WWE Money in the Bank Go Home Episode of SmackDown Reactions and Analysis

FroWrestling Podcast

In this episode we discuss the go home episode of WWE Smackdown ahead of Money in the Bank. What does Cody have to say to Randy Orton? Who are the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions? Has Damien Priest reconsidered R Truth?  All of this and the rest of the show’s news and rumors are covered in this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast!  Find us on all social media including: Spotify: Fro Wrestling Podcast Pandora: Fro Wrestling Podcast Facebook - Fro Wrestling Podcast Reddit: u/frowrestling On X - @frowrestling Instagram - @frowrestlingpodcast Discord - Fro Wrestling Podcast Flipboard: Fro Wrestling Podcast Pinterest: Fro Wrestling Podcast As well as these and many other platforms: Daily Motion, Rumble, Podomatic, Odysee, Bluesky, and many more!  Please support our sponsors: 3WA Wrestling www.worldwidewrestlingalliance...  Beezle Games - Sketchy People Doodle Games - Banani Market Foo Games - Legendary Elements ALL AVAILABLE AT www.thegamecrafter.com  Fro Life Educational Planning www.frolifeplanning.com  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/fro-wrestling-podcast--2103073/support.

Transcript

00:22I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.

00:51I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.

01:00I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.

01:29I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.

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03:06Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast.

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03:29So, tonight's episode, I am Dr. Fro.

03:32We are talking all things SmackDown.

03:34This is the go-home episode for Money in the Bank.

03:36If you didn't get an opportunity, I did put up the prediction episode for Money in the Bank just a

03:41little while ago.

03:42But we got to get into what happened on SmackDown ahead of the show because some of it makes a

03:47lot of sense.

03:47Some of it really further storylines.

03:49Some of it drives me crazy.

03:50So, let's get into it, right?

03:51The show opens with a backstage segment.

03:53Trick Williams and Braun Breaker end up having some tense moments that's going to lead to them setting this up

03:59to be the main event for SmackDown.

04:00And I think this is a really good main event match setup.

04:04Now, there is some history there in their NXT time, but that's not on the main roster.

04:08The main roster needs to see this match, and really, this should have gotten a lot of time because the

04:14match could be incredible.

04:15Both these guys can really go.

04:16The first actual segment out in the ring, CM Punk comes out.

04:20There's ladders set up all over the place, and he's doing a promo.

04:23And in the middle of his promo, he gets cut off by Kevin Owens, which I find really interesting about

04:27the interplay between CM Punk and Kevin Owens is you can feel the real-life hatred between these two guys.

04:33We know that Kevin Owens is friends with the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, and there's some other issues there

04:38with Punk's previous situations with Colt Cabana and things like that.

04:44So, we know there's real-life animosity, but these two guys lean into it, and it really enhances the performance.

04:50Kevin Owens walking to the ring.

04:51Punk's joking with him about not running to the ring.

04:55The banter back and forth, it feels so real, and I love that because you don't get that sometimes.

05:02Sometimes these feuds are forced.

05:04It comes across as hokey or pre-programmed or whatever.

05:07This was really, really good work.

05:09And in the middle of these two, standing up on the ladders, it was funny Punk said something about being

05:14on the ladder, looking down to him, and how Kevin Owens is looking up to him.

05:18And Kevin Owens is like, I've never looked up to you.

05:19He climbs up the ladder, and then Punk has to go up one more rung, and then KO has to

05:23go up one more rung so they can be eye-to-eye.

05:24And in the middle of them having their backward-force soiree, which basically was all about how Kevin Owens, even

05:30if he loses, just doesn't want Punk to win, which is a weird way to put it.

05:33And then Punk hit him back about that.

05:35But then Sami Zayn comes out and interrupts Kevin Owens, just like Kevin Owens interrupts CM Punk.

05:39And the funny part was Sami Zayn got onto a ladder that was smaller than the two ladders that Punk

05:44and Owens were on.

05:45And there's this whole conversation.

