Friday Night Smackdown – Sept 2nd 2022: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. We’ve hopefully got more of the build to the Clash as the Castle PPV, which took place this weekend right here in the UK. So let’s see what went down…
Match #1: Viking Rules Match – The Viking Raiders def. The New Day
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With countless Viking implements of destruction surrounding the squared circle, Eric & Ivar kicked off SmackDown with a Viking Rules Match, a contest where there were no rules and falls count anywhere, against their bitter rivals The New Day. The vicious showdown stretched deep into the crowd and incorporated numerous Viking shields, steel chairs, Kendo sticks, tables, unicorn horn sledgehammers, the unforgiving ring barricade, a Viking Dragon Ship and the incredible reckless abandon of both tandems. In the final moments, The Viking Raiders took out Kofi Kingston by hurling a shield at him while he was in mid-air. They then executed Ragnarök on Woods from their long boat and slammed him through two stacked tables at ringside for the victory.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: Karrion Kross def. Drew Gulak
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With Scarlett watching, Karrion Kross made a dominant SmackDown in-ring debut by scoring a one-sided win over Drew Gulak in less than two minutes and making his prey tap out to the Kross Jacket. In the wake of his victory, Kross continued his assault on the fallen Gulak before hanging him by the arms, tangled in the crossed ring ropes.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Hit Row def. Maximum Male Models
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Hit Row’s Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dolla executed the Heavy Hitter on mån.sôör to hand him and his Maximum Male Models’ tag team partner ma.cé the loss. Los Lotharios, who had emerged mid-match to flirt with B-Fab, then entered the ring in the aftermath. Together with MMM, they launched a 4-on-2 attack on the triumphant tandem. That was until The Street Profits emerged to even the odds and help send Maximum Male Models and Los Lotharios heading for the hills.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #4: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Happy Corbin
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After insulting the Detroit members of the WWE Universe, Happy Corbin issued an open challenge in an effort to get back in the win column. Unfortunately for him, Shinsuke Nakamura answered the call. In the final moments of the subsequent matchup, The King of Strong Style avoided End of Days and hit Corbin with the Kinshasa for the pinfall.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: Butch def. Ludvig Kaiser
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
One day before Sheamus was set to challenge Intercontinental Champion Gunther at WWE Clash at the Castle, their right-hand Superstars Butch and Ludvig Kaiser battled on the blue brand. In the last seconds of the brawl, Butch stopped Kaiser from putting him away, snapped his opponent’s fingers and hit the Bitter End for the three-count.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
As a go-home show a per-per-view, this was pretty bad. The final blow-off, between Drew McIntyre and the Bloodline, was really the only thing that sold for the PPV. The Butch/Ludwig match was an excellent pre-cursor to the Sheamus/Gunther match at Clash at the Castle though. The rest of the card, apart from the remarkably surprising Shinsuke/Corbin match was decidedly sub-par; and I’d go as far as asking why – given how bad their match was here – were Hit Row even brought back?
