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Loading …World Wrestling Entertainment „Friday Night SmackDown #1223“
Ort: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, USA
First broadcast: December 30, 2022
Spectators: Approximately 13,000
Michael Cole welcomes us to the final edition of Friday Night SmackDown in 2022. Today, alongside the SmackDown Women’s Championship Match, we will see the return of John Cena. Then the hall goes dark, we see the logo of Bray Wyatt and his piano music sounds. His door is set up on the ramp. This opens and after a few seconds we see him coming through the same door with his lantern. Once in the ring, the arena lights up again and Wyatt grabs a microphone. After Wyatt’s attack on a cameraman from the previous week is shown, he first introduces himself. If he’s honest, he doesn’t see himself as a good person no matter what he tries. He’s done so many bad things, but he has relatively few regrets. But he regrets last Friday’s attack and is sorry. After that we hear LA Knight’s music and on the ramp he makes fun of the apology. He sees Wyatt as the master of mind games. What happened to Wyatt? LA Knight downright sympathizes with his rival. But Wyatt has to be accountable for his actions and that’s why Knight is here. Wyatt was once someone, a force in this business, but now he’s just a run-down loser. The Royal Rumble is coming up and Knight wants to make it a special night. He challenges Bray Wyatt to a singles match! However, Wyatt describes his counterpart as an idiot who can no longer get out of this predicament. He needs to demonstrate how cruel he can be, so he accepts the challenge. We see a Wyattesque clip and both stand confused in the ring until another somber music starts. Uncle Howdy enters the stage and heads towards the ring. Once there, he looks Wyatt deep in the eyes and stands next to him. But then Uncle Howdy hits him with a Sister Abigail! LA Knight escapes from the ring and Uncle Howdy walks away contentedly.
After the opening segment, Sami Zayn walks to the Bloodline locker room and Paul Heyman opens the door for him. Both are happy to see each other and hug each other deeply. After a little small talk about the holidays, things get a little more serious. The Wise Man is proud of Sami Zayn and his words from the previous week, but there is still a small problem. For the bloodline, it’s rather ugly when the tribal chief is in the ring, but the fans just call out the Canadian’s name. When asked if Roman himself said anything about it, Heyman replies that you always have to think three steps ahead on the Island of Relevancy. The two laugh a little more together and Zayn enters the locker room. This brings us to the first commercial break.
Sheamus’ music hits and it’s time for the first match of the night. Interestingly, just before the match starts, Michael Cole mentions the death of Don West (we report HERE), a former Impact Wrestling commentator, and says some kind words about him. Rest in peace.
1. Match
Singles Match
Solo Sikoa (w/ Jay Uso & Jimmy Uso) defeated Sheamus (w/ Butch & Ridge Holland) via pinfall at The Samoan Spike.
Match time: 11:09
– Just before the first commercial break, Solo Sikoa seems to lose his composure and grabs a chair. But his brothers can prevent worse.
– When Solo Sikoa is stuck in the Texas Cloverleaf, the Usos help him reach the ropes. A brawl of the four companions then arises. Sikoa can use the resulting distraction and initiate the finish.
Even after the match, the Bloodline’s attack continues. Solo comes in with a chair and clamps it around Sheamus’ neck, but then we hear Drew McIntyre’s music! This can turn off the Usos without further ado and then also takes care of Sikoa in the ring. Jimmy Uso still takes the Claymore Kick and the Faces are in the ring together as the segment ends.
In the Progressive Match Flo, we see a recap of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler’s actions. The two have injured several women on the roster and now Raquel Rodriguez seems to be the only one who can stop the two’s reign of terror. In a Gauntlet Match, she secured a chance for the title, which she will get after the next ad.
2. Match
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Singles Match
Ronda Rousey (c) (w/ Shayna Baszler) won against Raquel Rodriguez via submission in the armbar.
Match time: 16:42
– Raquel Rodriguez came to the ring with a bandage on the crook of his left arm and suffered an injury during the match.
– When Gonzalez attempted to pin, Baszler put Rousey’s foot on the rope, resulting in the rope break. However, Baszler was not banned from the ring for this.
– The final armbar already started on the top rope of the ring, after a few seconds Rodriguez lost the strength in his legs and the two fell into the ring. There she knocked off immediately.
