Back Use returned to SmackDown Friday Night this week alongside his brother, Jimmy, as a joint front with The Bloodline. He came to explain why he turned on Sami Zayn.
Because he had to.
“I don’t want to do it. But I had no choice. Because (Jimmy) is my blood.”
That says it all, doesn’t it?
As much as anything, that means Kevin Owens was right all along. No matter how much Sami wanted to be a member of the group, he was never their blood and he never would be. Jey repeated the same words on this very show.
He blamed everything on Sami, saying that if he wasn’t so selfish, none of this would have had to go down like this. But he remained human because he also lashed out at the fans because “You don’t know what I’m going through.” There was something deeply personal here that added so much to the character and the story in general. It was good.
Eventually they turned their attention to Cody Rhodes who, wouldn’t you know it, was in the building and showed up when he heard his name. They tried to get him to fight and that’s when Zayn hit the stage to start a big brawl that spilled into the crowd.
They made it back to the ring just so the babyfaces could clear out the heels and stand tall as the show went off the air. Commentary wondered if Rhodes made a critical mistake by getting involved in this side of The Bloodline’s business.
Owens, for his part, was nowhere to be seen.
They’re doing a nice job of weaving the two stories together, and it’s looking more and more like WrestleMania 39 could be where we see the fall of The Bloodline. But I’m still struggling to see how they get Owens back involved and on Sami’s side considering where he still stands now. They have six shows left to do so.
Wouldn’t it be great if Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens closed out WrestleMania with all the gold?
The rest
- This show opened with Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Karrion Kross vs. L.A. Knight vs. Xavier Wood’s Fatal 5 way to determine who would move on to challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39. I’ll start by pointing out that Knight once again got a really nice ovation and I hope they real people recognize the potential there. He didn’t win here, but he has Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner written all over him. The actual winner was, well, both Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, who scored a pinfall victory at the exact same time. The referees argued about what to do as the two men argued about it, eventually saying that Adam Pearce would have a decision on it. The decision he reached was McIntyre vs. Sheamus next week to decide who will win the title, which is actually a good way to get there as it means they will have warmed up enough to earn it properly.
- Rey Mysterio was announced as the first official inductee into this year’s Hall of Fame class. Naturally, his son Dominik showed up to antagonize him before he could even thank him for the honor, saying he was ashamed to be his son. It brought forth Legado del Fantasma, with Santos Escobar standing up for a man he has stood by as a legend he has looked up to. A six-man tag ensued, a match that The Judgment Day won because Dom kicked his father, who tried to respond, inadvertently creating a distraction that Damian Priest took advantage of. After that, Dom once again called his father a deadbeat and even went so far as to say that he should have been Eddie Guerrero’s child. We got a little closer to Rey’s retaliation, but he repeated again “I will not fight you!” This story continues to be great and Rey has been wonderful as the tortured father who doesn’t want things to be that way with his son.
- The Viking Raiders defeated Ricochet & Braun Strowman in a match that got more time than you might have expected, but was definitely a lot better than you’d think you’d get out of a televised tag match like this. They’ve flirted with the Raiders as top contenders since the fresh coat of paint, and this could help send them on their way to becoming post-WrestleMania contenders. Meanwhile, is it time to start speculating about splitting Strowman and Ricochet?
- Charlotte Flair asked Adam Pearce for a match on this show considering we are so close to WrestleMania so he put her up against Shotzi. Shortly into the match, Rhea Ripley showed up to hang out at ringside to watch it all go down. What she saw was Flair pounding Shotzi with the figure eight. Afterwards, she jumped in the ring and called Charlotte insecure while promising to take the one thing that makes her feel important, the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Flair’s response? Even though Ripley has improved, so has Charlotte, and she will outshine anyone, male or female, because she takes this business seriously. It was good to see these two meet, but am I the only one who doesn’t feel the kind of excitement they need for a big title match? Hopefully that will change in the coming weeks.
This was an interesting show if only because they didn’t spread themselves too thin on everything, did less segments but gave those segments more time.
It was a good show.
Give me your thoughts.
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