WWE SmackDown Recap time! As always, you can see a live play-by-play of the show as it comes right here! So watch this space!
The show opens with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair arguing backstage. Sasha says Reginald is not in her head, Nia Jax is and she’s going to beat her tonight. Bianca tells her that this match is a bad idea and she won’t go out there to save her. Sasha assures her she doesn’t need her help.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Nia Jax
As Nia comes out she stops to show a picture of Reginald at a spa or something. Bell rings, Nia and Sasha shove each other. Banks rushes to the apron, roundhouse kick, Headscissor Driver into the second buckle. Stomps her, Meteora #1 landed! Bulldog of sorts into a Bank Statement but Nia breaks free, back elbow drops her. Sandwiches her in the corner. Pulls her out for a Press Slam! Plants her. Cover for a 2 count. Body slam, charging elbow drop for a 2 count. Samoan Drop for a 2 count.
Bianca Belair’s theme hits because of course she’s dishonest, she storms down the ramp and tries to cheer Sasha on as we go to commercial break.
WWE SmackDown Recap to resume when the show does. As we come back, Sasha tries to whip Nia, gets reversed to the corner, Headscissor Driver blocked as Nia pulls her from the corner into a Spinning Sideslam. Nearfall. Nia pulls her up by the legs and she’s dangling upside down as Nia swings her into the buckles! Cover for a nearfall!
Nia puts her into an STF variant. Transition to a Stump Puller, Sasha counters into a sunset flip, Nia sits out but Banks rolls out of the way! Meteora #2 to the back of the head! Cover for a nearfall! Nia yanks her to the outside. Sasha with a roundhouse kick as she gets back into the ring, climbs onto her back for a sleeper but Nia pulls her onto her shoulders. Banks elbows free, Bank Statement attempted, Nia tries a Black Hole Slam but Sasha with a DDT counters this! Bank Statement, Shayna rushes the ring, Bianca follows and they struggle. Shayna accidentally kicks Nia in the ribs, Bianca takes her out of the ring and Sasha covers Jax for the win.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Man it really feels like Sasha and Bianca could do a lot better than this in the build to their Mania match. Maybe they’ll look good at Fastlane iunno. This is one of the poorer builds right now to me.
Edge interviewed backstage about his first match on SmackDown in a decade.
He says this show has always felt like home to him. Some of the greatest moments of his career happened here but he was also on this show when he had to retire. Says it’s surreal to be here tonight but it also felt right.
Just like it felt right for him last week to insert himself into Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns’ match because he wants Bryan to get a fair shake and he doesn’t think he would without him. Says he can forgive the knee last week, he’d have done the same thing. As for Jey Uso he believes he could really be something special if he got out of Roman’s shadow. Of course he’s going to beat him tonight.
Nia berates Shayna backstage and says if she costs her like that at Fastlane, she’ll go after her.
Meanwhile, Seth Rollins is in the ring as the WWE SmackDown Recap rolls on.
He says when he came back, the whole roster came out to greet him like a king. Not because they like him but because they respect him. So he respected their right to be idiots when they walked out on him but one person took the disrespect too far. Cesaro humiliated AND embarrassed him!
Rollins claims that Cesaro is jealous of everything that he is, a WrestleMania main eventer when he is a failure. Seth says when he gets knocked down he stands right back up and we can’t say the same for Cesaro.
We see a clip of Seth’s brutal beatdown of Cesaro from last week. Seth cackles and asks what’s keeping him down, jokes that he has a hard time standing up for himself. Maybe it’s all the years spent running around and reaching for the brass ring. Gets serious and says he swung him 27 times. He will never embarrass him again because he’s Seth freakin’ Rollins and Cesaro is the biggest waste of potential in WWE history.
Shinsuke Nakamura interrupts.
Seth berates him as he makes his entrance, says he’s better than Cesaro, he doesn’t disrespect him. Nakamura pulls the mic away from him and tells him to shut up. Seth attacks but Nak ducks his shot, narrowly misses a roundhouse kick and Seth powders. Nakamura slooowly sets up the “COME ONNNN” gesture, Seth rushes back in in a rage, gets caught with a Flatliner, Kinshasa!
Up next on the WWE SmackDown Recap…
The Street Profits vs. The Mysterios
Ford with a waistlock takedown on Dominik. He reverses into a wristlock, Ford flips out of it, they exchange sweeps. Ford with an arm drag, Dominik with an arm drag and a double nip up. They share a handshake but Ford with a kick to the gut surprises him. Back Suplex but Dominik escapes, Rey tags in. Confounds Ford with his speed but Dawkins blind tags in and shoudler tackles him, double team for a 2 count. Dawkins with a Spinning Corner Clothesline, takes him to the Profits corner. Ford tags in, Rey escapes a double team, ranas Ford to the ropes!
