Friday Night SmackDown Review - February 24, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Imperium (Intercontinental Champion Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) def. Madcap Moss, Braun Strowman and Ricochet

Gunther had history with all three of his opponents in this match, having beaten each of them on separate occasions to retain his Intercontinental Championship in recent months. I was worried one of them might pick up the pinfall win to build to a rematch with Gunther, but thankfully, that was not the case. This was a solid six-man tag team match with the right result. Drew McIntyre watching from the stage hints at him being next in line for a title opportunity, though I hope Sheamus is involved and it's a Triple Threat at WrestleMania 39. Also, The Viking Raiders are still feuding with McIntyre and Sheamus? Haven't they lost to them twice already?

Kofi Kingston def. LA Knight

This marked Knight's first appearance in the ring since losing to Bray Wyatt at Royal Rumble. He talked about how you can't have WrestleMania in Los Angeles without LA Knight (which is true, by the way), which gave me hope WWE has plans to incorporate him into plans for the pay-per-view in some form or fashion. Well, having him lose to Kingston doesn't give me a lot of faith. It was a good match, but I have no clue what the logic was behind that decision. Maybe Knight will just appear in a segment and have a 'Mania moment with someone like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin?

The Judgment Day Confronted SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair

A face-off between Flair and Rhea Ripley was hyped coming into this episode, but it was Dominik Mysterio who confronted Charlotte to praise Ripley and talk about how he and Flair are multi-generational talents. We even got an Andrade reference out of the exchange from Flair. This was entertaining, largely thanks to Dominik, but I was disappointed we didn't get more from Flair and Ripley. That said, plenty of time remains until WrestleMania, so I can understand them saving it for another night.

Shayna Baszler def. Natalya

Baszler put Natalya put Natalya on the shelf for a few months with a legitimate injury late last year, so that was the reasoning behind this bout. Natalya lost last week's tag team match against Baszler and Ronda Rousey and I appreciated that she didn't get her win back here. There was nothing special about the actual match due to it being short, but it was what it needed to be. Tegan Nox being in Natalya's corner was random, but I am looking forward to her facing Rousey next week.

Karrion Kross def. Rey Mysterio

I was questioning why we were getting a rematch when Mysterio already beat Kross clean a month ago, but it became clear once Dominik got involved and cost his father the match. The match itself was average, but that was well done, along with the post-match angle with Rey once again refusing to strike his son. He's getting closer to snapping and it's going to get a big pop once it finally happens.

Sami Zayn Attacked Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso as Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Jey Uso Looked On

The hook of the segment was how Jey would respond to Jimmy, but they never actually interacted. Instead, it was Zayn who attempted to convince Jimmy to join his side but was ultimately unsuccessful. Jey was shown walking toward the ring but didn't make a choice between the two. They left us hanging and that's fine because there's more time to tell the story. Roman Reigns being back next week to deal with Jey absolutely has my attention. This was strong stuff from The Bloodline and Zayn per usual. 

Overall Show

There was also an edition of Firefly Fun House, which again didn't make any sense and gave us no answers. As I've said before, I'm over the stuff with Bray Wyatt unless it's leading somewhere significant, and we've gotten a whole lot of nothing from him since his return. The rest of the show was solid with the Bloodline saga once again carrying the episode. We got seeds planted for Mysterio vs. Mysterio and Gunther vs. McIntyre, and those WrestleMania developments are going to be what make these shows worthwhile as we get closer and closer to the event.

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