WWE SmackDown:3/25/2022

7 days and counting finally! We’re nearing the final go-home episodes of SmackDown and Raw before WrestleMania next Saturday and Sunday and it’s truly been an awesome but bumpy road to the grandest show, more or less especially on the blue brand’s side. However the grand show will be one to remember. But how did this episode of SmackDown perform? Well, let’s dive on in there!

Match 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jimmy Uso. (Rating:3/5)

A really solid way to kick off the night! Last week, Rick Boogz was victorious against the other Uso, Jey; as he and Nakamura are continuing to build up momentum for their SmackDown tag team title match at Mania. Nothing too eventful happened, except the only real complaint was Boogz distracting Jimmy in order for Nakamura to pick up the win. Boogz proved last week that he could definitely beat an Uso by himself without having the need of the King of Strong Style to help him out, and Nakamura definitely did have the match won either way; even if Jimmy wasn’t distracted. Kinshasa followed by the pinfall, Nakamura wins and the challengers are definitely carrying a LOT of momentum in their favor.

Match 2: KING WOODS vs Ridge Holland. (Rating:2/5)

Originally this was supposed to be Kofi Kingston versus Holland in a rematch from last week’s show, however Kofi had a trick up his sleeve. With Big E being out due to injury (PLEASE get well soon, E. We miss you!), it did seem as if Kofi was going to continue this feud on his own, but the RETURN of Xavier Woods definitely shocked not only Sheamus and his cronies but also us, the fans and the commentators as well! Woods came down and quickly disposed of Ridge Holland via rollup for the pinfall victory. Uneventful match on its own but the return of Woods definitely was awesome to see.

Matches 3 and 4: Ricochet vs Angel Garza (Rating 2/5) and Ricochet vs Humberto Carrillo. (Rating:1.5/5)

A back to back matchup for our Intercontinental champion, Ricochet. And while the matches against Los Latharios weren’t necessarily bad, having Ricochet lose twice in one night was just an odd decision. Garza gets the pinfall victory against Ricochet thanks to Carrillo getting involved in the match while the referee wasn’t looking. As a determined and fighting champion, Ricochet then put his sights on Carrillo; and the outcome was more or less the same. Garza gets involved and sabotages Ricochet’s chances of returning back in the ring, resorting in Humberto getting a count out victory against the champion. And as it was revealed later on in the night, both Garza and Carrillo will be in a triple threat match against Ricochet for the Intercontinental title!… the SmackDown BEFORE WrestleMania. Regardless of not adding this to Mania, this should hopefully become a doozy.

Match 5: Fatal Four Way; Queen Zelina vs Shayna Baszler vs Sasha Banks vs Rhea Ripley. (Rating:4/5)

This is what should’ve been the main event, as it definitely stole the show! 2 of SmackDown’s best technical women’s wrestlers and 2 of Raw’s best well established women’s wrestlers squaring off in the ring; trying to see which female and her team would end up carrying the momentum towards yet another fatal four way; this time for the WWE Women’s tag titles. But which woman would gain momentum for her and her partner heading into this packed Mania match? Well, none other than the Boss Sasha Banks! During the closing moments of the match after Rhea Ripley was hit with a Code Red from Zelina Vega, Banks locked in her Banks Statement submission hold on the queen of the ring; forcing her to tap out within seconds.

Final segment: Brock Lesnar gets provoked.

Throughout the course of the show, the Beast Incarnate was awaiting for the arrival of SmackDown’s Tribal Chief by chilling inside of Reigns’ locker room; not only leaving the room in a complete mess but also going to the parking lot to yet again destroy one of Roman’s SUVs. Unbothered by this, Reigns involuntarily provoked Brock, resulting in the Beast making his way down and try to get his hands on the man he meets at WrestleMania. However Reigns and the rest of the Bloodline make haste and quickly left, which frustrated Brock and led to Lesnar beating up a line of security guards. I really hope these two do not get physical with each other on Raw this upcoming Monday, because they really should just wait to throw hands on Sunday.

Final rating:3/5