Jackass star Johnny Knoxville cost Sami Zayn the Intercontinental Championship on WWE SmackDown this week.
The 50-year-old stuntman made his presence felt and helped Ricochet to victory while putting himself in the firing line for a grudge match at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas next month.
The title match was the first of the night, with the blue brand going straight for the action after few quickfire backstage promos to hype up Friday’s show.
Zayn and Ricochet put on a fun showing as the One And Only looked fantastic after getting a renewed sense of purpose and momentum over the past few weeks.
In the end, the Jackass theme blared out in the arena as Knoxville made his way down to the ring, providing a distraction which prove disastrous for Sami’s IC Title reign.
Despite his big win airing two weeks ago, the conspiracy theorist has another incident to whine about now as the distraction allowed Ricochet to hit a hurricanrana for the win.
Honestly, as much as Sami earned a longer run with the championship, this is the best decision heading into WrestleMania.
After a couple of backstage segments later in the night, he’s now set for a massive match with Knoxville on the Grandest Stage of Them All, while Ricochet is the perfect titleholder to defend the gold in a fast-paced multi-man bout over ‘Mania weekend.
Ronda Rousey makes Charlotte Flair tap out, Austin Theory attacks Pat McAfee and more
After the opening match, Michael Cole and Pat McAfee discussed Vince McMahon’s offer of a WrestleMania match for the SmackDown commentator, only for Raw superstar – and the chairman’s protege – Austin Theory to come down to ringside.
The rising star revealed he’ll be facing the former NFL punter next month and slapped him in the face before heading backstage having made his presence felt.
Naomi made quick work of Carmella in a preview of sorts when the pair – joined by their respective partners Sasha Banks and Queen Zelina Vega – face off for the Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania.
Sadly, matches like this don’t really add much drama to championship clash as it’s already very difficult to see Carmella and Zelina retaining the gold.
After a bit of backstage nonsense with Madcap Moss and Happy Corbin, the latter’s Mania opponent Drew McIntyre beat his former 3MB teammate Jinder Mahal in a brief, entertaining showcase for the Scottish Warrior.
The former world champion cut a strong promo on his rival after the bell, and promises to take him out next month.
The Usos attacked Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs during their entrance, with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman instead coming out for the Bloodline to address Brock Lesnar and the huge Title versus Title unification match at WrestleMania.
The Tribal Chief was at his typical best here, as he continues to be on another level in the pro wrestling world with fantastic promos and storytelling, whether he’s in a match or on the mic.
Here, he vowed to beat the Beast and hold both titles over his head with Brock left with no choice but to acknowledge him – while Roman seemed to loose his cool a bit here, suggesting his rival has got under his skin.
Jimmy and Jey Uso retained the SmackDown Tag Team Titles in a great bout with The Viking Raiders, with Erik and Ivar looking like they might actually cause an upset on a number of occasions.
However, it was The Usos that picked up the big win to hold onto their championships with WrestleMania fast approaching, as they hit the 1D – their version of The Dudley Boyz’s legendary 3D move – for the victory.
The scheduled match between Big E and Sheamus never got underway as the Celtic Warrior and his pal Ridge Holland jumped on the attacked, absolutely battering the former WWE Champion and his New Day partner Kofi Kingston.
After destroying the fan favourite duo, Sheamus and Holland stole their ATV, and then attacked it with sledgehammers during the ad break.
In the main event, Ronda Rousey made her first in-ring appearance on SmackDown as she took on rival Sonya Deville and beat her in a dominating victory designed to showcase the 2022 Royal Rumble winner.
She tore through her opponent and looked fantastic doing it, before her WrestleMania opponent Charlotte Flair got in the ring having recently called her a one trick pony.
She proved her rival wrong, getting her in the ankle lock and actually making her tap out to the potential new finishing move weeks before they meet in the ring for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1. WrestleMania 38 airs April 2 and 3 at 1am on the WWE Network and BT Sport Box Office.
WWE SmackDown results and grades
- Intercontinental Title: Ricochet pinned Sami Zay (c) (B+)
- Naomi beat Carmella (C+)
- SmackDown Tag Team Titles: The Usos (c) defeated The Viking Raiders (B+)
- Ronda Rousey beat Sonya Deville (B)
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