Friday Night Smackdown – May 20th 2022: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, which featured a landmark tag team match to unify BOTH the Raw and Smackdown tag team titles… End of the brand split maybe? The roster is a lot smaller these days…
Match #1: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Sami Zayn
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Sami Zayn once again took it upon himself to defend The Bloodline when he battles Shinsuke Nakamura in a hard-fought rematch. Moments after The Master Strategist barely made it back into the ring to prevent himself from getting counted out, however, he was hit with a sudden Kinshasa to give The King of Strong Style a huge victory!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Gunther def. Drew Gulak
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Last week, Drew Gulak decided to stand up for himself and ended up suffering another brutal beat down at the hand of Gunther. This week, after The Ring General decimated Gulak once again with an earth-shattering Powerbomb, Gunter locked his defeated opponent in and post-match Boston Crab. This brought Intercontinental Champion Ricochet to the squared circle to help Gulak. Before an altercation occurred, though, Gunther opted to take his leave.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Raquel Rodriguez def. Shotzi
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After Shotzi insulted her backstage, Raquel Rodriguez called her bluff and invited the outspoken Superstar to join her in the ring. At the height of the action, the powerful up-and-comer hit the thunderous Chingona Bomb for another impressive victory.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: Xavier Woods def. Butch
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With his partner Kofi Kingston absent from SmackDown, Xavier Woods challenged Butch for a one-on-one matchup without the dangerous combination of Sheamus and Ridge Holland at ringside. Although he managed to pull out the win over his temperamental foe with Back Woods, The Celtic Warrior and Holland met Xavier on the ramp and distracted him enough for Butch to take him out.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: The Usos def. RK-Bro
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the height of the historic Tag Team Championship Unification Match pitting Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro against SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, Paul Heyman left his spot on SmackDown commentary and distracted the referee. This allowed Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns to emerge from nowhere and secure his cousin Jey Uso on the top rope. As a reuslt, the already injured Riddle was sent crashing down the the canvas on his own. Jey quickly followed up with the Uso splash off the top rope and picked up the pin fall to make The Usos the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. Before the dust could clear, however, Reigns and The Bloodline neutralized Randy Orton with the steel steps and unleashed an absolutely brutal assault on The Original Bro.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
This was, thanks to the main event, so close to a 3-star show but the fact that the “Bloodline” are the centre of this show meant that the outcome of the match was inevitable, thus destroying any excitement. Nice to see Shinsuke opening the show too and WITHOUT Rock Boogs… Thank god. Watching him and Sami Zayn go at it was a reminder of how good WWE can be but the match needed to run longer to truly make it great. The mid-show was essentially two squash matches of varying “squash” levels, leaving only the Xavier Woods vs. Butch match… and I’m not going to lie, I can’t take Pete Dunne seriously at all at Butch. It’s stupid, the WWE writers probably know that but no one has the balls to tell Vince. Dunne has gone, from his debut in the company, a badass to a laughing stock. Total shame.
