WWE SmackDown takeaways: Drew McIntyre, Trish Stratus return; Talla Tonga introduced

USA Today

20 hours ago

WWE Friday Night SmackDown on July 4 took place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, and featured the fallout from Night of Champions.
The build toward the all-women's event, Evolution, was a key focus of this week's show as well, which was pre-taped due to the holiday. There were some solid matches on the show, including Andrade and Rey Fenix vs. Fraxiom. WWE decided to just throw the whole men's tag division in a match too, which Wyatt Sicks won to get a shot at the Street Profits' titles next week.
Check out the top 5 takeaways from this episode:
Drew McIntyre returns
The opening segment of the show was the King of the Ring, Cody Rhodes on the mic. As he was getting into what winning KOTR means, Randy Orton entered. Orton said he hesitated during their match, while Rhodes did not. For that, he has Rhodes' respect, but he also told him he better beat John Cena at SummerSlam.
Queue the sounds of swords.
"Thank God 'The Alpha' has returned," Drew McIntyre said as he approached the ring.
McIntyre, sporting a new "bored at work" tee, told "Super Cody" that he wants him to win at SummerSlam too so he can be the one to rip the title off him. McIntyre also questioned Orton for his hesitation. He got an answer in the form of an RKO out of nowhere.
Later in the show, a match between McIntyre and Orton was made official for Saturday Night's Main Event.
It seemed as if McIntyre was stuck in neutral before taking a couple of months off. He comes right back into a big match against Orton, and the result of this one should tell us a lot about where he'll be going in the next few months.
Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair become No. 1 contenders
The first match of this week's show was a three-way women's tag between the teams of Michin and B-Fab, Alba Fyre and Piper Niven, and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair. The stakes were for No. 1 contender status.
As most multi-way tag team matches go, it didn't take long for everything to break down. Bodies started flying everywhere, and a couple of nasty-looking bumps occurred. Each team had their burst of momentum, but it was Bliss and Flair who had the finishing touch.
Flair went up to the top rope for a moonsault, but patted Bliss on the head before sticking the move onto the Secret Hervice. Flair didn't realize she was tagging Bliss in, and when she popped up to knock Chelsea Green off the apron, Twisted Bliss connected for the pin.
After the match, Flair gave Bliss a big hug like she was her best friend in the world. They advance to a four-way match at Evolution with a shot at Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez's women's tag titles. The two other teams will be determined on Raw and NXT.
The big takeaway here is that Flair's cold heart is starting to warm. The hug she gave Bliss was unlike anything we've ever seen from Flair before. I'm intrigued to see far this friendly, affectionate Flair goes.
Trish Stratus returns
After women's champ Tiffany Stratton asked Pittsburgh what time it was, she began to discuss who's next after handling business against Nia Jax, again. Stratton will defend her title at Evolution, but who will be her opponent? Shortly after the mention of Jade Cargill, the Queen of the Ring's music filled the speakers.
Cargill warned Stratton that she had better choose her next challenge wisely because she may not even make it to SummerSlam to face her. That's when Stratton told Cargill she had a surprise.
Enter WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus.
Stratton sought to repay the Stratus' favor of teaming up together in the past with a title shot at Evolution. Stratus thought about how her kids have never seen her win a title, so the idea sounded pretty good. The match was made official when the show returned from the commercial break after the segment.
As long as Stratus can go in the ring, WWE can go to the "Stratusfaction" well as much as it needs to. The segment was pretty straightforward, but this is where it was painfully obvious the Pittsburgh crowd was asleep. It was bound to happen when you ask people to sit through a Raw and SmackDown show back-to-back.
Stratton vs. Stratus wasn't the only Evolution match made here, as Cargill gets another match against Naomi after she attacked backstage.
Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso beat Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo
The main event of this episode was a tag match between United States champ Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo against former US champ Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso. Earlier in the show, during a recorded segment, Sikoa introduced Hikuleo, who will now be known as Talla Tonga. Sikoa said his family is now complete, but it's way different than the Bloodline.
Proceeding to the main event match, this was an opportunity for Fatu to get some revenge on Sikoa after losing his title at Night of Champions.
After the initial back-and-forth moments, Sikoa started taunting Fatu after laying out Uso. The good thing about this match was delaying the clash between Sikoa and Fatu, which came after a hot tag. From there, action picked up heavily as Fatu and Uso began to dominate.
Before you knew it, Fatu nailed Sikoa with his finishing moonsault for the pin.
After the match, Fatu wanted more. He laid Sikoa on the announce desk and went to the top rope. That's when Talla Tonga showed up out of nowhere to make the save. Tonga Loa joined the party too, and it became a one-sided beatdown as the numbers game was too much for Fatu and Sikoa to handle. Eventually, Fatu was the one who was powerbombed through the announce desk.
The newer new-look Bloodline led by Sikoa looks strong. Aside from the somewhat silly on-the-nose name for Talla, it's a solid collection of talent that could eventually prompt a return of Roman Reigns to restore order. Although I've attempted to predict a Reigns return multiple times since WrestleMania, and I've failed every time, so I won't hold my breath this time.