If you missed Friday’s episode of WWE Smackdown, that’s unfortunate. It was one of the strongest episodes from front to back in weeks.
That’s not because Smackdown or WWE programming has been weak overall. It’s just that this episode was really strong.
Several angles were playing out, and there were no dead spots. The most notable story is still centered around the Bloodline.
Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso are still massively outnumbered, but Jey Uso did appear on the blue brand. He came to talk Solo Sikoa out of his current maniacal plan but was rejected.
He had a face-to-face meeting with Roman and Jimmy but shut down the former’s attempt to bury the hatchet. The alliance is coming but may not come until the Raw or Smackdown following Crown Jewel.
While the members of the Bloodline still make the most significant impact when they’re on the screen, a particular mention of an absent member of the faction caught my attention.
For the first time in weeks, the Wiseman was mentioned not one but two times. Reigns seemed lost without Paul Heyman, and it was made clear that the resolution to this issue would come when the Wiseman returned.
In the meantime, Reigns and Jimmy took another beating at the hands of Solo, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu as the show went off the air.
We know Reigns, Jimmy, and ultimately Jey will link up, but they will still be outnumbered four to three. As I’ve been writing here for weeks, the WWE has signed Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa’s brother, Hikuleo.
It only makes sense for him to come and even the numbers for Roman’s side.
As we finally begin to have mentions of Heyman, we know that he won’t come back alone. I’m making a prediction here, which may turn out to be a spoiler: Heyman will be the one who brings Hikuleo to the Bloodline, and that will set up the four-on-four battle that will headline the Survivor Series in November. If WWE wants to put Hikuleo over, no one is better to do it than Heyman.
As much as I believe that’ll happen, seeing the story play out will still be awesome. Here is a look at everything else you need to know about Friday’s episode, along with highlights.
- WWE Smackdown Results – October 18 – Everything You Need to Know#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) def. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) and Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) via pinfall. After a simultaneous pin situation, the referee ruled that DIY’s Ciampa was the legal man, giving the Street Profits the short end of the stick. The Profits need to turn heel, or more specifically, Ford needs to turn heel to embark on his overdue singles push.
- Lash Legend def. Piper Niven via pinfall. This match was positioned for Las Legend to show her strength and athleticism. The in-ring work still needs a little work, but she has everything else. She’s strong, and they haven’t even given her the mic yet on the big show, but that’s where she shines the brightest.
- Cody Rhodes invited Gunther to Smackdown next week. The WWE is building the Crown Jewel championship. I love the idea, but it seemed to come out of nowhere. I think it’ll be better in 2025 when Creative has an entire year to weave it into the storyline.
- Kevin Owens cut a masterful pre-recorded promo that had tons of layers. Don’t dismiss Owens’ promo toward Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton as another pre-recorded, forgettable rant. There were layers designed to infer Owens’ real-life contract situation with WWE. It feels like he’ll be locked up with the organization, but who knows these days? We saw how Dean Ambrose, aka Jon Moxley, and Ricochet were written off WWE television. Here is a look at Owens’ promo.
- Orton wants Owens at Crown Jewel, but Nick Aldis implied Triple H won’t allow the matchup to be made. This segment further implied there could be an issue with Owens’ contract, which was one of those cool, if-you-know-you-know moments.
- Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) def. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) and Los Garza (Angel and Humberto) via pinfall. Shelley and Sabin got some immediate respect upon landing with WWE. In the debut, they went over to find themselves one win away from a shot at the Smackdown Tag-Team championships.
- Carmelo Hayes and Andrade brawled backstage. They engaged in a little brawl as they set up their Game 7 match at Crown Jewel. There was nothing too serious here, but their match will now have LA Knight as a special guest referee.
- Candice LeRae and Nia Jax def. Bayley and Naomi via pinfall Candice LeRae was the unlikely replacement for Tiffany Stratton, who was supposed to tag team with Nia Jax against Bayley and Naomi. Thanks to Indi Hartwell’s interference, LeRae got the pinfall, creating the makings of a potential faction with Jax as the leader. I liked this a lot.
Here is a look at the highlights from the episode.
