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Hello people, it’s time for another WWE Smackdown episode. Smackdown has been a little rough the last several weeks, but that can always turn around. The big deal tonight is the WWE title match when champion Cody Rhodes defends against Gunther with human tire fire Sami Zayn as the special referee. So don’t expect anything to be straightforward as far as this goes. Cody and Sami seem like their relationship is about to fully blow up, so even if Cody wins expect Sami to start making his move towards the main event scene. It’s highly likely he’s set to finally win the big one at Mania in Saudi Arabia next year so they’ll be working to get Sami into prime position until then. We’ve also got two Ring Royalty matches, Charlotte Flair vs. Liv Morgan with the winner taking on Iyo Sky, and Jey Uso vs. Je’Von Evans with the winner getting to likely squeak out a win over Oba Femi when Brock Lesnar shows back up. It’s a little hard to pick a favorite in those matches, but Charlotte is likely due another trip to the main title scene while on the men’s side it feels like we’re just committed to doing this whole Jey Uso thing again. Elsewhere we’ve got a tag team title match when Damian Priest and R-Truth defend against. . . sigh, everyone’s favorite Midcard Forever Team. I can’t tell you how much I’m sick of Solo Sikoa’s discount Bloodline BS. There’s also no reason for Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga to get another tag title shot, except that WWE has completely GUTTED their tag team divisions so this is what we’re stuck with. Also Ricky Saints will take on Carmelo Hayes with the winner getting a shot at Trick Williams and his US title at Night of Champions. Expect shenanigans leading to a triple threat scenario, though Trick has pretty notably lost some steam since winning that belt. Giulia and Kiana James are still going at it, Fatal Influence are still angling for a tag team title shot despite losing to Paige and Brie Bella last week, Jade Cargill might be setting her sights on Tiffany Stratton’s women’s US title as well. Danhausen should be about ready to reveal the body under his sheet now that the NBA finals are over, Blake Monroe has to show up eventually again right? Still nothing for Shinsuke Nakamura, we’re unsure about Rhea Ripley’s immediate future after her knee injury, we also still haven’t seen Ilja Draguov since just before Mania 42. I’m not calling for Ilja to beat Cody or anything, but come on. You’re willing to devote a ton of time to Talla Tonga, which isn’t working by the way, but can’t find anything for someone as talented as Ilja to do? Well the return to 2 hours is coming up soon, and the WWWE title match will be commercial free, so the show still has some potential. Now let’s just hope the action is good.

Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcome us to Kansas City, which hosted the first ever Smackdown episode. After that we get the generic walking wrestlers shots.

After that a recap of the Cody, Gunther, and Sami stuff.

Sami Zayn heads to the ring in a ref shirt. We’re opening with the WWE title match, how novel to start a wrestling show with a wrestling match.

Match #1 – WWE Title Match, Special Guest Referee Sami Zayn: (c) Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther

Circling to start then they tie up. Gunther is able to corner Cody, they jockey around the ropes then Gunther breaks and lands a chop. Arm wringer from Gunther, Cody counters into one of his own then tries to punch on a break but Sami stops him. Boot from Gunther, Cody with the drop down right hand but Gunther chops him down. Corner work from Gunther, Cody fights back with punches across the ring, Sami forces a break after not doing so for Gunther then Gunther lands a boot. Uppercut from Gunther as he gets to regain control. Hard downward chop from Gunther gets a 2 count. Cody flips out of a back suplex and hits a Cody Cutter. Now Cody fires up with punches, then a snap powerslam. Gunther corners Cody and ties up his leg then kicks it. Leg kick from Gunther then a Figure 4 leg lock. Cody tries to turn, Gunther grabs the ropes to stop it. It takes Sami a bit but he sees that and forces the break.

Gunther and Sami yell at each other, Cody with a school boy for 2 then Gunther lands a boot. Lariat from Gunther but only a 2 count. Gunther starts yelling at Sami again about his count. Cody avoids a powerbomb, hits a Cross Rhodes but they’re in the ropes and Sami sees Gunther’s foot under the ropes to stop the count. Sami and Cody bicker, not sure why Cody is complaining as Sami was in the right there. They shove, then Sami shoves Cody into a Sleeper from Gunther. Gunther locks in the Sleeper and Sami has to check Cody’s hand. Cody struggles and gets to the ropes to break the hold. Gunther wont let go, and Sami yanks him off but really should have just DQ’d him. Now it’s Sami and Gunther trading shoves, Sami slaps Gunther so Gunther kills him with a Powerbomb. Gunther misses a lariat, Cody with jabs into a Bionic Elbow then a super Cody Cutter and a Cross Rhodes but there’s still no ref. A new ref runs down but the delay means Cody only gets a near fall out of all that.

Cody heads up top, Gunther chops the leg though then climbs up with him. They fight on the top rope, Cody punches Gunther down but misses a flying nothing then Gunther with a shotgun dropkick and folding Powerbomb but Sami yanks out the second ref to stop the pin. This is just silly. Gunther blocks a Sunset Flip, but Sami kicks his grip on the ropes and then delivers an absurdly fast count to give Cody the retention.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Cody Rhodes retained the title in 11:20

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Way too overbooked and over stuffed for my taste. The actual work wasn’t bad but everything had this weird pall over it because we knew shenanigans were afoot. This likely sets up a triple threat for Night of Champions.

Post match Nick Aldis comes out to yell at Sami, Gunther comes up the ramp as well to complain as we head to break.

We come back to a recap of what just happened. That leads to chaos at gorilla. Aldis yells at Gunther for doing this to himself for choosing that ref. Cody storms back to the ring while Sami comes to argue with Aldis and Gunther. In the ring Cody gets a mic and says they owe the fans more than that and wants the match restarted. Sami doesn’t know why that should happen, then Gunther assaults Sami and we do restart the match without Sami.

Match #2 – WWE Title Match: (c) Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther

Both men get right to brawling then they trade Sleeper holds, Gunther gets the best of that though. Cody fades but he’s upright and punches his way free then they trade Sleepers again. Again Gunther gets the longer Sleeper but they back into the corner. Sami shows up and hits Gunther with a Helluva kick for the DQ. Then Sami attacks the ref.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Gunther won via Disqualification in 1:10

Rating: Angle
Thoughts: Not really a match.

Post match Sami accidentally hits Cody with the title belt and has a mild meltdown then heads back up the ramp as Cody and Gunther are down in the ring. Cody sits up and slowly recovers.

After that a recap of the women’s midcard stuff from last week.

In the back Cathy talks with Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin. Jade says they do what they want and they’re all going to take aim at Tiffany Stratton. Jade did injure Rhea Ripley and calls for a title shot with Tiffany at Night of Champions.

Commentary remind us of the upcoming matches before we head back to break.

Post break yet another recap of the WWE title stuff, you know in case you missed it. In the back Gunther finds Aldis and they yell at each other. Gunther blames Aldis for not being champion, Aldis brings up that Gunther wanted Sami as the ref. Gunther then demands a title shot at Night of Champions.

Next a recap of Jey Uso winning last week to move on in the King of the Ring Tournament.

In the back Solo Sikoa is sitting around, and here’s Jacob Fatu to no pop. Fatu isn’t here for Solo, he’s here to make sure no one gets involved in Jey’s match tonight. He does warn Solo that he’s running out of time to make the right choice. Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga show up after Fatu leaves, they want to know what that was about. Solo hypes them up, but Tama tells him to stay back for their match because Solo’s old family business is messing with their family business. Talla says the Bloodline isn’t their problem, the tag titles are. It’s taken entirely too long to get to this point, but something is FINALLY happening with Solo’s goof troupe.

To the ring, here’s Damian Priest and R-Truth. They’ll defend their titles after this break.

Match #3 – WWE Tag Team Title Match: (c) Damian Priest and R-Truth vs. Talla Tonga and Tama Tonga

OFFICIAL RESULT:

Rating:
Thoughts: