Jey Uso’s never going to see it coming. I feel bad for him.
I can’t blame him too much though, when he has entrusted Roman, his blood, with his life and has felt that Roman would never betray his bloodline. I also can’t blame him after seeing that absolutely incredible video package narrated by Paul Heyman on the Anoa’i bloodline. Obviously Roman and Heyman must care about the family!
Roman doesn’t give a shit about his family anymore. An assumption? Nope. We’ll get to why in a moment.
I didn’t expect this to happen, but Roman Reigns actually showed up for the “Samoan Street Fight” main event and put in the work! Roman fought off Sheamus and Corbin, even a Samoan drop on the announce table to Sheamus. He pummeled Corbin with a steel chair and speared Sheamus through the barricade.
Jey took a Deep Six and a hellacious bump through a table, but the finish played into the final masterful moment of the show. Corbin had Roman in the ring and Jey came from out of nowhere and blasted him in the face with the Universal title. He pinned Corbin and won the match as Roman was regaining his composure in the corner.
Jey picked up the title, started to raise it, but tossed it to Roman instead and hugged him. That hug lasted a long time and put a genuine smile on Roman’s face as they embraced and expressed love for each other.
Or so we thought.
Jey left the ring and walked up the ramp, as Heyman got in the ring looking at Roman and Roman looked at him, and that smile went away real quick. He gave Jey the death stare to end all death stares as the camera faded to black.
I loved everything about this. It’s been way too long but this heel turn is so damn good.
Jey Uso is going to die at Clash of Champions.
Trance
Alexa told Nikki that she’s faced Bayley before, and lost. Nikki Cross said that Bayley only beat her because of Sasha Banks. After a few minutes, Nikki finally asked Alexa about that Sister Abigail last week and what’s going on with her, and Alexa responded by saying that she doesn’t really know what’s going on, and that she feels like she isn’t in control sometimes.
That was a great thing to throw in there, having Alexa address the changes for the first time. She’s being coy but knows that there’s something supernatural going on.
During Lacey’s and Nikki’s match, Lacey was working over Nikki’s arm. Lacey had “hand sanitizer” in her purse and she took it out and sprayed it in Nikki’s face, in front of the referee, and he did nothing about it. Huh? And Nikki wasn’t too bothered by it so was there like 0% alcohol in it? She won though so, cool!
Lacey crawled out of the ring and started yelling at Alexa on commentary, and then mentioned The Fiend. Alexa’s been so great these past two weeks, changing her demeanor in a snap after someone mentions him. She Sister Abigail-ed Lacey and slowly walked off in a trance.
They had to have Nikki away from her so she just got out of the ring celebrating and walked up the ramp by herself, which was odd since they were being besties right before. I like when they make sense of things, and there wasn’t much in that regard. Nikki should have been at Alexa’s side after the match but we had to get here somehow, so whatever. I think this is all going to come to a head at Clash. I’m really excited to see what comes next!
The Rest
You’re nothing without me - When asked if she used Bayley, Sasha responded that Bayley used her and now she’s useless to Bayley. She got emotional talking about their history together at the Performance Center. She said they told the world they’d take over WWE together. She began crying as she talked about the pictures and posters hanging on the walls. She called Bayley an idiot and naive, and she’s nothing without her.
And then out of nowhere Bayley attacked her with a chair and almost pulled the same move, putting her neck in and stomping it to smithereens, but some PC folks intervened and got Bayley off of her.
Sasha, why would you show up? If they were doing a via satellite thing, request to do it from home! It was noble, though. The emotion pouring out of Sasha only drove it home even more how much she was hurt by this betrayal. Whenever this match ends up happening, whew boy it is going to rule.
Big E straight up wrecked a dude - Big E returned this with that aggression people have been asking him for. He baited Sheamus and the security guard who tricked him weeks back into the garage for revenge. E only got a few licks in on Sheamus but unloaded on the security guard. We’re talking a belly to belly on to a car windshield before putting him in the trunk.
While I agree that Big E should keep his goofy personality, I also think he needs to show the other side. If someone does him wrong, he should get angry. It helps round out his character. He’s fun, and silly, and all things we love about Big E. But he’s also an absolute badass when you cross him.
I can’t wait to see him beat the hell out of Sheamus now.
AJ Styles def. Sami Zayn - WWE announced tonight they’re following proper protocols that dictate when two men claim to be Intercontinental champion, there must be a ladder match to decide who is that true champion. It won’t just be Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy. AJ Styles will obviously be added in given the story beats. But it will still be a good match.
The Dirt Sheet - Miz told us that he had Mandy Rose traded to Raw so that she would no longer prevent Otis from reaching his fullest potential, and now he can cash in his Money in the Bank contract. He said that he’s heard that Mandy has moved on from him, and then Otis and Tucker came out and wrecked them both. It ended with Miz in his tighty whities as Otis ripped all his clothes off. In the back, Kayla tried to interview Miz and Morrison but Miz called someone and said that somehow all of that was a plan.
That’s entertainment!
*whispers* That’s not entertainment.
Cesaro def. Gran Metalik - Kalisto and Lince Dorado are fighting over who’s advice Metalik should listen to. Metalik tried rolling up Cesaro immediately and the urgency to win never left him. Cesaro worked on Metalik’s arm as Kalisto and Lince continued to argue, and then they got up on the apron and got thrown out by the referee. Cesaro won which was obvious from the start. Bleh.
Not as much of a strong showing this week from SmackDown, but they’re still handling the most important things perfectly. Roman’s death stare, Bayley’s viciousness, and Alexa’s split personality were the best things about WWE this week. Raw really needs to step up.
Grade: B
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?