WWE SmackDown spoilers from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
WWE SmackDown began airing live on Netflix outside of the United States on Friday at 12 p.m. Eastern.
Michael Cole said they were expecting 18,000 fans at the show.
Cody Rhodes kicked things off with an in-ring promo, addressing the Rumble, Drew McIntyre, and a few others. Randy Orton came out next. He said he has the utmost respect for what Rhodes has done but he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate him in the Rumble. Orton reminded Rhodes that he’s not the only one who has won the Rumble twice. This brought out Jey Uso, who said he plans on running it back and winning for the second year in a row.
Sami Zayn then came out. He addressed his match with Drew McIntyre, again bringing up that he’s never beaten McIntyre and is 0-11 against him. But he also brought up that he’s never lost a match in Saudi Arabia and he didn’t plan on starting tomorrow.
Paul Heyman, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Austin Theory came out. Heyman cut a promo saying that tomorrow night will be Bron Breakker’s night. Orton invited the group to get in the ring, which brought out Nick Aldis, who scheduled an eight-man tag for later tonight.
- Carmelo Hayes defeated Rey Fenix to retain the United States Championship
Rey Fenix came out to answer Hayes’ open challenge. They had a competitive match before Hayes hit Nothing But Net for the win.
R-Truth was shown in the back with the ball roller for the Royal Rumble numbers. He made some ball jokes. Aldis told Priest that he’s in the Rumble and he drew a number. Priest and Truth reacted as though Preist drew a bad number.
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss came out for a promo. They did a bit on how it’s every woman for themselves before Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Roxanne Perez came out. This all led to Nick Aldis coming out and once again scheduling a match between Bliss & Flair and any two members of Judgment Day.
- Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss defeated Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez
The finish saw Rodriguez attempt to interfere, but Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer came out of nowhere and superkicked her, allowing Bliss to hit her DDT finisher on Perez for the win.
Jade Cargill attacked Jordynne Grace in the back and the two brawled until it was broken up.
This post will be updated as the show continues.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.