05:46I thought this was some of the best mic work that Sami's done in months because he basically talked a

05:51lot of truth, how much these two guys, they're not in the right headspace.

05:54They're so concerned with stopping each other that they're not focused on the prize, that people keep talking about how

06:00the reason Sami beat CM Punk is because of KO.

06:05The reason he beat KO is because of CM Punk.

06:07And basically implying that he planned that.

06:09He played them as fools, that he's a survivor and all this.

06:12I love his work he's doing right now.

06:14I know when he first won the championship, people were a little concerned that he wasn't the right choice.

06:17I think he's a great choice.

06:19I think he's doing a great job with the championship.

06:20This Money in the Bank ladder match is getting more and more exciting as we go.

06:24From there, six-woman tag team match, Lola Vice, Sol Ruka, Roxanne Perez, very strange pairing considering these ladies have

06:31all had some kind of interplay and physicality over on Raw.

06:34And their opponents, Lash Legend, JC Jane, and Tiffany Stratton, which is also weird in its own right because JC

06:40Jane took the United States Championship from Tiffany Stratton.

06:43And the match itself is pretty solid.

06:45I really enjoyed the fact that the babyfaces were like turning their back on Roxanne Perez.

06:49She ends up getting back later on when they're trying to tag out.

06:52They like duck off the apron.

06:54Later on, she ducks off the apron.

06:55There's a lot of interplay on the Raw side of things.

06:58On the SmackDown side, they seemed pretty much in lockstep the entire match, whether it was Tiffany Stratton, Lash Legend,

07:03or JC Jane.

07:05And as this whole match plays out, you really don't get a good sense for who's got the upper hand,

07:10who's going to win this thing.

07:11And at the very end, we end up seeing Lash Legend hit her finisher, pick up the win for her

07:16tag team.

07:17They conquer the Raw women.

07:18And then as the three SmackDown ladies are in the ring raising their hands up, Lash Legend pulls the two,

07:24JC Jane and Tiffany Stratton together.

07:26And then she lays both of them out.

07:28Lash Legend is coming for the briefcase.

07:30And she made it very clear tonight that she has no friends in this situation.

07:35From there, we get a backstage segment with Chelsea Green talking about her women's championship and Money in the Bank

07:41and how she wants to see Tiffany win.

07:42And then they can go have some drinks on the town.

07:44And then Nikki Bella shows up and makes it clear that she's going to take the championship from Chelsea Green.

07:50And that next week, she'll be facing Paige.

07:52And she's going to beat Paige first, and then she's coming for Chelsea.

07:55As they're having their match, there's a distraction to the side.

07:58And we find out that Charlotte Flair is being attacked by Jade Cargill, Meechan, and BFab.

08:02I am so over this Jade Cargill, Charlotte thing.

08:05And I don't feel like we ever really got a good one-on-one moment without all the outside interference.

08:10I'm over it.

08:12Jade Cargill is a phenomenal athlete, but this feud is not working whatsoever.

08:16Charlotte being attacked in the back is basically to get her out of the women's tag team championship match later

08:21on in the evening.

08:22It is successful.

08:23As they're back there after the break, you know, you have Nick Aldis talking to Charlotte.

08:28She's like, she can't go.

08:29But now Alexa Bliss has to take her place.

08:32And he makes that official.

08:33And then he says everybody else is going to be barred from ringside.

08:36So it's interesting because I think that they were leaning towards Alexa and Tatum winning the championship anyways.

08:41But that obviously is going to cause some friction with Charlotte.

08:43And I think down the line, that's going to lead to Alexa and Charlotte splitting.

08:48But what I don't like about this is putting this opportunity here.

08:52What if they win?

08:52If they win, what does that do to all the creative plans they had previously for the women's tag team

08:57championship?

08:57Because I don't think this was the plan all along.

08:59I don't know.

09:00We'll have to wait and see who wins the matchup.

09:02From there, the MFTs, the world tag team champions, the WWE tag team champions taking on the War Raiders.

09:08The match was pretty good.

09:09And I'll tell you something.

09:10This is just my opinion.

