What happened on Smackdown?
WrestleMania is less than a month away and while the main event had been announced for weeks, we finally got our first face-to-face encounter between Cody Rhodes and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. And, the duo didn't disappoint. Watch the video above. What is most impressive to me is how comfortable and confident Roman Reigns has gotten in his role. He stole the show here with his Dusty impression and with the mind games he's beginning to play with Cody. This promo was the first moment I questioned if Cody was actually going to win the match in a few weeks.
Two other moments on Smackdown worth mentioning. The first is the bizarre interaction between Bobby Lashley and Uncle Howdy, which is being panned by fans on Twitter, but is also the most-viewed clip coming out of the show:
Finally, the other main story is the continuing saga of the cracks in the Bloodline and trying to end Sami Zayn. Jey Uso is still missing in action and Reigns put down the ultimatum. If Jey doesn't show up next week, he's blaming Jimmy.
AEW Revolution is this Sunday
If you missed it yesterday, my podcast Squared Circle Pit, is back! I am joined by Stray from the Path's Tom Williams and podcaster Brian Quinby to go through the entire card for Revolution, which is live tomorrow night.
Last night on Rampage, which aired after we taped, they added a new stipuation to the Jack Perry vs. Christian match, it's now a "Final Burial" match. It's not clear if tht makes it a coffin match or an analagous to a buried alive match.
There are over 8100 tickets sold at the Chase Center for tomorrow's show, currently making it the largest attended wrestling show in San Francisco.
Tony Khan hyped there might be a big announcement this weekend, "This is one of the best weekends of the year: AEW Revolution, Sunday in San Francisco + Friday Night #AEWRampage & then Countdown to Revolution TONIGHT on TNT! 2023 will be the biggest year yet for AEW, I have major announcements coming soon that are important to AEW & our fans!"
A pre-show match was also announced with Mark Briscoe cutting maybe the most bittersweet promo in wrestling history:
Here's the full card:
- 60-minute iron man match for the AEW World Championship: MJF (c) vs. Bryan Danielson
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Jamie Hayter (c) vs. Ruby Soho vs. Saraya
- TNT Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Wardlow
- AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Gunns (c) vs. The Acclaimed vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. TBD
- AEW World Trios Championship: The Elite (c) vs. The House of Black
- Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks — everyone banned from ringside
- Texas Death match: Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page
- Final Burial Match - Christian vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
- Pre-show match – Mark Briscoe & The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. Ari Daivari & Varsity Athletes (Josh Woods & Tony Nese)
You can watch the official Countdown show below:
More Weekend Wrestling News
After Liv Morgan was attacked on Smackdown, a young fan in the front row started crying. As Liv recovered, she made sure to comfort the fan and invited her backstage for a really cool moment:
Goldberg has a few ideas for a retirement match. He told Sports Illustrated “You never say never, especially in wrestling, and they owe me one,” says Goldberg. “That’s all I can say. I made a deal with the devil and I did my job, and they owe me a retirement match. At the end of the day, at 56, it’s not something where I’m sitting by the phone waiting for a call. I’ve got a few ideas of how to do it on my own, possibly in Israel. So never say never.”
Multiple reports say that Brock Lesnar was pitched a feud with Bray Wyatt for WrestleMania, but he turned it down.
PWTorch reports that Ronda Rousey reaggravated a previous injury, and needs a few weeks off but isn't expected to miss WrestleMania.
AEW posted the trailer for its new reailty show, AEW: All Access, premiering March 29th following Dynamite on TBS:
MJF is going to be on the next episode of Impractical Jokers in TruTV this Thursday:
Dominick Mysterio was on Cheap Heat talking about reaching out to Vickie Guerrero to get permission to use some of Eddie's catchphrases and moves. “Being able to talk to Vickie, it’s been little things here and there. She’ll reach out and be like, ‘I love what you’re doing.’ I’ll reach out to here and go, ‘Hey, hopefully this is okay.’ Little things like that. I just never want any problems with the Guerrero family. It’s all love and respect at the end of the day. Even before
Do you enjoy pro wrestling? Knotfest Wrestling has a bi-weekly column filled with wrestling news. Read previous editions of this column here. You can always follow me @robinjection on Instagram and Twitter and @Squaredcirclpit.