Tag to Dominik, Super Rana to Dawkins, 619 attempt but Ford counters with a lariato! Back Suplex with authority, cover for a 2 count. They set up a Doomsday Device but Rey clips Ford and Dominik with a Victory Roll on Dawkins gets the surprise win!
Winner: The Mysterios
That was unexpected.
The Alpha Academy come out to the ring. Chad says that’s an impressive win but it doesn’t put them above the Alphas. They brag about defeating the Mysterios before. I guess the Street Profits were yelling at them because they turn their backs to them, Mysterios take them to the floor with dropkicks and wipe them out with topes. Awkwardly timed commercial break as the brawl is just starting essentially.
I’m guessing this is about to turn into an Atomicos match, considering Roode and Ziggler were watching on commentary.
The Mysterios vs. Alpha Academy
Okay, this is unexpected, we’re just having the Mysterios in a sudden gauntlet instead. We come back to see Gable attempting a Superplex on Rey but he counters with a Super Rana! Drop toe hold, 619! Otis crotches Rey when he goes up top though. Otis tags in, Gable with a suplex, Otis with a falling headbutt. Big bodyslam! Otis with a power whip to the buckles. Whip, axe handle. Rey escapes a bear hug but gets taken right down with a lariat. Narrowly dodges another Kokeshi style headbutt, roundhouse kick from the mat!
Simultags, Dominik running wild on Gable, rana, wants a Wheelbarrow, Gable blocks it momentarily, Dominik coils around him like a damn snake for a Sunset Flip for 2! Tornado DDT! Dominik with a drop toe hold, tries another 619 but Gable catches him out of the air, Otis blind tags as Gable nails him with a Chaos Theory! Gable comes off the second rope with a CRUSHING Splash, Jesus Christ! That gets the win!
Winners: The Alpha Academy
That is genuinely one of the most violent looking splashes I’ve ever seen, my goodness.
WWE SmackDown Recap continues, Sami Zayn is talking to his documentary crew again. Kevin Owens appears and Sami asks again if he wants to be on board. Kevin says he’s still not sure. Zayn claims his guy has 23 million subscribers on YouTube, this will be huge!
Owens asks him if he ever considered that he’s kinda twisting reality into whatever he needs it to be to fit his narrative. Says he can’t recall him ever saying that something is his fault. Sami says that’s because it’s never his fault, it’s always them! Kevin asks “Who’s they?” and Sami legit can’t answer. Sami asks him to watch him tonight and if he doesn’t see anything remotely suspicious, he’ll drop it.
Daniel Bryan makes his way out.
Bryan hypes up the big main event tonight. Winner gets to be the special guest enforcer for his match with Roman Reigns. If Jey Uso wins they know exactly what they’ll get, he’d do everything in his power to help Roman win. If he’s the champion he says he is, he shouldn’t need that help. On the other hand, you have the Ultimate Opportunist in Edge. Says he knows why he wants to insert himself into the match, to get in Roman’s head. But the difference between them is Edge thinks he can beat Roman, Bryan knows he can, especially after he did something Roman could not in making Jey tap out. And he’ll do the same to Reigns!
Roman Reigns’ music hits. He laughs about the idea of Bryan saying he’d tap him out. He can deal with his little lies about being ambitious and being in the main event of WrestleMania. But he’s going to lie about the Tribal Chief? Says Bryan can’t tap him out, he has no chance. Says he’s got a better chance of shooting lightning out of his ass or sprouting wings than tapping him out. Roman claims that nobody has ever tapped him out, he’d rather lose his arm than tap out to any man. And he’d rather die in that ring than tap to someone like Bryan.
Bryan says that’s pretty strong. Make no mistake. Roman is talking about lies, him being the Head of the Table is a lie, a delusion. Everyone thinks they’re invincible until they’re not. Everyone thinks they’re unbeatable until they lose, un-tapout-able until he taps. Daniel says he will break him of his delusions. Hopes he doesn’t die but whether he taps or doesn’t, he is beating him at Fastlane.
Up next on the WWE SmackDown Recap…
King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn
This match gets a hilarious ironic vignette talking up how it’s the match nobody asked for. Commentary also mocks it as we come back from commercial. Corbin immediately takes Sami to the mat. Zayn into the corner for the forced break. Rakes the eyes, bashes him across the back. Grinds knees into his back. Forearms. Corbin ducks a line, big clothesline. Mounted punches. Corner clothesline lays him out. Sami with an eye poke using the official, rolls him up and gets the feet on the ropes for the cover but the ref catches it. Zayn grabs at the turnbuckle pad and is tearing it off, ref stops it, Corbin pulls him into the End of Days.
