This week’s SmackDown started as the recent history between Sami Zayn and the Bloodline was showed. How Sami lost to Roman at Elimination Chamber, he got beaten down and saved by Kevin Owens. Footage from last week’s RAW was also shown where Sami wanted to team up with Kevin Owens but Kevin declined.
Jimmy Uso was interviewed backstage where he was asked if he got to speak with his brother Jey Uso since Elimination Chamber and Jimmy replied that he actually did not. So he asked his brother to meet him in the middle of the ring tonight so he could answer all the questions.
WWE SmackDown 24.02.2023 Results & Ratings
Match 1 – Imperium defeated Madcap Moss, Ricochet, and Braun Strowman
This match was booked for seven and half minutes and it was a pretty good match to kick things off for the night. Drew McIntyre was on the ring side during the match to have a close view on Gunther who pinned Madcap Moss after a Powerbomb to win things for himself. After the match, the Viking Raiders attacked Drew, Sheamus came out to help him. The other babyfaces who were involved in the match also helped him.
LA Knight cane out to the arena. He talked about potentially having a WrestleMania movement this year. He also said how much important it was for him to make a lot of money. He was interrupted by the New Day and they said that he had to fight for having a WrestleMania movement. Ultimately Kofi Kingston ended up challenging Knight.
Match 2 – Kofi Kingston defeated LA Knight
This match was booked for around 10 minutes and it was a pretty good match. The match was not dominated by either of the two. Xavier Woods kept on distracting Knight and Kofi capitalized with a Trouble in Paradise and pinned him.
Next up was supposed to be a confrontation between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley but confronted by Dominik Mysterio. After heated argument between the duo, Charlotte was about to go violent, but ultimately Rhea came out and took Dominik out of the ring. Good to see Dominik’s mic skill is improving.
Match 3 – Shayna Baszler defeated Natalya
This was a short three minute long match and Natalya dominated the most part of the match. Tegan Nox accompanied Natalya to the ring and she remained on her side throughout the match. Ronda Rousey distracted Natalya which capitalized with a Cross Arm Bar and made her submit. After the match, the MMA duo attempted to attack Natalya again but Tegan Nox saved her. Ronda said she would see Nox next week.
Next up was the Firefly Funhouse segment. It was not not clear what Bray Wyatt would be challenging at WrestleMania 39 because there was not enough confirmation on this segment but it looked like it would be The Almighty Bobby Lashley.
Backstage Jimmy Uso was sitting with Jey Uso where Jimmy was trying to get an answer from his brother. Jey was totally silent and his silence was not very well understood either. Paul Heyman informed that Roman Reigns will be on SmackDown next week and he will handle the situation further.
Match 4 – Karrion Kross defeated Rey Mysterio
This match was booked for only 5 minutes and as expected, Dominik Mysterio had an interference during the match and he caused a distraction for the legendary Luchador. Kross took the advantage of the situation and locked him into the Kross Jacket to make him submit. After the match, Dominik kept on provoking his father to hit him. But once again Rey left without any violence.
The final segment was the much awaited Usos and Sami Zayn segment. Jimmy Uso came out first and called out his brother, he also explained how much he caired for him. Then the biggest attraction of WWE right now Sami Zayn showed up and entered the ring. He tried to convince Jimmy to get by his side, but Jimmy accused him for betraying the Bloodline.
At the end, Jimmy ended up attacking Sami. Jey showed up from the crowd. Jimmy was calling his brother out and Sami quickly nailed him with a Helluva Kick. Jey did not get involved in anything. As Solo Sikoa rushed to help his brother, Sami escaped through the crowd. Jimmy and Solo stood on the ring, Jey and Sami remained on the crowd on two different sides as this week’s SmackDown went off air.
Overall it was an average week of Smackdown. The final segment was definitely very good. But once again, without any World Championship segment, the show remained lame. There were a total of four matches, and none of them met a clean finish. Apart from the last segment of the night, nothing seemed so exciting about this week’s SmackDown. We gave this week’s SmackDown 1.5 out of 5.
Sportzwiki Ratings – 1.5/5