- Match #1: Ricochet def. Happy Corbin
- The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
- My Score: 3 out of 5
- Match #2: Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match – Natalya & Sonya Deville def. Dana Brooke & Tamina, Shotzi & Xia Li, and Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop
- The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
- My Score: 1.5 out of 5
- Match #3: Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament – Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah def. Natalya & Sonya Deville
- The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
- My Score: 2.5 out of 5
- Match #4: Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn
- The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
- My Score: 3 out of 5
- Final Verdict: 2.5/5
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. We’ve got more of Triple H’s reimagining of WWE this week AND a (hopeful) build to Clash as the Castle, right here in the UK. So let’s see what went down…
Match #1: Ricochet def. Happy Corbin
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Following weeks of Happy Corbin being undermined by the high-flying Ricochet, the two SmackDown Superstars stepped into the ring to settle their differences. Corbin initially grounded Ricochet, lifting him up into a World’s Strongest Slam onto the announce table. Corbin kept up the assault, dropping Ricochet on the top rope in an innovative maneuver. Corbin’s focus was the focus, for lack of a better term, of the night as Ricochet took the advantage back after Corbin taunted the exciting Superstar once too often. In the end, Corbin couldn’t contain Ricochet’s spirit and succumbed to the Shooting Star Press, leaving Corbin with another loss on his resume. After the match, Pat McAfee used his telestrator to inflict further humiliation on the not so Happy Corbin.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match – Natalya & Sonya Deville def. Dana Brooke & Tamina, Shotzi & Xia Li, and Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Due to an injury suffered by Gigi Dolin, Toxic Attraction were removed from the bracket after last week’s First Round win. This led to a frenetic “Last Chance” Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match featuring the teams that had been eliminated in the first round. The match started off chaotically, with Tamina Superkicking former teammate Natalya to start off the contest. Every competitor had the chance to showcase their offense sending the match into disarray. In an absolutely jaw-dropping moment Dana Brooke delivered a Superplex off the top-rope to Nikki A.S.H. onto the rest of the competitors below. During this chaos, Sonya Deville capitalized and tagged herself in, grabbing the victory by pinning Nikki A.S.H and booking a spot in the semifinals against Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah later in the night in the process.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament – Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah def. Natalya & Sonya Deville
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After coming out victorious in the “Last Chance” Fatal 4-Way earlier in the night, Natalya and Sonya Deville took on Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah in a semifinal match in the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament. Finalists Dakota Kai and IYO SKY, as well as Bayley were at the commentary booth, much to Michael Cole’s chagrin, to get a first hand view at who their opponents will be. During the initial fracas, Natalya hit a spine-tingling michinoku driver to Aliyah on the outside, taking Aliyah out of the match. For the rest of the match, Rodriguez had to go it alone as Aliyah crawled back to her corner of the ring. Rodriguez was apt in her position, dropping both Deville and Natalya on multiple occasions. Even without Aliyah, Rodriguez had no trouble snatching up the victory, planting Deville with the Tejana Bomb. After the match, the WWE Universe got a brief preview of the final as Rodriguez & Aliyah and Dakota Kai & IYO SKY had a face-off.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With Sami Zayn taking hits for Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, The Master Strategist had an opportunity to take out Reigns’ opponent at WWE Clash at the Castle Drew McIntyre. Zayn was up to the task early on, as he unloaded on McIntyre with a bulldog-like mentality. Zayn kept up the pressure by executing a Sunset Powerbomb from the top-rope, leaving McIntyre down. As Zayn attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb he ran into a Glasgow Kiss instead giving McIntyre the upper hand. As McIntyre looked to seal the deal with a Claymore, The Usos came to Zayn’s aid, giving The Master Strategist the opportunity to hit the Blue Thunder Bomb to a close two-count. In the end, Zayn wasn’t quick enough to duck the definitive Claymore Kick, leaving McIntyre the victor.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
As expected, not too much has changed when it comes to the WWE in the run-up to pay-per-views, as this week’s episode of Smackdown showed… We got 4 matches and a TON of promos, as if the show was in more of a holding pattern before Clash at the Castle – which is understandable given that this week’s show was taped at the same time as last week’s show! We did get two good matches to open and close the show and one promo – between Sheamus and Gunther – that knocked it out of the park. But it was still not enough to make this episode of Smackdown more than just average.