Winner: King Corbin
Sami afterwards goes to the table yelling about how the ref was all over, Kevin Owens at the table says the ref was making good calls. Tells him he needs to calm down and get over this, Sami is irate. Zayn waits until Kev turns around and nails him with a Helluva Kick! Sami screams that he’s not crazy, Owens is blind!
Big E and Apollo Crews with a sit-down interview.
E says their friendship is over. He’s getting emotional, you want to talk to him about reconciliation? All he wants to talk about is vengeance! Says Apollo has two days ’til Fastlane. If he’s him, he takes those two days and he appreciates the crispness of the March air. Take those two days and enjoy the normal function of his limbs. Take those two very short days and enjoys the present because his new future is dark and bleak. Says on Sunday he retains his IC Championship, no question. And Crews is getting everything he deserves.
Big E can be scary when he’s mad, this is fun to see.
Crews asks, “What I deserve?” Says he should think twice before talking to Nigerian royalty with such disrespect. He’s treading very dangerous ground. Says there is a Nigerian proverb, “You fill your mouth with a razor and you will spit blood”. He says that happens at Sunday. Crews says he will crack his face and you’ll see the Nigerian warrior within him. He will finally have what he deserves. Says he will stand over his mangled body as the new Intercontinental Champion.
Big E decides not to wait until Fastlane and gets up looking for Apollo. He rides around on a golf cart searching for him, nearly runs him down. They brawl and E takes over, smashing him with a trash can and stomping on his ribs. He rips at his shirt and slams him into the walls repeatedly! Finally officials come to break them up. Crews gets into the golf cart for an escape, that’s kinda funny.
Next up on the WWE SmackDown Recap…
Bianca Belair vs. Shayna Baszler
Bianca with a shoulder tackle. Sasha Banks appeared at the stage just to say she won’t be here and leaves. Shayna trips Belair up, pounds on her back. Yanks her up by the hair and deposits her in front of Nia. Bianca wants Nia to interfere but she refuses and instead leaves. Shayna is upset, Bianca is about to score the distraction win when Natalya and Tamina rush the ring for the DQ.
Winner: N/A
Tamina and Natalya beat Shayna and Bianca both down and stand tall.
And now the main event here on the WWE SmackDown Recap…
Edge vs. Jey Uso (Winner becomes special guest enforcer at Fastlane)
Lock-up! Edge takes him down, cover for 1. Lock-up again, Jey with a side headlock. Edge reverses. Jey shoots him off, Edge with a shoulder block. Crossface, Jey escapes to the ropes before he can cinch it in. Edge with some forearms. Whip, knee to the gut. Running knee lift to the face. Stomp to the back. Knee drive to the shoulder. Pulls him up for a Crossface Chickenwing. Jey with an elbow to the gut, Edge powders. Jey follows him, they fight out there until Jey sends him ribs first into the steps! Tope Suicida sends Edge into the announce table!
Commercial break, WWE SmackDown Recap will conclude when we resume!
We come back to see Jey stomping on Edge in the ring. Edge with some forearms as he gets back up, Jey drops him. Stun Gun focusing on the ribs! Charging forearm takes him to the floor! Jey throws him back into the ring. Edge has welts on his ribs, that’s a new one. Jey whips him low into the ringpost, again targeting the ribs! Uso drags him to his feet, Edge fighting back. Whip gets broken. Jey with an enziguri to the ribs, yeow! Goes up top. Edge avoids a splash, mid-air collision! But Edge sacrificed his midsection to do it.
Edge with a big boot drops Jey! Pulls him, singles out an arm, drives him into the buckles! Edge with a big lariat off the second rope for a 2 count! Edge charges into a Samoan Drop for a nearfall! Uce up top, Edge cuts him off. Super Rana!! Cover for a close nearfall! Blocks a Superkick, kick to the gut, Edgeacution! Runs in for the spear, Jey with a Superkick! Up top! Uso Splash! But Jey’s shoulder comes back to bite him, can’t cover right away! Cover for close nearfall! Edge rips his arm to the mat, Spear lands for the win!
Winner: Edge
Neat match for sure.
As Edge celebrates, Roman Reigns appears and nails Edge! Dares Bryan to come into the ring. As he stands, Jey attacks Bryan from behind and throws him into the ring, Reigns spears him! Tribal Chief stands tall as we go off the air.