09:11I've seen Tama Tango wrestle for a very long time.

09:14That guy could be a single star today.

09:17Like that is a, he is a supreme talent.

09:19He's always been locked into these tag team situations.

09:22And I understand why his lineal history, his brothers and all that.

09:25I get it.

09:26But that guy can go.

09:27And he's got a phenomenal look.

09:29He's absolutely believable.

09:31Having Haku in his corner is not a bad thing.

09:33The match is great.

09:34Goes for a while.

09:35At the very end of the match, you see Nakamura and Kiyoki come out to the ring.

09:38And as they come down, Kiyoki gets up on the ring apron and take a swing at him.

09:42I thought it was going to lead to the War Raiders getting a win.

09:44It did not.

09:45They end up defeating the War Raiders.

09:47And then Nakamura and Kiyoki hit the ring.

09:49And they start battling with the MFTs.

09:52And they fight them off.

09:53And then I got the impression that the War Raiders were going to like celebrate with them for fighting them

09:57off.

09:58And instead, the War Raiders attack Kiyoki first, then get face-to-face with Nakamura.

10:03And it leads to Nakamura and Kiyoki laying out the War Raiders.

10:07I don't need to see that feud.

10:09I really don't.

10:10I really, really don't.

10:11I still want to see the MFTs have another match with Kiyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura.

10:16I'd like to see Kiyoki and Nakamura take the titles, if I'm being completely honest with you.

10:19But I will say this.

10:20Talatanga and Tamatanga did look great with the belts today.

10:23I do love that Haku got involved in the match at the end again with that stick, that staff, that

10:29Tongan staff jabbing.

10:30I believe it was Ivar in the throat.

10:32And it was good.

10:34It was good all the way around.

10:35Actually, I think it was Eric, but not Ivar.

10:37But whatever.

10:38Very good stuff.

10:39Liked that match.

10:40Solid, solid stuff.

10:41They did a little video vignette where John Cena was giving a WWE Championship belt to Jimmy Fallon.

10:46And then they were blowing it up on an ex-post about how this is like a crowning moment for

10:51Fallon.

10:51Why?

10:52Because they gave you a replica belt?

10:54That seems relatively strange to me.

10:55I don't know why that would be like a crowning moment in your lifetime.

10:59WWE gives Championship belts out to lots and lots of people.

11:02I don't feel like that means anything.

11:03You didn't win anything.

11:04Seemed weird, but whatever.

11:06It's publicity.

11:07I guess it is what it is.

11:08There's a backstage segment where Miz is out there complaining nobody celebrated his birthday.

11:13He's with Kit Wilson.

11:14Nick Aldis is there.

11:15Nick Aldis sees Randy Orton coming into the arena.

11:17He gives Randy Orton some caution.

11:18Randy Orton tells him that he's going home.

11:20He's going to fly home and take the night off.

11:23It tells Aldis to address Cody.

11:25And then after that, we end up inside the arena.

11:27And Miz and Kit Wilson are coming to the ring, flipping out because nobody's celebrating his birthday

11:31after he's been in the company for 20 years.

11:33They get interrupted by Randy Orton's.

11:35I apologize.

11:36Cody Rhodes' music.

11:37Cody comes out, basically takes them out.

11:39He's talking trash to Nick Aldis.

11:41Or I apologize to Nick Aldis who comes out.

11:43And he basically wants to diffuse the situation and keep it as a match in the ring, not anywhere else.

11:48Cody says he wants him face-to-face.

11:50We do find out later in the show that they are going to do it next week where they're going

11:53to be face-to-face

11:54and may hopefully get this thing set up for a rubber match between the two.

12:00From there, we have in the back, Damian Priest.

12:04They're about to interview him.

12:05He kind of cuts off the interview relatively quickly.

12:08And he hears Fraxium on the side.

12:10Nathan Frazier and Axiom having a conversation about him.

12:14He questions him.

12:15They're telling him how it's wrong what he did to R-Truth.

12:17He owes an apology.

