Friday Night SmackDown Review - March 25, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Shinsuke Nakamura def. SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso

I've mentioned this before, but the build to this SmackDown Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 38 has been so beyond lazy and generic. The Usos are obviously an excellent team and I like the duo of Nakamura and Boogs, but it feels like a subpar television match at this point. On the bright side, Nakamura vs. Uso was a quality contest for as long as it lasted and Nakamura winning was logical to give the babyfaces a necessary momentum boost.

King Woods def. Ridge Holland

Woods was reportedly cleared to return a while ago, so I figured he would've been brought back sooner. I was honestly starting to think they'd save him as a post-WrestleMania SmackDown "surprise," but I'm glad he returned in time for WrestleMania, even though I'm not confident he'll end up on the card at this point. This literally lasted 45 seconds or less and Woods winning so easily did Holland no favors. If The New Day end up facing Holland, Sheamus and Butch at 'Mania, will Ricochet be their partner? Or does him defending the Intercontinental Championship on next week's go-home show take him out of the running?

​Ronda Rousey and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair Exchanged Words

I genuinely do believe Rousey is happy to be in WWE and that's why I don't think her smiling so much is phony, but her promos need a lot of work. That's been the case since she came back at the Royal Rumble, and although I appreciate WWE for giving her practice, she simply hasn't been able to adapt and her feud with Flair has suffered as a result. Flair's promo was solid, but the overall exchange here was mediocre at best and did nothing to leave me looking forward to their SmackDown Women's Championship clash.

Angel def. Intercontinental Champion Ricochet in a Championship Contender's Match; Humberto def. Ricochet by Count-Out in a Championship Contender's Match

This is WWE booking at its worst, and I feel bad saying that because all three guys are talented. Then again, it's evident they deserve better. Ricochet didn't even win the Intercontinental title a full month ago and he's already being booked like a loser, which shouldn't surprise anyone because you had to know that was inevitable. Neither of his matches with Los Lotharios were given any real time whatsoever and now we're supposed to care about them meeting a Triple Threat for the title on next week's go-home show. That all but confirms the belt won't be defended at WrestleMania this year and that's a shame.

Sasha Banks def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Queen Zelina, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley in a Fatal 4-Way Match

I like how they put the best wrestlers from each team in this match as it made for a very enjoyable affair. The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship mean nothing, but I've been pleasantly surprised with how much television all of these women have been getting as of late. This was well wrestled and Banks picking up the win made sense since her and Naomi are the favorites to win at WrestleMania. Hopefully this is along the lines of what we'll be getting in that Fatal 4-Way tag team matchup.

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar Wreaked Havoc and Fended Off The Bloodline

Considering this latest version of the Lesnar vs. Reigns rivalry has been going on since SummerSlam, they've practically done it all by this point and it's forced them to do a lot of the same stuff lately. For example, Lesnar has done a lot of damage on SmackDown since Elimination Chamber, and as cool as some of the segments have been visually, he hasn't gotten his hands on The Bloodline. The lack of physicality has been a bit disappointing, but I can understand them wanting to hold off on that till 'Mania. Maybe they'll brawl on Raw this Monday?

Overall Show

This felt like one of those old go-home editions of SmackDown a few days before WrestleMania where a majority of the episode would be filled with video packages, replays, promos, and backstage segments. The only issue is that this wasn't the go-home show. That's coming next week, complete with an Intercontinental Championship match and the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Are they even bothering to do a pre-show again this year? Nonetheless, this was an abysmal show save for that hot closing segment. As I've said before, the blue brand has done a lousy job of building up their portion of the card for WrestleMania. That effort has been nearly nonexistent.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews