WWE REPORT: Friday Night SmackDown- Big match for Bad Blood

Roman Reigns made his return, and WWE set up a big match for Bad Blood on a major episode of a new look SmackDown.

Triple H opened Friday Night SmackDown this week to tell us about how the show is sold out, they’re back on USA Network, there’s an all new look and sound — the logo and theme song — and it’s truly a new era for WWE. They had Michael Cole do the propaganda for this being the Paul Levesque Era, and I can hardly get upset at it considering the quality of the product these days.

You can quibble about the changes if you want, but there’s very little to complain about with WWE in 2024. Let’s hope that continues for the remainder of the year and into 2025.

The show opened proper with Cody Rhodes defending the WWE championship against Solo Sikoa in a Steel Cage match, the sell job being that it would mean they could actually settle up with each other without interference from The Bloodline. You know, because of the cage surrounding them.

The match they put together was surprisingly fun, aided greatly by an incredibly hot crowd who were right there for every big spot. When Rhodes climbed to the top and decided to hit a big dive onto Sikoa instead of escaping, it was electric.

I also really appreciated that they didn’t overdo the finish. Solo kicked out of one Cross Rhodes but he couldn’t kick out of the second, and we didn’t need to do the triple whammy. It was also a clean victory, with no interference as promised.

It wasn’t until the match was over that The Bloodline made their way to the ring and scaled the cage to put the boots to the WWE Champion. Sikoa ordered Jacob Fatu to go to the top of the cage but before he could leap off, Roman Reigns made his return.

Then he did the coolest thing he could — slowly walked to the ring, got in the cage, and slammed the door shut himself. The implication was clear.

He wasn’t locked in there with them.

They were locked in there with him.

Reigns took everybody out, from Tama Tonga to Tonga Loa to Solo Sikoa. Fatu dragged his Tribal Chief to safety in the end, and Reigns caught his eye, wagging his finger to call him into the ring for a showdown. Fatu slowly approached, and it looked like we were going to get what we’ve all come to want so badly.

Instead, Sikoa dragged him away.

Still we wait.

Eventually, Rhodes recovered enough to help Reigns fight off the rest of The Bloodline, united against a common enemy. It was clear, however, that they are not friends and another meeting between the two still looms large.

There’s just other business to attend to.

Every bit of this was electric, most of all the tease for Fatu vs. Reigns. It couldn’t be any clearer that WWE sees the reality here, that Fatu is the shining star here, even opposite The Biggest of Dogs.

They cut backstage after this segment to show Nick Aldis saying Sikoa already reached out to him with an offer for a match no one could refuse. Later in the show, Aldis informed us the offer was for Sikoa & Fatu to take on Reigns & Rhodes in a tag team match at Bad Blood.

He said he got signatures on the contract from The Bloodline members but just after revealing as much, Cody barged into the room and said he meant it when he said he’s done with that entire group. He had no intention of signing on the dotted line here.

Reigns, meanwhile, decided to address the situation out in the ring in the main event slot. Because of course.

A funny note about this: they did a picture-in-picture commercial break as he was making his entrance and it was just Reigns walking around in the ring while they killed time waiting to come back from break. When they finally got back, he did the 1 to the sky pose and THEN they hit the pyro. Too good.

Anyway, Reigns took the mic from Nick Aldis to say he doesn’t need the GM and he doesn’t need a contract because this is family business. He doesn’t need a partner and definitely not the help of Cody Rhodes.

And to be clear, whether he has the Ula Fala or not he is The Tribal Chief, not just the Original but the ONLY.

“This is my ring. This is my show. This is my WWE.”

That’s what brought Cody Rhodes out.

Dueling chants broke out. Rhodes, dramatic as possible, made note that this WAS his ring and his WWE but it hasn’t been since WrestleMania. The fans didn’t really know how to react to this, and especially since they both tossed their microphones aside and appeared as though they were going to have a go at each other. Naturally, it was then that Sikoa and Fatu arrived.

Tonga and Loa attacked from behind, but were quickly dispatched. Reigns responded to it by grabbing the contract and signing his name while staring at Solo & Jacob. The fans chanted for Cody to do the same, and he held his hand out for Roman to give him the contract.