he’s had with folks like Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu in recent weeks. That the actual in-ring action was solid was a good plus as well.
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– Matt Cardona tried to get a match with Randy Orton booked tonight from Nick Aldis, but was thoroughly denied. Carmelo Hayes wondered why the U.S. Open Title challenge was closed, because someone stepped up. That someone was Ilja Dragunov.
Jade Cargill addresses Rhea Ripley
The WWE Women’s Champion walked dowjn to the ring, ready to discuss her WrestleMania 42 foe, Rhea Ripley.
As soon as Cargill got in the ring, she demanded that Ripley face her down in the ring right now. On cue, Ripley entered to a huge ovation from the Raleigh crowd. As Ripley got into the ring, she wondered if they were going to keep talking or actually do something. Cargill said that it wasn’t about what Ripley wanted. Cargill talked about how she didn’t need the title or the fans. With or without wrestling, Cargill said she was that bitch, as she then paraphrased CM Punk, stating that she wasn’t here to make friends, she was here to make money.
Ripley responded by saying that she wanted to be here and how she lived for this since age 16. Cargill talked about how she didn’t need the locker room’s approval, but Ripley replied by stating that she didn’t need the WWE Women’s Title. Ripley said that the title needed her. Ripley offered to let Cargill take the first shot. Cargill refused and said “on my time”.
As Cargill left, Michin and B-Fab confronted her and seemingly were going to stop here. But, it turns out they were aligned with Cargill instead. The three took it to Ripley with a three-on-one beatdown.
This feud, I’m just not feeling it, and having Michin and B-Fab be aligned with Jade Cargill after months of feuding with her, I’m not sure about either.
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– The Miz and Kit Wilson were discussing how the latter should approach the Jelly Roll situation later on when Danhausen popped up once more. Miz said he wasn’t going to mentor Danhausen as a ladder fell behind everyone. After Wilson left, another ladder fell, but right on Miz, as he was still cursed courtesy of Danhausen.
– Solo Sikoa angrily yelled at the M.F.T.s for losing the WWE Tag Team Titles. Tama Tonga told Sikoa that maybe he should give back the Wyatts’ lantern to the Wyatt Sicks, as he then told Sikoa that he was starting to sound like Roman. The tense situation between Tama and Sikoa was interrupted with Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre still brawling as security tried to break things up.
United States Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov
These two started things off with a little chain wrestling action before Hayes slapped Dragunov in the face. That seemed to fire the challenger up as he charged into Hayes and went after him fiercely in the corner with chop after chop after chop. Hayes and Dragunov traded their best shots, as the challenger connected with a particularly hard Constantine Special, which took us to commercial.
We returned from commercial as Dragunov still had the advantage on Hayes, who tried to battle from underneath. A standing T-Bone Suplex from Dragunov snuffed out that attack, but Hayes managed to kick out at two. Dragunov kicked at Hayes, who got back up and responded with some strikes of his own. He lifted Dragunov on his shoulders as things picked up. Hayes got ahead of another Constantine Special attempt and connected with Dirty Diana for the two-count. Hayes clotheslined Dragunov out of the ring as he got a head of speed and hit a Fosbury Flop that he barely overshot as he collided with the commentary table. Frog Splash by Hayes on Dragunov wasn’t enough to get this match done.
Dragunov recovered and gripped Hayes by the waist and hit a German suplex as he then took off from the top rope with the diving senton for a close near-fall. Hayes headed to the opposite corner and looked for a Coast-to-Coast, but was intercepted with a First 48 from the U.S. Champion. Dragunov somehow turned that into a surprise H-Bomb. One, two… Hayes managed to get a foot on the ropes in the nick of time. We got another break in the action.
