Courtesy of WWE
SMACKDOWN 3/1/24 REVIEW
- Rob Crowther, Editor In Chief
Hours after cutting a scathing 21 minute promo on social media, The Rock opened Friday Night Smackdown alongside The Bloodline and challenged Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins to a tag team match against himself and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania Night One. The stipulation being that if Cody were to win, The Bloodline would be banned from outside interference during night two's main event for Roman's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
A few takeaways from all of this...
The Rock covered a lot of ground off of TV with his online promo. During those 21 minutes, he called out Dave LaGreca, Seth Rollins, and Cody Rhodes, going as far as to say "(Expletive) YOU STORY!" Rocky also explained his conversations with Cody leading up the WrestleMania XL Kickoff in Vegas, and even told us what he whispered in Cody's ear on Smackdown. This was A LOT of information, again, all off of TV.
After Rocky had laid down the challenge to Rollins and Rhodes, Roman stopped The Rock and said that he needed The Rock to acknowledge him. This was the right play, because otherwise Roman would've looked like an underling the way things had played out the past few weeks. Rocky indeed acknowledged Roman as his Tribal Chief before The Bloodline threw up the ones with everyone paying close attention to The Rock's more of an "L" type hand signal. Paul Heyman looking on with a concerned expression was a nice little nuance here. Great storytelling.
Throughout the show we see a thread of LA Knight walking around with a battered chair (presumably from Elmination Chamber) trying to find AJ Styles who brutally attacked him at the PLE.
Aside from some interesting backstage segments (including one with Jade Cargil) there were some really solid matches including Tiffany Stratton VS. Naomi, where both ladies showed out, but Tiffany was able to score a HUGE win over the former Smackdown Women's Champion. They are strapping the jet pack to Stratton right now, and I can't blame them, as it truly is "Tiffy Time" in the WWE.
Carlito took on Santos Escobar in a street fight, grudge match of shorts which saw the surprise return of WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio!! Mysterio dawned a new sort of mask and a long grey goatee. Mysterio definitely looked more badass and didn't miss a beat getting back into the ring. I'm so glad to see him back in time for WrestleMania. Big win and bigger moment for the LWO.
It's safe to say that Damage Control is forever fractured as Dakota Kai and Bayley took on The Kabuki Warriors with Iyo Sky in a solid match. I'm very interested to see how they dive deeper into this story with Mania being approximately one month away.
The night ended with Randy Orton taking on Austin Theory in a really solid match. Some amazing RKO spots in this one and great chemistry between Kevin Owens (who was on commentary) and Randy. Great interactions and show of respect here from two vets. Great way to end the night.
It's no secret that WWE is firing on all cylinders, while really leaning into long-term storytelling. Fans are hanging on every word from Cody, Seth, The Rock and The Bloodline leading into what may truly be the biggest WrestleMania of all time.