SmackDown recap & reactions: Warning shots

At the end of the day, Sami Zayn is a good guy. That’s what he said on Friday Night SmackDown this week, telling WWE Champion Cody Rhodes he may have been a little out of line as special guest referee and he regrets how it went down. He was provoked, of course, and pushed to his limit but still. He claimed he never wanted any of this and that’s when Rhodes finally had enough — he’s wrestling for the WWE championship in a country he’s beloved in with a stipulation on it that favors him over the champion. Things have been looking up for him quite a bit since he’s been pulling all this nonsense. Cody then name dropped Kevin Owens — I’m going to pray that means he’s close to a return — saying at least he would stab you in the front. That pissed Sami clean off, and he finally outright said Rhodes should be thanking him for still being champion but he won’t be come Night of Champions. Finally, GUNTHER showed up to remind us of the third man in all this and actually he really should be WWE champion right now. He called Zayn a non-factor as a wrestler, and it cut deep, but closed it out by saying he will be the one facing the King of the Ring winner at SummerSlam. What a surprise, then, that Jey Uso made his way out next and cut what might be my favorite promo of the year. He sent a warning shot — complete with an awesome little sound effect — to Rhodes and Zayn that he’ll do them if and when he needs to before saying he almost hopes GUNTHER wins because he’ll tap him out just like a little bitch. The brawl broke out, and it was Jey and Cody left standing when Oba Femi made his presence felt. They made sure to give Femi a staredown with literally everyone, ending with Rhodes holding the title up over his head right in front of Femi. This was one hell of a preview with teasers for every possible outcome. I thought everyone looked good here. At this point it feels like the entirety of LA Knight’s career in WWE has been spent feuding with The Bloodline and its various members. Here, he was out to say “my heart doesn’t pump purple piss” for Solo Sikoa and his MFTs leaving him. Yeah, that’s a real line he used on this program. Earlier in the night, Tama and Talla told Solo they’re done and walking out on Sikoa. We actually got some explanation here — Solo showed some fire saying he absolutely hates the entire family, from Jacob Fatu to The Usos to The OCT. He was so pissed, he screwed up the line, but the passion was so strong I didn’t mind it one bit. He’s been a ham of late, but I loved seeing this side of him. Knight wasn’t really buying it, seeing as every other member of The Bloodline has gone running right back to Roman Reigns. How is it different? “It’s different because I have nothing to lose. ... The enemy of my enemy can be my friend.” Sikoa pitched Knight on an alliance, born from their shared hatred of The Bloodline and desire to take them out. Ol’ LA wouldn’t agree to it, though, because he simply can’t trust the man. I don’t really see where this goes for Knight but Solo got me mildly intrigued in his future after everything that happened here. All the rest I love that we are now at a point where Trick Williams is the guy holding a championship, kicking off a show, and getting a huge reaction. He announced to all that he ran off last week to get married. My man went out and said “she said ‘I do,’ so I did, and then we whooped that trick all night long.” I love this guy so much. Meanwhile, Ricky Saints got “who are you” chants and he called himself “your wife’s favorite lover,” which isn’t terrible but boy does he look lesser standing opposite Trick. They had him get a couple of cheap shots in on Lil Yachty and Trick Willy but nothing about this made it seem like he’s any real threat here. Alexa Bliss wanted to get some revenge for Charlotte Flair, even if that meant teaming up with Tiffany Stratton for a tag match against Michin & B-Fab. She didn’t get that, because Jade Cargill showed up in the nick of time, knocking Stratton off the ropes and giving B-Fab a pinfall win for her team. This was sold as Cargill getting inside Stratton’s head before their big showdown at Night of Champions. Chelsea Green made the segment when she ran in to make the save for Tiffy but dropped the kendo stick when going through the ropes. Of everyone involved here, Green seemed to be the most over to me. Naturally, they had Cargill beat her in a match later in the show. Blah. Rey Fenix is the AAA Cruiserweight Champion, and WWE wants more eyes on AAA. They hope to get that by showcasing matches like Fenix vs. Nathan Frazer, a fun back-and-forth showcase that saw Fenix go over clean. They got a standing ovation from London, and they deserved it. Speaking of AAA, the War Raiders showed up to this show to pick a fight with World Tag Team Champions R-Truth & Damian Priest. Truth did his best Tony Montana impression, and it popped me, I must say. Paige defeated Jacy Jayne straight up in a singles match here, and I just don’t see how it makes sense even one little bit. In fact, Paige overcame outside interference to do it, and I really don’t get snuffing out the momentum of Fatal Influence like this. Los Garza running out and absolutely mauling shocked Miz & Kit Wilson made me outright belly laugh. This entire angle is so incredibly stupid. To make it even stupider, Zack Ryder ran in to team with Danhausen against Los Garza and they won the damn match. It’s all so ridiculous. This is what Triple H was talking about when he said we all need to learn to have some fun with this already. Giulia beat Kiana James with the Northern Lights Bomb before Blake Monroe finally made her debut proper. We thought she was going to be Veer but instead she’s out here doing the damn thing, looking every bit the part.Not bad, not great. Grade: C Your turn.