WWE SmackDown live results: Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton contract signing
Tonight on SmackDown, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton put pen to paper and make their title bout at WrestleMania 42 official.
Rhodes regained the Undisputed WWE Title last week after defeating Drew McIntyre in a high-stakes last chance match made following SmackDown GM Nick Aldis getting fed up with the former champ’s antics.
McIntyre will be certainly on the hunt for Jacob Fatu, who prevented him from using a chair during the title match last week as their beef is sure to intensify now that McIntyre is no longer a champion.
Grammy Award-winning musician Jelly Roll will make an appearance on tonight’s SmackDown after teasing it last week.
The show will air from the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. As of press time for today’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 9,180 tickets had been distributed for the show.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– Over flyover shots of Phoenix, the voice of Joe Tessitore welcomed us to tonight’s show before he tossed it over to a recap of last week’s Undisputed WWE Championship match that saw Cody Rhodes regain the title over Drew McIntyre. After that recap we got a shot of Rhodes chatting with Jelly Roll, as well as Randy Orton walking backstage.
Drew McIntyre calls out Nick Aldis
Meanwhile, as Nick Aldis was looking over the Rhodes/Orton contract, Drew McIntyre angrily interrupted and paced his way into the ringside area. An incensed McIntyre demanded that Aldis get out to the ring now to make it right. On cue, Aldis walked down to the ramp and said that there was nothing to “make right”. Part of being the Champion included defending the title, and Aldis stated that McIntyre should be looking at the consequences of his own actions.
McIntyre took exception and accused Aldis of being a “corporate stooge”, so Aldis went for the jugular and said maybe the reason why McIntyre kept screwing Rhodes over was because the moment Cody got a fair shot, McIntyre lost. The surly Scotsman stormed into the ring and threatened Aldis to once again make things right, as this was “bullshit” in his eyes. Just then, Jacob Fatu walked down to the ring to confront his archnemesis.
“Yaddamean?” started Fatu, who said that there was nothing to fix, because McIntyre wouldn’t even be champion if it wasn’t for him. In his eyes, Fatu stated that he fixed the situation because McIntyre was no longer champion. This wasn’t about Aldis or Cody, so McIntyre kept blaming everyone else. Fatu said to keep it one-hundred, he declared that he was the one who screwed McIntyre’s ass. “So, what are you going to to about it?”
Apparently fed up with it all, McIntyre said that he quit WWE, as he walked off.
This seems like it will lead to a McIntyre/Fatu match at WrestleMania, so it’ll be interesting to see how we get to that off of this angle of McIntyre “quitting”.
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– Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s discussed strategy as the former was set to team up with Talla Tonga against Uncle Howdy & Erick Rowan. Sikoa once again asked Tama Tonga to keep watch of the Wyatt Sicks’ lantern. As everyone but Tama left, Shinsuke Nakamura once again talked to him about being his own man before Sikoa returned and warned Nakamura to stay away before he got hurt.
– Jacob Fatu was angry at Nick Aldis for Drew McIntyre quitting until Trick Williams interrupted things, and from there we got Jacob Fatu vs. Trick Williams made for tonight.
Uncle Howdy & Erick Rowan (w/ The Wyatt Sicks) vs. Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga (w/ M.F.T.s)
Talla and Rowan got things going with a big man battle as they traded shoulder blocks. Talla struck Rowan in the face, as he hit him with a headbutt and forced him into his team’s corner. Sikoa tagged in and taunted Rowan, who responded with a shoulder block to knock the M.F.T. patriarch down. Howdy tagged in but quickly found himself trapped in the enemy corner. Howdy tried to fight back, but Talla pulled him out of the ring and threw him all about at ringside as we took a break.
This match continued from the break as Talla was the legal man and maintaining control over Howdy with a running splash to the corner, followed by a Samoan Drop. Howdy, however, kicked out at two following that. Sikoa tagged in and tried to hit Sister Abigail on Howdy, but that got reversed into a back suplex. With both men, the two men tried to reach their respective big men as they got the tags in.
Rowan went on the attack against Talla with a running elbow that knocked him down. Rowan then headed from the middle turnbuckle for a diving attack for a near-fall. With Talla down and out, Rowan lifted him on his shoulders, but Sikoa blind tagged, which allowed Talla to escape and hit Rowan with a clothesline. On the top rope, Sikoa went for a splash, but Rowan got his knees up. Howdy tagged in and attempted a Sister Abigail of his own, but got countered into the Samoan Spike. Rowan broke up the count as he and Talla took each other out at ringside. Things erupted at ringside as the Wyatt Sicks and the M.F.T.s brawled all around the ring. Sikoa exited the ring and took out Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy with Samoan Spikes.
As Sikoa entered the ring, he had Howdy at his mercy for the Spike, but Nikki Cross grabbed the Wyatt Lantern, which got Sikoa’s attention. This opened him up to a Sister Abigail from Howdy and the three.
After the match, however, as Howdy held the Wyatt Lantern in his hands, he was hit from behind by a the not-so-hidden blade of the Cutthroat by Tama Tonga. This allowed the M.F.T.s to retreat with the Lantern in toe.
Uncle Howdy & Erick Rowan def. Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga via pinfall
This feud is still limping onwards even after what feels like an eternity of the Wyatts and M.F.T.s fighting over a lantern. Look, guys, I don’t have to tell you how much this feud stinks and how it’s affecting my enjoyment of anything involving these two factions, and probably the most generous thing I can say about tonight was that the actual match was not terrible. Then again, that’s essentially putting lipstick on a pig.
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WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.