Friday Night SmackDown Review - March 24, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cody Rhodes def. Ludwig Kaiser

Surprisingly, this went through two commercial breaks. I'm not complaining, as it was nice to see Rhodes lend Kaiser some credibility with this lasting as long as it did, but I wasn't expecting it. It was a damn good opener. The post-match promos from Rhodes and Paul Heyman were also excellent, announcing that Rhodes will face Solo Sikoa on Monday's Raw and that Rhodes and Roman Reigns will go face-to-face one more time next Friday night.

SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair Addressed Rhea Ripley

Ripley addressed Flair on Monday's Raw, so Flair returned the favor here. It was your typical promo from her, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I don't think she did much to convince viewers that she and Ripley belong in the Night 1 'Mania main event. Interestingly, this was the most heelish she's come across since turning face a few months ago. I doubt that means anything, and I appreciate her being real, but she still feels miscasts.

LA Knight def. Rey Mysterio

These are the matches I love seeing Rey have because Knight is a fresh face and Mysterio can still very much go in the ring, so I thoroughly enjoyed this outing. Knight hasn't won a match in months, so even with Dominik's interference at the end, the outcome surprised me. The focus was on Rey finally hitting his son afterward after Dominik got in the face of Rey's wife/Dominik's mother at ringside. It was a perfectly-executed angle and well worth the wait. I'm really looking forward to that 'Mania match.

Natalya and Shotzi def. Lacey Evans and Xia Li to Qualify for the Women's WrestleMania Showcase Match at WrestleMania 39

Natalya and Shotzi unsuccessfully teamed up against Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler last month on SmackDown, so they were the obvious choice to advance to 'Mania over the random duo of Evans and Li. Speaking of Evans, I don't think we've seen her on SmackDown since that night Natalya and Shotzi teamed together, so that tells you all you need to know about how her latest push is going. The match was whatever and the build to the WrestleMania Showcase matches continues to be lazy.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus Signed the Contract for Their Intercontinental Championship Match at WrestleMania 39; Gunther def. Butch (Non-Title)

I like that all three men in the Triple Threat now have established issues with each other and it's not just Sheamus and McIntyre teaming up against Gunther. The contract signing set the signing for the matchup nicely as each of them played their roles well. Meanwhile, I was shocked they gave away Gunther vs. Butch as an impromptu match given their NXT UK history from 2019. It was well worked, but they're obviously capable of better.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos Attacked Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on The KO Show

Owens and Zayn are officially back in buddy-buddy mode and it's awesome to see. They play off each other amazingly well. Owens presenting Zayn with their own custom-made WrestleMania shirt was a really nice callback to when The Bloodline gave Zayn his own custom-made shirt back in September. Some heat was put on The Usos with their ambush on Owens and Zayn and I wouldn't be surprised if they 

Overall Show

Much like last week, this was a strong show that did an effective job of building toward WrestleMania. The night opened and closed on a high note, everything surrounding the Intercontinental Championship was well done, and the Mysterios angle was terrific as expected. Flair's promo was forgettable and the women's tag team match was total throwaway, but the good far outweighed the bad on this episode.

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