SOUTH PHILADELPHIA- On Friday night, hundreds of WWE fans gathered together at the Wells Fargo Center for SmackDown. Since the Elimination Chamber last Saturday, I knew I was in for a night of thrilling fights and even more exhilarating storytelling. As I watched Cody Rhodes step into the ring to address not only the fans in the building, but also the millions of people watching on television, I knew that SmackDown certainly did not fall short of my expectations.
Friday Night SmackDown is a weekly program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment that showcases elite athleticism and skills; settling many scores and thickening many plotlines.
The main event of the evening was between the L.A Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura, which was a fun match-up to watch. A couple of months ago, Nakamura beat L.A Knight for the United States Championship, and fans have been waiting to see if Knight could claim back the title. He did just that; L.A. Knight ended up dethroning Nakamura with a minute left of the three-hour event. He became the two-time United States champion (YEAH!).
Another prominent storyline I was excited to see played out was the drama between Bianna Belair, Naomi, and Jade Cargill. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Jade Cargill missed a few months of action last year due to an assault by a mysterious assailant on November 22.
It wasn’t until the Elimination Chamber in Toronto that the plot thickened. Jade came back during the match and attacked Naomi; revealing her as the alleged assailant.
This was very surprising since Bianca Belair and Naomi were a tag team, and Bianca was friends with both the other women. During SmackDown, Naomi admitted to being the one who attacked Jade back in November. The acting was incredible as the emotions of both of the women were palpable. After finding this out, Bianca basically “broke up” with Naomi, walking away from their tag team.
Millions of people across the globe have heard about the most-watched moment in WWE history: the heel turn no one saw coming. For the first time in his WWE career, John Cena turned heel and joined forces with his long-time enemy (the Rock) and delivered a brutal beatdown on Rhodes. WrestleMania 41 will showcase a fight between Cena and Rhodes, so Cody’s address on Friday night was another memorable moment.
Cody amped up an already burning story. Watchers could feel his hatred and anger over his betrayal.
“John you clearly want some, so come get some,” Rhodes exclaimed.
Overall, Friday Night SmackDown was filled to the brim with energy that wrapped around everyone in attendance and reached past screens to the fans who watched at home. And these stories will continue to unfold tomorrow night, during Monday Night RAW.