Ronda Rousey swears in her title and we hear new music from Charlotte Flair! In a slightly different outfit, the Queen enters the ring and grabs a microphone. However, Rousey begins to talk, making fun of Charlotte and reminding her of the last match between the two when Rousey took the title from her. Charlotte Flair might be waiting for the Royal Rumble but she’s already challenging Rousey tonight, which the fans are obviously enjoying. Baszler tries to stop her partner from making a wrong decision, but Rousey looks determined and the match starts.
3. Match
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Singles Match
Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey (c) (w/ Shayna Baszler) via a pinfall in a roll-up after an armbar by Rousey. -> title change!
Match time: 00:43
This makes Charlotte Flair a 14-time Women’s Champion! This will be celebrated with a fair amount of fireworks, even though New Year’s isn’t until tomorrow night…
The Bloodline are sitting in their changing room and are obviously in a good mood. Sami Zayn wants to make sure everyone is on the same page and openly asks the Tribal Chief if he’s bothered by the “Sami” chants. He replies that it doesn’t bother him at all. On the contrary, everyone always looks forward to what Zayn has to say. Tonight is set to be another great night for the Bloodline.
A Monday Night RAW preview hypes Bianca Belair and Austin Theory’s title defenses against Alexa Bliss and Seth Rollins.
The commenters talk about Judgment Day and Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley visiting the Mysterios for Christmas. Dominik’s biological mother slapped his mommy and the police had to intervene. Dominik had to be arrested, which Ripley couldn’t believe.
In the locker room there is a group of superstars and The New Day makes fun of Top Dolla’s failed dive, which both he and his partner can laugh about. After many more jokes from Maximum Male Models and Madcap Moss, Ricochet is the last straw. A small shoving arises, which can be more or less settled.
After another commercial break, Gunther’s “Path of Destruction” is to follow.
A flashback to today’s events surrounding LA Knight, Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy is shown. LA Knight and Bray Wyatt will meet at the Royal Rumble in a (Mountain Dew) pitch black match. The exact rules of this stipulation are still unknown, but “Pitch Black” is a limited flavor from Mountain Dew.
Meanwhile, Imperium continues in the ring. Ludwig Kaiser explains that 2022 was the year of the ring general. Vinci says that he is almost invincible and nobody can take the title from him. Kaiser says we should see for ourselves who Gunther hit and we see a video showing just that. When Gunther wants to say something himself, Braun Strowman’s music sounds and he comes straight into the ring. He notes that he wasn’t in the video himself, so he hasn’t defeated him yet. Imperium may be right that no human can defeat Gunther, but what about a monster? Imperium seem uninterested and want to leave, but Strowman grabs the Intercontinental Champion’s arm and brawls. He can also win this and throws the tag team out of the ring. Gunther flees the ring after a clothesline, but Imperium obviously wasn’t expecting the Strowman Express. This sweeps through the Europeans until Gunther pushes the monster among men through the barricades. After that, he still has to take a few chair hits and is thrown into the ring stairs. The beatdown continues in the ring and Gunther tries to break Strowman’s arm in a grab. Even the officials can’t stop him, but Ricochet comes to the rescue and makes the save. It remains unclear whether it was intended that Gunther’s “Path of Destruction” would have another chapter today.
The Bloodline saunters through the aisles. You’re probably ready for the main event.
Two weeks from today, Gunther will have to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Braun Strowman. Next week the Usos will have their Tag Team Titles at stake against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. There will also be a Royal Rumble qualifying match between Ricochet and Top Dolla.
Kevin Owens’ music plays. It’s Main Event time, so it’s clear that Lacey Evans’ promised return probably won’t happen today. When John Cena entered, he received loud reactions from the audience. In general, Tampa was a great crowd that created a good atmosphere tonight.
4. Match
Tag Team Match
John Cena & Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn (w/ Paul Heyman, Solo Sikoa, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) via a pinfall by Kevin Owens to Sami Zayn after a stunner.
Match time: 10:56
– Fan reactions were toyed with as the Cena hot tag was narrowly avoided on a number of occasions.
– Roman Reigns had to prevent Owens from trying to pin Zayn after a pop-up powerbomb after about eight minutes.
– It was only after about ten minutes that Cena was officially in the ring for the first time. After a minute, his official time ended again.
– Roman Reigns was provoked by the “U can’t c me” gesture, which caused Reigns to get in the ring and take an Attitude Adjustment. Then came the finish.
After Roman Reigns’ first loss since December 2019 (excluding disqualifications), John Cena & Kevin Owens celebrate their victory. The show ends and with it the WWE Year 2022. Happy New Year everyone!
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