Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 29, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn in a Steel Cage Match

This show was immediately taped after last week's SmackDown, which was headlined by the Lumberjack match between McIntyre and Zayn. That would mean this crowd sat through two back-to-back Zayn vs. McIntyre matches, hence why the crowd noise sounded more piped-in than usual. This was a well-worked Steel Cage match with Zayn attempting to escape multiple times only to be thwarted by McIntyre. It told a simple story, but I'd be content not seeing these two have another match for a long time.

Madcap Moss Attacked Happy Corbin on Happy Talk

Although everything we've seen from these two has been fairly standard stuff so far, it's been difficult to care about the feud because Moss is still doing the dumb character he has been for months, except now as a babyface. Corbin always plays his role well and is doing his best to get this crap over, but I don't have any excitement for their upcoming encounter at WrestleMania Backlash. Moss won't be taken seriously until he gets a gimmick overhaul.

Intercontinental Champion Ricochet def. Shanky

Ricochet beat Jinder Mahal two weeks ago, so his next challenge was Shanky. We haven't seen Shanky have many matches on the main roster, and from what I understand, he's still terribly inexperienced. To his credit, he didn't have an awful showing in this match. It was wise to keep it short and sweet. For as little as I care about his pairing with Mahal, I think it'd be disastrous to break him away on his own at this point.

Raquel Rodriguez def. Cat Cardoza

If Cardoza looked familiar, it's because it was Leila Grey under a different name. She's been used regularly as an enhancement talent for AEW for the last year. As for Rodriguez, you could tell Vince McMahon told her to smile as much as possible in her debut seeing as how she was all smiles during her entrance and the match. She's a very likable person, but I feel she did her best work as a heel in NXT. At any rate, this was a straightforward squash for her to start her SmackDown stint off with a win.

The Tag Team Championship Unification Match Contract Signing Broke Out Into a Brawl Between Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos

Good lord, how many contract signings have we gotten in recent weeks on WWE TV? It feels like we've seen a million of them. Thankfully, the actual contract signing didn't last long before it broke out into a brawl. Roman Reigns finally bothered to show up followed by McIntyre to even the odds. This was a well done segment to set up the six-man tag team match at WrestleMania Backlash between the trio of RK-Bro and McIntyre and The Bloodline. If no titles are going to be defended, then that's complete crap. Winner Take All would make the most sense and they still have a week to add that stipulation.

SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi def. Shayna Baszler

Now that we know Baszler and Natalya will challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship in two weeks on SmackDown (the episode after WrestleMania Backlash, which is strange), we're going to get singles matches with the women before then. Oh joy. It's so formulaic and the matches are always short, like this one was. Can we get some real teams in this division beyond Sasha Banks and Naomi, please?

Xavier Woods def. Ridge Holland; Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston

Although I'm a fan of everyone involved, I'm beyond tired of this feud and am anxiously waiting for it to end. The matches are well wrestled and all, but it's the same stuff week after week. Woods vs. Holland was decent, but Holland losing way more than he's won on the main roster is not a positive sign. Sheamus vs. Kingston was a bit better yet unnecessary. I can't say I'm overly invested in Butch's whereabouts, either.

Ronda Rousey def. Shotzi in a Beat the Clock "I Quit" Challenge; SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Aliyah in a Beat the Clock "I Quit" Challenge Went to a Time-Limit Draw (Non-Title)

We've barely seen Shotzi on SmackDown in recent months, and although I realize there were no plans for her at WrestleMania 38, it's apparent that she hasn't been used not because of an injury or time off but rather because the company still has no idea what to do with her. What a waste. She was fodder for Rousey, who beat her in roughly 90 seconds. Aliyah scored much more offense against Flair and actually managed to hang in there for the full time, giving Rousey the Beat the Clock Challenge victory. Flair beat up Drew Gulak again afterward, so there was that.

Overall Show

It was obvious this was a taped show because the fake crowd noise throughout the night was painfully apparent. That isn't to say it would have been vastly better if it was live, though. SmackDown has sucked for months and every episode feels like a rerun with the same matches and uninteresting angles. Unfortunately, this edition was no exception. There's nothing you need to go out of your way to see as the show simply continues to exist.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews