WWE‘s latest edition of SmackDown went down on (2/24/23) from the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana! In the show’s closing segment, Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso brawled while Jey Uso watched from afar. Solo Sikoa rushed the ring to help his fellow Bloodline member but Jey remained off in the distance, which didn’t go ignored by Jimmy and Solo.
Live Coverage
The show begins and Kayla Braxton is backstage with Jimmy Uso. Kayla asks Jimmy if he’s spoken to his brother, Jey. Jimmy says he wasn’t able to reach Jey when attempting to call his brother but he texted him and told him that he can meet him (Jimmy) in the ring, tonight.
We then head to the arena where our commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to tonight’s show in Evansville, Indiana and it’s time for our opening contest of the evening!
Braun Strowman, Ricochet, and Madcap Moss vs. Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci)
Moss and Vinci start this one off. Moss plants Vinci with a slam and makes the tag to Ricochet, who nails Vinci with a standing moonsault and goes for the cover but Vinci kicks out. Strowman wants a tag but Vinci clocks Ricochet with a massive lariat to avoid the tag and he makes a tag of his own to Kaiser. The former NXT Tag Team Champions double-team Ricochet and Kaiser shoves Ricochet face-first into the mat after bouncing off the middle rope. Imperium seclude Ricochet in their corner, Kaiser dumps Ricochet to the outside, Vinci distracts the referee, and Gunther wallops Ricochet with a back-body drop onto the apron as we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Kaiser is working over Ricochet back in the middle of the ring. Kaiser plants Ricochet with a slam and goes for the cover but Ricochet lifts the shoulders after a two count.
Kaiser makes the tag to the Intercontinental Champion Gunther. Former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre slowly makes his way down to the ring and he and Gunther lock eyes from afar. Gunther turns his focus back to Ricochet and makes the tag to Vinci, who stomps on Ricochet’s arm. Vinci delivers a trio of lariats but Ricochet spins out of the final attempt and dives to the corner to make the tag to Strowman! The ‘Monster Among Men’ takes out both Kaiser and Vinci and he and Gunther come face-to-face in the center of the ring. Gunther lights up Strowman with a chop then drop-kicks him into the corner and Moss makes the self-tag on Strowman. Moss cracks Gunther with some short spears in the corner but Gunther wallops his latest title challenger with a massive chop before planting him with a German suplex. Gunther flattens Moss with a massive power-bomb and gets the 1-2-3!
Winners – Imperium
After the match, Erik and Ivar of the Viking Raiders attack McIntyre on the stage. Sheamus rushes down and makes the save and Strowman wipes out both Erik and Ivar with a massive shoulder tackle. Ricochet comes flying over the top rope and takes out both Erik and Ivar and McIntyre and Sheamus send the Raiders over the barricade with a Brogue Kick and a Claymore Kick, respectively.
Backstage, we see Kayla Braxton, who’s with Rey Mysterio. Rey says he’ll put an end to Karrion Kross tonight and Santos Escobar interrupts. Santos says the one thing he and Legado del Fantasma value is respect. Santos says he was honored when he received a mask from the legendary, Rey Mysterio. Santos says it’s now time to show the WWE Universe how much he respects Rey and Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley interrupt. Dominik says Karrion Kross will put his father (Rey) to sleep tonight and Santos says he may need to teach Dominik some respect. Santos gets in Dominik’s face but Rhea steps in-between them and laughs at Santos before she and Rhea exit. Rey looks distressed and leaves after Santos tries to console him and we head to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Jimmy Uso is with Solo Sikoa backstage with Paul Heyman lurking in the background. Jimmy says he thinks Jey is ‘spooked’ over the whole Sami Zayn situation. Heyman says Solo should sit in the back with him while Jimmy ‘handles’ Jey in the ring, man to man, brother to brother, Uso to Uso. Jimmy agrees and we head back to the ring, where LA Knight is making his way down the ramp.
LA Knight is in ring gear but grabs a microphone and says ‘lemme talk to ya!’. Knight says everyone is talking about their WrestleMania moment but not him. Knight said he came to WWE to make money and win titles and he starts that journey by going to WrestleMania ‘YEAH!’. Knight says he won’t be the one having a WrestleMania moment and says Los Angeles can’t have a WrestleMania without LA Knight being there, so, he’ll give WrestleMania an LA Knight moment. The New Day’s music hits and out comes Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. Kofi laughs and says Knight doesn’t realize how WWE works. Kofi asks Knight who he even is thinking he can demand a WrestleMania match. Knight calls Kofi and Xavier the ‘Nerd Day’ and says if they stopped playing video games, they’d realize how much of a mega star he is ‘YEAH!’. Xavier says being nerds has made the New Day a lot of money and says he and Kofi can tell Knight loves hand outs considering the looks of the leather vest that he’s wearing. Xavier said Kofi had one of the biggest WrestleMania moments of all-time and Knight interrupts him and asks Kofi how ‘Kofi Mania’ worked out for him.
