Originally published at SmackDown notes: Flair-Rousey contract signing, Lumberjack match
SmackDown aired live from the MVP Arena in Albany, New York. Going into the show, WWE announced a contract signing with Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey. The company also promoted a Lumberjack match between Zayn and McIntyre.
Match Results:
- Xavier Woods over Butch
- Gunther over Teddy Goodz
- Riddle over Jey Uso
- Madcap Moss over Angel
- Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn ended in a no-contest
WWE official Adam Pearce opened the show, announcing Charlotte Flair to the ring. A recap of the feud followed, and Pearce welcomed Rousey’s entrance. The segment officially started with a missing contract, which Drew Gulak eventually brought to the ring. Before Rousey could sign the contract, Flair flipped over the table to reveal a hidden kendo stick. The two fought for a bit, before Gulak broke it up, leading Rousey to sign the contract while holding Gulak in an armbar.
SmackDown jumped to a match between Butch and New Day’s Xavier Woods. Woods won with Backwoods, further reminding us of just how behind Butch the WWE truly is. After the match, Butch got angry and attacked a security guy in the crowd.
Ricochet and Aliyah had a backstage segment, where she talked about how great he is. Jinder Mahal interrupted (saving us from the awkward exchange), and Shanky issued a challenge to the Intercontinental Champion, which he accepted.
After a long introduction from Ludwig Kaiser, Gunther made his way to the ring to lead into a break. Gunther faced an enhancement talent named Teddy Goodz. Goodz didn’t win.
Drew McIntyre bumped into Randy Orton and Matt Riddle backstage and they appeared to settle their differences. This led to the Riddle versus Jey Uso match. Before the match, though, they cut to a quick Xia Li promo, where she said she’ll protect herself because no one else is worthy of protection.
After a great match, Riddle picked up the win, countering an Uso splash with a rollup.
Naomi and Sasha Banks had an in-ring interview segment where they discussed their reign as Women’s Tag Team champs. It included a quick callback to the “Unity” slogan from the Team B.A.D. days. Eventually, they were interrupted by Natalya and Shayna Baszler. The pair challenged the champions, and the challenge appeared to be accepted.
Happy Corbin is absconding with the trophy! 😡#SmackDown @BaronCorbinWWE @MadcapMoss pic.twitter.com/QCMeUwN4MR
— WWE (@WWE) April 23, 2022
Madcap Moss and Corbin met backstage, where Corbin said he was willing to forgive Moss. Moss said he doesn’t want to be Corbin’s sidekick and he made a joke about Corbin’s lack of hair. This led to Madcap Moss making his way to the ring for a match with Angel. After a brief video hyping the debut of Raquel Rodriguez, Angel made his way to the ring. Angel lost to Madcap Moss fairly quickly. After the match, Corbin attacked Moss, leaving him laying with an End of Days and making off with the Andre trophy. You could even say he absconded with it.
Sami Zayn visited with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline where he claimed McIntyre and Randy Orton were talking negatively about Roman Reigns. He asked Reigns for help with Drew, offering his services in exchange. It sounds terrible, but Zayn’s delivery made it entertaining. It seemed that Roman believed Zayn, as he sent the Usos to “get his name out their mouths.”
We got another Lacey Evans backstory segment. Her backstory is sad and depressing, but her simply speaking to the camera recounting it week after week doesn’t seem the most memorable way to introduce it.
There is no doubt that @LaceyEvansWWE is a fighter. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/QiBxZN8EuZ
— WWE (@WWE) April 23, 2022
After the Lumberjacks made their way to the ring, Zayn and McIntyre made their entrances. After both competitors entered, The Usos came out to keep an eye on proceedings. They attacked RK-Bro before heading to the backstage area. This led to a massive brawl between the lumberjacks, which Sami used to escape.
Adam Pearce came out and said that Sami Zayn will go one-on-one with McIntyre in a steel cage match. That’s right, the lumberjack match wasn’t enough to keep Zayn contained, so they made a cage match instead. While the match didn’t have a satisfying ending, the crowd at least got to see a Claymore to Jinder.
.@SamiZayn will be locked inside a Steel Cage with @DMcIntyreWWE next week on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/mJZPJWsFG1
— WWE (@WWE) April 23, 2022