For two hours on Friday night’s SmackDown, WWE fans were teased at the prospect of Royal Rumble winners, Bianca Belair and Edge, announcing who they would face each other in championship fights at WrestleMania. Ultimately, these statements did not come about because of outside forces intruding on the process.
Belair came face to face in the ring with SmackDown women’s champion Sasha Banks, but an interruption by Carmella and Reginald resulted in a brief fight instead of an announcement. Meanwhile, universal champion Roman Reigns was driven to anger by Edge’s perceived disrespect, only to be pushed aside after a stunner from Kevin Owens when he finally put Edge in the ring to close the show.
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Roman Reigns demands respect from Edge
Roman Reigns opened the show with a promotion, quickly setting aside his victory over Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble before shifting his focus to the winner of the Royal Rumble fight, Edge. Reigns said that since Edge is going to fight for the world championship at the WrestleMania main event, he knows he’s coming for the real main fighter. Reigns then disagreed to be first on the night before Edge, saying that the winner of the Royal Rumble was being disrespectful for making him wait. Reigns demanded that Paul Heyman bring Edge to the ring, which Heyman tried to initiate just to be informed that Edge was not in the building. An enraged Reigns demanded to know why Edge was “playing” and demanded that he make a decision later in the evening.
Edge, who had arrived at the arena earlier in the evening, closed the show by going to the ring for a promo. After discussing how his desire to regain a world title he never lost led him to Rumble’s victory, he turned his attention to the difficulty of choosing his opponent at WrestleMania, saying that each one he asks gives him a different answer. Reigns, Heyman and Jey Uso interrupted the promo, marching into the ring. Edge asked if Reigns was sweating him, bringing reinforcements to the ring. Reigns dismissed Uso, saying he would meet him on the bus. Reigns demanded that Edge recognize him, walking forward while Edge smiled. Reigns was then spun by Kevin Owens and hit by a stunning that left Reigns discouraged when the show went off the air.
This was the first real deal between Reigns and Edge, who appear to be destined to meet at WrestleMania. It was not entirely satisfactory not to get an answer, but it will probably drag on a bit with Edge being used to get ratings from various brands for as long as they can. Reigns and Edge have good chemistry, and the involvement of Usage and Owens could allow some tagging action or other ways for the two to feel in a live match. Reigns remains, as he has been for months, an excellent artist on the microphone. Serie B
Bianca Belair almost calls a shot at WrestleMania
Bianca Belair was interviewed backstage, where a footage of her parents was shown celebrating her victory at the Royal Rumble. When asked who she would challenge at WrestleMania, she said she would not hear people telling her to be patient in choosing who to face and that she would make her decision soon.
Belair came to the ring later on the show and said that if she really wanted to put “EST” on WrestleMania, she would have to do it her way. Before she could announce her decision, she was interrupted by Reginald. Reginald suggested that Belair could beat Asuka, but that she couldn’t beat Sasha Banks – or Carmella. Carmella then came to the ring and said she had two wins over Banks and said she was sure she could do the same with Belair. This brought Banks, who dismissed Carmella, before turning his attention to Belair, giving him credit for his performance at Rumble. She said Belair can have it all, but she doesn’t have the SmackDown championship. Reginald interrupted again and Belair whipped him with his hair, ending the segment without Belair making a final decision.
It is hard not to feel that this was a real waste of time. Belair was ready to make his announcement – which is clearly a fight against Banks at WrestleMania – but Reginald and Carmella’s interruption stopped that. It is not clear why, if she was so ready to decide, dispatching Reginald quickly and easily meant that the segment had to end the provocation immediately, rather than the announcement. Belair’s conversation about not wanting to wait and just doing things your way was great, it just would have been better to see what really happened. Note: C-
What else happened at SmackDown?
- Dominik Mysterio def. King Corbin via pinfall after a frog splash. Rey Mysterio hid under the ring before arrival to help his son achieve victory.
- Cesaro def. Daniel Bryan by submission with a Sharpshooter.
- Bayley def. Ruby Riott via Pinfall with a headlock driver. Billie Kay, who was in the ring in the comments, tried to help Riott when she was caught in a performance. A discussion that followed between Liv Morgan and Kay caused a distraction that led to Bayley’s victory.
- Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler won. Otis and Chad Gable via pinfall when Roode hit Gable with the Glorious DDT.
- Hulk Hogan appeared remotely to briefly discuss the anniversary of his loss to Andre The Giant at the Main Event 33 years ago. Hogan also warned Drew McIntyre and Reigns that whoever Edge faces at WrestleMania is in trouble.
- Intercontinental Championship – Big E (c) def. Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn via pinfall after beating Crews with The Big Ending. The match had an impressive and creative attack. Zayn thought he had won the fight after hitting Big E with a Helluva Kick, but the pin was broken by Crews. Zayn felt he had been duped as part of his continuing “conspiracy theory”, but was thrown over the barricade by Crews. When Crews entered the ring again, he was hit by a Big Ending to finish.