Kofi gets in the ring and says ‘Kofi Mania’ worked out pretty well for him and asks Knight if he wants him (Kofi) to ‘shut him up’ right here in Evansville, Indiana. The crowd seems to want it, and Xavier Woods calls for Adam Pearce to send out a referee and a referee makes their way down to the ring and we’ll have an impromptu match after the break!
Kofi Kingston (with Xavier Woods) vs. LA Knight
Kofi goes up top and lays Knight out with a diving axe-handle then goes for the cover but Knight kicks out. Kofi dumps Knight to the outside and he and Xavier dance before Kofi tosses Knight back into the ring and applies an arm-bar. Knight powers to his feet and slams Kofi to the mat and goes for the cover but the former WWE Champion kicks out. Kofi knocks Knight back to the corner and goes for a flying knee but Knight catches him and dumps Kofi to the outside and we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Kofi nails Knight with a flying knee. Kofi whiffs on an SOS, Knight plants him with a back-body drop and goes for the cover but Kofi kicks out. Knight slides to the outside and cracks Woods with a forearm to the back of the head before heading back into the ring but he walks into an SOS from Kofi for the 1-2-3!
Winner – Kofi Kingston
It’s then announced that SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley will come face-to-face after the break.
Back from the break and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair makes her way down to the ring. Charlotte immediately calls Rhea Ripley out and Charlotte’s challenger doesn’t oblige. Charlotte says Rhea must be having second thoughts about choosing her after winning the Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Dominik Mysterio makes his way down to the ring and says he’s not going to allow Charlotte to run down ‘Mami’ like that. Charlotte tells Dominik to be a ‘good little Nino’ and tell ‘Mami’ to come face her like ‘a real woman’. Dominik says Charlotte is a beautiful woman and while females are the ‘softer sex’ Rhea is aggressive and ‘breaks’ his back. Charlotte says she has a real Latin man at him (referring to AEW’s Andrade El Idolo). Dominik says he and Charlotte have a lot in common being second generation superstars who have ‘surpassed’ their father’s even if the fans refuse to agree with it.
Dominik says Rey’s father is a lot worse than Charlotte’s, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. Dominik says Rey messed his childhood up and because of that, he’ll always have a chip on his shoulder. Dominik says when ‘Mami’ beats Charlotte at WrestleMania, Charlotte will realize that Ric was right…she (Charlotte) just isn’t good enough. Charlotte says unlike Dominik, she loves her father, and Dominik is lucky because Ric isn’t here, because otherwise, he’d knock Dominik out. Charlotte takes off her title and gets in Dominik’s face and Rhea Ripley’s music hits. Rhea gets in Charlotte’s face but Dominik holds her back and they get out of the ring. Rhea rushes back in the ring as Charlotte hoists her title in the air and the challenger gets in the champion’s face. Dominik convinces Rhea to back off and the two The Judgment Day members make their exit as Charlotte laughs with her title in the ring.
Michael Cole and Wade Barrett announce that WWE has released more full view tickets for both nights of WrestleMania 39. We then see a Twitter exchange that happened earlier this week between Natalya and Shayna Baszler. Natalya, alongside Tegan Nox makes their way down to the ring and she’ll face Shayna Baszler after the break.
Natalya (with Tegan Nox) vs. Shayna Baszler (with Ronda Rousey)
Natalya attacks Shayna right as the bell sounds and kicks Shayna out of the ring. Shayna gets back in the ring and Natalya tosses her to the corner and unloads a bevy of strikes. Shayna slams Natalya to the mat and works over Nattie’s left arm. Natalya tosses Shayna to the mat with an arm drag but Shayna continues to work over Natalya’s left arm. Natalya clocks Shayna with a kick to the chest and plants her with a German suplex, then a lariat, before going for the cover but Shayna kicks out. Natalya looks for the Sharpshooter but Shayna slides out of then ring. Natalya nails Shayna with a Baseball slide and tosses Shayna back into the ring. Natalya gets in Ronda Rousey’s face but Shayna drills Natalya with a knee on the apron, drags Natalya back into the ring, and applies the arm-bar to get the tap out from Natalya!
Winner – Shayna Bazler
After the match, Tegan Nox rushes the ring and a quick brawl ensues between the four competitors as Ronda and Shayna make their exit.
It’s announced that Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse will go down after the break.
Back from the break and it’s time for the Firefly Funhouse! We see the Funhouse set and it turns red as the camera turns to the TV inside of the Funhouse. We see two Undertaker figures fighting each other and we see Bray Wyatt watching his promo back from last week where he called out the winner of Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar, which went down this past weekend at Elimination Chamber, where Lashley won via disqualification. Bray Wyatt pops back on the screen and he’s with Ramblin’ Rabbit. Bray asks Rabbit who opened the door but they then run a weather report, where we see Uncle Howdy. Bray then appears in game show attire and asks if everyone can keep a secret. Back at the Funhouse, things appear to get more serious as we see some flashes of horror movie scenes and Bray pops back up with a mask and asks if he told everyone a story, if they could keep a secret and that’s the end of the Funhouse.
Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman are shown backstage. Heyman shows Jimmy his phone where Roman Reigns texted him saying that Roman will be live at SmackDown, next Friday night. Heyman says that Roman also says that if Jimmy doesn’t handle Jey Uso, tonight, Roman said he’ll do it himself, next week.
It’s then announced that Rey Mysterio will face Karrion Kross after the break.
Rey Mysterio vs. Karrion Kross (with Scarlett)
Mysterio dumps Kross right to the outside and lays Kross out with a diving cross-body through the middle rope and we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Kross is working over Rey back in the middle of the ring. We see a picture-in-picture of Kross firing Rey into the ring post with a Razor’s Edge during the break, which is how he gained control. Rey springboards himself of the middle rope but Kross catches him and slides up to the outside. Kross goes out and scoops Rey before drilling him with a sidewalk slam over his own knee. Kross tosses Rey back into the ring and puts Rey on the top turnbuckle and climbs up with him. Rey gets behind Kross and plants him with posoinrana from the top turnbuckle. Rey shoves Kross into the middle rope and looks for the 619 but Scarlett comes diving into the ring, pretending she fell to distract the referee. Rey continues with the 619 but Dominik comes from under the ring and shoves Rey on the ground. Rey climbs back into the ring and walks right into an elbow from Kross, who locks up the Kross Jacket and Rey goes to sleep!
Winner – Karrion Kross
After the match, Dominik gets in the ring and shoves Rey and Rey gets in his son’s face but refuses to hit him. Dominik yells at Rey to hit him but he still won’t. Rey says something to Dominik and kicks the bottom rope before exiting.
It’s announced that we’ll hear from Jimmy Uso after the break.
Back from the break and one-half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, Jimmy Uso makes his way down to the ring. Jimmy grabs a microphone and directs his attention to his brother, Jey. Jimmy says if Jey isn’t there tonight, he knows he’s watching and he knows that he’s hurt. Jimmy says he knows Jey is torn and no matter what, he’s always been there and will be there for Jey. Jimmy says people are saying that there’s cracks in The Bloodline and that they have a Sami Zayn problem and a Kevin Owens problem and he (Jimmy) can’t do it alone. Sami Zayn comes through the crowd and gets in the ring. Sami grabs a microphone and says he’s not there to fight and he just wants to talk to Jey. Sami says he also wants to talk to Jimmy and says every time Jimmy says brother, it hurts him because they used to be brothers too. Sami says Jimmy always trusted him, even when Jey, Roman Reigns, and Paul Heyman didn’t. Sami says without Jimmy there’s no Sami Uso but when things went left, Jimmy turned on him immediately and that hurt him (Sami). Jimmy looks like he’s about to attack Sami but he says Sami is selfish. Jimmy says the blame isn’t on him because Sami’s the one who took a steel chair to Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Jimmy says what he did was what family does, Sami interrupts and says family doesn’t make you prove yourselves every single week and family doesn’t manipulate each other like Roman did to him…and Jey. Speaking of Jey, he comes in through the crowd and Sami continues talking to Jimmy. Sami says there’s a way out for both he (Jimmy) and Jey. Sami looks up to Jey and Jimmy attacks Sami. Jimmy waves on for Jey to come help him but Sami drills Jimmy with a Helluva Kick. Solo Sikoa rushes the ring and chases Sami off and Jey remains behind the barricade and everyone locks eyes from a distance as the show goes-off-the-air!
