Friday Night SmackDown Review - September 9, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Imperium (Intercontinental Champion Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) def. The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch)

I can't stress enough how happy I am that Imperium have reunited. They're such a terrific trio and they proved that here with this outstanding opener. I was hoping we'd get this six-man tag team match coming out of Clash at the Castle, but I didn't think we'd get it so soon depending on whether the Gunther vs. Sheamus feud continued or not. I would've been fine with their rematch being saved down the road, and maybe it still will, but if they want to go with it at Extreme Rules, you'll get no complaints out of me. The action was exceptional, they were given a ton of time, and Kaiser and Vinci hitting their tag finisher on Holland for the win was perfect. This was one of my favorite SmackDown matches in a while.

Drew McIntyre Targeted The Bloodline

Paul Heyman is still selling the SummerSlam attack and Roman Reigns didn't appear on this episode, which was a bummer, but at least we got The Usos and Sami Zayn welcoming Solo Sikoa to The Bloodline. Needless to say, he's a natural fit. For those unaware, he only debuted on NXT 2.0 less than a year ago and he's already quite good with an excellent presence about him. This was a short and sweet first promo from him and Zayn taking the bullet/chair shot from McIntyre for Sikoa was well done and set up the night's main event.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah def. Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jane) (Non-Title)

Toxic Attraction originally advanced to the semifinals in the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Tournament but an injury to Dolin forced them to pull out, so it was logical for them to face the new champs here. There wasn't nothing flashy about this outing, but it was decent and Rodriguez and Aliyah kept their momentum rolling. Toxic Attraction don't lose much from this loss, but I'm curious if this means they're officially a part of SmackDown now.

Ronda Rousey def. Sonya Deville, Lacey Evans, Xia Li and Natalya in a SmackDown Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match

I agree with the general consensus: For as much as SmackDown has improved during the Triple H era, the women's division still needs work. I mean, the fact this was over within five minutes says it all. Shayna Baszler wasn't involved in this, but Rousey did confront her afterward backstage, so I don't think we've seen the last of them together. Deville got some shine by the end, but otherwise, this was all about Rousey. I can't see a scenario where Morgan leaves Extreme Rules still SmackDown Women's Champion.

Hit Row (Top Dolla and Ashante "Thee" Adonis) and The Street Profits def. Maximum Male Models (Mace and Mansoor) and Los Lotharios

This was the culmination of a thrilling three-week story (note: sarcasm) involving these four teams. It was a perfectly fine eight-man tag team match with the babyface controlling a majority of the match. Hopefully this is the end of Street Profits appearing on SmackDown because they're Raw guys and it made no sense for them to be on SmackDown in the first place. As for Hit Row, I hope they can continue building momentum and eventually challenge The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. And as for Maximum Male Models, let's pull the plug already and get Max Dupri back to his LA Knight roots please.

Braun Strowman Attacked Alpha Academy

Alpha Academy are another example of Raw Superstars appearing on SmackDown without explanation. I don't care who's in charge of Creative; can we please start taking the Brand Split seriously or not do it at all? Regardless, this was a pretty simple segment with Strowman laying waste to Chad Gable and Otis and the crowd being into it. I thought he was coming to SmackDown to send a message or establish his reasons for being back in storyline, but apparently not. PWInsider did report that he's been slotted on SmackDown as a babyface, so that looks to be his brand designation going forward.

Drew McIntyre def. Solo Sikoa by Disqualification

This was obviously a big match to give away on such little notice, but it was cool to see Sikoa in a prominent position right out of the gate. He and McIntyre had a quality main event and Sikoa held his own. A non-finish was the way to go here to protect both men and Karrion Kross attacking McIntyre officially kicks off that program. I'm curious who will ultimately go over since McIntyre is fresh off a high-profile loss to Reigns while Kross could use a defining victory this early in his SmackDown run.

Overall Show

Raw was a fairly uneventful show on Monday, but SmackDown certainly picked up the slack and had a terrific show. That first hour in particular was tremendous with the six-man tag, the Bloodline segment, and Toxic Attraction's apparent call-up. The rest of the show held my attention as we got a new number one contender to the SmackDown Women's Championship, the tag team division was showcased, Strowman made his return to the blue brand, Sikoa received the main event spotlight, and Kross reignited his rivalry with McIntyre. The Seattle crowd was hot to boot and made for an electric atmosphere throughout the night, though it was slightly disappointing Nigel McGuinness or Wade Barrett didn't fill in for Pat McAfee instead of Corey Graves.

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