Farewell, 2024. It was nice knowing you, and WWE is ready to turn a new leaf in the new year after its final “Smackdown” on the calendar.
The feeling of change is very heavily in the air and not just because of the annual refresh. Many returns and surprises will surely be on the horizon. Meanwhile, some more prominent wells aren’t yet dry, including the world title picture featuring the promotion’s top champion Cody Rhodes.
“The American Nightmare” is the current Superman-like figure, so it only made sense that we’d see him sooner rather than later after his vicious Saturday Night’s Main Event post-match assault from Kevin Owens. I’m not sure how this rivalry can be drug out until the Royal Rumble with interesting happenings until then. But hey, WWE is going to try.
Unhinged Owens needs even looser screws.
I so terribly wanted to see Owens attack Nick Aldis on this episode of “Smackdown.” Not because I wanted to see the General Manager suffer, but because this guy deserves to have a big WWE match that he very well could still perform in. As great as he’s been in the role, I’ll still never fully understand how he’s been pushed away from his in-ring career. The time coming between a Rhodes feud would be perfect. Ideally, there could be some type of tie-in against Rhodes as well. For history’s sake!
Ultimately, we kept things classical on “Smackdown,” and what’s not to love about that? The more the Winged Eagle WWE title is on our screens the merrier. I wasn’t sure when Rhodes would return but I didn’t expect it to be tonight. He appeared as fired up as ever and cut another excellent promo, demanding a ladder match against Owens to put the “no referee” excuses from their last match to bed. I dig it. Fearless usage of logic from the defending champion.
I thought this was going to lead to an I Quit Match, which feels like the obvious go-to these days with a feud like this. However, I like the throwback to the lesser-seen ladder match — which is just one of my favorite match types in general. Also, when you think about it, referees are still involved in an I Quit Match.
The villainous Owens concluded the evening by pushing Aldis into the still-injured Rhodes and stomping on his neck. It gave me glimmers of hope for an attack on Aldis. Damn you, WWE. Give me what I want! I really do think we’ll get it at some point. They’re just playing the long game.
It’ll be Rhodes vs. Owens 2 in a ladder match at Royal Rumble 2025 on Feb. 1.
It’s time…
Alright, I’m fully convinced that it will officially be “Tiffy Time” once “Smackdown” heads to three hours. There’s no way they won’t pull the trigger on Tiffany Stratton’s cash-in next week.
WWE has done a great job building Stratton as a sympathetic heel that has gotten fans to root for her success. I mean, that’s bound to happen when you tease her cashing in over a hundred times. OK, that’s hyperbole, but it sure has felt like it.
Stratton’s tease this week in the middle of her trios match alongside Nia Jax and Candice LeRae vs. Bayley, Bianca Belair and Naomi was a verbal straw that broke the camel’s back. When stopped by LeRae, Stratton said, “I want to be champion!” Besides that, she’s got to be fed up with getting bullied by Jax who once again belittled her before the match started, jabbing with a comment about last week’s loss.
The Stratton-LeRae curfuffle led to a win for the opposing team and earned Naomi a title shot at Jax next week. This is where it happens. It has to. We’ve waited long enough for Miss Money in the Bank and it’s been set up perfectly with the continued “Who done it?” questioning of Jade Cargill’s attack from weeks ago.
Naomi, win or lose, gets beaten down by the returning Cargill next week, and Stratton cashes in on whoever the champion is for the win. Boom. It’s two birds with one stone and too easy, WWE. This isn’t rocket science.
🤯SPOT OF THE NIGHT.
Requests for a Montez Ford singles run have been screamed to the wrestling heavens for years now. I am aware. But I need it. Please.
The Street Profits are still an incredible team though, which makes separating them very difficult. After finishing some fun possible feuds with Motor City Machine Guns and DIY, what more is left? The new New Day? I’m here for it. That can all wrap up in 2025 if done right.
Regardless, the Los Garzas match was an unsurprising thriller ride that saw our spot of the night unfold when Ford got tossed off the top rope overhead from each of his opponents. From there, Garza and Humberto hit double moonsaults — one to Angelo Dawkins on the outside and Ford on the inside.
That. Was. Epic.
That was a match-ending sequence so big thumbs down for that. The match overall was great, however and the Doomsday Blockbuster truly is an amazing tag finisher, which sealed another W for the Profits. This all came thanks to a run-around from Pretty Deadly backstage. So, thanks to them, I guess. We’ll probably get some kind of multi-team tag match for the titles out of this whole thing because Motor City Machine Guns made an argument backstage — and boy, did they look tiny next to the night’s winners.
👍PICK ME UP👍
1. Corey Graves asking why the “Winged-Eagle” title is called that because all eagles have wings was amazing. I was thinking the exact same thing during Saturday Night’s Main Event. It’s true. Why isn’t it just known as the Eagle title? Who started this silly name?
2. Andrade had a nice little video promo package for Shinsuke Nakamura. Good quality, great highlights, fun match on deck.
3. Chelsea Green was excellent during her championship celebration. Any time she gets airtime is a win. The Lady Liberty outfit was also great.
4. There was a “Bring back The Shockmaster” sign in the crowd on this show. Need I say more?
Haku had never seen “The Shockmaster” debut before…
We showed it to him, and here’s his reaction 🤣
As seen on next week’s Season 5 premiere episode, Tuesday at 10pm on @VICETV. pic.twitter.com/vI5Dw2WaGl
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) February 29, 2024
👎DOWN AND OUT👎
1. Commentators calling themselves journalists is dumb. Especially in wrestling. I don’t remember when this started, but I’ve been hearing them say it more and more. Maybe a fun little inside joke of a jab at actual journalists, but meh. Calling a dweeb for it, I guess.
2. As great as Green’s little U.S. Championship celebration was, continuing — or starting — a Michin rivalry feels off. Michin blaming Piper Niven for the loss is also lame, especially in this case when Green is a fan-favorite heel. It makes Michin look more like a loser and even less deserving of an immediate rematch when there wasn’t an egregious interference whatsoever. It was a tournament and she lost. Their match was good, but this is the laziest rushed way to get to a rematch.
👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
Sami Zayn vs. Carmelo Hayes wasn’t on the bingo card tonight but it ruled.
Both of these guys — Zayn, in particular — are workhorses who always deliver a banger match. There were great near falls and they worked great together well. Zayn is just an ironman and he landed some harder hits than normal. That massive clothesline that caught Hayes in mid-air was wicked.
Unfortunately, this match was killed by overbooking when Braun Strowman ruined the match as Hayes tried to walk out. Then surprise, surprise. The Bloodline continued its assault on Zayn. Why is this continuing? I know, I know. We need a hopeful blow-off in the form of that Solo Sikoa vs. Roman Reigns on Netflix’s first “Raw.” I’m just tired, man.
Thankfully, things turned around decently at the end when Strowman returned and helped out Zayn. Why? Well, we saw a tease between him and Jacob Fatu with an ultra-brief — but excellent — staredown. The fans ate it up and rightfully so.
By the way, where were The Usos? Whatever. Zayn and Hayes are the gems in this category despite some clunkiness. Props to them!
👑 I give this show a Crown score of: 7/10. 👑
