WWE SmackDown spoilers from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
WWE SmackDown aired live on Netflix outside of the United States on Friday at 12 p.m. Eastern from a temporary stadium constructed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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.
Aldis told Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae in the back that if Axiom beats Gargano tonight, he gets his mask back and LeRae is banned from ringside.
- Axiom defeated Johnny Gargano
The finish saw Gargano rip off Axiom’s mask, only for Axiom to simply put on the mask Gargano had stolen from him and then hit the Golden Ratio for the win.
AJ Styles came out for a promo. He said that when he beats Gunther tomorrow, then he’ll start his farewell tour. Gunther interrupted. Styles brought up Gunther tapping out and this led to Gunther charging the ring before backing away.
Shinsuke Nakamura was approached by Tama Tonga backstage. Tonga asked Nakamura what happened to him? He said the Shinsuke he knew would have beaten AJ last week.
“You’ve got confidence finally here. But for me, you’re still a young punk. Bad Boy Tama Tonga. Well anyway, I need to give you a gift,” Nakamura said to Tonga. “See you in the ring next week.”
- Ilja Dragunov defeated The Miz
Dragunov hit Miz with a Torpedo Moscow followed by an H-Bomb for the win.
The MFTS were shown in a backstage segment. Solo Sikoa said the tag team titles were for the family and that he was going to win the WWE Undisputed Championship. The promo segment cut away to a Wyatt Sicks video with Uncle Howdy said they will regain both the lantern and the tag titles.
- Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton, & Jey Uso vs. The Vision (Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul & Austin Theory) ended in a no-contest
SmackDown’s main event ended when Drew McIntyre attacked Zayn at ringside. He looked as though he was going to hit Zayn with the title belt when Jacob Fatu attacked. Rhodes ended up going after Fatu and then Zayn gave a Helluva Kick to McIntyre. After the dust cleared, Zayn was left alone in the ring with the WWE title belt. As Zayn went to pick it up, however, Rhodes swept in and put his hand on the title too. Then Breakker speared them both and the show went off the air.
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.