WWE SmackDown takeaways: Seth Rollins' crew runs the show; John Cena, Logan Paul set trap
WWE Friday Night SmackDown on June 6 took place at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield, Calif., featuring the team of John Cena and Logan Paul coming face-to-face with Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso.
The go-home episode for Money in the Bank was another typical rush-to-the-finish-line final show before a PLE, complete with a pointless 6-person tag match. Seth Rollins' new faction essentially took over the show, appearing multiple times to deliver promos and disrupt in-ring action. We also saw the Wyatt Sicks strike fear into the entire tag team division and the team of Andrade and Penta put on a fun one against the Creed Brothers.
Check out the top takeaways from this episode:
Seth Rollins, Solo Sikoa trade barbs; Jacob Fatu assists Jimmy Uso
In what was the first of many appearances for the still-officially-unnamed group of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman, the faction took the ring to open the show. Rollins vowed to win MITB while warning others to stay out of their way, or suffer the same fate as Sami Zayn, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns.
Enter Solo Sikoa, along with JC Mateo and Jacob Fatu.
Sikoa, arguably the best mic worker on the WWE roster right now, tested Rollins' warning while taking shots at Breakker and Reed, comparing them to The Bloodline's second and third men. Rollins chirped back, this time getting Fatu involved. Eventually, they all step to one another, but Sikoa's side exited the ring without getting physical.
The crowd started cheering loudly, but it wasn't for Rollins' team. It was because Jimmy Uso appeared from behind to attack, leading to the start of a match against Mateo.
The match ended up being very solid, with Uso flying all over Bakersfield. The ending was a surprise. Not only did Uso kick out of Mateo's finisher, but a distraction from Fatu allowed Uso to hit a rollup pin for the victory. Naturally, Mateo vented his frustrations with Fatu to Sikoa.
The opening promo was pretty standard "I'm going to win at the PLE" stuff on the surface, but this really served to plant more seeds for the eventual breakup of Fatu from Sikoa and Mateo. It could also lead to any mix and match of the six wrestlers, which would all be entertaining.
Giulia assists Zelina Vega, then attacks
Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega doesn't have a match at MITB, so she put her title on the line the night before instead. Oh, no. Wait. No, she didn't. She was in a non-title "Bakersfield Brawl" match against Piper Niven, who had Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre with her at ringside. At least they gave Vega a full entrance this week.
So, the match itself wasn't bad by any means. Kendo sticks, chairs and tables all got some use here. Vega hit a beautiful counter DDT to smash Niven's face into a chair, but then the numbers game caught up. However, Vega got assistance from an unlikely party in Giulia.
With use of a kendo stick, Giulia helped Vega powerbomb Niven through a table for the pin. After, Giulia raised Vega's arm in celebration, only to blindside her and hit her finisher. She then lifted the US title high as Vega was down.
Giulia is coming for the US title, and it's a fantastic program for her to be in as she settles into the SmackDown roster. Despite the Vega-Niven match being non-title, everything else here worked well, including the tease for the future match against Giulia for the title.
King and Queen of the Ring to return
WWE is bringing back King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, as announced by Raw and SmackDown GMs Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis – and the matchups start next week.
After the announcement, Jade Cargill made her promise to win the crown, but Charlotte Flair of course, interrupted to say everyone knows there's only one queen of WWE.
Short takeaway here, but this is welcome. The King and Queen of the Ring is a staple of the WWE's lineup. My only wish is that they don't force "King" and "Queen" labels on the winners' names as part of a pseudo-gimmick change – unless it just makes sense. Imagine if LA Knight wins. King Knight? Nah.
Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss and Stephanie Vaquer win six-woman tag
There's only one takeaway from the pointless six-woman tag match featuring all competitors of the women's MITB match: We got to see Stephanie Vaquer's new entrance, and it's incredible.
The team of Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss and Vaquer defeated Naomi, Roxanne Perez and Giulia.
Sure, there were a few fun moments in the match, and all of the competitors are fantastic, but this was all pointless considering they will all be working against each other at MITB on Saturday.
John Cena, Logan Paul lay trap for Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso
Taking the ring for the fourth or fifth time was Seth Rollins' crew. This time it was Paul Heyman on the mic cutting a promo on Rollins' behalf for MITB.
They were soon joined by Cody Rhodes, followed by Jey Uso – but during Uso's entrance, which was through the concourse and crowd, Rollins and crew exited before the show went to commercial.
Rhodes and Uso shared the mic for a mid promo before John Cena entered. Logan Paul then attacked from behind. There were no words exchanged here, just AAs from Cena, and knockout punches and splashes from the top rope by Paul.
Cena vowed to continue his plan to ruin wrestling. He said Paul will be the future World Heavyweight Champion.
After delivering those words on the mic, the beatdown continued and the crowd started chanting for R-Truth.
"You can't handle the truth!" Cena quipped. This only prompted more chants for the recently released wrestler. Good on Bakersfield. Paul grabbed Uso's title and joined Cena in hoisting gold high as the show concluded.
Since Rollins worked overtime on SmackDown, his show of strength will likely mean a loss at MITB, but we will know in a few hours. The final segment with Cena, Paul, Rhodes and Uso was alright, but nothing special. Considering this match one of only four announced for the show, here's to hoping it turns out to be better than it has any right to be. We'll likely get a big return appearance too. If Roman Reigns doesn't appear, I'll be surprised.
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