12:18He says, watch, you're not going to like what's coming next.

12:21He walks off camera.

12:22And then he attacks Fraxium.

12:23And he is laying them out.

12:25Brutal Damian Priest.

12:26This is like even worse than Judgment Day Priest.

12:29Eventually, R-Truth shows up and there's a whole melee going on.

12:32But this was good for furthering Priest as a dominant heel.

12:35Now, you've got to get him over with this to R-Truth stuff because that's just going to slow the

12:39process.

12:40And that's my understanding.

12:41The whole reason of doing this is to get him away from Truth.

12:43So let's get it done.

12:44It's kind of ridiculous it's taking this long.

12:46There is a backstage segment with Nick Aldis talking to Finn Balor.

12:51And Dan Housen's there running his evil meter around.

12:54And basically, Finn wants a match.

12:56He says he can't have one because Gunther already asked for a match.

12:58And he asked for a match against Dan Housen.

13:00So that match is going to take place.

13:02We get Gunther and Dan Housen in the ring.

13:04And before the bell even rings, Gunther is laying out Dan Housen.

13:07It brings out Finn Balor to come out and save the day, rescue Dan Housen.

13:12But then he ends up getting laid out by Gunther outside the ring, powerbomb through the table.

13:16This is going to be a hard-hitting, action-packed feud.

13:19I cannot wait to see Finn Balor and Gunther.

13:22And we really need to see Gunther do something.

13:23He's been off TV so much since his feud for the World Championship this summer.

13:27We need to see him in something.

13:29Get him back into this feud.

13:30Finn Balor, I feel like he's doing some of his best work since winning the Universal Championship for, like, what,

13:35a day?

13:35Back in, like, 2015 or whatever it was.

13:38This was good.

13:39This was really solid work.

13:40I can't wait to see this feud.

13:41It's going to be something very, very cool.

13:45From there, we're going to go to Sami Zayn in the back having a conversation with Johnny Gargano and Candice

13:52LeRae is there and basically venting his frustrations that neither one of them is in money in the bank.

13:56Like, it's interesting how they do that interplay between them as well.

14:00I'm not sure how I feel about the whole, the way they've built that friendship, that relationship.

14:05Because Johnny Gargano, you could, with Sami Zayn as champion, you could build him to being a legitimate, credible challenger

14:10for the title.

14:11And I wish they would have done that.

14:12Instead of making it look like he's a lackey for Sami Zayn who's just waiting to, like, do favors to

14:17get a championship shot that sounds like it's never going to come.

14:20I'm not saying put the championship on Johnny Gargano.

14:23I'm not going that way at all.

14:24But I do think that at this point, it's kind of silly, this whole thing, because he's basically an upper

14:29mid-card guy helping the world champion when the world champion shouldn't need that help.

14:33It's a little weird for me.

14:34I'm not a big, big fan of this.

14:36Then we get the tag team championship match.

14:38Fatal Influence defending against Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley.

14:42Everybody's barred from ringside.

14:43This was really, really solid.

14:45Great match.

14:46Constant back and forth.

14:47And in the end, there's a reversal into a Sister Abigail outside the ring.

14:54Tatum Paxley hits her finisher inside the ring.

14:56And Tatum Paxley and Alexa Bliss are the new women's tag team champions.

15:01And like I started to say earlier, I had to pull myself back because I knew what was coming.

15:05This, I feel like, is new planning.

15:07I don't feel like this is what they wanted to do with the women's tag team championship several months ago.

15:10I feel like this is just what they're doing now because Brie Bella got injured.

15:14And we're waiting to see how that's going to play out over time.

15:17And obviously, she's not ready to come back or I don't think they would put the belts on these two.

15:21And I feel like this is going to be the catalyst to the Charlotte Flair heel turn or perhaps these

15:27two turn heel and turn on Charlotte.

15:29I don't know.

15:30But at some point, that's clearly going to happen.

15:34From there, it is main event time.

15:36We have Braun Breaker, Trick Williams.

15:38And let's be honest, these two can go.

15:40They look great in the ring.