This excellent U.S. Title match returned from break as Hayes attempted a DDT onto the apron, but Dragunov caught him and instead dropped him with the Death Valley Driver onto the hardest part of the ring. Dragunov lifted Hayes and tried to go for the suplex as he took his foe up on the top rope for an attempted superplex. Hayes countered that into a falling cutter! One, two…. 2.99999999999!!!!!!! Hayes got back up to his feet and chopped Dragunov. The challenger withstood the pain and fought back with strikes of his own. Hayes and Dragunov traded their best shots at one another, as the latter hit a powerbomb at the end of it all. Hayes kicked out, but found himself hit with a backbreaker for another two-count.
In the corner, Dragunov had Hayes in his sights for the Torpedo Moscow, but the U.S. Champion intercepted with the First 48. Yet another close kickout from the challenger. After Hayes missed with a dive from the top rope, Dragunov blasted him with Torpedo Moscow. Dragunov lifted Hayes up for a powerbomb, but Hayes turned that into a sunset flip bomb of his own and the three to retain the U.S. Title.
Carmelo Hayes def. Ilja Dragunov to retain the United States Championship
Wow. What a match between these two once again. Hayes and Dragunov simply cannot miss and they’re magic in the ring when they mix it up. Just tremendous, high-stakes action and another fantastic U.S. Title match.
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– As Jelly Roll walked backstage, Randy Orton met with him. Orton apologized for his actions, but Jelly tried to speak some reason with him, as someone who knows how it’s like to be a bad guy. Jelly said that the Randy Orton he knew was a beautiful soul who loved his family and the business. Jelly pointed out that life is not about what you to do, it who you do it with, as he tried to convince Orton to make things right with Matt Cardona. Orton seemed to agree with what Jelly said after all this.
– We got a recap of the Oba Femi/Brock Lesnar segment from Monday’s Raw, as the match between these two at WrestleMania 42 was officially made.
Kit Wilson calls out Jelly Roll
Wilson said that Jelly Roll crossed a line last week by starting the fight, and he was here to finish it. Where Wilson came from, they settled it like men. He proceeded to call Jelly out, as the man himself walked down to the ring, looking for a fight. Wilson rolled out of the ring as Jelly entered.
Jelly said that Wilson called him out for a fight, and he was ready for it, so he demanded that a referee head out right now to get this match started. Wilson said that he didn’t fight with his fists, he fought with his words. Jelly seemed incredulous that he was brought out here for a rap battle, something that he didn’t see Wilson has. There would be no rap battle from, according to Wilson, as it was time for ‘slam poetry’ instead.
Wilson recited a poem about Jelly’s criminal past and his loss of weight, as he said that Jelly was proof that Ozempic did work. Wilson continued to make strange fat jokes about Jelly in his slam poetry. This prompted Jelly to come out with some disses of his own. As Jelly admired his banter, Wilson hit him from behind and hit him with a big splash. Wilson headed up to the top rope and hit him with a diving elbow.
I don’t think I have to go on a long, long rant about how this segment blew. I think it’s clear how much I did not find this segment funny or entertaining. That this could be how they bring in Royce Keys officially for a WrestleMania match doesn’t excite me either. Dire, dire stuff marked by the WWE “brand” of humor that’s unappealing.
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– Backstage, Jelly Roll walked up to Nick Aldis and demanded that he make a match between him and Kit Wilson for next week. Aldis approved and that’s what we got.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: The Irresistable Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend) vs. The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella)
Brie and Nikki hit the tag champs with stereo dropkicks to the knees before we got Jax and Nikki mixing it up in the ring for a bit. After a tag to Brie, the Bellas kept the advantage as Jax was isolated from Legend. The twins tried for a double team, but got blocked by Jax. However, Jax couldn’t block the double bulldog from Nikki and Brie. At this moment, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss made their entrance, which distracted the Bellas. This allowed Legend to lay them out with big boots as we took a commercial timeout here.
We returned from break as Brie entered the match with a missile dropkick on Jax, followed by a running knee on her stunned foe. Brie avoided a hip attack from Jax, as she then channeled Bryan Danielson with the kicks to the chest. Legend tried to get involve, but got sent out by Brie. Nikki tagged in and hit a diving crossbody to the outside on both Legend and Jax. Back in the ring, a distraction from Legend allowed Jax to llift Nikki on her shoulder for an avalanche Samoan Drop. Legend then hit the big splash, but Brie broke up the count. Outside the ring, Jax tried to hit Brie with the Women’s Tag Title, but Flair broke it up as the referee called for a DQ.
Things erupted after the match as the Bellas, Charlexa, and The Irresistable Forces brawled it out. Jax and Legend gained the upper hand in this skirmish as Legend held Flair in position for a leg drop from Jax.
The Irresistable Forces vs. The Bella Twins ended in a No Contest
This match was terrible, and things ending in a similar manner to last week’s match, right down to Jax and Legend standing tall didn’t help matters. It felt like they hit CTRL+V on last week’s Charlexa vs. Jax/Legend match and just swapped out Bliss and Flair for the Bellas. Really rough way to end the in-ring action on tonight’s show.
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– Randy Orton was talking with an unknown person on the phone as he told them that he was going to “go fix it” right now in the ring.
Next Week on SmackDown
- Kit Wilson vs. Jelly Roll
- Women’s U.S. Championship Match: Giulia vs. Tiffany Stratton
- The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella) vs. Charlexa (Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss)
Let’s Hear From Randy Orton
As promised, Randy Orton was on his way to the ring yet again, still armed with his steel chair. Orton seemed to shake hands with some fans along the way on the ring, on the way to “fix the situation”, so to speak.
Orton once again set up the chair in the middle of the ring and took a seat, but then he got off it and said that he needed to make an apology to everyone, but more importantly, an apology to Matt Cardona. He called Cardona down to the ring so he could hear that apology. Cardona walked to the ring and stood face to face with Orton.
Orton said that he was out of his head in the past few weeks and he wanted to apologize. He said action figures were cool and video games were cool. Orton said that he had an apology to Cody Rhodes to make for next week, but he wasn’t here tonight. So, he asked if Cardona was going to accept the apology.
Cardona accepted it, but got suckered into a low blow by Orton, then an RKO out of nowhere. Orton threw Cardona out of the ring and placed him on the announce table. Orton grabbed the steel steps and set it against the announce table as security poured out to back him up. Yet again, the crowd was chanting for Orton in the midst of all this as the man himself seemed to gather himself and stopped, for the time being. Orton went after Cardona again and threw him into the ring, as security and officials once again took action to stop him. Cardona’s arm was wrapped around a chair, as Orton then stomped on it. The fans chanted “one more time” after it all as Nick Aldis got Orton to back off.
The Titantron showed Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre brawling as Aldis ran to the area where the two were brawling. Outside, Fatu and McIntyre were fighting on a ledge as the two took a huge tumble off the ledge to end our show, apparently without the usual copyright bug and Executive Producer credits.
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What a weird and wonderful ending to tonight’s show. Between the fans still cheering Orton despite doing really evil heel actions and the Fatu and McIntyre brawl, it was just wild to follow these last five minutes of the show.
First, let’s get back to the Orton stuff. At this point, it’s going to be impossible to have these fans boo him, even if he were to show up next week and Pillmanize Cody Rhodes. It’s just a situation where the still-popular-as-always Orton is going up against a Cody Rhodes whose crowd reactions are beginning to sour, and we’ll be ending up with a strange, strange situation, especially if WWE is dead set on keeping Rhodes a babyface for this match.
As far as the rest of tonight was concerned, it was surprisingly strong, with the in-ring action being good and carrying a lot of the load. However, I wasn’t feeling segments like the thing with Jelly Roll or the Cargill/Ripley face-off (and subsequent Cargill/B-Fab/Michin alliance), or the main event women’s tag title match. My highlight of the night was, of course, the U.S. Title match. Hayes and Dragunov can do no wrong at this point.
Buckle up, though, with four weeks until WrestleMania, the road is getting closer to its final destination, and for better or worse, things are going to be bumpy. Whether WWE Creative likes it or not, it won’t be smooth sailing at all for the stories they’re trying to tell, especially as far as the main events are concerned.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.