15:41They have incredible chemistry.

15:43This was building towards a really, really fantastic finish for the show.

15:48This was going to put the show over the top.

15:50But we did hear earlier on that everybody was posted on social media.

15:53Everybody who's going to be at Money in the Bank was going to appear on SmackDown.

15:56And we had several that we hadn't seen yet.

15:58So it makes a lot of sense that they would have to get involved in this match one way or

16:01another.

16:01So at the end of the match, when there's a Trick shot and it looks like Trick Williams is going

16:05to pick up the win, here come the vision.

16:07Here comes Austin Theory.

16:08They come down to the ring, Logan Paul, Maxine Dupree, and they get involved.

16:13And it ends up, you know, Trick Williams is going to win the match via disqualification.

16:16Then they're beating down Trick Williams.

16:18Here comes Javon Evans.

16:19Javon Evans gets taken out.

16:20Penta is coming down.

16:21As he's coming down, he gets taken out by Bronson Reed.

16:24And then here's where I said earlier I was going to have trouble with some of this.

16:28A lot of the show is fantastic, but this didn't make sense to me because it's the day before you

16:33go to Money in the Bank and you're hitting tsunamis on everybody.

16:35Like if the tsunami is a move that you're supposed to sell as a finisher, something that could potentially end

16:40a match against Obafemi tomorrow night,

16:43then why in heaven's sake would you have people get tsunami tonight when they have to wrestle a ladder match

16:48tomorrow night?

16:48It makes it look like one of two things.

16:50Either they have to wrestle the entire ladder match injured, which takes away from the stuff they can do in

16:54the match, which then hurts the ladder match.

16:57Or the other option is they come back and they wrestle and they do what they're supposed to, but then

17:00it makes it look like the tsunami is trash.

17:03It's a lose-lose.

17:04I don't like seeing all these tsunamis.

17:06If you wanted to have him go up and put on the implication he was going to do a tsunami,

17:11that's fine.

17:12Oba should have run out and prevented it from happening.

17:14Have him throw some shots at each other, knock each other out of the ring, and that's it.

17:17No tsunami should have hit anybody tonight, not with the ladder match tomorrow night.

17:21It's, in my opinion, horrible, horrible booking.

17:23Didn't like that.

17:24But the show as a whole was solid, top to bottom.

17:27There was not a lot to complain about here.

17:29So, again, every once in a while I do these rating things.

17:32I'm not Dave Meltzer.

17:33I don't have some crazy code book.

17:37I go with my gut.

17:38When I look at this show, there was a lot that I really thought was good about this show.

17:41If I'm looking at this, I think it's an above-average show.

17:44I love the promo at the beginning with Punk and Kevin Owens and eventually Sami Zayn.

17:47Some of the Zayn's best mic work.

17:49The realness of the Punk and Owens situation.

17:52I thought the tag team championship thing was fantastic.

17:54I love the MFTs.

17:55I really do.

17:56Tama Tonga, killing it.

17:58There was a lot of really good stuff.

17:59Damian Priest, I liked his segment.

18:01All of it.

18:01It was all good.

18:02Even the women's six-man match was the way it ended and the way Lash Legend turned on her teammates.

18:07Loved all of it.

18:08So for me, this show, this is a above-average show.

18:11And I would say this show is probably, say, three and three-quarter stars.

18:14Or maybe even a four.

18:15I'm going to go three and three-quarters just because I didn't like the ending of the main event.

18:18But great show.

18:20Good stuff.

18:20And kudos to WWE for giving a decent go-home episode before a pay-per-view.

18:24Because that's something both companies, AEW and WWE, have been lacking lately.

18:28This was not that.

18:29This was a really good go-home episode.

18:31And now I'm very much looking forward to Money in the Bank tomorrow night.

18:33It should be a great show.

18:35But for now, that's all the time we have for this episode.

18:37Check back with us next episode.

18:38We run down the latest wrestling news and rumors.

18:40Special thanks, as always, go to Suno for creating the music and sound effects we use in our show.

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